Las montañas del mar

When I made the decision to spend a year (at least) working in Chile I had to sell all of my things. To be honest, this process was igualmente dificil y libertador. You spend your life acquiring materials objects and don't realize until you are getting rid of them for pennies on the dollar that not only do you not use them, you never needed them. Having sold all of my furniture and donated a majority of the remaining items to Goodwill, I packed up 10 boxes to be stored at my parent's place, and took nothing but four bags with me to start a new life. Only now do I realize that with the exception of a french press and a coffee grinder, that was all I needed.

Since arriving, I have tried to spend my money on nothing but rent and consumables: food, toiletries, and cerveza. Having been down here for a little over two weeks now, I decided to go against what I just said and have started the search for a bicycle. Now of course I can survive without a bicycle but after riding them almost religiously for the last 7 years, it feels strange not to be on two wheels. So this last weekend my roommate (Pablo) and I went to check out a bike that I found. While I am usually pretty self sufficient, Pablo warned me that in his absence, I would be given the gringo price. As frugal as I am, I opted to pay for his bus fair and brought him along in hopes that he could haggle a better price for me.

Though I was prepared to spend the $400USD price tag, I had to write off the loss of $12 in taxis and bus fairs as the bicycle was too small. What you see above, an 18" bicycle, is actually considered a size L in Chile. If only I would have realized how difficult it would be for me to find my size before I committed to the idea of a bike. Luckily, my good friend Marshall works for a bicycle store in Austin and has offered to box up one of my old bikes and ship it down here. If you are curious why I did not go this route in the first case I, I would encourage you to google the process of shipping things to Chile. The customs agents are notorious for having sticky fingers and tend to add an extra tax for anything that looks too nice. With that said, I may try to convince my girlfriend to bring it with her on her flight. Though still not cheap, the chances of a successful arrival are much higher.

Alas, my trip into the mountains was not fruitless as I came across this merry group roasting some swine and stopped to chat. Pablo and I were tempted to partake in the festivities but decided that we should find our way home before it got dark.

On the way home I came across this scene. "Wild" dogs here are not really seen as a problem here as much as they are a commodity. I have lost track several times just trying to keep count on my way to work in the morning. They seem to be well fed and many of them even have collars on. Upon inquiry the locals have told me the perros de calle are just a part of life in Antofagasta and even help to dispose of the garbage by taking away any available leftovers. 

 I would be lying if I said I didn't think of a girl when I saw this. However, I am still amazed at how frequently I see lush green parks and beautiful flowerbeds in a city located in the middle of the desert. While my theories run from dust control to a symbolic triumph over nature, the fact remains that the city is genuinely an oasis on the shore. I even learned today that Antofagasta has been desalinating water since the late 19th century. 

On that note, allow me to introduce my employer: AWT - Atacama Water & Technology. Though I have signed a Non-Disclosure-Agreement, I can admit that we are a sister company of Aguas Antofagasta and have share their facility.

In an earlier post that I mentioned the solar shading of a building on the back portion of the property. You can see in these two photos how that idea is continued here in the front fachada del edificio. While they are no longer functional, the louvers appear to be motorized and were likely installed with the idea that they could be adjusted throughout the day to maximize or minimize shading of the building, depending on the season. Unfortunately, I am still waiting for an answer to this question myself and will update this when I know more. In the meantime, perhaps you can appreciate the vista del mar y la montaña del norte that I see every day after work.

Saturday Morning Adventuras

Normally I will try to balance photographs with writing but when you are in the mountains, the view can be too awing for words.

I set out Saturday morning with the intent of climbing the highest peak I could find. Unfortunately, I failed, but you've gotta start somewhere.

You can see how discouraging the trek was. At this point I was still running but shortly hereafter I submitted to exhaustion and began to walk. The plus side of having a camera is that you can always justify taking a break by calling it a photo opportunity.

As I began to enter the westernmost portion of the Andes Mountains, I noticed a significant number of trails. Judging by the tracks the area is frequented by ATVs, dirt bikes, and even some daring 4x4 motorists.

The strange part about it is that over the course of a 8 hour adventure, I didn't see a single other person. In fact, with the exception of some desert daises, the only other living creature I came across was this little fellow. I found him as I was picking up some trash that I decided to pack out in an attempt to leave the area cleaner than how I found it.

Here you can see the last leg of the climb. In absence of any vegetation I was submitted to several small rock slides during the ascent. I managed to keep my footing until it came to the descent, during which I tried to use my long legs for a rapid return home and took a minor spill.

And finally - the summit. It is mind boggling to look in 360 degrees, see no sign of vegetation, no sign of life, and still want to bask in the tranquility of what is before you. I decided to stop here for an hour, eat my lunch, and enjoy this beautiful vantage point.

As I forgot sun screen, I quickly realized that my pale complexion was failing me and had to depart before the sun could do any more damage. The only downside to this was missing a wonderful sunset. However, timing was on my side and I got to see just how wonderful the sunset is on the western seaboard. 

Soccer, the real Futbol

It has been a long day here in Antofagasta so this will be a quick one. Had a really good day at work and left early to go watch Chile dominate Italy in soccer. Starting to meet more and more people through good friends at work and really enjoy the opportunity to hear different accents. A lot of the people from el Norte del Chile hablan mas lento que las personas del Sur. However, it still sounds like gibberish sometimes. Fortunately for everyone a soccer game can be enjoyed with very few verbal exchanges beyond camaraderie in the form of "GOOOOAAAAALLL!"

After the game a few other employees and I went to play some closed court futbol. It was a small cancha con solo cinco personas cada equipo. Even still, it was a very fast paced team and you can see everyone in the above photo smiling after they kicked my ass. While I got an E for effort, I was told that my endurance is second to technical skills and given a soccer ball for practice at home.

This weekend there is a large storm blowing in from the West and everyone is going out of town to catch the big swells. Unfortunately, my surfing skills are still sub par so I will be enjoying the excitement from the coast. Even still, the regular waves range from 3' to about 6'. I'm unsure of how safe it is but I have noted some great waves with no one taking advantage so I am assuming what is beneath the surface is sub-optimal. For those interested in surfing here, it is recommended that you bring your own wet suit as they are not only required (thanks to the Humboldt current) but expensive.

Please excuse my night shots as I am trying to play around with my camera to get better aperture. The city is truly beautiful during the day with the Mountains to the East and the ocean to the West; but the best part is how surreal everything feels at night when the mountains disappear into the into the shadows and only the waves can be heard among a sea of blackness.

Chasing the 111

I was gently reminded today that while living in paradise I should record my adventures; This blog is not just for my friends and family to live through vicariously, but to have something to look back on to remember my time here. For starters, just to help convey how ethereal my walk to the bus stop is every morning:

As I usually leave 20 minutes early for work I feel like I have enough time for a few hiccups here or there; however, today my time was devoured by the lackadaisical bus system. It should be noted that there is no official bus map for the entire city of Antofagasta. While I have counted at least 10 different buses, most people simply memorize the routes. Though this may work for current residents, I expect the learning curve might be a tough one for expats or tourists similar to myself. After nearly a half hour, I finally managed to find the 111 bus that took me to work.

On the other hand, Antofagasta has many things in its favor. I think my favorite part about living on the western sea board may be the eternal sunset. Antofagasta has done a good job revamping their board walk and here you can see custom pergolas that line various parts of the coast.

One of the best ways to experience a culture is through their food. I would be hard pressed to describe what you see above without drawing some analogy to a hot dog. It is a hot bun filled with meat, avocado, pico de gallo, and mayo, assembled in such a manner as to give new meaning to deliciousness. While certainly not filling, it was a nice taste of Chilean food.

While many of you will assume that with Antofagasta's location in the Atacama desert, it consists of purely sand, I can attest to beautiful rock formations throughout the city. I will claim no knowledge of geology beyond my basic requirements in college but feel as though the city would be very enjoyable to the more trained eye.

Another aspect of the city that is unforgettable is the weather: a high of 75 and a low of 45. Coming from Texas this is absolutely perfect and especially so when the locals begin to complain about it "getting hot" at a whopping 70 degrees Fahrenheit. So to take full advantage of the weather I went out to the beach with some friends on Sunday and taught them how to fly a stunt kite. With wind gusts up to 30mph, we had ideal conditions for people to try it out. Mike, who you can see flying the kite in the above picture, was dragged around a bit with the stronger gusts but held is ground. Only one person lost her footing but tenaciously got up and kept at it.

As it is getting late here I will leave you with one last photo of a building behind my work. I was informed that the building has no designated purpose but tends to be used for just about anything people see fit (currently it is outfitted with a ping pong table). The real intrigue in my mind lies in the construction. It is a very simple structure but offers what appears to be about 800 square feet. The building is south facing and appears to have a great deal of solar shading to avoid too much radiation.

Hola de Antofagasta

Bienvenidos a mi blog. Llegue en antofagasta tres dias en el pasado y me encanta aqui!

But seriously though: my hope is to be fluent in Spanish by the time my contract is up in one year. Pienso que es posible pero la lingua "Chileano" es mas dificil que espanol. The locals here can hold entire conversations in nothing but slang and faster than I can say "que?". We will see where I get but I think that I am off to a strong start. The people here are very helpful when it comes to asking questions and explaining the meaning of particular words. In fact, everyone I have interrogated has answered me with a smile, including random drivebys on the street. Even the homeless people are nice, as long as you give them some change...

Mi apartamiento es un poco pequeno pero esta bien por ahora. Tal vez en un mes voy a encontrar una otra llugar mas cerca del mar. But for now I am a street away from the ocean, have a view of the mountains, and don't have to listen to traffic.

What's funding the adventure you ask? A local desalination company is sponsoring a work abroad program. I will have to provide more details in the weeks to come but for now just know that this is my walk to work every day: