Top Ten List: # 1 Brian's Visit/Climbing the Volcano

This was a favorite trip for us! It was so great to have a familiar face here and to all accomplish something so difficult together! Also, sliding down the volcano on our hinies wasn't too bad, either!

Top Ten List: # 2 Time Together

Brad & I have had a great time just being together! It has been nice to spend so much time together after 3 years of Law School! I'm really thankful for that!

Top Ten List: #3 Our Conserje, Jose

Don Jose, our Conserje (doorman/janitor in our apartment building), was the nicest Chilean we met. He was always very patient with my Spanish and was so helpful with everything! He really made coming home every day a joy!

One day when I locked myself out of the apartment (India ran out of the house & the wind slammed the door shut), Jose was a godsend! I was locked out with my cat, no shoes & no way of contacting Brad for the other key. Jose tried to pick our lock and when that didn't work, he found me shoes somewhere and watched India while I walked to Brad's office to retrieve the keys! We will miss Jose!

Isn't he so cute?!? No, I'm not a giant, he is just a little short!
He also loved India!

Top Ten List: #4 The Andes

The Andes are the most amazing mountains I have ever seen in my life. They surprise me everyday & I will miss their majesty. Each day they remind me how creative God was with his beautiful creation!

One of our favorite things we did here, was skiing - twice! We both love to ski, and the snow was amazing! There were no trees on the slopes and you could see forever! It was unreal!

Top Ten List: #5 Stencil Graffiti

So, this may be something that's common to Latin America, we're not sure, but Chile seems to have more graffiti than we're accustomed to seeing. Of course, most of it is unsightly, but there is a lot of stencil-based graffiti that is very sophisticated. Brad especially loves snapping shots of interesting views, and he (with the help of Nate's laser printer) is working on a project that is inspired by all these stencils. Hopefully we'll be able to display his work in our new apartment in Chicago-- stay tuned for updates!

Top Ten List: #6 Peruvian Food/Pisco Sours/Chilean Wine

I know we live in Chile, but our favorite food here is Peruvian! Oh, I love it so much! Peruvian food tends to be pretty flavorful and spicy! My favorite thing is Ceviche, which is seafood cured in lemon juice. It has a lovely flavor and is so tasty with all the fresh seafood around, especially on warm, summer days. Peruvian restaurants also serve a wonderful chicken dish called aji de gallina that uses a Peruvian cheese and aji pepper sauce - it is rich & delicious!

Ceviche & Pisco Sours

Pisco is only made in Chile and Peru - it is delicious! It is a liquor made from white grapes from a specific region in Chile. Pisco sours are popular in both contries - they are made up of lemon juice, pisco, ice & egg whites. Also, the wine here is so good and so cheap! It will be hard to get used to the price difference in the states!

Top Ten List: #7 Our Pool!

This is one of our favorite places in all of Chile! I love spending the afternoon at our pool! It is great to have a pool in Santiago, because you can use it for 5 months out of the year - maybe more!

Pardon the Interruption

I'm sorry that I have to interrupt the top ten list, but I have a funny story to share. Yesterday Brad & I were eating lunch where we do everyday, at the Plaza de la India, near the office. This park has a fountain with statues of 3 famous Indians - Ghandi, Nehru, & Tagore. While we were enjoying our lunch, a tourist bus stopped and out came between 30-40 retiree tourists from India. They were really loving the park!

We watched as some of them climbed into the fountain to have their picture taken with the famous Indians - they looked like they were having a good time. Then they came over to us and asked if we would be in their pictures. At first we thought they just wanted us to take their picture, but they insisted that we pose with the whole group. Anyway, here we were in Chile with a huge group of Indian tourists getting our pictures taken. After our picture, one of the ladies put a Bindi sticker on my forehead! They were super friendly and one guy got our address and said he would send us a copy of the picture. I'll let you all know if that ever shows up!

Top Ten List: #8 Amazing Sunsets

The combination of the Andes & pollution, make for some really beautiful sunsets!

Top Ten List: #9 Beautiful Weather!

The weather in the central region of Chile really is amazing! There is sunshine here, something like 300 days of the year and almost no humidity. So in the summer, even if the temperature is over 90 degrees, it still feels pleasant out! This has been a new experience for us! The other day it started to rain, which it hasn't done since August, and we ran to the window to see! That seemed strange!

Because of the great weather, just about everything one can think of is grown in this region - especially grapes and avocados. Also, there is a lot of vegetation that grows throughout the city and the countryside. It has been fun to see so many interesting and new plants!

One of my favorites!

Top Ten List: #10 Street Dogs

Alright, we only have a few days left in this lovely country. We want to post some of our favorite things about Chile! To be honest, we could probably do a top ten of our least favorite things, but I try to keep this blog positive!!!!

Anyway, coming in at Number 10: Street Dogs

Most people find the street dogs a bit bothersome, but I really love them! Many people go through the day ignoring the dogs or even yelling at them, but every time I see one lounging in the sun, walking down the street, or chasing after a car, I smile to myself! I often see the dogs in packs of 8 and at first I kind of felt scared. I soon realized that these dogs meant no harm to anyone and now I just wonder where the whole group is going? Actually, I feel more comfortable seeing a pack of dogs, than a pack of Chilenos. At least the dogs mind their own business and keep to themselves! Surprisingly, domestic dogs bark and growl much more often than the street dogs. The street dogs just seem content and happy; some even wear t-shirts!

We're Coming Home!

We have already emailed and spoken to many of our faithful blog followers, but for those of you who don't know, Brad & I have decided that we are coming home! We have had a good time in Chile, but feel like the time is right for us to come back! We are arriving in Kansas in a week, visiting friends and family, flying to Philly, visiting friends, getting our stuff out of storage, driving to Chicago, and moving into our apartment. We are excited to be back in the US and to start this new chapter in our lives.

In the coming weeks, we will post a top 10 list of Chile (sorry for borrowing your idea, Erika) and we will need your help coming up with a new blog for Chicago!

Parque Huerquehue

Here are some more pictures of our travels to the South of Chile with Brian. We stayed in Parque Huerquehue, a Chilean National Park, and spent a few days after our intense hike, relaxing and hiking some more.

A sign for the "Refugio" (like a bed & breakfast), where we stayed.

Refugio Tinquilco - A great place to spend a few days. We also had some really great meals and played cards with an Australian couple who were traveling around South America for 6 months!

Brian with the guardians of the Refugio - just for the record, I don't think these were strays!!!

Lookout Point #1 on our hike through the park.


¡Qué vista tan buena!

You may not be able to tell from this photo, but Brad was resisting the urge to throw me in!

Lookout #2!

We're almost to the top!

At the top of these mountains were several serene lakes & lagoons!

This tree, called Araucaria araucana, is the national tree of Chile and is crazy looking - they are nicknamed monkey puzzle trees because "it would puzzle a monkey to climb one!"


Home Sweet Home - Please take notice that this sign says "Real Coffee". That is right, the coffee here is so bad that a place can advertise the coffee! For the record, the coffee was pretty good!

Climbing Villarrica

In January we had our first visitor! Brian, Brad's brother, visited us for 2 weeks! It was great to have him here and fun to travel around Chile together! We traveled to the South of Chile, which is known as the Lake District, to climb the Volcan Villarrica, one of Chile's most active volcanoes. We have a ton of pictures, so if you're interested, visit our flickr account for more details!

Volcan Villarrica (9,340 feet) from the town of Pucon - we're going to walk up that!!!???

This alert system was at the City Hall of Pucon.
Looks like we are all clear for our climb!

We began our climb before sunrise to avoid the sloshy snow & harsh sun. This is a picture of me - my backpack and that's right, an ice/snow pick!!!

The sun is starting to rise!

A first morning glimpse at the neighboring volcano, Llaima.
Llaima is the volcano that erupted in early January, 3 days before our climb.

The climb up the volcano was pretty difficult and tiring. It was like we were almost to the top and then we would get to a ridge and there would be another part - I think this happened like 4 times!

The shadow of Volcan Villaricca over the town of Pucon and Lake Villarrica as the sun rises.

Tough guys, especially with those pick axes!!!!

We finally reached the top!!!!!! The climb took around 6 hours!

The vent of the volcano.

After hanging around at the top, we all strapped on these things called "nappies" to slide down the volcano on our butts!!! This was as fun as it sounds!

These are the sledding chutes that we went down!

A view from the top of a sledding chute.