Leaving Chile, Sunday Jan 24th

I was glad my bus was only at 10h30, which allowed me to pack my tent dry. As I mentioned previously, volcanic ground makes for wet tents, as a lot of humidity comes back up during the cold of the night and wets the inside, as if it were raining from under. It is difficult to get out of the tent without getting wet. I had experienced this in Puyehue volcanoe too, a few years back,but had felt that I would not be in volcanic areas long enough this time around to warrant bringing something extra to avoid the problem.

As good as I felt at the Suizandina, I was glad to be leaving. I feel slightly uncomfortable around Chileans sometimes. I couldn't quite figure it out, but I think it's because they don't quite know how to take me, and try real hard to categorise me into boxes that have nothing to do with what and who I am. I think it would be easier if I could say that only one of my parents is from Chile. The fact that both are means they think I am too, despite the fact that I was born and raised in Canada. They see my foreigness in my way of expressing myself, in my clothes, but somehow still expect me to think like them, and are not as forgiving about little cultural differnces as they would be with a ¨gringa¨. There is a contradiction there that they don't know what to do with. I felt very ready to shed this clingy, sticky identity that I hadn't adopted.

I breakfasted in the restaurant, having run out of oatmeal, and the food was great and plentiful. Packed my stuff and walked out to be on the side of the road waiting for the bus (which was due at 10h45) at 10h30. It came at 11h10. I had prepared myself for a more or less long wait and had my towel wrapped around myself as protection against both the sun and the tabanos. I waived energetically and repeatedly at it before it stopped. They had not been warned that I was to be picked up here! They stopped a bit further ahead and had to backtrack. I would not have been happy had I been left behind!




A few hours of travel and customs tediousness later, I was back at the same little hotel in Zapala with the same lady. I now found out that she is of Lebanese descent, so we got to talking a bit in French, which was fun. It being Sunday, the entire town was closed, and after a call to the same family I had had dinner with a week previously whom I wished to invite, we set up a time of 21h30 at their place where we would order pizza from, and I had a quick nap.

At 21h30 I was there with wine and cheese, but we ended up eating out the five of us left: the parents, Patrica and Manuel; the youngest son Santiago and his girlfriend Alexia and myself. The others, the 3 I had met on the bus ride back from Copahue, I knew would be back in Buenos Aires by this time, and I plan on seeing them there.



We had another very enjoyable evening, they really are great people! After dinner we had ice cream and then it was bed. Tomorrow, long bus ride (12 hours or so) to Puerto Madryn, where I will arrive the following morning.