Pretty Rocks

There will never be a day when my pictures do these places justice.

Please note: this trip took place at the beginning of May.

Spending endless hours in a bus looking out the window makes you notice things. Yes, a lot of the time it is all just rock, with little visible life, yet it is so gosh darn beautiful. 

Look at these pictures and say that it looks like planet earth. I dare you.

The weird rock-type things are a mixture of dried mud, salt, and other minerals. Also, those are flamingos.

The pictures above are of the Salar de Atacama ("Salt pan of Atacama"), where the air was so hot and so DRY that my skin was spiderwebbed within an hour. We were all actively evaporating. 

In fact, the desert is so maddeningly arid that throughout the trip I estimate 30% of the 38 exchange students had nose bleeds, including me.

Side note: I was in the DESERT of all places, yet I still managed to drop my phone in a waterfall. (Luckily it turns out my phone is water resistant for 30 min.)

But whatever, because swimming in a waterfall in a desert? Is life even real?

Not to mention there were cacti everywhere by the waterfall. In fact, one girl tried to "save" a baby cactus—becoming a human cactus in the process.

The Group

My favorite people: Ben, Liam, Lisa, Heidi, Madeline, Lotte ("Latte"), Anja, Mali, and Eleonor. 

Anyway, I loved the Atacama trip. Mayyyybe more than Patagonia?

We went stargazing, explored natural wonders, and visited sooooo many historical sites. 

The giant thingamabob in the red picture is a telescope.

Yet… I’ve already forgotten the majority of all the information all those tour-guides dumped on us. What I’m really going to remember is the laughter of my roommates as I doused our cabin with spray deodorant after the hiking day; the way I stood guard as my friend climbed onto the roof—scream-whispering “DOWN DOWN DOWN'' when people were approaching; or how my friends and I singing and dancing along to the restaurant music at lunch.

Cliche as it is, once again, the activities, or even the views, weren't the best part. It's the people that made it worth it. 

The first picture is not of the full group (it was just the girls). There were a looooooot of us.

Whether it was swapping/swiping sunglasses or hats, sharing water and portable chargers, random hugs/cuddles, singing our hearts out, or talking through all the traumas of exchange—we are something of a family. A very, very big family. With popular kids and outcasts, as always.

Climbing the death hill wouldn't have been worth it without Lisa (Germany); coffee & baguettes after the geysers wouldn't have had the same warm & fuzzy feeling without Lotte (Germany); the sunset over the mountains wouldn't have been as peaceful with anyone but Sofia (Canada); I wouldn't have played cards all night without Anja (U.S.); I wouldn't have belted out middle-school-era sad songs without Mali (Australia); and no one else but Liam (U.S.) would have had a rock-chucking competition with me. 

One of my favorite memories: we were all walking to the bus after lunch, and Lotte and I had our shoulders linked together. One by one, people joined until there was a line of maybe 9 of us stumbling down the road, laughing and having so much fun for absolutely no reason. We, as a group, are the definition of sober drunks. **No matter what I do, too many people consider me motherly??? Mali even said that for the past five days I’ve been like her mom. 

As always, there were times I was alone too (it’s what happens to a chronic wanderer). As someone who adores mountain biking, when we went to the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat)—a bike trail through the canyons—I wasn't slowing down for anybody (sorry, Lisa!). Heck no, that was my moment to prove just exactly how stupid/bold I can be. A biker’s dream, I tell you. Recommended. Did I fall twice? Yes (I blame the thick sand). But I took every single off-trail I saw, speeding ahead at every opportunity, screaming "VOY" and "MUEVETE" if anyone was ahead of me.

My favorite day of the trip. But... the guide took 2 wrong turns on the way back

so every one was super exhausted and a little... uhh... upset. 

Sometimes, "anyone" was a canine canyon companion. There were two free, unaccompanied dogs, who were INSANE climbers that reached heights at speeds I could’ve never imagined. Dogs of the Devil's Throat. I'm half-convinced they're getting paid to accompany bikers through the trails. 

This is one of  'em. Note: They gave me flashbacks to that one hike in Iloca, with Rox & Rookie.

While we're on the topic of dogs, there was one day when we all went shopping through the town and we met two boys (maybe 8 years old?) and a dog, and played soccer with them. And the dog was GOOD.

I swear, Chilean dogs are either ridiculously stupid or human-like intelligent, and there’s not much in between.

The exchange students + the 2 boys made a circle, passing the ball between each other, and the dog would be in the middle, intercepting the ball at every chance. The best part: after catching it, the dog would immediately drop the ball and wait for someone to kick it again.

RANDOM STUFFS

Honorable mention: the waitress of the restaurant we went to nearly every day for lunch. A SWEETHEART, who patiently explained all the dishes (I swear, reading menus in Spanish es una OTRA cosa)—she even took the time to talk to us after every meal.

Stupid little thing: walking through the town for the last time, there was a little basket on the side of the road, with a sign saying “Tome de Regalo” (“Take as a gift”), filled with brown bags. We didn’t have time, so I took one without looking closely, even though it was a little wet on the bottom. I eventually, cautiously, smelled it—only to find it was freshly-ground coffee!!! SCORE! It got through security at the airport, and when I got home, I brought it, a bit sheepishly, to my host mom. I knew if it was salvageable, it would be salvaged. We left it overnight by the woodfire stove to dry, and in the morning, we had some of the most fantastic coffee I’ve had in Chile (though Indonesia is still winning). I RARELY see businesses give stuff away for free just for the sake of avoiding waste—but it should 100% be commonplace. (Too Good to Go is an app that you should all download—trust me).

Little thought: I don’t like that in Spanish, you say “conozco” (“I know”) when you want to say “I’ve been there”. I KNOW my home, the way to my school, places I’ve stayed in for months at a time—because I can navigate them with my eyes closed. It feels wrong to say the same thing about a place where I’ve merely left a few footprints.

Thank you for reading!!! ❤️

Have a lovely day, and look at some pretty rocks.

+ bonus pic!