by Eric Gresham:
(Eric Gresham ’11 was in Silliman College. He will be spending the summer working for an outdoor magazine called the Patagon Journal based in Puerto Varas, Chile.)
Winter mornings in Puerto Varas, Chile start slow. As I stumble out of my overnight bus ride from Santiago at 9:25 a.m., silent, empty streets welcome me. Even the stray dogs, numerous in Chile, do not feel it necessary to start their daily prowl for food until 10.
I find my way to my hostel, Casa Azul, and ring the bell, but no one responds. Luckily, an enthusiastic taxicab lingers close by and offers a tour of the town, explaining there might not be anyone at the hostel: “It’s winter season, nobody’s here.” I agree to a tour, figuring it’s the best use of my time since on foot I would be toting my ruck sack full of clothes and snowboard bag all around town with me. My decision is quickly rewarded, as a minute later I am presented with the lake front vista of the nearby Volcano Osorno that I had so far only witnessed through Google Images. I can’t help but take a picture exactly the same as those I had found on the Internet.
Puerto Varas is a picturesque town in the Southern Chile region of Patagonia, nestled on the shores of Lake Llanquihue, and neighboring two volcanoes, the Volcano Osorno and Petrohué. It is a town that thrives heavily on tourism, although only during its spring and summer seasons — October through March. The reason for my arrival in June is that Puerto Varas is the current residence of Jimmy Langman, executive editor of Patagon Journal (http://www.patagonjournal.com/), and my boss and mentor for the next month and a half. I found his posting offering an internship for aspiring journalists on the Internet while finishing my senior year in January, and jumped at the opportunity. A long-time foreign correspondent for Newsweek magazine and a successful freelance journalist, Jimmy is now working on achieving his dream of starting his own magazine about the travel, sports, and environmental aspects of Patagonia. Currently, Patagon Journal is about to publish its inaugural issue, so I’ve come on board at an exciting time.
I finish my tour with my taxi driver Freddy, and when I return to my hostel the landlord is awake and I can settle myself in to my home for the next six weeks. During my time here with Jimmy, my aspirations are to help with the development of the magazine as well as write three articles to eventually be published in Patagon Journal or elsewhere. Under Jimmy’s tutelage, my aim is to make a start in discovering whether journalism can be the lifelong passion I am searching for. My subjects will be snowboarding in Southern Chile, the growing sport of longboarding and its presence in Patagonia, and activities in Puerto Varas in winter. I can’t wait to begin.