Chilean things

You may have heard that there is a volcano ready to explode here in Chile--Volcan Copahue, right on the Chile-Argentina border.  Well, as it turns out, that peak is directly east of Angol, and on a clear day I can see it from my classroom!  We're far from it, nowhere near the parts being evacuated, but it's visible sometimes. Apparently it's been spewing smoke for a while, and seismic activity has increased so they expect it to erupt sometime this month.  I have been waiting for a clear day to see if I can spy it from my classroom again, but it's been cloudy!  I shall keep you updated. [UPDATE as of June 6th: I was wrong, I cannot see Copahue from my classroom. I only figured this out when I finally saw it clearly earlier this week and it was in no way a smoking volcano. So now I'm back to not knowing which volcano it actually is.]

In the meantime, here are some pictures I tried to take of it and the other volcanoes I can see from my room.  I only realized I could see them a few weeks ago, and got really really excited--apparently more excited than my students thought was necessary.  Seeing a volcano is so insignificant to them that at first they couldn't even tell me which ones we were looking at, and they teased me for taking pictures!  I had to explain that I've never lived anywhere near volcanoes before.  Whaaat really?? Yes, really, Chilean teenagers, not everyone has your luck when it comes to natural settings.  You really can't see anything in this first picture, it's just to give you an idea of the scope here (and to show off my Microsoft Paint skills, obviously).

These were all taken on my phone, since I kept forgetting to bring my camera to school, so my apologies for the bad quality.  But here's my little iPhone trying its hardest:

this would be the updated photo, from when I realized this is not in fact Copahue

someone eventually told me which ones these two are, but I'm drawing a blank

And primary elections are coming up!  The presidential elections in November will decide who replaces Piñera next year, and I have had trouble keeping the various primary candidates straight.  My host dad explained that there are usually 5 strong political parties here, and they each put up their own candidate but eventually form alliances so it comes down to just right- and left-wing competition.  But I do know that Michelle Bachelet, former President, is running again!  She served one term right before Piñera.  The most literal signs of the political fervor are graffiti murals supporting candidates, anywhere and everywhere. I saw them all over the place in Concepción, but so far not too much in Angol. I did spot this one here last week, and it's more colorful than usual, so I thought I'd share! 

Also, this past week I learned from my host brother that one of the fields near our neighborhood, where I occasionally see cows, is also home to a llama!  And the very next day I actually saw the llama itself.  Standing stock-still, in all its brown fuzzy glory.  I will try to get a picture next time!