Blogs from Valparaíso Region, Chile, South America

These are two phrases that technically exist in English. Those along with, "I told you so", and "Your face looks like sewer". But if one appreciates having friends, it is advised NOT to say them. Apparently not here. Chileans are terribly blunt and I've had my definite share of *gasp* "Did he/she actually just say that?!" moments. My host brother got robbed last night. As the family and I were eating once he entered the kitchen obviously downtrodden. He then proceeded to tell us that after he gave a tour, some boys stole his backpack which contained some blockbuster movies Pablo (a family friend) had rented, cash, and a VERY expensive medication that he has to take every day. I sat there with my mouth open and took in the irony of the situation. At seeing ... read more

We Made it!! and what an adventure and a challenge for all of us and our little 2CV's it turned out to be. We travelled exactly 9,000 kms in our cars and 1,571 kms in the rental van before it got wrecked it in the motorway crash, so we did a total of 10,571 kms. During our two night stay in La Rioja, we met up with a few interesting people that also owned 2CV's, as they are still popular in Argentina. A local dentist named Mauricio, organised the local paper and the local radio to meet with us at 8.00am for interviews and photos. Paul took the cue, and chatted live on their breakfast program, with Mauricio translating as fast as he could, while others chatted with the news paper reporter and posed for photos. ... read more

Today I had the greatest day! It was marvelous. Earlier I went exploring with Amber and Jack. They're really cool. Last week when I went to my grammar class (they're both in there) I decided that we needed to hang out. Haha! I always talk to them in class but I was thinking "why don't we ever hang out" and that's when I decided it needed to happen. They're a part of ISA as well. I wouldn't say that we're clickish but I can definitely see that everyone's getting to the point where we hang out with the same people all the time. Humans are funny. We get so ruttish. But we have to break out! When I told them we should hang out sometime they were both really excited so we exchanged numbers and today ... read more

The bus from Santiago only took 2 hours to arrive to the city of Valparaíso. Along the way, we passed a number of coastal wineries, reminding me of some of the CA southern coast wineries near Santa Barbara. Valparaíso was a sight to see. A city built on hills, destroyed and rebuilt after earthquakes and tsunamis. Similar to Pucon, we passed tsunami escape route signs. Chile, land of natural disasters! We took a short local bus ride then walked up a steep hill to our hostel. A beautiful remodeled Victorian house, our private room had 15 foot vaulted ceilings, crown moulding throughout, and lots of natural light. Once we put our stuff down, the receptionist (who reminded me a lot of my Spanish friend Pascual, with his laid back attitude, goofy demeanor, and love of climbing), ... read more