Blogs from La Serena, Coquimbo Region, Chile, South America - page 4

Geo: -29.9008, -71.2448The warmth. The noisy connectedness of the Latino family. The shared-ness of it all. Big and laughing and talking all at once. That was dinner tonight. A usually pretty quiet affair with everyone tired from the day's doings turned into a gathering straight out of My Big Fat Greek Wedding.WE LOVE IT! With Tere usually not getting home from work until 8 or after most nights, everyone's pretty tired by dinner time, but today we had company. Her 2 month old grand daughter and mother are here for a week so they and Tere's mom made 7 for dinner. Seven until Tere's secretary and her husband popped in during desert. Now there's 9 and everyone's talking at once. What fun. We're just sitting here watching and loving it. They're giving Bob a tease because ... read more

Geo: -29.9008, -71.2448Finally after being here a week, we made it to the beach, la playa. It was a long walk but thankfully, all downhill.We were all set to be in a crowded mix but when we got there it was nearly deserted. The fog that blankets the whole town each morning didn't burn off until 3:00 yesterday and it was 5:00 before people started pouring onto the beach. But suddenly groups of 20 or 30 appeared out of nowhere like the whole city had been turned on end and everyone was tumbling out.The beach must be at least 12 miles long, laying like a necklace along the bay between the cities of La Serena and Coquimbo. By 7pm it was a mass of colorful umbrellas and suimsuits. It doesn't seem warm enough for swimming, but ... read more

We had our first go on South American buses, a 7 hour journey north to the town of La Serena. Incredibly after our previous bus journeys this actually seemed short! We're pleased to report that Chile buses rock, the seats are similar to business class aeroplane seats. Much easier to take a snooze in with the seats near horizontal and a pop out foot rest...bliss. La Serena was a pit stop enroute to the Atacama Desert and we had intended to see a few of the sights, however we only had 2 days there and plans didn't work out so well. We arrived on a Sunday for starters and it was like a ghost town. The only place open for dinner was a 'local' fast food joint, we bought something big, fried covered in a rainbow ... read more

Disclaimer: my english is feeling slightly incoherent today, but I wanted to get this blog done now while I have internet! I just spent a WONDERFUL weekend in La Serena, it was absolutely beautiful and I spent some relaxing hours thinking, writing, and talking with my friends and Laura's host family. I arrived thursday night and spent most of Friday lounging around and talking with Tia Susy (Laura's host mom, for those of you who don't know) and then spent the evening at my friend Jovi's apartment. Then on Saturday Pito, Soto and I went to Vicuña and stayed until Sunday afternoon. Tia Susy's mother, sisters and two of Pito's cousins came over for tea Sunday and then Monday morning I hopped on a bus back to Copiapo. For those of you who didn't follow my ... read more

We had a long weekend this past week and headed north to La Serena in the 4th region. The unfortunate weather we had the first 2 days did not keep us from loving the city. It is super clean compared to where we live and the dogs population is somewhat under control. The architecture is very different and with 29 churches in the city there was a lot to see. We stayed with my host teacher's sister, Ximena, and her husband and daughter. They were the best hosts we could have asked for and kept us fed well the whole weekend. They live the Bosque de San Carlos neighborhood outside of La Serena. We arrived on Friday before the Chile/Spain game and found it impossible to get public transportation to their house. After waiting over an ... read more