Bariloche

 
Hello, I know I haven't written on here in a while but we have been super busy with traveling. Tuesday and this week was about the same as the last week with having classes and visiting schools. On wednesday they had a national holiday so no one had to go to school or work. So I was able to spend time with my family a little bit and get to know Valdivia a little more. We first went to the fresh water market. As I have said Valdivia is surrounded but rivers and as a result the fish industry is very large. It was diffinitely a different experience with all of the raw fish laying out and each different fisherman trying to get you to buy from their selection. Also at the market they had fresh vegetables and some plants even. After the market we then met up with one of my sister's cousins and went out to lunch at the local brewery in Valdivia. This brewery has been around since the 1800's and it is actually of german descent because of the great german population there. The factory is called Kuntsmans. The food was great and I got to talk to someone else in there family which was fun as well. The rest of the day on wednesday was basically free to get ready for our travel to Bariloche.
The venture to Bariloche was rough and I didn't know if we were ever going to make it. We first had to drive 2 hours to a fairy and then 2 hours on that and then drive about five hours through the Andes mountains on gravel roads in the pouring rain. We really weren't sure if we were going to make it. Driving through the Andes was definitely an experience. However the view during the drive was absolutely amazing, there were mountains and lakes and waterfalls and all kinds of different landscapes. It made me really appreciate how hard God must have worked to make all of this because it was stunning. After the painful drive the rest of the night was had dinner and then went out to an Argentinian discotec. I'm not sure if I mentioned it but Bariloche is in Argentina, which is why it was so far away.
The next day in Bariloche though was definitely worth all of the traveling. We went up in this ski left up to a lookout area over the Andes mountains. The view from up was ten times better than the volcano in Pucon, which is didn't even think was possible. It was just amazing how big and how far the mountains stretched. The wind at the top was very cold and we all had on big coats but it was definitely worth it. The rest of today was spent with some shopping around the town and eating chocolate! Bariloche is the chocolate capital of South America. On every street corner there is a different chocolate shop. One of the shops in particular was al decorated for christmas and it looked like you were walking into santa's kitchen. I bought chocolate and two different stores because there was just so much good stuff.
We will be leaving tomorrow morning to head back to Valdivia and our final week of classes! I hope you are all doing well getting ready for Christmas, Miss you :)