News del Mercado: Coyhaique

We flew to Santiago, then to Quelat, which is about 40 minutes from Coyhaique. For some reason, there wasn't a direct flight to Quelat from Punta Arenas, thus flying past our destination to get another flight to it. Remember, flying in Chile seems lower than in the States, for the whole flight. These pics were from the first flight down to Punta Arenas, but I forgot to include them in my other post. I'm pretty sure some of them are of Las Torres and Los Cuernos, where we hiked.

I think this was near where we hiked, on the side with no snow.

This was actually when we were flying back to Santiago, before Coyhaique, as well as the following two.

Jason's first mission companion, his trainer, lives in Coyhaique with his wife. Felipe picked us up from the airport and dedicated his next two days to us. We didn't actually stay with them since their house is being fixed up so they can sell it. Their two kids are 21 and 24 and live on their own now, so Felipe and Carol are going to build a house in the country closer to where she works. She's a preschool teacher too! We went out to her work one day, and it takes over an hour for her to get there because of the dirt roads and canyons she drives. Felipe's job is tech support for the school system, so his location is all over.

Coyhique reminds me of a suburb of LA, nestled in a valley, almost like Simi Valley, where I'm from. There aren't any big buildings, but it houses people and their way of life.

When Felipe picked us up from the airport, I liked him immediately! He has such a happy-go-lucky attitude and is quick to laugh. It took me a bit to understand him, but I found myself really focused on his every word so that I would be ready for his next chuckle.

He dropped us off at the most American hotel we stayed in our whole vacation, which Jason had reserved through Chase Bank points. Our flight crew was staying there too, so we knew it was a good one.

A couple of hours later, after doing some laundry in the tub and settling in, Felipe and Carol picked us up to take us to dinner. We wanted classic Chilean cuisine, so that's what we got! Chileans really love their meat (particularly bbq) and drinks, so we got a big platter of grilled meat with pork, sausage, chicken, and steak over potatoes. It was on a big hot plate, so it stayed warm. It came with some bread and a small salad. We also got fruit drinks. Now, if you know me, you know that meat and drinks are not my favorite, but I figured "when in Rome...". It was all very delicious, and I bet I had some great iron levels afterward!

The next morning we enjoyed a Chilean hotel breakfast. It was typical Chilean breakfast food: eggs, sausages, amazing breads, fruit, cold cuts for sandwiches, desserts, and drinks, but displayed the way they are at hotels in the States. I kept thinking Chileans just eat dessert at breakfast because that's how it was served to us at all the places we had stayed so far. When we asked our friends, though, they said it wasn't necessarily the case, so I guess the public services were just spoiling us.

After breakfast, Felipe picked us up for a day of driving and exploring the mountains. It's a good thing Jason brought his Dramamine! Another thing about Felipe that I really appreciated was that he brought us lunch, snacks, and yes, drinks! (I don't want to have to eat out every meal.) We Americans always bring our water bottles everywhere, but not Chileans. He brought a huge thermos with hot water and herb tea and echo (a mix between hot chocolate and coffee, minus the caffeine) to go with it. Plus azucr (sugar). He brought us each a hot cup as well. It was so thoughtful!

Sorry, I had to post this from the bathroom I used. I've never seen a sign like this!

Some views Felipe showed us.

This tree is another example of the high winds.

The mist from a waterfall he took us to see.

The canyon below the falls.

I had so much Spanish going through my mind that day that when I was falling asleep that night, I was thinking of ways to say different things in Spanish. Jason and I ate on our own that night because Felipe and his wife had another obligation. We just walked to a local restaurant nearby because they had pastel de choclo, one of the things Jason wanted me to try. It was one of my favorite meals the whole trip! It came with soup, salad, and flan! Pastel de choclo is like pot pie, but with cornmeal. It has chicken, ground beef, onion, olives, and raisins in it. It was divine! The best part was that the whole thing wasn't too much food because they weren't huge servings, and the price was equal to $12 in the US!

This is the salad and bread of the meal, though I didn't take any more pics of my meal because I was enjoying it too much!

The other thing I loved about this restaurant was that water bottle on the table was actually full of free, cool, drinkable water that we didn't have to pay for. The only place we found that did that! We just poured it into our cups!

I tried out the fabulous hotel pool, where I learned about the bathing caps and wore a shower cap from the bathroom. It was one of the nicest hotel pools I've ever been in! The temperature was probably a little too warm for laps, but I swam laps anyway. And there was a metal bar all around the sides that was easy to grab onto.

The next morning, Felipe picked us up again for another adventure, similar to the day before, but different area. Before we left town, however, Jason wanted to see if we could visit with another one of his companions who didn't even know we were there, Claudio. He knew we were going 5 years ago, but he had lost access to FB messenger and didn't know about this time. We went to the store where he works and it turned out he lives just next to it. When he opened the door and saw Jason standing there, he gave him the most sincere hug. The look on his face showed his surprise. We had woken him up (though it was already 10am), yet he invited us in, offered us juice, and proceeded to visit with us for bout 2 hours! He didn't know Felipe because the mission was divided and Felipe and Claudio ended up in different areas, but they all chatted about the mission and memories of people. Claudio only had companions from the States, so he actually learned English on his mission from them. He was able to talk to me in English for a bit.

They're all turning 49 this year!

Claudio's cat!

Carol's preschool

Another waterfall

Felipe got Jason to scramble over rocks- our kids would have loved this!!

That night we ate dinner at Felipe's house. Carol cooked delicious salmon, something else that's popular in Chile. We also had a potato dish, salad, and fresh juice. Ice cream with fruit on it for dessert. Carol brought out pictures of Jason and Felipe on the mission. Felipe wrote nice notes on the backs of his pictures, and he really had nice things to say bout Jason. They also wanted to take virtual tours of Canton, MI, on YouTube to see what it looks like where we live. They're such a sweet couple, and I was so happy to have gotten to know them.