Cajon de Maipo

Living in such a large and busy city, it's easy to forget that you're surrounded by beautiful mountains and nature that perch just out of reach. It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life (such as looking for jobs, settling in, roaming the streets, and trying to meet as many people as possible) and completely overlook what the land has to offer.

About a week ago, some of my friends (also some people I'm living with) called me and told me to meet them at a particular cafe. They said we were going on an adventure for a little while to escape the dirty city boundaries and get some fresh air. I was extremely tired, but I decided not to pass up a chance to have a small adventure, so I complied and met them at the cafe. We sat around for a little while enjoying the sun and the conversation, and once the afternoon started to turn to evening, we decided to head out. We set out in my friends car and drove past all the newly familiar places that I've gotten to know so well (on foot, of course), and we prepared for a few hours of relaxation and real air that hasn't been laced with smog and smoke from the buses that roar through the city.

The further we drove, the more apparent it was that there was much more that lies out of our immediate reach. The buildings started to gather more space between them, and the signs for empanadas and homemade goodies started to lace the streets. We drove for about 30 minutes before we started to enter the mountainous area, and I was already stupefied at how beautiful it looked. The mountains started to take the stage all around us, and we drove into them without looking behind.

We didn't know how far we were going to go, where we would end up, or what we were doing, but we knew we were headed for an area called Cajon de Maipo (the mountains and the whole area we were headed). The trees started to get greener, the air started to freshen, and the sound of rivers started to whisper louder and louder in our ears. Eventually, we got hungry, and those signs for homemade empanadas were what we were seeking. We stopped in a little town in Cajon de Maipo which was quaint and beautiful. The buildings were old and colorful, the people were roaming the square in search of nothing and everything, and the dogs were playing with each other in a constant game of tag. We, too, roamed the square for a little while in complete silence as our empanadas (typical food here...delicious) were all we could concentrate on.

After a little bit, we decided to drive further into the mountains. We stopped at old train tunnels, wild river, and fields where horses wandered without reason. We jumped on rocks, smelled the air, laughed about nothing and simply enjoyed listening to the quiet that surrounded us. I finally felt like I was seeing some authenticity of Chile instead of just another large city, and it was so refreshing. We did this for a few hours before having a coffee and some homemade bread and marmalade. As the moon started to rise, we decided to head back to the noisy of the city, but not before savoring the last 40 minutes of the drive home in silence. We rolled the windows down, sucked in all the air we could, looked at the moon illuminating the mountains in the distance, and we could all tell that it was just what we needed to rejuvenate. After throwing myself into such a new experience, I didn't realize how frazzled I really was and how much a small piece of nature could calm me. It was a small adventure, but amazing nonetheless.

The city has taken center stage again and I've been working as much as possible and trying to get accustomed with setting a schedule. I moved to my new apartment this weekend, and I'm already loving it a hundred times more than my other place. I feel that this is were I will soon call "home" since it's the closest thing I've felt to home since leaving the States. Other than that, I continue to get to know the city, the people, and the customs that will soon become normal to me.

I know I'll be taking many more adventures within the next year or two, so I'm trying not to get to antsy to travel, though my desire to see everything is difficult to ignore. However, everything here as proved to be an adventure, so I'm always on my toes and rarely at a stand-still.

I miss you all and hope you're well. I continue to think of home everyday and how you're all doing.

Keep the hugs flowing.
Send some down to this little country for me.
Love love love.

Some pictures of Cajon de Maipo: