Last weekend was Easter weekend. The general word was that Santiago would be relatively uninteresting during the long weekend, so a few friends and I began planning an excursion. After some hiccups in the planning procedure we eventually made a plan Thursday night to make the trip out to the seaside commune of La Serena.

Allen--who I've mentioned before--has a roommate, Carlos, who, in turn, has a car. So Wednesday night he handed me a stack of blank CD's, informed me that they take mp3 format, and ordered me to get busy. On Friday morning (around noon) we packed up the car, popped in the first of my playlists, and were off. It was the first proper road trip I'd had in far too long, and it was simple and beautiful and refreshing. Carlos is the most avid gamer I've met here besides myself. We met by means of Game of Thrones, which is known, of course, to forge the most lasting of friendships (not kidding). He's also got a sharp sense of humor so we've been getting along famously. We bonded over books and movies and games we all like while Allen, the film nerd from Brooklyn, shot windowed vistas from the passenger seat. He said he would edit them into a neat little video, so if he ever finishes I'll post it here. We tried to speak only in Spanish; I'd say I improved a little just from the weekend. Carlos is a very good teacher.

That night around 7:00pm we rolled into La Serena and found an adorable hostel for a reasonable price. We quickly aimed to hit the town: there was a casino nearby in which I didn't feel comfortable gambling because I couldn't understand the dealers' rapid spanish and was interested in keeping my limited cash supply. Next time. It was nice enough to get out and about, and the drinks were cheap, presumably to loosen the wallets of the patron gamblers, so we had a good time just sitting around talking for a bit. Afterwards we got some pizza and called it a night. It was relatively tame but we all had great fun.

The next day we hopped in the car and drove over to Valle de Elquis, about an hour away. We parked at a supermarket, grabbed some cold-cuts, and wandered to a nearby park for a bite of lunch. Dogs took notice as we ate and wandered over carefully, craftily, masterfully, clearly practiced at their beggar's game. We gave offered them bread--some took more fondly to it than others, who let it fall from their mouths. There's a saying about begging and choosing that seems appropriate. The park itself was cheery and tranquil and just all-around pleasant. We left to go on a tour of the Capel facilities (makers of the infamous Pisco liquor) which was actually pretty fun, despite my complete failure to understand any of the facts the tour guide was rattling off. After the tour we went back to the park and it was teeming with community: a group was playing live music nonchalantly and an abundance of parents had brought their children to climb about the fountain and architecture. It seemed like a really good place for a family on a Saturday afternoon.

That night, we went on a tour to the Cerro Mamalluca Observatory. Valle de Elquis is a good distance from any of the major urban centers and several hours north of Santiago. While it's not quite in the desert region, the climate is dry enough and there is so little light pollution that it's home to one of the clearest night skies in the world. Understanding the immense tourist potential of the skies visible from the area, local municipalities have created an observatory whose instruments are open to the general public. We met at a small booth in town, from which point we caravanned through town in our car, up an arid, dusty hill, to the observation point where the facility was set up. As we climbed the dirt road my companions and I were chatting idly, listening to music and passing the time, until we noticed the road lights marking the way beyond the confines of the civilization below. As we realized exactly for what we were in store we turned our eyes skyward and were instantly stunned. Constellations I had never seen before mingled with familiar constellations in unfamiliar orientations who had a backdrop of stars I had never been able to notice, while further in the background still the milky ghost of our galaxy spanned the sky. The walk to the observatory proved difficult with what seemed like every patron's neck craned and chin pointing straight up.

Courtesy of: http://www.welcomechile.com/vicuna/mamalluca-astronomical-observatory.html

We finally made it inside and were led up a winding staircase to a domed observatory. Our guide began pointing out--in English, as it was the only tour available--the various constellations that we could see. Orion was lying on his side and surrounded by such a cluster of stars that I barely recognized him; scorpio was seen with resounding clarity; the cross, not visible from the northern hemisphere, serves as a beacon for astronomers seeking the polar axis, akin to our north star, polaris. Soon after his explanation, the guide punched some astronomical coordinates into the computer ("astronomers used to carefully plot maps using the constellations in order to point their telescopes; now we have GPS") and the entire dome shifted while the telescope at the room's center began carefully orienting itself. We were each invited to look into the lens at the clearest images of the universe that I have ever seen first-hand. We were able to make out individual stripes on Jupiter, the shape of the clouds of the Orion nebula, and the reddish hue of Betelgeuse. Quite simply, it was awesome. There were some smaller telescopes outside that we could use freely to observe the sky once the tour was done; I never really wanted to leave. Apparently the area is an open camp-zone, allowing you to spend the night after your tour. I've carefully added a night's stay to my travel list.

That night we stopped in a local jazz club for a quick dinner and headed back to La Serena for the night. The next morning, Easter Sunday, we headed into the center of town to check out some of the more touristy things. We stopped at the fishing docks and the entire area was vivid: people danced and celebrated while costumed heroes flitted about--Captain Jack Sparrow was offering boat rides on three separate Black Pearls for two luca apiece (ch$ 2.000 = ~$4USD). We made our way into one of the restaurants and were treated to some of the freshest fish I have ever had. Afterwards, as we relaxed by the railing and looked out at the fishing boats, a group of seals popped up their heads, presumably returning to their favorite human food feeding spot. We then headed to the beach to scare a particularly large flock of seagulls. Carlos got pooped on. It was magical.

After we had had our fill of local wildlife observation, we headed back to to the car to make our way home. The drive back to Santiago proved to be much more trying than the drive there because of the influx of citygoers trying to make it back in time for work on Monday. The CDs we had burned began to grate on us and my iPhone ran out of batteries so I was woefully without my gameboy, but we had a good time of it all the same.

This week work really picked up--I finally started some real classes--which has been refreshing. Notoriously bad at managing time, though, I had trouble finding time to update. I'll try to get back on here soon.