So this is the end of the Chile trip. I am at the airport, waiting for the next episode which should lead me to Japan, on Monday morning – through Los Angeles and Hong Kong. (Update: I am now in LA and managed my way to the LAX International lounge by pretending I used to be a member in the past - and it worked!!!)
I could start describing this whole expeditions and the things I saw and did... But seriously people. You're not here to read about how great this trip was – you're awaiting disastrous organization, ridiculous situations and stressful moments. And boy, you won't be deceived. Where should I start?
Did I mention the whole purpose of this trip? It was organized by one of my university teacher (with credits) – and was supposed to give an overview about Chile, from a geographical point of view: physical and human geography. Since our teacher likes to climb mountains, there was some mountain climbing involved, associated with camping in high altitudes (highest sleeping point 4200 m). Which means: serious equipment required (tent, sleeping mat, sleeping bag, petrol stove, crampons, wind-proof jacket...).
Being the brainless cheapo that I am, I didn't agree with those terms. Yes, I am cheap and didn't feel like investing that much money (around 200-300€) in equipment 1/ that I wasn't sure of using again, 2/ that I would have to carry around in Argentina, 3/ that perhaps I couldn't sell after use, before flying to Japan. Lesson n°1 when you pack your bag for a world trip: keep it light.
So I did what I always do when I am out of options: I logged in to Couchsurfing.
There is a group in Chile for ski and climbing freaks. So I spammed every single member of this group to ask if by chance, they were crazy enough to lend me their gear. And guess what? Out of about 15 contacted people, some never answered, but 8 offered to help, among which 2 told me they had everything, one even was sponsored by a big company so there would be no problem. Yeepeee, I thought. So I sent the sponsored one many thanks and a precise list of the stuff I would be needing, saying from when till when I would be needing the gear, and repeated that if there was any problem, I would understand, but that he should tell me early enough. The CS said that there was no problem and that I could get everything; this was in November from last year. See, I'm a bit organized! But this perfect picture was painted with horse dung and I was far to imagine that I was about to experience the most stressful 48 hours of my life.
Let me get it straight: it turned out fine. Fortunately I have the ability to get myself out of the trouble I deliberately get myself in. But still.
So I arrived in Santiago on a Thursday evening, after a boring bus ride from Mendoza (remember?), and headed up to the CS, who had offered to host me before the excursion would start the following Saturday. I had planed it like this, so I could have time for myself to visit Santiago and get rid of facial and leg hairs, for instance. My CS showed me part of the gear he had for me, but not everything, as we went out for diner and party. Why didn't I ask for the rest of the stuff right away? Maybe I'm too polite, after all. Or too stupid. He had to leave early on the following day, but told me before he was gone that everything was there, and that I just had to look for the stuff missing. This is the moment where you can start shaking and wet your pants, as I did – not everything was there. Looked everywhere. No sign of the sleeping mat nor of the cooking stove. On the day before the trip was to begin.
By the time it got clear to me that something was wrong, the CS was out of reach – no answer on his cell phone. Again, I did what I always do when I'm in trouble: I logged in to Couchsurfing. This time in the hopes of contacting the other CS who said he had everything I needed.
Do you know Murphy's law? This smartass created a whole theory about the concept of disaster. At the moment where you think you can't fall any lower, Murphy's making sure there is a bird flying over your head to splash you with its faeces. Back to Couchsurfing. At that point, I could barely talk, use my legs or coordinate my thoughts due to a close to lethal rate of adrenaline in my veins – and this is the moment where the couchsurfing site crashed. 'Ooops! Everybody's trying to surf at the same time. Please try again in a few moments'. I honestly don't know how my heart survived the following 60 minutes. My brain got stuck into the survival mode: breathe in, breathe out: I could not think of anything. My whole energy was concentrated on my right finger clicking on F5, and on making sure my pulse was below 200 beats per minute.
At some point the San Francisco geniuses fixed the problem and I could write an emergency message to the other CS, which, THANK YOU MOTHER EARTH, happened to be online at the same moment. He said that he could help me with the missing items, and that I just had to call him to meet in the evening, after work.
You think this is the end of the story? How little do you know me! It's just starting. So this is Friday around noon – I decide to work a bit on the presentation I have to prepare for the university trip (yep – it's not just climbing up and down mountains), then take a break from all the stress and walk a bit around. Went to Cerro de San Cristobal, which is a cute park on a hill in Santiago. Around 6 or 7 pm I decide it's time to call the other CS ; and then I realised that I actually don't have a Chilean SIM card. No problem! I think, SIM cards you can get everywhere! Well, apparently there is a huge difference between what you think and what real life is. In order to get a damn SIM card you are supposed to go to the official store of the cell phone company – and then again, not all of the official stores deliver a prepaid card. This is Friday around 7pm, remember? After asking anybody and running everywhere, I manage to find a store still open, where I buy this damn chip.
I called Francisco, the other CS, and we met around his place, where he showed me his gear: tent, cooking stove, even a 2nd layer jacket. He even helped me with my crampons and showed me how to fix them to the shoe. Unfortunately he didn't have a sleeping mat, so we went to a hypermarket where I could buy one. The teacher recommended a self-inflatable sleeping mat costing around 20€, and I ended up buying this 4€ 5mm thick piece of crap. But hey, how cares? I have everything I need, I can sleep peacefully before meeting the group on Saturday. Wait... everything? Damn, where are those sunglasses I needed?
I guess I was too tired from everything, that I just thought 'oh, I'll buy some tomorrow before meeting the others' without really thinking that I wouldn't have the time. So I went to bed and set up an alarm clock. I slept very well, so well that I didn't really hear the alarm clock. Stress, again! I sent a message to the group asking when and where we were going to meet – which I could have done before, I guess. Stop criticising! If I was doing everything by the book this blog would be as boring as a conversation with your mother-in-law. I received a answer a few minutes later with a meeting point within the city centre, at the 'bus terminal' – though with no indication of time, since not everybody had arrived at the airport. And my mind got crazy again, perhaps due to some adrenaline molecules that were still soaking in my blood: I just read 'terminal'. So I assumed it was the terminal in the airport. May I remind you that I still hadn't packed, due to a overheard alarm clock?
This is a nightmare I have quite often: I dream that I have to take a plane to some place, but I end up missing the plane because of not knowing the time of departure, going to the wrong airport, forgetting my passport at home, not being able to get a metro or a bus because it's a public holiday... And this time, with a real life experience: having to pack in a rush and run fast. My worst nightmare ever, the one that makes me shiver and worship Satan, the one I always swore I would never let happen, got true. And this is not a good experience, believe my word. Again, my body auto-injected an adrenaline shot and switch back to the survival mode: breathe, then think. What do you need? What is vital for this expedition? What are the things you can afford not to take? I was supposed to spend 3 weeks in hot then perishing cold conditions, camping and sleeping in hostels, half in nature half in cities. So: many different stuff involved.
Now I can say it : packing in a rush sucks. I don't know how, but I managed to take the exact amount of clothes and gear I needed for the trip; but I forgot important things such as notebook or travel guide. I also didn't have time to print my presentation. And best part of it: I also didn't have time to clean up the apartment of the CS. Believe me when I say I left a huge mess: dirty laundry, laptop, books, shoes, pants, maps, small papers all around the place. I had eaten half a melon the day before and intended to keep the rest for breakfast; but breakfast was not meant to be. And the CS wouldn't come back before a week. Even in a fridge, imagine the fermentation and decomposition process of a melon. You could say that the deserved it, after all the stress he put me through; but I was far away from thinking about a revenge. I was more focused on not wetting my pants and find a decent way to the airport.
During that time, I tried to call the person from the group to have an update about the meeting time, but no answer, no luck either with my SMS's. Part of me thought that it was a bit stupid that they wanted me to come to the airport, but hey, they are German, so let's not argue. So I arrived by bus at the airport, and rush to the international arrival terminal. And there I see them, about to board a bus to the centre that had just arrived. 2 ½ hours had passed since my first message and there were still there, since there had been a problem with the luggages. They saw me, and then I thought, I'm such a piece of crap. They were so surprised to see me here, that I realized that the meeting point was at the bus terminal. Think twice, Claire, think twice. Always think twice. I could have enough time to pack properly, eat, clean the CS's place, cure AIDS and learn all the decimals of Π by heart, if I had switched my brain on.
And it goes on! Remember me not having proper sunglasses? Perhaps you don't know, but I suffer since a few years from a Keratitis, which is kind of a sun allergy, and makes my eyes don't like bright things. Which is not that cool, if you are to climb mountains higher than 4000 m. The CS had some ski glasses, you know, the yellow ones – which are not enough. So when we reached the bus terminal, after the feeling of stupidity had settled deeply in my thoughts and in my body cells, the group divided: some staying in the terminal to keep an eye on the luggages, some going to exchange money (small note: exchanging money? What's wrong with just drawing money out of a damn ATM? Wouldn't it be like cheaper and quicker?) and buy groceries for the following day, where we would be climbing the Villarica volcano. I joined the first group and asked if I could look for sunglasses – but this was not in the plan. So at the end we (they) exchanged money, got a Chilean SIM card (revival of my previous disastrous attempt), went to eat something, had coffee (tea), then went grocery shopping. There weren't many opticians in the neighbourhood, so I could already imagine an ozone hole in my eyes after those 3 weeks. It took us 4 hours to run some basic errands – which, if I were alone, I could have done within 1 hour. But that's not my point. My point is, we got back to the bus station where the feeling of stupidity stroke back and where the other group left, then I dismissed my moral obligation of staying with the others and the luggages. I went out and looked for a mall, which I found less than 10 minutes away. Malls are worshipped by adorators of the Church of Consummation, at which I normally blow my nose, but that time I made an exception, as this mall might just save my eyesight. I went to the first optician shop I found and finally found some polarized glasses that cover the eyes entirely. What a relief. You can't imagine. The endorphines released in my veins made me so happy that I continued shopping, and bought myself some funny underwear that will now be referred to as 'the funny Chilean pants'. Imagine this: me actually giving a name to a pair of underwear. How pathetic is that.
I got back to the group and realised I should do something about the presentation I'm supposed to make – so drew out a pen and peace of paper and started writing down the few things I had prepared, by memory. After all the stress, I couldn't think of much, but at that point I didn't care any more. Getting a good mark or not was the least of my preoccupations.
This is how the most stressful 48 hours of my life end. The best part of the story is that we stayed the whole afternoon from 14h till 21h either running errands or staying in the bus terminal, waiting for our night bus to Temuco. Again, I could have enough time – but stress is part of my life. I need to put myself in that kind of situations to enjoy the relaxed moments after the problem is solved.
You know everything about the first moments, I'll come back soon with pictures and details of the trip, which was definitely worth the stress.
Besos!
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