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April

Written long afterwards, here's some of the things I did in April

La Serena

The weekend after getting back from Patagonia, we went on our longest program-sponsored trip - a weekend in La Serena. After the intense planning for Patagonia, having everything planned (and paid for) was a nice change. La Serena is north of Santiago, located on the coast. Here we visited a local university (what I think was the program's excuse for a beach trip), took a boat tour to see penguins (tiny ones), and spent a night in Valle de Elqui where we visited a pisquera (like a vineyard for Pisco, Chile's most famous drink). the beach at la serena Valle de Elqui a whale vertebra, on an island we stopped at during the boat tour more beach

Easter Weekend

I spent Easter weekend in Santiago. In between our April traveling (which ended up being every other weekend), it was nice to slow down. For the Easter Vigil, we took the teleférico (like a ski lift gondola) to the top of San Cristobal, the hill overlooking the city. That night was also the 100th anniversary of Colo Colo, the most popular club fútbol team, and we got to witness 100s(!) of fireworks being set off throughout the city. the view from the top, with some fireworks slow day in Santiago some satisfyingly wrapped empanadas from Rosita's favorite store in Barrio Italia

Climbing on Easter

On Easter day, Kate, Claire and I went climbing for the first time outdoors in Chile. Martín, a Philosophy professor at La Catolica (our university we're studying at) had offered to take us. We met him in the weeks before while climbing at El Muro gym, and he was invested in giving us an outdoor experience and practicing his English. We ended up going to Chacabuco, about an hour's drive north of Santiago and consisting mainly of one long conglomerate (yes, apparently that's a type of rock) cliff. I already love days spent climbing outdoors at home, and being in Chile makes it no different. The Chilean climbing community is extremely supportive, even more generous with their gear and expertise than those in the US. A prime example of this is Martín himself who, despite being a really strong climber who could easily spend his time projecting hard routes, spent nearly all day talking with us and teaching his partner's inexperienced friends about outdoor climbing gear. He also set up and encouraged me to get on an 11c, the third route I've tried of the hardest grade I've ever climbed outdoors, and although I didn't send it in one go I was really grateful for the experience. the approach on an 11a sun setting behind the crag