Live from Balsliago, Chile: Fantasilandia

I once again apologize for the low frequency of updates and will strive for a higher frequency. To be honest though, we really didn’t have too much to update until this weekend. Regardless, we just now had our first day on the job so we should be able to develop more of a routine from here on out.

On Tuesday night, we met with a Chilean friend, Valentina, for an intercambio (exchange). In a nutshell, an intercambio is an exchange with a Chilean that wants to improve their English, and so we talk for one hour in English and one hour in Spanish. Valentina’s English is currently better than our Spanish, but she did have one minor, humorous slip-up. After she was talking about how bad the area is surrounding her apartment, I wanted to test her knowledge of a common English statement. I leadingly told her, “You better watch out because the bad people may stab you with a _______?????” She triumphantly replied “A napkin!”

In an effort to make the most of our time off, we decided to take a trip to the Baños Morales on Thursday. Baños Morales are popular hot springs that are about 2 hours outside of the city. Going off of our friends advice to “take the bus until the last stop and you will be dropped off right in front of the hot springs”, we boarded the bus. We patiently waited until the last stop and stepped off the bus and onto some fertile hitchhiking land. I say this because there was hardly anything in sight that we could give mankind credit for building. The bus had already taken off and so we were at the mercy of Lady Luck to guide us back home. After about 30 minutes, another bus finally came and picked us up, and also alerted us that the hot springs were only open on Saturday and Sunday. Overall, a failed trip but we did enjoy some nice scenery and some fresh air outside of the smoggy city that we call home.

On Saturday, we went to an amusement park with two of our friends, one being an American, John, and the other being his Chilean girlfriend, Mari. I really didn’t know what to expect from Fantasialandia, but it was a pleasant surprise. They call rides “games” and also games “games” so it is easy to get confused between the two. We were at the park for about 7 hours, which allowed us to trial about 15 different rides. There was one ride, The Evolution, where it was difficult to apply the typical roller coaster rationale that no matter how scary, you would remain unscathed. The Evolution didn’t care about our feelings and the turns followed by the flips followed by the reverses were reminiscent of what one may experience at zero gravity. Conflictingly, every last molecule in our body wanted to obey the Law of Apple and the surge of adrenaline from this contradiction was reminiscent of what one may experience when watching Rocky run up the steps to Eye of the Tiger. We survived.

Outside of Fantasilandia

Being a Kansasite, Katie couldn't pass this picture up.

Katie and Stephen waiting in line for the days' first roller coaster and many more to come.

Our friends John and Mari crossing the finish line in first place.

This was a ride that we went on that flipped us many times and then at the end sprayed us in the face with freezing cold water. Not the ride I was referring to up above.

"For smiling in line" is what the text says below the little kid. Evidently, he didn't learn from smiling in line the first time. Ha, we were trying to get a picture of just Stephen and the little boy wouldn't leave.

After the amusement park, Mari’s parents were kind enough to invite us over to enjoy some authentic Chilean food. I don’t remember the exact name of what we ate. It was a soupy dish containing beans and corn with a piece of steak in the middle. Sounds pretty simple but it was delicious. There were six of us surrounding the table, but a little poodle named Dylan (pronounced Dee-lan and named after Bob Dylan) was persistently trying to make it seven. They would try and discipline Dylan with sharp, verbal commands to get down from the table and then reward the perro with human food from the table. Needless to say, Dylan was confused by the mixed signals and kept his paws on the prize. This whole scenario was like déjà vu to me as I’ve seen this same thing happen at the Balsley Household with the beneficiary being a Min Pin that goes by the name of Nelly Balsley. Mom or dad will never come completely clean as to whom the culprit is, but I found out that this Catch 22 is not culturally exclusive to any one country.

On Sunday, Mari’s parents were still not tired of us and invited us to join them on a side trip to Pomaire. Pomaire is about 2 hours outside of Santiago and is famous for earthenware pottery that they make. Devastated by the earthquake in February of 2010, this small town has since rebuilt and is alive and well.

Shortly after we arrived, it was time for lunch and it was a good one. After taking salivating glances towards the other tables at the dish we would eventually get, the suspense was over and it arrived. The contraption that was placed in front of us looked like a mini-cauldron that was filled with heated coals to keep the frying surface above sizzling. On the frying surface was a plethora of meat including a couple varieties of pork, steak, chicken, chorizo, blood that tasted like Mom’s Meatloaf in a good way, and intestines. All the meat, though we may have to single the intestines out, was extremely tasty and succulent. They called the intestines “interiors”, but the name change didn’t fool Katie and she politely refused the offering. The interiors weren’t horrible. They were rather gamy and tasted, well, like you may imagine intestines would taste like.

After lunch, we visited a few more shops looking at all of the pottery. The pottery included cookware, bowls, candleholders, ashtrays, pigs, fire hydrants, and an abundance of other items. Walked around a little bit more and then we did the 2-hour trek back home to do some lesson planning.