Helga, Fidel y Carla and Cafe Journal, Pisco Sour, and Misiones

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I am staying in Viña del Mar with a Chilean family and attending Pontifica Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. I am doing a month long language program with the University of Utah here. Our first week here was very dreary- we didn´t see the sun at all. But even more now that the sun is always out, Chile is a beautiful place. Viña del Mar is the ¨cleaner¨city of the sister cities of Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, but I also think it is the more boring city. As my culture teacher said, Valpo has a jail, and Viña has a mall, but they are really the same thing. Viña has good shopping at the Artesan centers, and beautiful beaches- especially if you go North about ten minutes to Reñaca or Con Con. It has a great night life at places like Cafe Journal and the Casino area, but it also has a distinctly more suburban feel that Valparaíso does not have. Also, if you like bars, go to Scratch on Friday nights (it has an eight dollar cover and an open bar). One of the most important things in Chilean culture that I have experienced so far are the Micros. The Micros are the public transportation system here in Chile. The drivers are only paid about US $240 a month, but they receive extra if they win contests in numbers of passengers. Because of this, they generally drive extremely fast and dangerously, so hold on to something tightly. They are very cheap, especially if you have a student id card, and they are very safe. I have taken them home by myself from bars at two and four in the morning and they are relatively crowded and I have had no problems. In general, clubs and bars don´t get crowded until about midnight, and they don´t close until very late, and the Micros run all night long. They are the best and cheapest way to get around Valparaíso and Viña. Here´s a quote from Pablo Neruda (since I´m in Chile):

(de En la torre)
¨No se sabe
si cerramos los ojos o la noche
abre en nosotros ojos estrellados,
si cava en la pared de nuestro sueño
hasta que abre una puerta.¨

Speaking of Neruda, a cool day trip from the cities is to his house in Isla Negra. His collections of bottles, insects, shells, etc are all displayed, and his house is right on the coast.

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Comments

[Chloé]

Je t'aime
babe, its Chloé...I hope everything is going well, whoaaa, I saw a picture of u, u look wonderful, it really pinched my heart it has been such a long time we havent talk, its really dumb. Ouai this blog is wonderful, its such a good idea to do it..ouai and ur travel destinations are wonderful too...its crazy..I think uv grown so much, I miss u...send me a number where I can reach you. Je t'aime fort, be careful and have so much fun, Love and Light, Chloé

[Carla]

from Viña del Mar
Kenny, fue muy entrete leer acerca d tu experiencia en Chile. Es divertido saber lo que piensa un extranjero sobre tu país natal. Me alegra mucho que te haya gustado tu estadia en en este pais.