Pucon

Well, we made it to Pucon in one piece! Through much nashing of teeth, sweat, & tears we were able to rent a vehicle in Temuco for the next two months. We were very hopeful as we walked through the car lot to find not one, but TWO automatic vehicles. There was a Jeep and a Kia, both would have worked beautifully. They both had space in the backs to carry the tools and luggage. We were tempted to try and buy one of them and then return it when we were done here in April-May ish. The monthly payments would only have been about $300-$350. There was hope in that Jeep, there really was. Jake talked to the man working at the car place and that hope was shot DOWN! The Jeep and Kia were cars that they were sealing for individuals who couldn’t sell their cars on their own and the car would have to be financed through a bank in order for us to buy it. In Chile they have a Route Number which is basically like our Social Security number, if you don’t have one you can’t buy anything like a car. You can’t even have a bank account here without one. So, we had to go talk to the manager of the company. They have two locations in the city of Temuco, so the manager was coming to pick us up and takes us to the main office. I felt like the mafia was coming to grab us and takes us to some empty lot outside of town to steal all our money and just leave us there. She and Jake were talking in Spanish the whole time so I really had NO idea what was going on.

She was going to let Jake rent a Truck, and not just a little truck, but a 4 door, diesel, Chevy truck. This made Jake just about cry out with joy. The only downsides were that it was a manual transmission and it would cost about $1000 a month to rent it! I couldn’t believe it would be that much to rent a vehicle. The cabin we are staying at costs less than half what the car is costing us. Jake assured me that it was a deal to be able to rent a TRUCK for that much. The other companies he had been in contact with were going to let him rent a car for about the same amount. After Jake filled out all the information they wanted him to take it for a test drive before he signed anything. The only place to take it for a test drive would be to pull right into the busy highway where the office was located. I think I held my breath for two full minutes. One of the mechanics was in the front seat and I could just feel Jake’s nervousness seeping through the seat and back to me. Jake has had issues in the past with Manual transmissions. Anyone who has ever learned to drive a stick knows the frustration of killing the car, over and over, and over again. This happened many times on our last trip here. I believe I mentioned that I feared for our lives, so having Jake pull into traffic right off the bat made me want to pee my pants.

He did wonderfully! Apparently Jake has no trouble with a manual car, he just doesn’t have the leg room to be able to drive it! The truck has made a significant amount of difference! He was able to ease right out onto the road and turn the truck back again. He stopped a few times and didn’t kill it! He signed on the dotted line and we were off! He headed back to Juanita’s where we packed up all our stuff and we headed to Pucon. Over the past two days he has only killed it twice, and that was because he had to stop on a hill, which is not easy! The last time we were here it took him a good 10 minutes to get the little car out of the rental parking lot! He has done a great job this go round. He had no problem driving the truck around. YAY! I do not fear that we will be pulling into busy traffic and the car will die and then we will too! I am very proud of him!

We have also been waiting for the Chilean Government to give Jake his permits so that we can start working on Monday. They have been emailing him asking for this and that, all things they could have told him about 3 months ago! Anyway, they said on Tuesday that they needed a letter from one of the Universities here stating that they are supporting the project. They didn’t tell Jake that he needed this when he started so Jake just about had a heart attack. He emailed him advisor (Tom) at Vandy who quickly got to work to get him the letter. Jake got news yesterday that not only were his permits approved but he had been made an adjunct professor at the Universidad Austral de Chile! He will be able to teach a few lectures there during our time here and he can continue that for as long as he wants! He could continue for the rest of his career if he wanted. He would have to renew the position each year by giving a few lectures or even teaching a class. YAY! He was jumping up and down and dancing to the “Song of Joy”!
The cabin we are staying at in Pucon is very nice. It has high ceilings so Jake won’t bonk his head on anything. (He ran into a road sign Tuesday) There is a stove, refrigerator, sink, and microwave, HOT water for baths and to clean dishes! This area is usually only busy in the summer months, so there is only a little wood burning stove to heat the great room area. In the bedrooms and bathroom you are on your own for heat. It is still quite cold here at night; it hasn’t made it to the warm spring and hot summer nights yet. We sat by the fire last night and watched some “Flight of the Concords” before going to bed. This morning it was cold enough to see your breath, and that was even before getting out of bed!

I will write more tomorrow about our trip to Puren today, it is very late and we have to get up early and head out to Valdivia tomorrow. Hope everyone is doing well at home!
Photos of everything to come later!

Mandy & Jake