Last weekend some friends and I took a bus to Valparaiso, a beachtown about an hour and a half way from Santiago. It´s a really cute place, famous for it´s hills that are covered in multicolored houses overlooking the ocean. We went for a jazz show, ate Chorialla (a mountain of french fries topped with beef, egg and onions, it´s ah-mazing!) then danced it off until 5am! [View Full Entry]

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Hey guys! I´ve been spending more time in Santiago lately and figured I would post some pictures of random stuff that I´ve been doing around here. I´ve been getting cultured, and yes, I feel very worldly. Went to some cool photo exhibits, the best jazz show of my life, nights out on the town, etc. It´s been fun. Come visit me :) [View Full Entry]

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Last weekend my roommates and I went to Cajon de Maipo, a town in the mountains about two hours outside of Santiago. We rented cabañas (cabins) and stayed for just one night. When we got there we dropped our stuff off and immediatly went hiking. The hike was supposed to lead to a glacier and lake but everything was covered in snow. By the time we got back to the cabins I couldn´t feel my feet and my pants were wet up to my ankles. Since we were just going for a night, no one brought extra shoes so everyone put [View Full Entry]

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I just got back from San Pedro de Atacama- the world´s driest desert that is full of lakes, salt flats, flamingos, volcanos, etc. I went with two girls I met in classes, one from the French island of Guatalupe and the other from England. Usually I´m not a big fan of tours but in the Atacama it´s the only way to see everything, so our days were full of tours. San Pedro is a touristy little town that is surrounded by salt flats and volcanos, truely the most beautiful desert I´ve ever seen. The first day we swam in Laguna Cejar, [View Full Entry]

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I just got back from La Serena, about 6 hours up north on the coast. We went for the independence (September 18th) but didn´t do much celebrating. We walked along the boardwalk for about two hours, until we got to an amazing seafood restaurant. The guy we were staying with (from couchsurfing.org) wined and dined us but was a little annoying- inviting himself everywhere and due to his lack of self-confidence acted as if he knew everyyything. Anyways, we stuffed ourselves with great fish, sauces, wine and empanadas then took about a two hour nap on the beach. That night we [View Full Entry]

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Just got home from Mendoza, Argentina; right across the border from Santiago (a beautiful 7 hour bus ride through the Andes). My two roommates from France and I met a girl on the bus from Mexico City; she ended up staying at our hostel and hanging out with us all weekend. Mendoza is a really small city that's super relaxed- we took siestas in the plaza everyday, hiked around the national park and ate the best steaks ever!! [View Full Entry]

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