Mama Comes to Chile

I haven't blogged in so long, must be a sign of a busy last few weeks...make that past month!

My mom came to visit me for 10 days the 8th-18th of November, we had a blast while she was here! We were so busy! I got to spend more time with my host family since they were so incredibly hospitable to my mom while she was here.

The morning she arrived I was with my friend Kylie since her mom was traveling with my mom. We got in a taxi at 5:45am to catch our bus to Santiago at 6. I am not familiar with Santiago, so the week before my host mom helped me a lot writing me directions for the day we would spend there. When we arrived in Santiago at the bus station, Pajaritos, we had to ask around as to where our connecting bus to the airport was. We finally made it to the airport where we waited outside of customs for over an hour and we welcomed them to Chile with NesCafe in hand :]

We then continued on our way back on the bus from the airport to a different bus terminal where my mom and I could store our luggage for the day before our bus to Pucón.

We said our goodbyes to Kylie and her mom as they ventured back to Viña.

We took the directions from my host mom and took off to explore Santiago and catch up on the past 3 months.

My poor mom had been traveling all day, she was such a trouper. We got off the metro and explored central part with la Moneda. We found a place for lunch-where she had her first cortado- and continued to explore around. It was along day but we saw a few sights and ate at some great little restaurants. At the end of the day we found this little back alley full of cute little restaurants where we had our first glass of wine together as well as her first experience with manjar :]

 

We made it back to the bus station and waited for our bus which we took to Pucón overnight. We made it to the bus terminal where German, the man in charge of our hostel, picked us up and brought us to our hostel. It was this quaint little place with an incredible view of the volcano. We rested up for the day, explored the little town that was made up of restaurants, tourism agencies, and shops. The scenery was a lot like MN! That night we went to Las Termas Polzones where we sat in natural hot springs under the stars. 

The following day we cooked breakfast and went to the National Park Huerquehue to do some hiking. We weren't able to see much but it was nice to get out of the city and see the forest and lakes. 

The next day we decided to go to Volcan Villarrica. We didn't want to climb the whole way up so we opted for climbing half way up, treking around the side and descending to the natural lava caves. Our guide Patti was awesome, she was so patient with us and using the little English she knew to speak to my mom. With the mix between altitude and huge plastic ski boots, the climb was really difficult and at one point we had to scale the side slipping and falling every other step and hanging on the branches for dear life. I don't think we were ever so happy to get to the bottom- but then we walked through caves. They were really pretty, made from cooling lava when the volcano had erupted. Inside was really beautiful and I did my best translating for my mom. We had accomplished all of that by 2:00 in the afternoon, quite the accomplishment!

 After we returned to the hostel, we cleaned up and napped. We went out to a restaurant called Mama's and Tapas and stayed there the rest of the night. It was a great last night

The next day we got up and enjoyed the day before our bus came- my mom took advantage of the great view and great weather and sat outside while I stayed in our cozy living area and did homework.

That night we went to the bus station to commence our bus ride back to Viña. We had a great time in Pucón. It was nice to get away for awhile and spend time with my mom and see a completely different side of Chile. I'm so proud of myself that everything went off without a hitch between the public transportation, booking hostels and playing translator through it all. It really allowed me to see how my Spanish has improved- or at least being confident enough to communicate and get by. 

Staying in a hostel was a great time as well because we met a lot of interesting people from all over the world and one of the best parts was being able to cook and get a little taste of my mom's cooking after 3 months without it!

The bus ride home was a long one and when we arrived groggy in Viña, we took a taxi back to my house where my mama was awake and we all had breakfast together before I had to run to catch the bus. Here's the thing: my host mom speaks little English and my mom speaks no Spanish...but it all worked out and they found their own way of communicating! My mama took my mom to the beach with the dog and say some of the sights while I was gone. My sister was also really helpful and sat with her for awhile and spoke English to her. I will be forever grateful for the generosity and hospitality they showed her. We got her checked into her hotel when I got back where the owner, Mario, took a liking to my mom and he was at the bud of our jokes the rest of the week. Unfortunately I had an important presentation that week so I was working hard on that and trying to accommodate to my mom being there. Given the circumstances, we had a great week! 
That night my mom came over for once (our version of dinner made up for tea and a little food). It was great to converse and mix my two families. 
The next day I went to school and came back to my mom's hotel to go to St. Peter's. I had a lesson planned for that day so it was the perfect day for my mom to come and see the place my class. For lunch, we met up with Valentina at a pizza place close to our house where we treated my mom and sister to lunch, it was super rico! That night was the final Chile national soccer game for the season so both my moms and I went to meet up with some gringos at a nearby bar named OH. We had a fantastic time, Chile won, and my moms polished off 2 pitchers of "cerveza artesenal" 

The next day we went to Valpo for a class trip to the Congreso Nacional. Kylie and my mom came along and after our tour, we headed out to explore Valpo for a couple hours. We ate lunch at a cute cafe and walked around the artesanias then came back for once. We then headed to Starbucks with Sam to work on our project. It was a low-key night. 

Thursday was the best, my mom came to my University with me, nice and early, to watch my presentation about Chilean dances through the 19th century, in Spanish. She was impressed :] After I was done with classes for the day we could finally have fun, the weekend began! We went to the beach after we had lunch with my family for a few hours, finally taking advantage of the sun. We came back home where we had an incredible dinner with Emilio, Elsa and Vale. Our Peruvian housekeeper made us a typical Peruvian dish along with Pisco Sour and wine. We had the best time. And my mom had brought some gifts for them from home that they loved- especially the sweater for Manchi :] claro que si 

After we finished our dinner and drinks, my mom, Vale and I went to Hollywood to meet up with some gringas. 

 The following day, we went to lunch with my family in Reñaca for empanadas with a great view of the ocean. It was a perfect last day. We drove Vale to the school she teaches at the ran back home to grab my mom's luggage and head to the airport.

Having my mom here in Chile was really stressful but at the same time, I am so grateful that she was able to come. It made for one of the best weeks in my time here. She'll understand where I am coming from when I am back home depressed and missing everyone here in Chile. I had the BEST time with my host family while she was here as well. My host mom and sister really enjoyed her company and I am glad my two families were able to meet and get along great.