A Week of Exploration and Excitement by Valerie Thornton

This past week in Chile has flown by with so many exciting events—a trip to my family’s country home in Quillon, visiting two local universities, exploring downtown Concepcion, and planting trees in a local park.

Copihue-The Flower of Chile (My lovely nana, Barbara, brought me these as a gift from her mother's home)

Last weekend, my family travelled about forty-five minutes to the beautiful country town of Quillon.  As we drove and the city first came into sight, I was automatically excited to see fresh food markets, crafts, and local people enjoying the beautiful day.  Before going to our home for the weekend, we stopped at several of the stands for items such as fresh vegetables, cheese, and butter.  We also picked up a loaf of some of the most amazing, fresh bread; it was even still warm! 

I love the fresh produce stands!  These are on every corner, rather than McDonalds!

After picking up these supplies, we set off for the country house.  We turned off the main road onto a narrow path and came to an intimidating wooden bridge.  We made it across and turned onto the path that our house was on.  The first view that I had was of the sign signifying we had arrived at “Las Magaritas.”  Driving up the driveway was mesmerizing because the whole yard is filled with fruit trees and flowers.  There was also a vineyard, which the family owns, sprawling across the lot next to the house.  The family makes their own wine here and even has a wine cellar.  The house itself was composed of several buildings and even two towers, which offered beautiful views of the countryside.  I spent the weekend exploring the beautiful grounds with my host family and eating some of the best Chilean food—empanadas and cazuela, which is a traditional Chilean soup composed of meat, corn, pumpkin, and rice.  It was an absolutely fantastic weekend!

The intimidating bridge! 

Quillon!

This is taken on top of one of the home's towers.  The vineyard is in the background.

Beautiful flowers from Quillon

Hiking in Quillon with my host family!

On Wednesday, we went to lunch in downtown Concepcion, saw the beautiful Cathedral and town square, and visited San Sebastian University to talk about some of the differences and similarities between education in the United States and Chile.  It was a very rewarding day, as we got a taste of the city and had the opportunity to talk with future educators. 

At the end of the week, Friday, we did the first tree planting in a local neighborhood park!  We took two buses full of students from Colegio Concepcion San Pedro and LSU.  We worked in small groups to plant around fifty trees along a walking path by the soccer fields.  It was a rewarding experience to work with such enthusiastic, sweet students.  I was especially proud of my group who worked really hard and had fun!

Awesome students who worked really hard!

Only one more week here in San Pedro, and it is going to be busy!