Tuesday, February 18

We woke up this morning and I got ready to go for a run along the beach. I had my clothes on and everything when it started to rain. We had to run to put everything away, and then I went to take a shower. The showers were gross and there was mud on the floor and everything about the shower was just very difficult and messy and not fun, but I finally got it done. I ran from the showers to the car in the pouring rain. Then we drove like 100 meters over to a covered area overlooking the beach where we set up a table and had breakfast.

We finished, packed up all the stuff, and drove to Puerto Octay. It was raining, but I still wanted to see a little of the tiny town, so while Nancy and Eric were looking at cheese (what the town is famous for), Monse and I crossed the street and walked around the little plaza through the rain.

We then went back to Frutillar to see the city, and by the time we got there it had stopped raining and turned into a nice day. We went to a meat shop and bought meat to have a barbecue tonight. Then we went to a feria artesenal and walked around for a while. If you haven’t noticed yet, Nancy is an absolute fanatic for ferias atresenales, and although they all basically have the same trinkets and woolen clothes, I still really like looking at all the crafts and stuff. After the feria, we were all starving, but we wanted to save room for the barbecue in the night, so we ordered some French fries from a roadside stand and ate them all together (they put mayonnaise on their fries here). Then Monse, Maxi, and I went over to a playground nearby and took turns pushing each other on this giant swing.

Then we all walked over to the Teatro del Lago. It’s this giant building literally built over the lake made out of a bunch of different colors of wood. Frutillar is famous for the music festival that is held in the theater there.

After touring Frutillar, we went back to the camping to have our asado. We all went back behind the camping where there were trees to gather branches for fire wood. Monse also picked blackberries from the bushes. The whole family had fun making fun of Eric because he had so much trouble getting the fire started. When he finally did, they all cooked their meat and my chicken on the side.

After we ate dinner, Monse, Eric, and I played escoba for a while and then we all were ready for a dessert of s’mores. Later, Maxi and I took turns cutting up a big branch we found with an axe. We were worried that the splinters would scratch our eyes, so we put on the goggles that Monse had brought to go swimming in. We looked ridiculous, but at least we were protected. Using the axe would be a really good way to get all of my frustration out when I’m angry about something. After we got the fire burning really bright, Nancy, Maxi, and I sat around it and talked for a while. Then Maxi and I walked down to the beach, sat in the lifeguard tower overlooking the water, and listened to music for a while. We sang along and even though we’re both terrible singers and didn’t really know the lyrics (we sang songs in both Spanish and English), we had a great time. After a while it got so cold that we couldn’t take it anymore, and we went back to the tents to go to sleep.