May! How time flies...

I can't believe it's the end of May already! Before I know it I'll be back in good old Cinci! The colder weather that we are experiencing here left me sick for 20 days with a mysterious ailment that changed from a cold to a stomach virus/fever and left me stuck "en cama" for a long time. I finally started getting better in time to show mom a good time when she came to visit from the 8th-17th! We traveled down south, and spent two days each in Pucon and Villarica (about 12 hours on bus from Vina).

In Pucon we enjoyed sunny weather both days, which meant great views of Volcan Villarica, the perfectly conical volcano that you can see smoking from town and from the surrounding national parks. On our first day we took a long bike ride in the surrounding foothills, which gave us some pretty views of the surrounding countryside and volcano. We got off the bikes to check out "Ojos del Carburgua", a waterfall on private property that you had to pay the equivalent of 75 cents to see. The four spring-fed waterfalls pouring into a crystal clear water hole was well worth the side trip! The next day we hiked in Parque Nacional Huerquehue up to a spectacular view of Lake Tinquilco and Volcan Villarica. On the way through the forest, which had areas with bamboo-like plants as well as some beautiful huge trees, we stopped to admire a few more waterfalls. I came across a huge spider on the path that we thought was a tarantula (!), which we learned later is actually a non-venomous relative (but equally as scary to almost step on!). We we were also surprised to see several green parrots (at about 40 degrees south of the equator, which is roughly the same latitude Cincinnati has in the other direction!).

The day we arrived in Valdivia it started raining and didn't let up the entire time we were there! Everyone kept telling us that the weather, which is normally very wet (in all regards -besides the rainy climate, it's the meeting point of 3 rivers and the ocean), had been uncharacteristically sunny and warm until we showed up (que suerte!). We tried to go to a couple of museums but when we arrived they were closed because it is on the local university's campus which the students had taken over (as part of the nationwide strikes and occupations of the public universities). So instead we went to a park with a statue garden, which was actually really beautiful in the rain. We also went to the riverbank to see the sea lions that hang out there, and to one of the many Spanish fort ruins that are within the area, stopping at the German influenced Kuntsman beer brewery on the way back to eat apple pie and buy dad a souvenir tee-shirt and a bottle of my favorite Chilean beer :). Thoroughly soaked on day two, we retreated to our lovely hostel, to dry off and hang out until it was time to leave on the night bus to Vina.

Basically all the buildings of my university and the other public universities were taken by the students while I was gone, and remained occupied by the students until a couple days ago when they finally voted to end the strike. As a result of the 5 week strike, numerous protests (all ending in violent confrontation with the police) and occupation of the buildings, the students gained nothing, and now have no winter break and a shortened summer break. It's really sad to see their fight to be able to afford higher education end like this... if the planned cutbacks on government funding go through many students will no longer be able to afford to attend even the public universities.

The end of the strike means that foreign students such as myself have to complete over 2 months of work into a month to end our semester on time. Although I am mentally up to the challenge, physically I'm still in pretty bad shape. Yesterday my host mom finally convinced me to go the doctor, where I found out I have tonsillitis. After receiving an incredibly painful shot of penicillin in the back-side (next time I'll definitely opt for the slower working pills!) and getting a good night's sleep, I feel much better, and am hoping to enjoy better health during my last two months here. Below are pictures of Pucon, Valdivia, Valparaiso and a few of the protests and banners on the buildings that were taken by the students of my university.

(Note: I kept forgetting to bring my camera to take pictures of the banners on the buildings, and I avoided the protests when I could -tear gas, water guns, and possible exportation.... therefore the pictures of the buildings in "toma" and the protest are not mine, other students in my program took them.)