Blogs from Valparaíso, Valparaíso Region, Chile, South America - page 6

Today started out slow. We slept in and when I got up I wasn’t feeling right. I think something I ate did not agree with me. Shelly went down and got me a diet coke and we just skipped breakfast. At 1, we were going to go to Pablo’s house but Judith said it would be VERY busy today because the cruise ship was in so we just went back to the room and chilled until 2:30. We then walked down to the meeting place for the Tour for Tips, walking tour. There were about 30 people in the group. We learned a bit about the history of Chile and the graffiti. It was a fun tour but very slow. We broke off about half way thru as we were starved and found a great place ... read more

Ever since we arrived in South America, from Ecuador to Chile, we have been constantly aware of the fame of Bernardo O’Higgins. This son of an Irish father (who happened to be the Governor of Chile) and a Chilean mother, was born in Chile on 20th August 1778. He was sent to England for his education, returned to Chile to become a sailor and ended up an Admiral and then, upon independence, the Supreme Director of the country. He is recognised as Chile´s liberator, as well as Peru´s, in the fight for independence from Spain. The name O´Higgins is everywhere, and every city has an Avenida O´Higgins. In our ignorance we knew little of this famous man, so, on Wednesday we spent the morning in the maritime museum in Valparaiso, where a whole salon is dedicated ... read more

3 décembre 2014 - Jour 47 Ce matin on quitte Santiago pour se rendre sur la côte à Valparaiso. Il y a des bus qui partent toutes les 20 minutes de la capitale, on va donc directement au terminal de bus pour acheter nos billets. Comme il y a un bus qui arrive au même moment, on nous demande d'aller prendre notre billet directement auprès du chauffeur. Mais comme certains passagers avaient déjà leurs tickets avec une place attribuée, ceux-là montent en premier et on vient ensuite compléter les places libres. Mais le problème, c'est que pendant qu'ils remplissent manuellement le bus ici, à l'arrêt suivant ils continuent de vendre éléctroniquement des places. Résultat quand on arrive à l'arrêt d'après, ceux qui n'ont pas de siège attribué doivent céder leur place à ceux qui ont ce ... read more

If it doesn’t hit you in the front side, it’ll hit you in the back! Chilean slang is very infectious and this time around, I've been using a lot of it. I don’t just speak Spanish anymore. I speak Chilean! It really is its on language. When I went out with my host sister and her friends, I was talking to Pablo about dating (he was having lady drama) and this is what he said. “Las minas de aca son frescas, ¿cachai? Por eso no las pesco. Todo lo cabro chico tienen que aprender eso po." I really enjoyed talking to him but I laughed because I realized that if I hadn't have spent so much time in this culture I would have had NO EARTHLY idea what he was talking about! Even a native Spanish ... read more

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm going to go to bed. Ever. I feel like I haven't slept in the whole two weeks I've been here! I'm going to bed at like 5 A.M. and waking up at 9. I can't seem to "turn down." Thank you Lil Jon for personally writing my theme song, my Chilean anthem. There's always something beautiful to see, something cool to do, or someone fun to hang out with. People are more nocturnal here. Prime example: Last week, all of us "young people" went to bed and my host parents were still downstairs talking and watching TV at 2 A.M! It was impressive. I'm a night person too so I'm really loving this. Another reason I can't "turn down" is because I've been hanging out with my host brother ALL ... read more