Puerto Varas: Sweden in Spanish

 

Blame it on the fact that I've been stranded in a desert for the past nine months and everything green looks the same to me, but upon my arrival to Puerto Varas on Tuesday, I couldn't help but be reminded of my very first international adventure in Sweden, almost four years ago. 

Perhaps it was the lush vegetation, the quaint little country houses with streams of smoke pouring out of cute little chimneys or the lingering smell of waffle cones which seems to follow you freaking everywhere (or is that just me?) but there is something about Puerto Varas that left me feeling quite deja vu-ish.  Despite a signifigant difference in the blonde population, the two places are strangely similar.  Every so often, my reminiscing would be interruped by the shrill cry of "weon" reminding me that I wasn´t in Scandinavia but rather suprisingly in Chile; the same country where I´ve spent the past eleven months.

I arrived in Puerto Varas around 9:30 in the morning. The gorgeous green countryside was draped in fog and it was raining just the perfect amount.  I made my way to the house where I was couch surfing just in time for introductions and a quick breakfast before I dropped off my things and set out to wander aimlessly for a while, as (you may have noticed) is my tendency.  My trek lasted about two hours and wasn't unlike the walk around Värmdö from which this blog got its name.  

Later in the day, I had an interview for a language school.  At this point it looks like I´ll be returning to Iquique to work in the mine but I´m keeping my options open.  If I've learned anything in the past year, it is have a plan B.  The school was great and the owner was super nice but the salary is about half what I´d be making up North.  Womp womp.

I went out with my couchsurfing host and some friends of hers for a few beers (can you say microbrews on tap? ohhh yeaahhh) on Tuesday night and the next morning I went to the National Park .  Needless to say, a few hours of nature was just what the doctor ordered.  Since I´m a little crunched for time at the moment, I´ll  just let the pictures (below) speak for themselves.