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Published: January 9th 2007
Mi señora y la torta!
This is a picture of Vesi (my señora) and me on the first night in SantiagoWow! I definitely had a great time during my first weekend in Chile! This Saturday, January 6th, we left for our first excursion at 8:30 a.m. from the University. I was so exhausted from going out the night before that I fell asleep on the bus (along with everyone else). We first went to a town right outside Santiago called Maipu where basically all there was to see was a really big cathedral with a huge courtyard that resembled Saint Peter´s square in Rome. Next, we traveled to Pomaire, another small town where they are known for pottery. I actually helped the guy make an icecream bowl as well! For lunch, we went to a local restaurant in Pomaire. I really wanted to drink water there but all they had was wine or tap water and since it was a small town, I didn´t want to risk drinking the water. Kyle, on the other hand, drank the tap water and, yep, he had diarrhea the following morning! For dessert, they gave us wrinkled peaches in sugar water with pieces of soggy cereal at the bottom...that has been the only food that I have found absolutely disgusting so far!
After lunch,
Cerro San Cristobal
This is the view of Santiago from the top of San Cristobal we traveled to Isla Negra which is one of three homes of Pablo Neruda, a very famous Chilean poet. We went to the beach there, but the sand was really rocky and the water was FREEZING! Still, the beach was pretty with lots of black rocks sticking out of the water (hence the name Isla Negra or Black Island...)
Saturday night after a dinner of tomatoes filled with tuna fish (interesting but good!) Ashley and I went out on our own to a discoteca. We met two guys from Argentina and talked and danced with them until I was too exhausted to stand up any longer! It was fun getting to speak Spanish with them and learn more about Argentina. And I must say that Hispanic men are really good dancers as well, haha!
Sunday we traveled to Valparaiso and Viña del Mar which are about 2 hours from Santiago. Both towns are right on the beach. Valparaiso has so many hills so we took this elevator up the side of one hill, and when we had reached the top, the view was spectacular! We also went through another one of Pablo Neruda's houses (there are 3 in
La Isla Negra
These are all the students who are living with me! From the left: Kyle, Cristina, Joaquin, Brittany, Ashley, me, and Matt. In the background you can see the black rocks of Isla Negra all, we´ll visit the 3rd one tomorrow). All I can say is he must have been pretty rich to live in all these beach houses with goreous views!
We spent about 3 hours at lunch that Sunday afternoon at a restaurant right on the beach. The food was amazing, but they kept refilling all our wine glasses so everyone was feeling pretty good during and after lunch! The waiters were very entertaining and kept doing tricks for us. We also played games and the winners received free bottles of wine! (yep, I won a free bottle of Merlot!) That afternoon, the bus ride home was highly entertaining!
Yesterday, Ashley and I walked around the city to Cerro Santa Lucia (a giant hill in the city center) and relaxed all afternoon in a park close to our house. I am definitely getting darker and still haven´t been burned. Yah sunscreen!
On Wednesday we are celebrating Matt´s 23rd birthday by going out to an all you can eat and drink restaurant! Probably going to be another 3-4 hour meal I think!
Hope all is well in Estados Unidos! (the United States)
Ciao amigos!
Laura
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