CHILOE!!!

Castro is not just a district in San Francisco covered with rainbow colored flags. Castro is also a town on the island of Chiloe covered in houses on stilts. Chiloe is an island in Chile that originally was a stronghold of the Mapuches, but I think that the Spaniards and Germans eventually made sure that the Mapuches didn’t have a stronghold anywhere and then I think racism took care of the Mapuches. Chiloe has lots of weird stories surrounding it. For example, there is a one-legged gnome/troll who lives on Chiloe and will get young unwed girls pregnant. There are also brujas, who were jackets that are made from the skin of virgins turned inside out. To become a bruja, you have to kill a close relative and do other evil things. But killing the close relative is key.
Sadly, we did not see any brujas or one-legged gnomes while on Chiloe. Nor did we see penguins. We did see sea lions and some birds and lots of fish and alpaca wool. And cows. And the eclipse!
Okay, rewind.
We managed to survive the two hour plane flight down to Puerto Montt, where we got on a bus to the bus station, where we got on a bus that got on a ferry that took us to Ancud and then the bus that was on the ferry took us from Ancud to Castro. In other words, we traveled from 9 to 5, which we were not expecting. After we finished traveling and had arrived, we set off without map or guidebook to find our hostel, which was a place called Hospedaje El Molo that looked out across the bay of Chiloe and was located down some very steep stairs. After examining the room, which had three beds slightly larger than twin, but not quite queen, we went to go find sea kayaking. Which we found and reserved for the next day, then we went out to dinner had some very cheap, very good fish and marveled over how big the almost full moon was. Then we went to go make hot chocolate. But the lady at the Mini-Market misled us and sold us chocolate filled with nasty stuff that was supposed to taste like liquer but just tasted nasty. So we made hot milk and tried to deal with the chocolate as we pleased and then we slept.
The next morning, I wandered around Chiloe for a half hour and decided that it looked exactly like Fort Bragg. And that the people were like Fort Bragg people. It made me happy and at home. I met up with Kara and Araceli back at the hostel and we headed down to the water to find the kayaks. We managed to find the kayaks but the guide was missing, so the man who ran the kayak place let us go out exploring on our own, which was wonderful. We spent four hours paddling down the bay and back and now my back and arms are very sore and my legs are red to the point of becoming purple. But we arrived back alive and managed to explore some of the coastline of this gorgeous island. Upon our return, we grabbed some food and then showered and then shopped. And I managed to buy all my family presents! Yay! On a scale of 1 to 10, that day rates a pretty awesome. Only to be supplemented by a fairly good dinner (more fish), during which we realized there was no moon. And as Kara and I were debating the logistics of waxing and waning, we realized that it was the middle of the eclipse! It was awesome. So we all frantically pulled out our camaras and tried to take pictures and all failed. But it was pretty to watch. Then, we sat down, I gave Kara and Araceli a massage and we went to bed early again.
In the morning, we checked out and went to catch our bus. Spent some time wandering around Puerto Montt and sitting the airport, but got back on the plane safely and happily, despite the really annoying couple sitting next to me. And returned home. So I would say, that was a pretty stellar weekend. In fact, I think that was the best trip I’ve taken. I’m glad the next trip is to Torres del Paine, which is going to be crazy intense. Kara and I have been kind of planning which is fun to think about in any case. In further news, my host family for next quarter sounds awesome! I mean, my future host dad likes “The Electric Koolaid Acid Test.” I don’t think that many Chileans can say that.