Valle Nevado

The ski season is coming to a close here, and we still had a couple of passes left for a local ski resort called Valle Nevado. So, we decided to pull the boys from school on Thursday and Friday of last week and go skiing. We wanted to make the trip during the week for two reasons. 1. This is the closest ski resort to Santiago, so it gets very crowded on the weekends, nobody likes that. 2. The drive to the ski resort is not for the faint of heart, especially in our big van. You begin by following a river valley up into the mountains, but at some point you begin the main ascent, and it is 40 hairpin turns on a not wide enough road. So for every turn, if another car is coming, the car that is descending has to stop and wait for the ascending car to get around the hairpin. In an SUV, it would probably feel fine. In the van, it feels daunting. Drew has made this drive before, and he said it was super stressful alone. With a copilot it was better, as I could look out for oncoming cars for him while he was navigating the turns. Choosing to do the drive on a weekday made it far easier as well. Sometimes if there is alot of traffic, the police will intervene, forcing it to flow in only one direction. This is what happened to Drew his first time. He wanted to make the drive on a Sunday afternoon of a holiday weekend so he could ski on Monday, but they had stopped traffic going up from 2pm-8pm, and were only letting people come down. So he had to wait at a traffic stop for hours, luckily he had the amenities of the van to do this, and then make the drive in the dark. Yesh. For drivers who aren't that brave, there are companies in Santiago that will drive you from the city up to the ski resort and back, for like $30. And they drive in Mercedes Sprinters, just a touch shorter than our van. The google maps drive time says an hour and a half. It took us two solid hours for sure.  

 

Spring skiing is definitely fun in Chile. It was 80 degrees in the city when we left, so up at the ski resort it was a balmy 50 degrees in the afternoons. We were skiing in t-shirts with one thin layer over top and were sweating. The snow would turn to absolute mush by the afternoon which was fun for the boys. It allowed them to ski some steeper terrain, a blue and even a blue/black (which here they label as a red diamond), without the fear of getting out of control speed-wise. The mashed potatoes slowed you down severely. Turning in that much slush though definitely wore me out. We skied 5 hours both days and my legs were toast by the end. So would it be everyone's cup of tea? No, definitely not. Did we have fun? Yes.

Another interesting thing about skiing in Chile in general is that many of the resorts are entirely above the tree line. The tree line in the Andes around Santiago, which has a Mediterranean climate, is around 2,400m, or 7,800ft. In comparison, the tree line in the Rockies is somewhere between 10,000 - 12,000 ft, so much higher. Valle Nevado's base was at 9,900 ft with the summit getting up to just over 12,000 ft. So the entirety of this resort is above tree line. It feels like you're skiing in endless bowls. Just white as far as the eye can see. Due to this being the end of the season, all of the official runs had snow coverage, but many of the in between areas did not. But, I can imagine after a heavy snow with everything filled in, it would be super fun because the amount of available terrain would seem endless. 

That high but flatish peak behind the boys in the pic below is El Plomo, which gets up to 17,800 ft. It's the tallest peak close to Santiago. Drew has a dream to climb that while we are here, and I believe that 3-day hike would actually begin from somewhere close to the ski resort. We'll see if he pulls that off. He needs a hiking buddy. Any takers?? On the other side of that range is Argentina. 

On this map, you can see our house in Santiago, Valle Nevado, Cerro El Plomo, and finally the Chile/Argentina border. 

We weren't allowed to camp overnight in the main parking lot of Valle Nevado, so we drove down a couple of curves and camped in an auxiliary lot. On our two minute drive back up to the main lot the next morning, we saw this beauty. It was actually our second one of the trip! Fox in Spanish is zorro, which always makes me laugh. You're saying all the years we were watching the Zorro movies, our only connotation was hot, masked guy while everyone else in LatinAmerican was thinking "Fox Man." jajaja

Until next year, ski season!

Maitencillo and Algarrobo

Since the boys got an entire week off from school, we decided to make the most of it.  We first went to Maitencillo, which is a hippy surf town about 2 hours northwest of Santiago. Our plan was to find a parking spot by the beach and camp in the van for a few days. When we shared our plan with a school parent friend, he said "Oh, I have a good friend from school (K-12 school, not university), who lives in Maitencillo. Let me give you her number." So we message this lady, Carito, and she says, "Oh, you're interested in surfing, I am good friends with the owner of this surf shop that's right on the beach, let me give you his number and you can park there." And so that's what we did, we parked right next to this surf school that was right on the beach, and Drew and the boys took lessons there. Carito, along with her  husband and young son, also came to hangout at the beach with us one afternoon. This is how all things happen in Chile. A friend of a friend of a friend opens their arms to you with all the warmth and hospitality of a long lost bestie. But only if someone can vouch for you. If noone can vouch for you, game over. Now, that being said, there was plenty of parking at this particular beach, so would we have been fine on our own? Yes, yes we would have been. Did we have a better time getting to know the locals and enjoying their hospitality? Yes, yes we did.  

As is typical for the entire Chilean coastline, the water was FREEZING. Not to mention, it's really only springtime here, so it wasn't hot outside either. So the boys lasted about 15 minutes in the water with wet suits on. Drew surfed several more times, and he claimed he was perfectly comfortable with his wet suit on, but I didn't try.  This particular beach had a nice sand bottom with no rocks, which was very nice. It also had quite a large break father out that the expert surfers would do which was fun to watch. The boys stayed much farther in, basically riding the white wash. Drew would go somewhere in between. Both boys got up on the boards a couple of times, with the help of either Drew or the instructor Sebas riding on the back to keep the board steady. 

Emerson catching a wave!

Avery's turn!

Can't complain about the view!

On the second day we took a walk from our beach to another beach called Playa Aguas Blancas that was about a 40 min walk north. It was a pretty walk along the coastline, with lots of little beaches and rock outcroppings sprinkled along the way. One beach we passed had more perfectly intact sea shells than I have ever seen. Scallop shells, mussel shells, clam shells, it was incredible. There is some serious seafood in them there waters. 

On day 3, it was a bit windy and chillier, so Emerson spent some of his birthday money on a kite. He was obsessed and flew that thing for many hours. Kites are apparently a very traditional toy for Fiestas Patrias, so we saw lots of kite flying that week.

On Wednesday, our original plan was to head back to Santiago, so we could experience the Fiestas Patrias celebrations in the city. However, that previous Sunday, we had been invited by a family from Emerson's class to come stay with them at their family's apartment in Algarrobo. So, we drove straight from Maitencillo to Algarrobo, which is about 2 hours farther south along the coast. This is the same friend who connected us with the folks in Maitencillo. They have one son named Pascual. The beach at Algarrobo had beautiful white sand that was perfect for volleyball. However, the currents at this beach are apparently super strong, so no one is allowed to swim there at all. So you  can look at the pretty view, but you can't get in, not even just a bit. 

On Thursday, which was the actual Sept. 18th Fiestas Patrias, we went to The Fonda, which is the Chilean version of a carnival. It was free to get in, but once you're there, they nickel and dime you hard. It had lots of kiddie games, and you paid $2 per game with cheap prizes galore. We gave the boys $10 each and told them that's all they would get, so think about what you want to spend it on. That was a hard decision, jaja.

There were lots of inflatable bouncy houses and slides with the largest one, the Extreme Rush, being the boys' favorite.  The fonda also had pony and ATV rides, but we did not partake. 

We did partake in Terremotos (Earthquakes) for the first and last time. This is the traditional cocktail for Fiestas Patrias, and it consists of sweet white wine, grenadine, and pineapple ice cream. Would not recommend, but we had to try it once. Felices Fiestas Patrias! 

Fiestas Patrias en Escuela y Chile Lindo

Sept. 18th is the celebration of Chile's Independence day, similar to the 4th of July, which they call Fiestas Patrias. Basically the entire month of September is a celebration, and you see Chilean flags and banners everywhere. The boys would be getting the entire week off from school. Leading up to that, the school had several celebrations that were honestly my favorite part of Fiestas Patrias. Every class learned a specific dance from various regions throughout Chile, as well as one song, and they dressed the part with traditional Chilean outfits. The infant school, which is Kinder, Pre-K, and PlayGroup, put on their production on Friday, Sept. 5th. The boys in Avery's class dressed up like huasos, which are Chilean cowboys. They wear a felt hat, ponchos, and black boots. The girls wore various floral dresses. Their dance was the cueca, which is a very popular dance from central Chile. Traditionally the boys dance next to the girls, and they both wave handkerchiefs at each other, basically flirting with each other.  For Avery's class, they separated the boys and girls so they danced to different songs. Not sure if that was because they didn't want kids so young putting the puzzle pieces together or if it was just easier to teach them that way. Regardless, it was super cute, and we've been singing the songs and dancing the dances around the house for weeks now. It's easy to see why people in Latin countries have such better rhythm than us two left-footed gringos. They all learn early!  

Also for the celebration, each class had a "Paya" competition. A paya is like a little poem or funny limerick  that, in this case, celebrates the school. Avery and I wrote one in English, because I didn't have it in me to spend the time required to figure out a cute poem in Spanish. Well, our poem won, so we got to recite it at the celebration in front off everyone, as well as the other winners from the other two Kinder classes. Not sure why they picked a poem in English, and afterwards the HeadMistress even laughed that is was funny that there was an English paya during Fiestas Patrias. Maybe it was for publicity since this is technically a bilingual school? Whateves, we were just doing what we were told. Jajaja

Avery's class also got to celebrate with some fun games and empanadas afterwards. 

Emerson's class performance was the following Friday. His class dressed up with an outfit from the North, and they danced to the Membrillazo, which was a fun brass band song with lots of jumping and pompom swinging. Luckily one mom bought the outfits for the entire class so that they were all the same, and we simply had to pay her back. This certainly made my life much easier, as I was already sweating thinking about how I was going to find and buy the correct outfits for this. 

You can see all three 1st grade classes in this picture, dancing at the same time, but each with a different color: green, red, and blue. 

On Saturday, Sept. 6th, there was Fiestas Patrias fair called Chile Lindo at one of the parks down the street from our house. It cost about $7 per adult, and the kids were free! There was lots of music and traditional dancing. Below you can see these two performers dancing the Cueca for real. After the professionals danced, they opened up the stage for anyone to go try to dance the cueca. Our friend Antonio who is from Venezuela, so he doesn't know this dance, went up and had a lesson!

There was also a petting zoo with lots of unusual birds and reptiles to look at. 

Finally, there were little amusement park rides that the boys loved, as well as little games they could play like ring toss and knock over the cans. We got there right when it opened, and that was key, as there were no lines at all for probably the first hour. But after that, it got much busier, with long waits for the rides. It pays to be early here. Overall a very fun day. 

Hike up Manquehue and Avery's Birthday

A couple of weeks ago, Drew and I hiked up Cerro Manquehue, which is a mountain we can see very clearly from our terrace. Drew has an itch, thanks to Andy Taylor, to hike all of the distinct mountains we can see from our house. Not sure he'll accomplish that, as there are alot of BIG mountains we can see from our apartment, but Cerro Manquehue was a good place to start. Drew had actually hiked it once before with some Dads from school. He also hiked about 3/4 of it with the boys last summer, but he smartly turned around before the summit, as Chileans don't seem to believe in switch backs, and the last half mile or so is basically straight up. It is only a 3 mile hike round trip, but it takes 3 hours to do and has an elevation gain of almost 2,000 ft, so that should give you a sense of the steepness. Sturdy hiking boots are a must, and I'm super glad we had hiking poles for the way down. Doing this hike in the spring was nice because a recent rain made the ground kinda hard packed. When Drew did it in the summer, it was dry and dusty, which made the trek much more slippery and therefore treacherous. There is another hill you can summit from this same trail head called Manquehuito, and it's much more family friendly. Drew and the kids hiked this once with school friends a few weekends ago as well. We tried to do it again just this last weekend, which was immediately after the biggest snowfall of the winter. That means it didn't snow in the city, but the surrounding hills got a good dusting, and the high peaks got alot. Anyways, we thought the snow would keep the people away, because it was bound to be a muddy mess, but, quite the opposite, the entire city turned out to frolic in the snow. I suppose it's kinda rare for snow to come that close to the city, so it's an easy access novelty thing. Anyways, there were so many people we couldn't find any parking anywhere, so we had to abandon our efforts. Luckily the trailhead is only 15 min away from our house, so no biggie there. In contrast, when Drew and I hiked Cerro Manquehue without the kids, it was on a Thursday, and we had the place to ourselves. So, lesson learned, anyone who comes to visit and wants to do some hiking, we will go on a weekday. And bring your serious hiking shoes or else you won't have a good time.

Avery's 6th birthday was on August 16th. We celebrated over two days, well actually 3. His birthday was on a Saturday, and, luckily at the last Mom's night out for the Kinder class, another Mom realized Avery also had an August birthday, so she offered for Avery to join an already joint birthday with two other boys from his class, Gaspar and Santi. This was the most amazing thing for me, as these other two moms basically planned EVERYTHING, and literally all we did was show up and pay them our share. And the party was great. It was at the event room in the apartment building of one of the boy's family. The event room was attached to a garden that had a playground and a basketball court, and the weather the perfect. About half of the class came; normally there's more, but that Friday before was actually a holiday, and there was no school, so alot of families left town. But I didn't mind; it still meant there was about 50 people there, which was PLENTY. The other moms hired a fitness trainer to take the kids through some funny, silly exercises and games, which they loved. And they also hired a magician to do a show, which was also great. Every birthday boy got to stand up and be the magician's assistant for a bit, which was adorable. During Avery's section, the magician asked him to put three handkerchiefs, one red, one blue, and one white, into a hat, wave his magic wand, and then pull out all the handkerchiefs put together into the Chilean flag. When Avery pulled out the "flag," all of the kids immediately started laughing and saying the flag was wrong, but I had no idea what they were talking about. Emerson, who was sitting on my lap, kindly explained that the colors were in the wrong place! The blue is supposed to be around the star and the red was supposed to be at the bottom, not the other way around! Duh, Mom! The magician apologized for his mistake, asked Avery to redo the wand waving, and out came the correct flag with the colors in the proper places. It made me giggle, because, as a foreigner, it was not immediately obvious to me what was wrong, but our boys got it right away. It's amazing what they are picking up here. All in all, it was a perfect party.

So with that excitement on Saturday, we decided to make Friday the family celebration day. So Avery got his chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, followed by mac and cheese for lunch, and finally pizza and a chocolate cake with whipped cream for dessert. He actually wanted to decorate his own cake with an assortment of sprinkles and fruit, so he went to town. Thanks to everyone who called and messaged for his birthday; it was very special.

Finally, since Friday there was no school, he got to celebrate with his classmates in school on Monday, to which we brought donut holes, which are always a big hit. He also got to wear "street clothes" to school, which was also hit, of course.