My first Curranto

After my trip to Bariloche I managed to catch a mean case of Bronchitis. So this past week I have been indoors and resting (two things I am admittedly not a fan of). During my wait to get back to running and my usual workouts my family obliged me with a curranto...

Unfortunately my 8 or so months as a vegetarian had to come to an end with my arrival to Chile. Simply put, the people of Chiloé do not believe in fruits and vegetables and therefore it is almost impossible to get enough protein without consuming meat once in a while. On the upside, the meat in Chiloé is one of a kind. The livestock and poultry are treated to a standard that is a hundred times higher than the best organic farm in the United States and you can taste the difference in quality. Happy cows = healthy meat. However, I am looking forward to returning to my vegetarian diet when I head back to the US!

As of right now it has rained for 2 months straight on the island of Chiloé, with glimpses of the occasional sunlight. I am not a fan of the constant rain and have already reached the conclusion that I could never live in a place that has continuous rain after this stint at volunteering. I respect the rain and the water for all it provides, but I don't like it constantly pounding my house and not being able to see the bright smile of the sun when I wake!

For curranto education...see below

Bienvenido a Bariloche!

This past week was spent in the snow-caped mountains of Bariloche, Argentina. A city known for its beautiful scenery and tasty chocolate. The drive in on the bus was a once in a lifetime experience, with each winding turn emerged a new lake surrounded by beautiful mountains filled with lush green canopies.

I ran up one of the local peaks (Cerro Otto) twice during my stay and had a very lengthy run along the lake as well. Running up Cerro Otto was a beautiful experience. The mountain was covered in snow and the trail loosely defined in the winter, which gave me the opportunity to make my own way up the local slant. The runs were followed by a trip to the local chocolate factories and then a visit to a local brewery for some great brew.

Bariloche is an amazing place to live if you are an outdoor enthusiast. With tons of routes to climb, mountains to run, lakes to kayak and trails to hike...mountaineers can't go wrong with this Patagonian gem. It reminds me of Flagstaff, Arizona or a slightly smaller Boulder, Colorado.

Snowboarding on the top of Cerro Catedral

Rule number one of chocolate making...you need a good mustache

Bariloche has some amazing graffiti and street art

As well as some amazing local brew at Cerveceria Manush!

One of the many amazing views from the top of Cerro Otto

In Dalcahue, Chiloé! A runners paradise.

After a long week of orientation in Santiago, Chile I am finally in my placement town of Dalcahue, Chiloé. A small and quaint fishing village located on the beautiful and lush landscaped island of Chiloé.  I will be teaching at a local high school in the capital city of Castro.

The people of Chiloé are humble, warm, and genuine. They welcome complete strangers in with open arms and friendly smiles. The town itself is a small niche in a sea of green hills and farms, surrounded by endless ocean. 

The rain and wind is relentless on Chiloé, but when the clouds slowly dissipate and the sun is allowed to shine his warmth upon the rolling hills....Chiloé looks a little something like this:

I took my first decent run today (being so busy in Santiago I barely had time for a quick jog), but in Chiloé....there is plenty of time to soak up the pleasant aroma of burning fire wood as you run through the country side. It is not common for people to run in Chiloé, so this explains the perturbed looks as I zipped past locals. The people, however, perplexed and surprised, greeted me with big smiles and warm 'holas'. Chiloé is a beautiful place indeed. A musicians dream land to compose, a writers dream land to write, and a runners dream land to run. For all the rain and clouds that constantly cover the sky, Chiloé has an abundance of warmth and happiness to keep anyone content.

I am here : Estoy aquí!

Just landed in Santiago this morning. I found it almost impossible to get decent sleep on the flight, so as soon as I stepped into the apartment I am staying at, the blinds where down and a 2 hour nap followed. After I woke up I took a stroll around downtown Santiago. Since my checked bags are still in Miami (for some reason they did not board the plane with me, I hear this is a common occurrence for arriving international flights) I needed to find myself a couple things to hold me over till tomorrow.

First impression of centro Santiago: Imagine a Manhattan on steroids, layered with a thick blanket of some tantalizing blend of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and sulfur. The city has just as much hustle as New York, with twice the congestion and twice the smell. With almost every turn of the corner I found my nostrils inviting either wonderful smelling street food (empanadas y sopaipillas) or knee buckling mixtures of awful stench (???).  As with any big city people move fast, heads down and destinations in mind. However, unlike any big American metropolis I have been too, Chileans seem to congregate in these awesomely big groups of friends (at least young Chileans). Cigarettes in hand, smiles, and jokes all around.

I passed by many carabineros (Chilean police) and have to say their entire persona is very intriguing. I've read and watched a good amount of their involvement with the ongoing student protests in Chile and just like the abuse that took place and is taking place during the Occupy Wall Street events, there is even more of that here in Chile. Carabineros literally look like standing military. Either on horseback, motorcycle, foot, or giant caravan, these elite Chilean law enforcers wear bullet proof vests and definitely look like they will not think twice about embracing the back of your head with the front of their night stick. There are tons of them throughout the streets, I have not seen a city with so many viewable police officers!

The sun is now gently setting over the smoggy horizon and there is a strange sense of comfort I have in this foreign city. Chileans are so welcoming and understanding (even as you butcher their native language and look perplexed when they give you directions at 100mph mouth speed), that it is easy for anyone to feel at ease in Santiago. I still could never imagine living in a huge city for an extended period of time (I need some green trees, blue skies, open trails and fresh air), but Santiago is definitely a place to get to know and I am looking forward to doing just that over this next week!

As soon as my luggage gets to me I will be off and running the city...planning to cover as much ground as I can before I head down to Los Lagos. Voy a explorar Santiago a noche ahora! (I'm off to explore Santiago by night)

Santiago de Chile

Counting to Infinity

The closer my departure date gets, the more the restlessness builds. A mix of excitement, curiosity, naivety, and anticipation is all being stirred around simultaneously in the cauldron between my ears. I suppose this is normal for anyone moving to a new country!

I've been having my fair share of those future predicting deja vu mental scenarios lately. Vivid scenes that have me exploring a street in downtown Santiago or running up a volcano in Los Lagos. The mind definitely is not shy about showing the body where it wants to go! The connection between mind and body is something 'ultra' runners come to know very well. I have found many parallels between aspects of life and lessons I've learned while spending 6+ hours shuffling on my feet in search of the next aid station. One of them being this deep sense of continuity between what I'm thinking and what I'm doing. Often in life we find our minds running (no pun intended) at Usain Bolt speed, with a variety of thoughts flowing in and out, having no necessary relation to what we are actually doing at that moment. This is not the case when I am running for an extended distance. At a certain milage my outside thoughts fade and my sole mental being becomes intertwined with each stride and successive foot strike. This awareness is comparable to what many athletes consider to be the 'in the zone' feeling. However, there is most definitely something unique about this certain mental and physical blend of heightened consciousness achieved during long distance runs.

I believe the feeling is best described to outsiders as a sort of 'counting to infinity'. Simply start counting, with absolutely no goal in mind, by the time you blink and realize you've been staring blankly at the carpet repeating the number one hundred and fifty seven over and over again...the moment just before you realized what it was you were doing, is precisely what it feels like to enter this zen-like state of perception while running.

With 2 days before I leave for Chile and embark on this journey, leaving all that I know behind and stepping on that plane, it most definitely feels like I'm counting to infinity.

Packing for Chile!

Preparing for Chile! Currently, I am working on packing (which admittedly I am finding extremely difficult) for my move to Chile, where I will be volunteering to teach English with the English Opens Doors program. Excited would be a vast understatement, as I cannot wait to run, climb, backpack, write and explore the entirety of this beautiful country. I will be teaching somewhere in the Los Lagos Region, home to the massive Osorno and Villarica volcanoes...which hopefully (fingers crossed) are both runnable, with a pair of micro-spikes and a hint of "ganas".  

Volcán Villarrica (9,341ft)

Volcán Osorno (8,701ft)