Pucon

January 7

We have now been in Pucón for a few days.  We are staying in a beautiful house with vaulted ceilings and floor to ceiling windows in the middle of the woods.  The house is halfway up volcan villarica, which, I did not realize until we hiked it, is the most active volcano in South America.  It last erupted in 2015 but currently shows no signs of activity.  The area is just beautiful, with a snow capped peak we couldn’t even see  the top of until our 3rd day here, when the clouds finally cleared.  At the bottom of the mountain sits Pucón along the shores of a cold, clear lake.

We “hiked” around the volcano (as much as one can hike with an 8, 5 and 4 yr old).  They actually did well and we got some good exploring in, then we went to a lava tube which they loved.  Trying to understand geology in Spanish was interesting, and I think our guide did pretty well, other than claiming that the friction of one tectonic plate subducting beneath another is what causes melting, and thus, volcanoes.  I don’t have the Spanish to clarify that.  It was also unclear to me why there was pahoehoe lava.  

Yesterday we went on a “family float” with a local river tour group.  Hubs and I have done a fair amount of canoeing and rafting, but this was the first time we brought the whole crew along.  Going with a guide was so lovely and relaxing, we had no responsibilities for  arranging the shuttle, inflating the raft (a lengthy ordeal) or anything else.  We just had to keep an eye on our kids, a full time endeavor, and not add to that stress with river planning.

Today we visited a hot spring.  MJ was very concerned it  would be a “naked hot spring, like Oregon” and was relieved to find it was not.   Reminiscent of Oregon hot springs, if they were slightly more organized and commercialized (I say this not in a bad way, because it means restrooms and a parking lot, in exchange for a marginal fee.). I think the name was something like Parcival... which I know isn’t correct because that’s the name from Ready Player One.

All in all, Pucon is not like the other places we’ve visited. It doesn’t feel like “real” Chile.  I think any place with a Marmot store cannot be “real”.  It’s hip and trendy, which is kind of fun, but our efforts to find “kid friendly” activities are met with blank stares.  We have encountered a few people who speak English, which is certainly helpful, and everyone is very friendly to our kids, but this is definitely a 20-something Aspen-ish type place.

Mostly, our kids want to hang out at the house and play with the Air B&B host’s dogs and daughter.   Not a bad life, certainly.  

A few thoughts on Chile so far.  It is about the same prices as the US, all in all.  Food, lodging and supplies are about the same.  Services, a term I use loosely, tend to be cheaper.  Such things as horse back riding, rafting, etc, are maybe 25% - 50% the price of the US.  Many places accept only cash, and we have a hard time finding an ATM without an $8 fee, so that obviously adds up.  

They LOVE mayonnaise here.  Any sauce is likely heavily mayo based.  Hotdogs are ubiquitous. The bread is delicious, even that which you find at a gas station.  There is a particular kind of cheese, I’m not sure what it’s called, though it’s widespread, that tastes like fondue. It makes my tummy happy.  Avocados are cheap but tortilla chips are VERY hard to find, which seems like a great societal tragedy.  The ones I have found are not very good, and I’m tempted to find the ingredients to make my own.  Unlikely I will follow through, though.  

Although I haven’t experienced this as much, in Pucon, I experienced extensive unease our first few stops.  Everywhere we went it seemed people were staring at us.  Once you hear our poor Spanish it’s pretty clear why people are staring, but it was happening everywhere, regardless of whether we spoke.  I came to realize it was because our kids are so blond, and no one around us is.  Our whole family stands out, physically, from the locals, especially the kids.  Especially MJ (Though the grandmas seem particularly drawn to Teddy.)  MJ has had her head patted a few times (much better than the hair pulling I experienced in Korea at 5.). She could not understand what was going on until we chatted about it.  We’ll see if the head patting returns at our next stop (Argentina!!)