Sunday, February 22We awoke to the smell of freshly baked kuchen again, this time of the apple variety made from ripe apples picked from the tree in the backyard. It was scrumtrelescent. After breakfast, Claudia drove us to the bus station where we hopped on a bus to Dalcahue on the eastern side of Chiloé. Dalcahue is well known for its weekly feria that takes place every Sunday throughout the summer. Much of the goods at this feria were similar to the ones we found yesterday in Castro, but it was nice to see the variety. Also, the entertainment at these feria’s is very amusing and worth the trip if nothing else.
We grabbed some final gifts before hopping on the free ferry to the small island of Quinchao directly across the channel from Dalcahue. We flagged down another micro and rode it until we reached Curaco de Velez about midway across the island. We stopped there for some lunch, and because it was our designated rendezvous spot with Cristian to return to Puerto Varas. We 
strolled down to the costanera where we found a small seafood shack offering oysters. We had heard great things about the Chiloé oysters…specifically how cheap they are. When we entered there were oysters spread across a large wooden table separated by size and ranging in price from 500-700 pesos each. Now, when I say these were the biggest oysters I have ever seen, I mean they must have been juicing on the same “arthritic” cream as Barry Bonds. These things were bigger than my hands! Lily and I couldn’t have been more excited to dig in. Pearl on the other hand was a bit more hesitant as she had never had oysters before and didn’t want her first experience to be with the incredible hulk oysters.
strolled down to the costanera where we found a small seafood shack offering oysters. We had heard great things about the Chiloé oysters…specifically how cheap they are. When we entered there were oysters spread across a large wooden table separated by size and ranging in price from 500-700 pesos each. Now, when I say these were the biggest oysters I have ever seen, I mean they must have been juicing on the same “arthritic” cream as Barry Bonds. These things were bigger than my hands! Lily and I couldn’t have been more excited to dig in. Pearl on the other hand was a bit more hesitant as she had never had oysters before and didn’t want her first experience to be with the incredible hulk oysters.Lily and I got 2 each of the 500-peso variety and accompanied the 
oysters with empanadas de marisco (shellfish/muscles), while Pearl feasted on queso empanadas. The oysters were delicious, but couldn’t be slurped down in one bite like normal oysters. It was impossible to fit the whole thing in your mouth. So, this was the first time in my life when I was forced to use a fork and knife with an oyster in order to conquer these beasts. Stuffed from lunch and ready for a nap we met Cristian and his girlfriend and piled into the car to make our way home. We got a bit off track on some dirt roads trying to find a short cut, but we eventually made it back to Ancud where the ferry left for the mainland. While waiting in the line for the ferry we indulged in some manzana empanadas, which are like apple turnovers and specific to Chiloé. We can’t get these in Puerto Varas.
oysters with empanadas de marisco (shellfish/muscles), while Pearl feasted on queso empanadas. The oysters were delicious, but couldn’t be slurped down in one bite like normal oysters. It was impossible to fit the whole thing in your mouth. So, this was the first time in my life when I was forced to use a fork and knife with an oyster in order to conquer these beasts. Stuffed from lunch and ready for a nap we met Cristian and his girlfriend and piled into the car to make our way home. We got a bit off track on some dirt roads trying to find a short cut, but we eventually made it back to Ancud where the ferry left for the mainland. While waiting in the line for the ferry we indulged in some manzana empanadas, which are like apple turnovers and specific to Chiloé. We can’t get these in Puerto Varas.We made it back in time for Lily and me to meet one of her oldest friends from Maine, Jake Blaine. Jake was in Puerto Varas because he just started an incredible job with Parque Pumalin working for the Tompkins’. We had a great dinner at Meditarraneo, and I could tell Lily was thrilled to have a face to face talk with a friend from home. It made things feel very normal even though we were thousands of miles from home. Despite all of the action and projects we have going on here, it’s hard not to feel homesick. We dropped Jake at his hotel and returned to our apartment in Edificio Costanera for some well deserved rest. What a weekend!
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