El norte, a bit of resfrio, and a super insanely hard essay...

Ok, time for my monthly blog update...wow time flies, maybe I'll try to update it more often because lots of things happen in a month here in Chile. I suppose school has long since started for you guys in the states...It's almost been two months of school here and I can't really tell if I've done too much seeing as though I have class once a week for most of my classes. Apparently we've done a lot in my "Modernidad y problemas sociales" class because we were supposed to have read a book and now write a 5 page essay on the topics discussed in class and in the book...which I couldn't even find on our syllabus! I think the Chileans in the class were even confused (that's bad!....usually it's only the gringos that are clueless). So the wednesday before my trip up north, class ends and the professor mentions nothing about the essay due the following week after vacation (by the way, the 18th of september is Chilean independence so they basically do nothing during that week but party and have asadas (BBQs) which is why I was going to travel up north). So the gringos and I ask the professor (who's actually the assistant because the real professor is in Santiago or something) what's up with the essay and she gives us an email address so we can figure it out (thanks!). Turns out, Claudio (our academic advisor) saves us and provides the essay question somehow. So that's good, but we still don't have the book that we were supposed to have magically known to read. I eventually get a copy of it but after a lot of hassle (I actually end up meeting an ex teacher's assistant on a street corner who has it and she explains a bit what I'm going to have to do). Chile is crazy and I don't know how I'm going to survive with their crazy way of not telling you anything. Good thing all my other classes are super easy.
Next, the journey to the north of Chile. I travelled with Caitlin, Jess, and Jeff, and the first leg of our journey was to San Pedro de Atacama, a good 24 hours (via bus) from Viña del Mar. Fun. We left Friday night and got to San Pedro at the same time (if not a bit later) on Saturday. I was tired and quite sick...turns out I had a bit of a cold/ head ache/ stuffy nose from hell/ the change in altitude didn't help (San Pedro is a good 2 Kilometers or so above sea level or 7,000 ft.). Needless to say, I was a bit worried on the outset of this vacation...afraid I'd have to be in bed while my friends were adventuring. Fortunately, Jess brought a bunch of cold medicine...she basically saved me! Sunday consisted of wandering around the quaint town full of tourists and looking for stuff to do. We found a cool gravel mound that overlooked the desert and Jeff gave us a geology lesson (he's really smart). Then we signed up for a tour of the Tatio Geysers the next morning which left at 4am...!!! So...I'm starting to get sick and now I have to wake up at 3:30 por la mañana...ay dios mio! Well, I did. And I didn't feel the most healthy, but the Tatio Geysers are supposed to be really super cool and beautiful (the highest in the world at 14,000 ft.!!). Now all we had to do was get there. Turns out they're 2 1/2 hours away and the road is the most bumpy road in existence! I thought the tour bus we were in was going to fall apart it was rattling so hard. My head was rattling about as hard (not fun!). But we somehow arrived without dying and indeed it is a beautiful place. It was cold so you could see the geysers really well and the mountain landscape just made it all the more beautiful. We ate coca leaves to help with the altitude (the same leaves you make cocaine out of....but not nearly as concentrated). They weren't that tasty and they didn't help my cold. We wandered around the geysers a bunch then piled back in the bus to go to some hot springs...!! They were really hot and me and Jeff didn't want to get out once we got in because it was still cold outside...we eventually did though...brrrr! On the way back to San Pedro de Atacama we saw some cool llamas and alpacas and weird deer looking things called vicuñas. Also a chinchilla-like animal that the guide compared to a picachu (I hate it that I knew what he was referring to). We got back and slept.
Tuesday, the 18th of September is Chilean independence day, and we experienced the Chilean desert to the utmost extent. We rented bikes and went to Valle de la Muerte (valley of death...how nice) and sand boarded. This was suuper cool and the landscape was even cooler. I've never been on sand dunes before...they're just like in the movies! During the afternoon we biked to Valle de la Luna (12 km of biking up a slight incline in the desert isn't the easiest task....) and saw the sunset. They call it Valle de la Luna because it looks like a lunar landscape...and they're right! (even though I've never been to the moon...I bet it looks just like this). We saw the sunset from the top of another huge sand dune and it was spectacular! We then biked back to San Pedro in the dark (in retrospect not the safest thing...but we had head lamps). Being so tired from our excruciating biking experience and given the relatively party-less nature of San Pedro de Atacama, we didn't do much to celebrate independence day...but it was a good day none-the-less.
Wednesday we chilled and then went to Iquique...arriving at 5:30am the following morning (I'm still kinda sick and this wasn't fun...but the nice hostel owner let us sleep on the couches until our room was available to check in at noon...!!). The same day, Jess and Caitlin went para gliding...suuper cool! I didn't only because it was $60 and the sky was cloudy...I'm definitely doing it some time though because it looked so awesome! Iquique i guess is renowned in South America for its para gliding and I was so jealous of our guides who take people flying for a living...what a cool job!
Thursday we hung out in Iquique, threw some disc on the beach and then slept in our very nice hostel (it actually had hot water and a kitchen we could use!). Friday we went home, thankfully I slept a lot so the 24 hr. bus ride was more manageable. Well, that's all and I congratulate you if you actually read this whole post....I'll work on shortening them...but that probably won't happen...o well. I should probably get to this essay now...I'm going to die!