Bilingual Laughing: Cocholgue

I think I will have no way possible to become a responsible adult again after this trip. Our month of living 10 feet from beaches has ruined me for an honest life. I will now only amount to becoming a beach bum. I LOVE the BEACH!

Wow, Veronica's cabin by the beach is adorable and is even closer to the beach than her apartment in Viña del Mar. We are basically 30 feet from the ocean but sitting up on a hill so it seems a little bit farther. It takes 5 minutes to walk to the beach though and that was something we did every day :). We were so close we fell asleep to the sound of waves crashing on the shore.

We literally spent most days waking up late, eating lunch, going down to the beach, getting the nerve to jump in the absolutely frigid cold water (and when I say cold I mean colder than any New England beach!), walking along the shore collecting seashells, playing paletas (a tennis-like game on the beach), taking pictures, and all that jazz.

We drove around the area a few times and visited the town that suffered the most damage from the tsunami after the earthquake. We learned that after the earthquake (an 8.8 on the Richter scale) no one was warned about the tsunami. In fact, officials told people to go back to their homes which made the loss and devastation much worse than it should have been. Chile is a high risk area for tsunami's after earthquakes and apparently officials were warned about the tsunami from U.S. officials and Chile said thanks but there is no tsunami! Very sad, those people that said there wasn't a tsunami are now going on trial for their actions. We drove by skeleton after skeleton of homes with a spray painted "Familia de Lopez" or other names. Each area claimed by families that survived the tsunami. The 2 year anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami was today (February 26th) so there has been a lot of coverage about the event on TV.

Luis eating a Completos Hotdog.

Empanadas!

Moving on to happier things like... FOOD!! One of the famous yummy things Chile is known for is empanadas, so you can say we've had tons of empanadas. For those who don't know what they are, it is basically a meat pie. The usual one consists of dough stuffed with meat, onions, boiled eggs, and an olive or two. You can also find cheese empanadas, seafood empanadas, chicken, sweet empanadas, etc. The list can go on. They are really delicious! Another food native to Chile, well the food isn't native but the way you eat it is, is Completos Hotdogs... You have your hotdog, the bun, then you poor on diced tomatoes, guacamole, mayo, ketchup, sauerkraut, and mustard. It sounds crazy but is absolutely delicious! Another native and delicious plate is Hometas (oo-mee-tas). It is made from grinding down corn and onions. You then wrap it back up in corn leaves and cook it in a pot of boiling water. Open it up steaming hot and eat it. You can add diced tomatoes or other seasonings but it is really delicious! I've been getting recipes left and right in hopes to make some of the stuff we've been eating but I don't think it'll ever taste this good again! In Chile and Guatemala the fruit and vegetables have been so fresh and delicious. I didn't used to like guacamole but avocados here are divine. You cut them open and dip your spoon in and it's like slicing into soft butter. Many things I've never enjoyed I actually have begun to love. Who knew? I'm going to miss the food a lot when we come back.

The last couple days in Cocholgue I spent it teaching and making those string bracelets for everyone. Who knew what I learned in girls camp way back when would come in handy in teaching Luis' family in Chile!

We also finally got brave enough to jump in the water! Talk about fuh-reeezing water! There was this one area right behind a huge rock that was deep, I couldn't touch, and huge waves would crash over the rock drenching everyone who wasn't already wet. It kind of acted like a waterfall, you'd get pushed down under the water for a second but then come right back up. Rejuvinatingly, refreshingly, crazilly, awesome!

The stray dogs in Chile do not look like stray dogs. They look like someone left their pet behind at their summer home and will walk up to strangers to play and bet pet. These are just two of the dogs on the beach that we made friends with. Breaks my heart and I wish I could take them ALL home with me!

Went to see a few different places around Concepcion, an old mining place and a Peruvian boat that the Chileans conquered during the 1800's. We got pulled across the water on a little ferry by sailors to see the boat.

The last couple weeks in Chile we will officially be on our own for the very first time this whole entire trip! We get to go to Pucon, which is a mecca for outdoor sports. We'll be there for 5 days enjoying hiking, horseback riding, and RAFTING! and then we go to Easter Island!! Cannot believe it! We'll be coming home March 12th, I can't believe our trip is almost over! I'm using a lot of exclamation points! Oh well... Things are very exciting in our life right now :)