Off to Neverland!

Since the start of September, my mouth had been watering for my Patagonia trip to explore the southern extremities of Chile. I had some hit-and-runs with Chile's northern desert region, its tropical central regions, and a mere sampling of its southern Chiloé Island area. In December, however, I would make my way down to the ends of the world...

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And here came our 11-day adventure full on, DECEMBER 12th.

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The first two days were spent in Santiago, the capital of Chile. Although I had been there before twice with my program, there were still a few spots that I had to see before I left -- two birds with one stone. Needless to say, we visited the Bellas Artes Museum, Plaza de Armas (with purses tightly embraced), the older parts with quiet cafes, and an artisan market of a billion aisles (no, really). After being in flip-flops all day, our feet were filthy, and I mean dirt black, by the end of it all. Oh, Santiago. To the bathtub! Nonetheless, it was a lovely time with my dear friend (Vero), not to mention I got to play around in her backyard CHOCOLATE FACTORY. Charlie was no where to be found, if you were curious. At the end of a long day's exploration, we even helped package some Christmas products, trying not to eat them all instead.

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On December 14th at 2:40am that morning our plane left for Punta Arenas, Chile. This was Dove's (my traveling buddy) first time to fly, so we were both a bit nutty aka hyper. I told her the toilets were the best part of the plane- the loud, scary noises and all. Anyway, we climbed aboard and took our seats. I was ready to pass out immediately, the low of the morning hours had finally hit me. Dove was like a little child excited at every sound, color, smell, atom that came her way.

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As usual, the average flight time to get that massive plane off the ground was 30 seconds. Dr. Anderson, my anthropology professor, got that tradition started in my life -- usually the better planes take off in 25-35 seconds. That's a phenomenon in itself, no? Supposedly, Dove stayed awake the 4-hour flight, while I passed out like a log to her side. She had the window seat and told me before our landing, "The clouds were amazing as the sunrise shone brilliantly through them. And then below all of that, you have our Pacific Ocean smiling." Honestly, flying reminds you that we really are not in charge of anything. We are just like little ants that God deems worthy to love with all of His might. What a thought.

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Stay tuned to see what unfolds after landing in Punta Arenas, CHILE. :)