Spirit of the People

I’m amazed at the spirit of the Chilean people, in both friends and complete strangers. The welcome I’ve received from my friends in Santiago is so generous that I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. For the moment, I’m staying with my friend Claudio in a suburb outside of Santiago. He has opened his home to me and introduced me to friends around the city. Their hearts and minds are open to helping me find my way in the city, as well as correcting the numerous mistakes I make when attempting to speak Spanish :) In strangers, I see the enormous amount of respect that Chilean’s have towards women and the elderly. On several different occasions, I’ve seen both children and adults give up their seat on the subway for a woman or an elderly person. However, there are also a few crazy people on the subway. Last night, for example, there was a man who was singing at the top of his lungs. He was singing the fight song for the national soccer team, but he switched the lyrics up so that the song was funny. The whole ordeal was quite amusing! A woman and I kept making eye contact, causing us to explode with laughter! By the time we exited the train, both of our eyes were filled with tears!

To elaborate more on the character of Chileans, the protest last week was truly amazing. Nearly 300 people gathered in Plaza Italia to sing, dance, play drums, and express their discontent over the new laws regarding seeds for local crops. I witnessed a unity between people who are not afraid to stand up for their beliefs. Even children attend the protest, carrying signs and dancing next to their parents.

Last Wednesday some friends and I traveled to Las Chilcas, a beautiful climbing area outside Santiago. I’ve experienced some pretty gnarly approaches to climbing areas over the years, but few compare to the approach to Las Chilcas. Navigating the buses and subways from Puente Alto to downtown Santiago can be exhausting when you’re carrying a large pack. The subway is usually as full as a can of sardines, so I was constantly bumping into people and excusing myself. Once we made it downtown, there was still another hour-long bus ride to Las Chilcas. The climbing area is well worth the journey though, as it's a playground for sport climbers. The conglomerate rock is solid, clean, and the routes are long. We climbed for three days, while camping in the garage of a local farmer. Again, a very generous family opened their home to us. The journey home was a bit easier, but equally as crowded. A very kind friend agreed to give us a ride back to the city in her car…her very compact car. It is quite possibly the smallest car I’ve ever ridden in, especially when you consider that we smashed six people and six huge backpacks in the vehicle. My knees were crammed into the seat in front of me, as I rested my head on the backpack that my companions held across their laps in the back seat. It was comical to say the least, although I found it to be a superior mode of transportation in comparison to the buses and subway :)

Other climbing adventures include attending a local competition in Santiago. Professional slack liners entertained the crowd and the public participated in a bouldering competition. Local climbers presented slide shows on climbing safety and nutrition for outdoor athletes. Raffle prizes included hats, quick draws, and new rope. There were no La Sportiva shoes given away in the raffle, although there were many Sportiva supporters in the comp. Even though Sportiva no longer employs me, I’m still proud to support and represent the best outdoor shoes available!

Tomorrow I will travel to Cordoba, Argentina to meet up with my friend Katja. She is a German woman that I met in January while trekking in Torres del Paine. She has spent the last seven months traveling around Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. Needless to say, she is a huge source of inspiration and support for my own travels. I’m super psyched to reconnect with her and to visit the beautiful city of Cordoba. I'm unsure of how long I'll stay in Argentina, as I purchased a one-way bus ticket, but I'll be sure to write again when I return. Until then, I'm sending big hugs to all!!!