Hello All,

Sorry for the longer than normal time between blog posts, things have gotten a little busier here. I am now in my last few weeks of the first phase of the program. Our classes are wrapping up and everyone is preparing for their upcoming independent study project. The ISP is a month-long project on a theme and in a location of our choice. Basically, all of November will be spent doing interviews and research, and then writing, the ISP paper. I am about 90% sure that I will be studying different ways that Chile and Bolivia can cooperate on energy policy for my ISP. Basically, Bolivia has a lot of natural gas that Chile really needs, but because of certain historical grievances, Bolivia will not export the gas to Chile. Bolivia could also use a gas pipeline to the Chilean port cities to export its gas to other lucrative markets, like California, but Chile wont let Bolivia build the pipeline unless they export gas to Chile. What I want to do is talk to politicians and energy experts about different solutions to this problem and what kind measures, political or otherwise, it would take to achieve a mutually beneficial resolution. The paper is supposed to be primarily based on interviews, so hopefully my developing Spanish will be up to it.
The other really cool thing that has happened since I last posted was a fantastic trip that our group took to northern Chile. The purpose of the trip was to study the copper mining industry, as copper is Chile’s most important export product. Chile has over a third of the world’s copper reserves, and with copper demand for building projects in China and India driving up the price at the moment, it is an extremely lucrative business for Chile. While the gigantic copper mines in the middle of the barren Atacama desert were very cool, the highlight of the trip was the time we spent in the small oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama.
San Pedro de Atacama looks much the same as has for a hundred years, with dirt streets and adobe buildings. However, its location in an area of unique natural wonders has turned it into an international tourist destination. On the edge of the Andes but still located in the driest desert on earth, San Pedro also sits on area of intense geothermal activity. While there, I mountain biked through the desert to a couple of hot spring fed, turquoise-colored lagoons. The top foot-and-a-half of water was pretty cold, but below that the water got warmer to the point that I couldn’t extend my feet all the way down or they would have been scalded. We also took a day trip from San Pedro into Bolivia to visit some gorgeous green lakes tucked between active volcanoes, at an altitude of about 15,000 feet. The only creatures we saw in the super-salty lakes were small, pink flamingos, which I was surprised to learn are native to the area.
The other two memorable moments from the trip were a sunset and a sunrise. The sunset was in the Valley of the Moon, a spectacular desert canyon that looks like another planet, hence the name. The rock outcrops amid the sand dunes have been carved into alien shapes by years of wind and erosion. Just a gorgeous place to watch a sunset. The sunrise was in a little bowl valley in the Andes that also happens to be the world’s highest geyser field, El Tatio. Just the sound of the hundreds of geysers hissing and spitting and bubbling with steam and water made the trip worth it. The first rays of sunshine filtering through the mist made the trip unforgettable. We also had a chance to bathe in a hot spring in the middle of the geyser field, an excellent way to combat the sub-freezing temperatures of the early morning. To top it off, on the way back we drove through pristine Andean valleys filled with llamas, alpaca, deer, flamingos, chinchillas and other animals I have never heard of.
All together, a pretty sweet trip. You can see photos (over 200) by clicking on the links in the following post.