Pop quiz. One of these photos was taken last July on a camping trip in Winthrop, Washington. The other was taken this past weekend in Pucon, Chile. The distance between these two points is 6,750 miles. So which one was taken in Washington, and which was taken in Chile?

This question bothered me the whole weekend of my first excursion out of Santiago since my arrival over two months ago. Pucon is a small town about eight hours south of Santiago. Nestled between Lake Villarrica and Volcan Villarrica, it’s an obvious attraction for tourists since it’s rife with activities to keep you occupied for days.

My Chilean friends kept teasing me about choosing a “Gringo Town” for my first trip out of Santiago. A friend of a friend who has been here for a while told us to avoid Pucon, as it was expensive for Chile. All of which is true — it was a very expensive weekend and there were plenty of tourists, gringo and otherwise.

But I contend that there is a reason that some places attract tourists. And again, Pucon was no exception.

Unfortunately, we came during a crappy weekend. Waking up on the bus a few hours outside Pucon, I watched the grey skies atop evergreen — EVERGREEN! — trees. I felt odd, knowing that I was driving south, south, south into South America, and yet the landscape so closely resembled my home so far north. When we finally got off the bus and made our way to the hostel, we avoided down branches and puddles of water. We were wading through the aftermath of a storm, that wasn’t a question.

And though the worst of it had been the night before, the rain continued, the wind continued, and the cold continued. This ruined the plan for hiking Volcan Villarrica, one of the main attractions to Pucon.

So on day one, we settled into the hostel recommended to us by our program. It was easy to see why it was recommended — not only were the beds very warm and comfortable, but the proprietor, Gloria, was incredibly helpful and gracious. At her suggestion, we went on a tour that took us to a few waterfalls and Lake Villarrica before ending at some hot springs.

The next day, we thought we’d be able to hike the volcano. We started up with our guides, looking extremely cute in our matching snowsuits. The van got stuck at some point, and we were told we’d have to turn around. That we did.

The rest of the day, we wandered Pucon, exploring the shops and weekend market. I was really happy to pick up a hat, some socks, and gloves all made from alpaca wool, for incredibly cheap. All three things were absolutely necessary for the wind chill that was a lot even for this northwest girl.

That night, some Argentinian guys were staying at the hostel. We hung out with them, taught them American drinking games, and went out to a bar. A mostly quiet, fun night for such a small town.

On day three, Kortnee and I braved the cold and rain and went rafting anyway down Trancura Rio. Rafting is absolutely one of my favorite things to do, and this river was no disappointment — there were some seriously fantastic rapids, and though I was absolutely freezing, it was definitely the most fun part of my trip. A great way to spend my “last day.”

Except that it wasn’t my last day. Amy and I missed our bus home.

The next day was boring. The others were finally able to climb the volcano, so Amy, who had been sick since Saturday, and I simply hung around the hostel, played on the Internet, and watched TV. Really boring, but at least we got to really see the volcano for the first time — that was worth it.

Honestly, as far as expectations went, this trip was a bit of a disaster. But those are always fun when you have the right people around. And I can at least say that I had that.

And here are some other gems from the trip. If it was a disaster, it was certainly a beautiful disaster.

With that out of the way, it’s worth noting that I’ve passed the two month mark now. It was almost an entire year ago that I decided to embark on this adventure, and now, here I am.

This past week, I’ve been a bit homesick. I miss certain parts of being home. I’m so desperately looking forward to all of the great things I have planned for when I get back that I was starting to ache for this experience to be over.

I’m not sure if being in a place the looked, smelled, and felt like home helped or hurt me in that. I was able to indulge a little in the feeling of being in the place I call home without actually leaving Chile. Maybe it helped. All I know is that, at the very least, I’m happy to be home in Santiago. The traffic is noisy outside, my room is cluttered, and I have lessons to plan. But it’s nice to have a home here in this world so far south of my real home.

A couple of weeks ago, I was hanging out at a hostel with one of Amy’s friends. We were chatting with a couple of girls who were travelling around South America by themselves. I mentioned something about TV here and they looked at me funny. “You watch TV here? You’re in South America!”

Yes, but I live here. I plan to travel as much as possible, but in the meantime, I have to teach. I have downtime. I have things I need to do, and I have time to kill. And honestly? I like it that way. It’s some semblance of normalcy in this upside down world.

Oh, and as for the pop quiz — the top picture was from Pucon, and the second was from Washington last summer.