Orientation Weekend

I am going to start this week's blog post with the negative. Monday morning as I ran to school and sprinted down the stairs, I rolled my ankle. It scared the crap out of me just because I have done it so many times. At first it appeared to be bad but over the course of the week it has heeled nicely and I think that in two-three days I'll be about 95 percent. But I am not even going to talk about this another second. 

This weekend I had my second Rotary orientation with the people from my district. About a month back I asked my friends in Coyhaique who went on exchange last year if they wanted to come with me. ROTARY ALLOWED IT! So, Max from Germany, Weston from the US, and Oscar, Michelle, and Nicole from Chile were going up north to Chillán together! During Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday my mind was completely preoccupied with this. I was so excited. Finally, Thursday came and all of us packed our stuff into a little car and headed an hour south to Balmaceda Airport where we were depart. The difference between us and the rest of the district in regards to the orientation was that we live SUPER far away. For the rest it was a 2 day shindig. For us it was 5 days. 

We left Balmeceda at about 11:30 and landed in Puerto Montt an hour later only to be greeted by a two incredibly nice Rotarians. What I found out next was that we were going to spend the entire day in Puerto Montt and we could do whatever we want! The two Rotarians drove us all to the mall to eat and after that we were free to go. We spent the first hour of our free time in the mall. They had a very nice guitar shop that half of us checked out while the other half went shopping. After the mall we headed outside and walked along the ocean to take pictures. Puerto Montt is really beautiful. Its a city right off the coast with about 200,000 people. After taking pictures and getting our hair ruined from the wind Oscar asked if we wanted to go to Puerto Varas, another city. The difference between Rotary in the US and here is exactly this. We literally had the freedom to do whatever we felt like until 7 o'clock. In the US traveling alone is very prohibited and you are constantly monitored. I kind of like this way better. So we hopped on a bus for a dollar and some change. It was about a 30 minute bus ride and I slept through most of it. In Puerto Varas we went to the supermarket to get food for the upcoming bus ride to Los Angeles and we went to a traditional Chilean market where I bought a pin for my jacket. Unfortunately I didn't have anymore money and I couldn't get anything more than that. It started to rain a little bit but we just enjoyed the smell of the rain and the ocean together instead of getting mopey about it. Like Puerto Montt the city is right off the ocean. We took some pictures by the sea and then found an ice cream place where we hung out for about an hour while waiting for our mom for the day to return from work. She picked us up there and took us to her house for dinner. Her house is beautiful. It is four floors and very well taken care off. Dinner was a wonderful mixture of classic chilean snack food and we were and then we just relaxed. There was a Rotary event in the basement and one of the daughters of the Rotarians was our age and came over to hang out. We hung out listened to music, danced, talked, and then finally repacked and said goodbye. Next stop Los Angeles. 

Our bus left at about 11 o clock and arrived at 6:30. Unlike the rest of my friends I could not sleep at all. I tried and tried but it just wasn't happening. I ended up reading Harry Potter and just closing my eyes for most of the time. But the the seat leaned back so it really wasn't all that bad. We were greeted once again by a group of incredibly friendly Rotarians. Rotarians that I recognized from my previous orientation. This time around with Rotarians, we were all going to spend the night. Because there were five of us and it was too much to all stay in one house we divided into 3 houses. I was alone in a house with 18 year old and 12 year brothers and a very kind mother and father. I ate breakfast with the mom and the kids and then went to bed to catch 2.5 hours of shut eye. At 10:30 my mom for the day took me into the city to check it out. It was a beautiful day. The first time I could wear t-shirt and shorts. To her though it was very average and if not even a little chilly. We went to the supermarket to buy food for the orientation and also to the bank to pick up some cash. I found out during this time the the 18 year old was having a birthday party that night and I was invited. I lucked out. At 4 I met up with the Oscar, Nicole, and Michelle at the mall. We ate and walked around but we did not do anything special. Then when we exited the mall we saw a little street show. It was a very slapstick classic chilean humor type of show. I didn't really understand most of the jokes but it was funny to watch other people laughing at them. At 7:30 I headed back to the house for the party! About 15 people were there and it was perfect for me. I got to meet people that were my age in a different city AND they knew three of the other exchangers in my district because they were in their classes. We danced, ate great food, and sang (literally, I played guitar and everybody sang) until about 1 when I elected to go to bed as I would be waking up at 6 the next morning. 

I was not a happy camper waking up at 6 in the morning, and then I remembered that the orientation I had waited weeks to go to was finally here! It was a quick breakfast turnaround and repack and before I knew it I was in the car to the bus station. At the bus station I was reunited with 3 other people in the district along another Rotex (like Oscar, Michelle, and Nicole). I also met the other Rotex that would be joining us for the first time. Even though I was running on very little sleep, I had so much energy. I was so excited to be reunited with everyone. The bus ride was two hours long and I sat next to my friend Kobie. We spoke Spanish the whole which was pretty cool considering we are both from the US. When we arrived in Chillán slowly people started to show up. At first there were no Rotarians and no one knew what to do. So basically it was 8 kids just sitting at the bus station without a clue of what to do. Once we found the adults waiting for us we met up with the rest of the group in bursts. We all made our way to the bus that would later take us to our orientation and we hung out here for about 30 minutes waiting for the last three people, one of which is my best friend in the group Nathan. When I saw them walking towards us I ran as fast as I could and jumped on him and gave him a giant hug. Missed that bro. We had 4 new members to the district 4355 crew and all of us got comfortable and introduced and finally we began the journey into nature to get to our cabañas in Las Trancas where we would be staying. 

The bus ride was one of the weirdest experiences of my life. So for the past two months, I have used english two times and they were both with Max (the german in my town). Obviously I have used it in Skype and Facebook but only two times face to face. All of a sudden 18 people were all speaking english to each other. It was so overwhelming. It was like I had 10 cups of coffee. I just couldn't control myself. For the first time in 2 months I understood every word that was said and I had a voice. I will get touch on this topic a little later on. 

All of us on the bus

Upon arrival at Las Trancas, the first thing I noted was that I finally was experiencing summer heat. Where I live it is still jacket and pants weather. We are talking 70-80 and not a cloud in the sky all weekend. It was beautiful. The next thing I noted was that with the 80 weather we were surrounded by snow capped mountains. It was such a paradox. We all hauled our things into our 3 different cabañas and had about an hour to settle ourselves before lunch. Lunch was traditional chilean empanadas and meat. During lunch we had lots of good conversation in English and broken Spanish. I just feel at home when I'm with this group of people. After lunch we all went for a walk around Las Trancas and even though it was a 20 minute walk and the views were nothing different than what we could see from where we were staying I used it as a good way to talk and get to know one of the other Rotex, Javiera. She went to Canada last year and learned French and English, very cool. 

During the rest of the day there was a lot of just hanging out, talking, playing guitar, and best of all DRINKING MATÉ! The 5 Patagonians got to share the culture of maté with our friends to the north. Watching everyone drink it for the first time was pretty comical considering the taste is pretty bitter but after a while it seemed that just about everyone had gotten used to it and everyone always wanted more and more and more! It is my favorite drink in the whole world so I was happy everyone else seemed to like it. After dinner we had a presentation of talents from all the different students. I sang two songs that I wrote. One kid debated at the speed of light using the spread technique. Another student spoke in 5 different languages. Others sang. My fellow Coyhaiquian completed a rubix cube in 47 seconds. Others danced. And finally the 5 Rotex did a dance they put together in the kitchen. Following that Michelle, Nicole, and I danced Chamamay (no idea how to spell it) which is traditional to Patagonia. This was another great opportunity to share our culture. After the presentation we had a half hour to socialize. The stars were absolutely amazing. Unfortunately all the lights were on. I cannot imagine how beautiful they would have been without any lights around. I used my half hour of social time as an opportunity to sit on the porch and play guitar. Javiera and Katei (an American) sat and listened to me. It was very peaceful and a great way to spend my time. At 12:30 we all went to our cabañas and prepped ourselves to sleep. Us men ended up living the night until 3 talking in a very interesting mixture of Spanish, German, and English. I was the first one to go to bed because I was planning on checking out the sunrise at 7 o clock while the others slept until 9:30 breakfast time. 

Playing an original song

One of the Rotarian and
Nicole dancing the national dance
for the talent show. 

After 5 different alarms went off letting me know it was sun rise time, I finally was up and out at 6:55. Although tired, I was ready for some kick but sun rise, guitar in hand. I found a spot behind a cabaña and started playing my guitar. It was cold out and I was definitely about 30 minutes at least from any sunlight but it was peacefulness at it's definition. After about five minutes I was accompanied by Javiera, the girl that went to Canada last year. I played guitar and we talked for about half an hour when finally the sun peaked over the mountain. It was stellar. It was so slow and fast at the same time and before I knew it I had to take my sweater off from the morning heat. We talked for about 2.5 hours until it was time for breakfast. It was a really special way to get to know someone I knew nothing about. We were disconnected from wifi and phones and just had the mountains and ourselves to talk to. 

Breakfast was your classic chilean bread, ham, avocado, and tomato. After breakfast we had some orientation to take care of. We had two written quizzes. They were basic comprehension stuff so I personally had no problem. I think there were a few others who probably struggled. I am surprised at the rate some of the people in the group are improving. I guess it really comes down to how much work you put into it. Next up was drink maté till we couldn't drink no more and that led us into presentation of our countries. This was very funny. All of us were supposed to bring one thing from our country. We did a short presentation to the rest of the group and at the end every group sand their respective national anthems. Very fun and informative experience for all. Following this, our lunch. It was like a cooking class but all the work was done for us and all we had to do was chop up vegetables. Either way it was fun and we had a very informal meal filled with sopaipillas (chilean fried dough with a spicy topping) and chicken. It was basically the last thing on the menu for all of us so even though it was fun at the time. It was incredibly bitter sweet. 

'Murica!

We had an hour to get all of our things next to the bus and we also used this time to take pictures with our friends and enjoy the 75 degree sun one more time. For some they would be returning to more heat if not more. I would be returning to 50 degrees and a great chance of rain. During the bus ride back I was wiped. I was half asleep almost the whole way. The next two hours went by really fast. First we arrived in Chillán. Then we said goof by to the first part of our group. Next was the walk to the train station where we sat for 30 minutes baking in the heat and talking. Before I knew it, the weeks of anticipation and excited to see my friends and go on this orientation was over and I was heading back on a bus to Los Angeles. 

Max and I with the Rotex

Javiera and I 

I am going to shorten the last two days because I have already written so much so if you are still reading this, thank you for your patience. We spent the rest of the day with the Rotex and the students from Los Angeles: Mialen, Kobie, and Javiera. We went to a mall for a little while to eat but it was a Sunday and was closed very shortly. After the mall we all went to our host families in LA to get our luggage and head to the train station for another 7 hour bus ride starting at 12. We were met in Puerto Montt by the same family at 8 and spent the rest of the day with them. Max, Oscar, and I seized the day and walked around the city while the girls slept and when we returned a very traditional and tasty chilean lunch was awaiting us. At 3 we headed to the airport and then it seriously done. I was in my house by 6. 

Sunrise view from the bus station in Puerto Montt

This picture sums up our weekend: Puerto Montt

The whole weekend--traveling, the orientation, staying with different families etc--was honestly was of the most fun times I have ever had. Over the 4 days the 5 of us from Coyhaique grew together like a family. We just cannot wait for the next orientation. The actual group at the orientation is already a family. We could literally spend the entire year together. I just got so lucky with the group I am with. Because it's only 18 people we really have the opportunity to get to know everyone. Finally, the families that I stayed with were so nice and I really felt at home. I have a house to stay in anytime I go to Puerto Montt and Los Angeles. Thank you for reading everything…I love Rotary.