The last two days turned out to be pretty eventful. We had a nice breakfast at our hostel yesterday morning and set off for a different beach this time. The plan was to spend the day with the six girls that we hadn't seen much of yet, but ended up at two different beaches when the second group didn't know what stop to get off at. So we ended up about 40 minutes away on a dirty beach in a poorer area, with dogs everywhere (well, sorta like the rest of Vina.) We tried to find the girls on the beach, but I took my flip-flops off too soon and my first step left my right foot split open by something in the sand. It bled all over the place, soaked the bottom of my leather flip-flop, and I had to limp to the water to wash it off. It continued to bleed, so we gathered up what we had to take care of it: napkins, hand sanitizer, and lip gloss (to keep the blood in). I stuck a napkin the the gloss and it was nicely taken care of!
With that, we walked over to the horses we saw under a shelter near the beach and found out that it was very inexpensive for a half hour ride. Seven of the eight of us decided to go for it, and it ended up being a really great time just wandering down the beach in a group and guiding the horses with ropes. Though I was terrified at first that it would take of running, I actually found myself trying to kick its sides and jiggle the ropes so it would start to canter, which didn't really work. The guide would whip the horses in the thigh when they started to lag behind, and that was the only thing that would make them go any faster. It was fun! Ending up on the wrong beach turned out to be the best mistake of the day.
Afterwards, we took a bus to Renaca since it was ten times as beautiful as where we were. We got a ton of sun and played in the waves some more, and watched these 4 jets do tricks and draw pictures in the air. It was strange to see everyone on the entire overly-crowded beach watching the same thing all at the same time.
After several hours, we headed back to the hostels/hotel to get ready for the night. At around 9:00 we headed to this beautiful casino, Enjoy, on the coast. Inside were two restaurants, so we went to the least expensive one despite how fancy it looked. The staff were incredibly welcoming to us though we were in jeans in such a nice place, and the meal was just as impressive as everything else. It wasn't an extremely cheap meal, but there is nowhere in the U.S. you can get a meal like that with nearly the same service for the amount of money we paid. And I can't believe how patient everyone has been! We have been a pain trying to have them translate menus and taking forever to decide, but not a single person has seemed to mind at all. We have all been impressed.
Afterwards, we went to a club called Tutix and I got a beer and a Pisco Sour (the mixed drink of Chile). Everyone had a great time getting to know each other and we were all feeling pretty good about two hours after we should have left to go back and sleep since we had to be up early. Instead, we hit the dance floor around 2:3o and it was definitely worth only getting a five hour sleep.
This morning, we all woke up bright and early to catch our shuttles back to Santiago to finally meet everyone at the Kolping House. The ride was long, but we were all pretty pleased with how nice the hostel was. I am rooming with Tina, Sam, and Michelle, which is graet because we have been together most of the time so far. Our room has a kitchen, a full bathroom, internet, and two separate bedrooms. It's much better than our last hostel!
We went out to eat with the entire group and professors at a very nice restaurant with multiple courses, then went on a bus and walking tour around Santiago. We saw the President's Palace (the president is a woman!), a giant church much like the ones in Europe, the stock market building, and several other things. Most of the city seems European, but much friendlier. We will discover more later. After the tour, we drove up in the mountains to look a the amazing view of the Andes, then headed back home. We all went to the market to get groceries, and a lot of us girls literally just talked for hours for the rest of the night. And now, I'm off to bed to sleep up for our first day of class in the morning!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Beach!
So yesterday didn't turn out to be the best of days. My layover just dragged on and on at the horrible Toronto airport... then I started to feel sick. It worsened as I waited for the group to show up, and wasn't any better when we boarded the plane. I didn't hardly touch my dinner other than the piece of bread on my tray and the little girl behind me was kicking my seat consistently throughout the entire flight. Not only that, but it was the worst Screaming Baby Flight I have ever experienced. Sleep was almost impossible, but I was so tired I was able to pass out against the plastic wall (no window for me!) without even a pillow.
When I woke up and ate breakfast, I felt completely refreshed. We made it off the plane, got our luggage, and spent a good part of the next hour trying to negotiate with taxi and shuttle companies to get to our several different hostels. Once we decided, all fifteen of us piled into two vans and took an hour and a half ride to Vina del Mar. We were in awe as we arrived from above the city, driving down the curvy road to the coast. The water was so blue and the view was just amazing. It took awhile for our driver to find our hostel, driving up into an area that reminded me a lot of Mount Adams. Finally we parked at our quaint little hostel, checked in, and changed into our bathing suits in our tiny box of a bedroom. While waiting for others to shower, Chelsea Kindschuh took me and Chris Schuh to the mini market up the hill. I got a giant bottle of water, and Dinosaur-shaped crackers (which turned out to just be animal crackers) that looked fun.
We met everyone at the beach later on where the weather was just perfect. I got in the water right away with one of the guys, Ryan, but didn't last long because I was afraid the strong tide would likely kill me. We stayed out for a few hours, then decided to head back to our hostel and cook dinner for ourselves with supermarket foods. Once we passed the first restaurant, our plans changed and we got pizza instead. At that, some of us called it a night even though it was only 10:00 and came back up to the hostel to get some much needed rest.
When I woke up and ate breakfast, I felt completely refreshed. We made it off the plane, got our luggage, and spent a good part of the next hour trying to negotiate with taxi and shuttle companies to get to our several different hostels. Once we decided, all fifteen of us piled into two vans and took an hour and a half ride to Vina del Mar. We were in awe as we arrived from above the city, driving down the curvy road to the coast. The water was so blue and the view was just amazing. It took awhile for our driver to find our hostel, driving up into an area that reminded me a lot of Mount Adams. Finally we parked at our quaint little hostel, checked in, and changed into our bathing suits in our tiny box of a bedroom. While waiting for others to shower, Chelsea Kindschuh took me and Chris Schuh to the mini market up the hill. I got a giant bottle of water, and Dinosaur-shaped crackers (which turned out to just be animal crackers) that looked fun.
We met everyone at the beach later on where the weather was just perfect. I got in the water right away with one of the guys, Ryan, but didn't last long because I was afraid the strong tide would likely kill me. We stayed out for a few hours, then decided to head back to our hostel and cook dinner for ourselves with supermarket foods. Once we passed the first restaurant, our plans changed and we got pizza instead. At that, some of us called it a night even though it was only 10:00 and came back up to the hostel to get some much needed rest.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Pre-Departure
Currently, I'm sitting in the Columbus airport alone while I think about how strange it is carrying a REAL boarding pass rather than a seat request to fly Delta standby. I always have bad luck when I have an actual seat, so I'm only hoping that all goes smoothly. I can deal with a delay though. I only have a six hour layover in Toronto, which will probably be spent writing on here more.
Though I have traveled outside of the country nearly 7 times within the last year, I still feel incredibly nervous about leaving. I'm used to weekend trips and can't imagine being gone for three weeks with almost every day booked with different plans.
I haven't written a blog in ages, so bear with me on this. I will hopefully have plenty of internet access in Chile, but we'll just see how that goes. I'll start off in Vina del Mar where we will hit the beach on our own before meeting at the Kolping House in Santiago on Sunday morning.
Though I have traveled outside of the country nearly 7 times within the last year, I still feel incredibly nervous about leaving. I'm used to weekend trips and can't imagine being gone for three weeks with almost every day booked with different plans.
I haven't written a blog in ages, so bear with me on this. I will hopefully have plenty of internet access in Chile, but we'll just see how that goes. I'll start off in Vina del Mar where we will hit the beach on our own before meeting at the Kolping House in Santiago on Sunday morning.
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