Mas Fotos de Mi Viaje a Lago Paloma

Lago Poloma and the shooting range

El Lago Poloma
Yep, Im in Chile =D
Holding a twelve gauge at the shooting range. A friend of mine, Sebastian, won second place in a competition shooting skeet. Its the one where you yell "pull!" and shoot the disc out of the air. I even got to try shooting some skeet, and I got one, which I feel pretty good about seeing as it was my first time ever shooting a gun.
My house in Coyhaique

Me and my host brother, Fransisco
Una Mina =D
At school

Disfrutando la Vida Chileana

I've made a full and quick recovery from my cold/flu after a full day of sleeping...and I'm ready for more fun in Coyhaique. This weekend I'm going to the hotsprings that are a few hours south of Coyhaique with my sister, Andrea, her boyfriend Misa, and my brother Pancho.

Next weekend there is a march in Coyhaique against the proposed dams. The dams would flood a ton of land, and the energy that they would produce would be exported to other nations, like Uruguay and Argentina. To transport this valuable energy the Spanish Coorperation that is proposing 2,300 kilometers of high voltage power lines throughout the Patagonia. I will definitly be marching against the dams, along with pretty much everyone else here, so check back for pictures of that. There is grafitti all over that declare "Patagonia Sin Represas!" (Patagonia without dams!)

Click the following link for a short video that shows what the proposed powerlines would do to the landscape.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=101484546532706&oid=115206252930

Always invigorating to be part of a grassroots movement against multinatinal coorpeations, and this is a cause to believe in.

Thats all for now

Love from Patagonia

Charlie

Well, I got sick. It sucks. I caught a cold while we were snowboarding at the Fraile, and somehow over the last few days its developed into something like the flu. One always feels more homesick when they are sick, and this is no exception. My family is taking really good care of me, as I write this I am sitting in bed drinking tea, but its still no fun to be sick. =(

Well that about all that is new for now, no pictures this time... But when Im feeling better I will take some photos and put them up here.

Love.

Charlie

Snowboarding in Summer

Only in Patagonia can you go snowboarding in the middle of August. I went up to "el fraile" yesterday with my brother Pancho and a group of friends. It only has 2 lifts, and both of them are T bars, but it has a good amount of runs. The snow was great, it was snowing all the night before and while we were there, so there was plenty of powder.

It is a 40 minute drive from Coyhaique, and we took a taxi both ways for a mere 6 dollars a piece. Here are some photos of our time on the moutain...View from the parking lot
Acabo de saltar
On the top of the moutain

View from below

Nieve Hoy! (Snow Day)

It snowed last night and all day today, and the entire city of coyhaique is covered in a couple inches of snow. It makes the views of the moutains that much more beautiful, and the walk home that much more freezing. There was a huge snowball fight after school, and after that we all came back to my house to celebrate my host brother's eighteenth birthday. Here are some pictures...

I love this picture: Look right above my head and you can see the snowball that is about to hit me =)

First Weekend in Coyhaique

I went to Puerto Aysen today, which is on the coast. The drive there was breathtaking, the road winds down a huge stone valley....here are some pictures I took along the way.

Looking back at Coyhaique from the top of the moutains
"Las cascadas de la Virgen" on the way to Puerto Aysen
The equipo del futbol of my school, after there game in Puerto Aysen

The Gifts of Life

1. I feel very grateful for all the opportunities I have in front of me. I am here in one of the most beautiful places in the world, the Chilean Patagonia, surronded by new friends and a loving family. A class mate of mine, Briana Clarke, recently passed away due to cancer. This tragedy is also a beautiful reminder that everyday is a gift, and you need to live each day to the fullest. I feel like being here is a good use of my time here on earth, and I feel so grateful for this opportunity.

Alright enough of the philosophical gab, here are some pictures of my first week here in Coyhaique.

All the AFS students who are staying in Chile at the Orientation in Santiago
Companeras with the other AFS student at my school, Fransisco, who is from Naples, Italy.My class eating some brunch during "dia de familias" at my colegio

Companeros de mi clase

Fotos de la Semana Primera

Friends at my house
Amigos del colegio
The yard of my school.

Im starting to really settle in to my life here in Coyhaique, even though I've only been here for 4 days. I love my family, and my colegio is also really awesome. School here is totally different. The students are always talking, throwing things, and in general not paying attention to the teacher, who doesn't seem to mind. There is an on going game in our class in which you steal the backpack of your friend and switch it for a different one. Bye for now, Charlie

This is the view from the balcony outside my window....breathtaking
My school: Alianza Austral
The view from my desk outside the back window of my classroom: