Molten Glass (e-mail to Cara)

yo, close to birthday girl -
Yesterday randy & I had the most fun ever, ever, ever in our lives. We
were staying in an uber-touristy town in Chile, which is the "adventure
capital" of the country. So we climbed a permanently ice-capped, active volcano!
I couldn't actually see the lava, but I looked into the crater (nearly
asphixiated) and I could *hear* all that molten glass bubbling. The last eruption was in 1984, before that 1971, so it's pretty active. On the way up, we had snow boots and ice axes and the whole deal, but the way down is waaaaay more lax. They just lead you to a point on the hill and say, okay - get on your butt and slide down!!! A full vertical kilometer of sliding.
wow...
anyway, we're surviving. got our camera stolen by some asshole in a hostel (he picked the lock on our private room). nevertheless, everthing is good and monday we're going traveling with my aunt, et al, including Andres' parents. Then to the big city, then to the beach.
So, that's about all the news I have, except that I went to Pablo Neruda's house in Valparaiso, which is the coolest house ever! I imagine he was a lot like Steven McBride.

Hope you're all crafty and communing w/ the winter weather!

anna