Feriados in Santiago: Hiking Cerro Manquehue

See that half-mountain to the left of the Marriott? It's actually Cerro Manquehue which is more than just a mountain, it's first life was as a volcano. And I made it to the top on Chile's Independence Day.

With hiking so close to my house, I should go all the time. So why was yesterday my first time? Pablo's been robbed there, and he wasn't alone at night. He was with friends in the daytime out for a nature walk. So you can see why I haven't gone yet.

Hiking with a group of Chilean friends means I definitely stand out in my Lululemon purple leggings and hot pink tank with my small snowboarding backpack with a Nalgene and chocolate granola bar. What do Chileans wear hiking? Sweatpants and t-shirt, a fanny pack and an old Coke bottle filled with water.

But who cares what we wear. The best part of the hike was sticking together, helping each other out of rocky situations where I thought I'd slide down like a drop of water into a ravine. There were fun conversations, times where someone would trek on alone for a bit and necessary group water breaks.

Major difference in hiking here and Colorado? Quality of the hiking trail here is... there is no hiking trail. You are following where hundreds have walked before but there is no official trail. Rocks are loose, steep inclines don't have constructed stairs or rope to support your climb.
What about between Manquehue and Camelback Mountain in Phoenix?  Camelback is a mix of bouldering up a desert mountain, listening for rattlesnakes and standing in line at the DMV, waiting to be the next person to advance. Here at Manquehue, we saw maybe 15 people, the most dangerous thing is being off-balance on the descent and

If you are a casual hiker, this is not the hike for you. You'll grab tree roots to pull you from one boulder to the next patch of loose dirt; the terrain is so slippery with dirt that you'll travel down safer if you use the mountain as a slide rather than a ramp. I was on my booty for more than half the hike down. 3 points of contact? It was 2 cheeks, 2 feet and a hand on a rock.

You gotta do it. With a 280 degree view of Santiago, it's worth the hike. Plus, we had a clear blue sky and could see the ski centers and the national futbol stadium.

Buying a Car in Santiago

My first week of being a Chevrolet car owner has passed.

So, I stalled out on Andres Bello - the busy, main drag in Providencia. Stalled out? Yup. In rush hour traffic no less.  I learned to drive stick in Colorado this July (thanks to Chris) and bought a stick shift car.  Why not add it to the list of "big life changes in the month of July?"

More on the driving part later.

This was the first time I've bought a car and I had to do it in a country that loves, deeply and madly loves, paperwork and signatures. I signed my name 10 times before they handed me the keys. First off, you need the magical RUT number. You have to buy one at the Registro Civil and they may tell you that you can't buy one. But you can. Then the dealership may tell you you can't purchase a car with the RUT that you have - because it doesn't look like a 'normal' Chilean RUT, but you can. When people tell me I can't do something here, I say I've already done it somewhere else - then magically, I can do it. 

The Search.  One chilly, winter Saturday I went searching with Pablo in tow for a decent used car. From 10:30 - 4:00 I looked 1) price: 3,000,000 pesos ($6000) 2) & 2) 120,000 kilometers and 3) age under 10 years. In all that time, I browsed through 100 cars and found 4 that fit my conditions.

Car dealerships here do not negotiate like in the States. Out of 10 dealerships,  only one caved under my negotiating prowess - and then I didn't buy it. If you negotiate a car price down, you must have done something scandalous. I'm a blond, cute girl from the US and they didn't budge ni un peso.

One week later, before buying a bottle of wine I casually walked through the dealership right next to my normal grocery store - 5 minutes from my front door. 30 minutes later and I was signing paperwork!  I got a 2005 Chevy Aveo, 4 doors, double airbag, one owner, alarm and electric windows for a decent price and a 3 month guaranty.  She's a hottie!

Factory Color: Red SUPER

Not standard in Chilean cars: airbags. How is that not a minimum standard? Forgot about dealerships filling up your gas tank, changing the oil or replacing the windshield wipers.

Purchase tip: If you buy through chileautos.cl or vivastreet.cl, you have to do lots of paperwork that will cost about 200.000 pesos and 2 days of lines and waiting. Dealerships do the paperwork and your title gets mailed to your house. And buy from a used dealership that guarantees the car for at least 3 months; most of them will tell you No so keep looking!

Chile has obligatory national car insurance that covers your car if someone hits you. But I got full insurance through Falabella for about $80/month US.

Now, on to driving a stick shift in city traffic with very minimal traffic law enforcement.

Jet-Setting Stateside

Sounds like a beach novel…

Miles are accumulating and I am about ready to forget 1 of my 5 suitcases in a Denver alley. But...All I know is that I am so blessed. My family is so.much.FUN. My friends? Silly, supportive and just freaking fabulous. In the last year, I had 3 friends come visit plus the parents' trip. This year? May have some more takers! Who's coming!?

My cousin Jess and I had serious quality time together. Lunched, walked, read WWII letters between our grandpa and his parents, had a sleepover and reviewed our Before 30 list. 

Laura and Seba got married! Dreamy wedding spot, right?! The love was apparent, visible and filled every square inch of that dance floor. We swam at the creek, I ran the canyons, we sat at the pool and I may have botched tried translating the speech of my friend, and the best man, \from Spanish to English. Not easy with an improv speech. 

Dad, "What are you doing today?" Me, "Well, having breakfast, reading my book, you?"

"Thinking about going for a plane ride. Want to fly and have lunch somewhere?" 

Those headphones felt just right on a FNT>ARB flight; we even surprised my cousin Jess at Zingerman's on her lunch break. 

I've got hottie high school friends, right? And Amanda and I didn't even plan our outfits together!  

 My alarm clocks every morning. And possibly the reason I didn't get out of bed on rainy Michigan days.

These two Tigers hadn't gone to a game in…. 20 years! I didn't even know they were young enough to have that problem. Thank goodness we fixed that with some scalped tickets in Mo-town. It's cute that they match, isn't it?

All these friends, these trip and our hours/days/weeks together were AMAZING. Met friends' newborns, sat on a boat (I'M ON A BOAT!),  ate and laughed on rooftops and patios, got picked up at airports and noticed how smart I must be to enjoy such fabulous friends. 





What did I learn? Nothing beats a Michigan summer, Colorado has a big chunk of my heart and I'm a little bit crazy - but so excited -  for going back to Chile on Monday <3 font="">

Still Here!

I'm here! 100% committed to all you fabulous readers and dreamers. Just catching my breath during my 6 week stay in the beautiful USA. 

I cried and danced the night away under sparking Sedona stars to celebrate my friend Laura's wedding. Love was poured into every drink, twisted around dancing friends and family and glorified through God. 

Then off to Michigan to hang with my family and a few good friends on the lake, playing disc golf and BBQing. Nothing beats a Michigan summer. It should be the next trendiest honeymoon destination. Side trip on Amtrak to Chicago to run with my good friend Sarah and eat at a hot new restaurant (Beatrix) where Amanda is sous chef! Fancy friends, love. 

For my final week of fun I am soaking up the crisp, hot air of the Rockies. I can't believe how much I love being in Denver with my silly, strong and smart Colorado crew. We know how to choose delicious beer. All 5 of us drank Titan IPA last night. We know good beer. No Escudo here! With a mountain wedding this weekend and a planned long layover in Dallas to catch up with Holly, you'd think I was a trust fund kid. 

Ha. Thanks to the generosity of Sarah in Chicago, Lindsey in Denver and Laura and her family in Sedona, I've been able to do what I love - invest in people and my relationships. My family and friendships encourage me to follow my heart, be myself and love. How could I need anything more? 

I absolutely am soaking up each hug, round of laughter and tidbit of your life.

Back to Chile (and a gorgeous bigote) on Monday! 

Back to Michigan, Where the Green Grass Grows

It is GREEN in Michigan. Yup, made my way back North to visit family and here I am in small town, Michigan. Think: There's 1 high school with graduating class of 250 kids per year. We've got more water square footage than students in our high school.

Mom's roses are starting to bloom!

I've been coming home for 10 years and …
still find myself on my bedroom floor, re-reading high school notes, looking at old high school photos taken with a throw-away camera and trying to decide - do I keep my varsity basketball practice jersey just one more year? 

Let's not forget - I've got countless journals reliving basketball games and teammate tales, confessing my secret feelings for a new crush and sadly crushed some guy doesn't like me. Like any American teenager in public schools, I wrote about girl drama, my hopes and fears and my young but yearning faith in God.

My high school friends may not appreciate the photos I'm about to share - but man, I got a kick out of seeing these!

Here'a few finds in my old closet:




TRACK. I'll never forget this one. This was when I was part of the 4x800m and we went to the State meet! Unfortunately, our whole track team didn't qualify to go - just individuals. We set a school record that day and each had a personal best time - it was such an exhilarating day! There were a few others from our team that had qualified and I remember celebrating being there, enjoying time with our families in the stands and feeling so strong, successful and supported. Didn't hurt that my Dad was able to fly us there as a team in his plane - Lucky! What a great experience - and definitely a high school highlight!

Our team was Mary the senior, Steph the junior, Nickelle the sophomore and me, the freshman. 

I can still remember track practices where we'd run to the movie theater, take a bathroom break and head back to school just to run a handful of timed 800 meter runs and close out practice with 200 meter sprints with the sprinters. My favorite was mailbox sprints with the girls; we'd run one of the neighborhoods and do a Choose-Your-Own-Sprint Distance adventure. Just us: will, self-discipline, competitiveness and teamwork.  

HIGH SCHOOL DANCES. Now these pictures - too funny! This was some high school dance. We may have snuck out of this one a bit early? The gym was converted into our own snazzy (ha) dance club. Remember dancing in 2001 to Missy Elliot "Get Your Freak On" and Outkast "Ms Jackson" and don't forget Pink "Get The Party Started." And, I don't remember why were dressed so brightly, but I do know these were my close girlfriends. How awkward for the teachers to roam the perimeter making sure we behaved ourselves. I can't even imagine what we looked like to them; now that I'm the teacher parting the love waves between glued-together teenage couples, I just want to say - I'm sorry if I ever made you feel awkward.

Dancing and singing at a 10th grade dance

And. My best friend Amy Phillips and still one of my closest friends today, 16 years later. We laugh. And laugh. And laugh. There aren't words to describe the joy and love we share. We'd eat raw cookie dough, go jet-skiing all day, dance, play sports, snowboard and swim - we'd do anything together. College put distance between us and luckily, coming home means we get to hang out too because she's smarter than me and stayed in the same zip code. And I want to keep laughing, keep crying and keep taking pictures together for a long, long time. 

Spring Break on a cruise with a handful of other friends (and a few Moms, too)

Whether I'm reading past journals, staring into the moments around an old photo or holding a sports medal, I appreciate the artifacts that represent my little building blocks in life. What I most appreciate in this ritual is reminding myself how many people I love and how much they love me, too. It's an incredible bridge that just keeps lengthening.   I've found countless other treasures while digging through my old closet. Favorite find? My journals! Time in Michigan is precious, flies by and often enjoyed on the lake. It's PureMichigan!

Michigan in 10 Days!

10 days until I will understand 100% of everything around me, without even trying. My head won't hurt at the end of the day.

10 days until I hug my Mom and Dad, snuggle with the most adorable puppies ever and have lots and lots of clothes to choose from. I'll visit Grandma, check out the lake and take a cruise on the boat. I can already smell Lobdell Lake and hear the boats!

In 10 days I'll sit at a round table in a sunny kitchen dining nook, drink real coffee, understand the news on the TV. YUM. I'll be the one with the insane caffeine kick in Target. Ah, Target!

In 10 days I will see grass, my neighbor's yard and hear kids playing in the street. The dogs and I will run around the yard, the kids from down the street will come and play with Ginger and Macy and I'll catch up neighborhood happenings.

I'll be sitting on the back porch, with the dogs and then get to work in my Mom's garden.

I'll drive the bumpy roads, be freaked out to drive at night with a dark sky and enjoy the pace of small town life. French Laundry - how many amazing meals will I eat at your quirky and adorable tables?

Mom and Dad will leave before the sun comes up to go to work, open my bedroom room and the dogs will snuggle in close, making sure I am uncomfortable and they are perfectly snuggled up in a nook. Ginger will start to eat my clothes and Macy will want to sleep all day; eventually, we'll get up and start our day!

Ah, the joys of being at home with Mom & Dad!

Unexpected Turn of Events...

If you're family, hope you aren't driving. Friends, check your hotel points…. 

I am staying in Santiago, Chile for another year. 

WHAT? You get to read more of my serious, life-changing posts while sipping coffee and procrastinating? I know, I know, how could you survive without my entertaining look at life in Santiago and my photos that make you search Kayak for flights to Chile tomorrow? You're welcome :)

I miss my Denver friends every day. I miss the Colorado mountains, Colorado air, Colorado beer, Colorado parks and running the trails at Green Mountain, in Boulder and Breck. I don't like to think about Vail or else I get too emotional.

Why Stay? 

Pretty cool career opportunity with Astoreca Foundation as a Math Coach for elementary math teachers around Santiago, in public schools. WHY? Public education is not exactly great here. If you've got any money, you pay for a private school. It's a proportionally larger gap between rich and poor education here than in the US and economic status is the main factor in educational opportunity here. There are only 3 schools with worse public education in the OECD (Finland is ranked #1 and the US is right below average).

Since all kids deserve a high-quality education and the chance to choose their career, as opposed to their neighborhood defining them, I choose to work with at-risk students & the teachers that are charged with teaching them. 

Doesn't hurt that I've got a lovely Latino as a boyfriend and we'd like to be together in the same country. Can you believe I have a boyfriend? I know.

And…. I'm liking the pace of life, can't leave without skiing in the Andes a few times, want to try surfing a few more times, need to go back to the most beautiful place in the world, learn to make healthy empanadas, do an adventure trail race, learn to drive stick, dream in Spanish and run a marathon in Chile.

And… a few more friends want to visit. Are you one of them? Get here!

It wasn't an easy decision because I LOVE COLORADO SO MUCH. I miss it every day. But I also live living in Santiago. I'm just starting to feel like I "live" here. But, I know I will always be from Michigan…

Michigan-bound: 16 days! Well, 15 but I get there in 16 days!