So I’ve been fortunate enough to have a pretty incredible month of travel. After Colombia I flew to Puerto Rico for a wedding, then New York City to see friends, then Chile to see my brother, and finally Brazil for the World Cup. Here’s a little bit of what I’ve been up to.
From Colombia I flew to Puerto Rico for my friends’ Bobby and Maria’s wedding. This was the first friend wedding I attended... it was awesome. A group of friends coming together to celebrate love while sufficiently inebriated… what’s not to like?? Despite being officially part of the US I don’t think anyone will pretend that PR shares too many similarities to the continent besides the currency. With the colorful buildings, relaxed attitude, and Spanish language, this felt much more like Cuba than California. Still, it served as a nice transitional stage from Colombia to NYC.
The wedding itself was beautiful. Hosted at the Ritz Carlton under a cloud of palm trees at sunset, I can’t imagine a more perfect setting. The ceremony was short yet magical, the food delicious, the music pleasantly Latin, and we were able to enjoy a few gifts courtesy of Fidel. I spent a full week in Puerto Rico and got to catch up with my old housemates and many friends I hadn’t seen in months.
But after the week it was time for NYC. Because flights back to South America are weird, it was essentially the same price to return back south via JFK. So I took advantage of the avionic oddity and stopped in Manhattan for a few days to see friends and restock on clothes, toiletries, etc. The timing was perfect; I was able to see another group I hadn’t seen in months and catch a US-Turkey soccer friendly.
Another long weekend came to an end and it was time to return to Latin America. I caught a redeye from New York to Santiago and took my first steps in Chile during a pleasant 6:30am sunrise. Chile is currently in the dead of winter, and make no mistake it was quite chilly. There was no snow, but a brisk 40 degrees wearing summer clothes marked the first time I had experienced legitimate frigidity in over a year.
I rested a few days in the capital and took the bus an hour west to Valparaiso where my brother was studying for the semester. His host family graciously took me in and I had a comfy floor bed to sleep on for a few days. Valparaiso lies on essentially the exact latitude as San Francisco and it had an eerily similar feel - on the coast, chilly yet pleasant during the day, slightly edgy population, and fun nightlife.
Brendy and I perused the Valparaiso streets, bars, and clubs, and even managed to cook a delicious quesadilla lunch for his host mom. Time flew by and it was time to return to Santiago for my last few days in Chile. I stumbled upon a wonderful hostel, La Chimba, where I made a few friends.
The world cup started during my stay. Quite simply, it is incredible. I was fortunate enough to be in Chile for their Friday night game against Australia and their collective, tangible passion was a first for me. All of South America is clearly passionate about their respective teams but Chile isn’t especially noteworthy for its soccer legacy. The country rioted in what was essentially a Seahawks versus Jaguars beat-down. Tear gas was sprayed, the SWAT team was out, and everyone had a fucking amazing night.
It was the perfect finish to my whirlwind tour through Chile. I will undoubtedly be back at some point but I could not have scripted a better 10 days through the capital and port city. The next night I embarked on a miserable Santiago > Lima > Sao Paulo > Fortaleza schlep. The worst part? My knitting needles weren’t allowed on carry-on. Headlines that have never appeared anywhere: Terrorists hi-jack airplane wielding dull bamboo knitting needles.
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