Coyhaique bound!

We're heading south to Coyhaique and the region of Aysen tomorrow, but since we are just now getting a chance to report back to families and friends at home, we thought we'd share a few stories from the past few whirlwind days of meetings, meals, and gradual acculturation. 

On Wednesday morning, we left Carbondale and began our journey to the Southern Hemisphere.  Roughly 24 hours later, having followed the tan spine of the Andes from their northern-most point toward their southern terminus, we arrived in Chile.  After customs, money exchange, and baggage claim, we were greeted by Daniel's Santagino sister and brother-in-law who kindly accompanied us to the bus stop and transported some of our luggage into the city to our hostel.  Pushing through our jet-lag, we dropped our bags off at our hostel and promptly found ourselves indulging in a lunch of Peruvian sandwiches.  Mollie charged through the ordering process, demonstrating her nuanced and elegant understanding and command of Spanish.  After lunch, the group met with Weston and Susan, our Rios to Rivers companions, gurus, videographers, etc., and headed to the headquarters of HidroAysen for our first meeting of the trip.  We were lucky to meet with the CEO of HidroAysen, Daniel Fernandez, and hear his explanation for the impetus and necessity for the five mega dams planned for the Baker and Pascua Rivers.  Riley posed a few incisive questions regarding projected issues of sedimentation in reservoirs above the proposed dams as well as the potential for loss of electricity along the transmission lines that would span from Patagonia to Santiago (over 2,000 KM). 

After the meeting, we returned to the hostel and went grocery shopping to sustain ourselves while in Santiago.  Sophie, Mollie, and Alex cooked up a delicious, fresh meal, after which, the students retreated to their rooms for some much-needed, much-appreciated sleep. 

On Friday, we crisscrossed Santiago to meet with several outspoken pro and anti-dam voices.  We began the day at the Chilean Congress with Senator Horvath from Aysen, followed shortly thereafter by a meeting with Sara Larraine who articulated some of the ecological, social, and economical concerns posed by the dams.  To round out the day, we met with Hugh Rudnick, one of Chile's preeminent, pro-hydro engineers.  Cleo inquired about the flood zone that would be created by dam projects. 

As I write this, Cleo informs me that the parents don't necessarily want to hear about these meetings, and that I should move on to more interesting anecdotes.  First off, the group is collectively addicted to Mo's Gellato just caddy corner to our hostel; we've officially become 'regulars' as we've sampled all of their fresh fruit smoothie flavors.  Skye has been dominating at the pool table, though Kimbrell is certainly giving Skye a run for his money.  Nicole is donning her new Chilean national football team jersey, and Emma might be the team's new number one fan!  As they fans say: "Chi Chi Chi, Le Le Le... CHILE!" 

It's getting late, and we'll be up early tomorrow to head to the airport - hoping to get a chance to share some pictures before we get on the river Wednesday.  For now, check out Susan and Weston's Twitter (@riostorivers) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/RiosToRivers).  Ciao!