San Martin Vina del Mar

... more free from it all, today's date has reminded me more of the whole ordeal and of the large scar that still remains. But aside from the breakup there is much to celebrate. I am fulfilling my dream of coming to South America. I have acquired some coveted passport stamps without paying dues in the form of stomach illnesses, yet. I have made two new friends here in Vina, and we're enjoying a delightful dinner together. I am not spending another summer ...

... pa tek onda alkohol. ali ako<br>to radi amater kao sto sam ja (pola case rakije, pola cole :D), onda picze bude "malo" jace tako da ga<br>ni domaci ne mogu piti. :D <br>Kad smo izasli van u neki kafic, najjaca mi je fora bila sto te likovi ne pitaju hoces li nesto popiti nego te pitaju hoces li PLESATI! i posto mene nitko na to nije upozorio, UMRLA sam od smijeha kad mi je lik upao s tim pitanjem :D nije mi bilo jasno sto bih ...

... Antonia to play when she comes. A short time later, I caught a colectivo (like a taxi, but much cheaper) that went past the house. It took me down to the metro station, and I took the metro into Valparaiso to go to my class.<br><br>Before my second class, I stopped to talk to Fernanda (a Chilean student that is in my group - we meet once a week to hang out in order to practice our Spanish and her English). She introduced me to two other Chilenos (cute ones ...

... limited time. Since it was a Monday and things were quiet, we got the entire van tour and driver to ourselves, which was awesome because we kept asking him to stop to take lots of pictures. Starting off in Vina del Mar, we saw a panoramic view of the city, and then headed to the archeological museum to see the giant moai statue out front. Scott had seen loads of them in Easter Island the week before, but for the rest of us, it was our chance to get up ...

... we allowed that bubble to remain intact and occasionally said "Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum" under our breath to resurrect their ghosts. Valpo is also the seat of Chile's national congress, a big new square-ish building that casts a shadow on the square where the old men sit and play chess at all hours. And among other pluses in this city are its cheap lodging and food; but among it's minuses are some pretty dodgy neighbourhoods ...

... with tourist maps and information listed. Perhaps this was a sign that this place was overly touristy, and made me wonder as to the quality of the food ... my fears were assuaged when some buns came out, accompanied by butter and ... pate??? A first for me, as pate isn't a common accompaniment for bread in any restaurant I've been to. We chose a Chilean Shiraz for the meal, a first for us once again, The predominant varietal here is Carmenere, and ...

... so. I'm out of there and into another cheapo place down the street with not a word of English written anywhere. The guy asks me for my RUC number. That's the term for your national ID card in Chile. He thinks I'm Chilean. Am I crazy? Of course there's no cable TV, nor Internet, much less wi-fi, but still it's better than the room they tried to switch me in to at the first place, and cheaper too, so I'm vindicated at least partially. My ...

... as having a Jethro Tull sound. Eli thinks they had a Dave Matthews vibe, if Dave Matthews was in his 50s with flowing grey locks and had been exiled from his home country for 15 years during times of political unrest. I just thought they rocked! Once again owing to Patrick, our insider to all things Chile, we got to celebrate Fiestas Patrias in the traditional ...

... shaved for a few days im starting to look like a guerilla. well sort of hairy anyway! not heard much about anything back home, heard england beat usa but thats just word of mouth. in chile, if its not form chile generally they dont want to know. so the next day after the crazy night out consisting literally of two beers and about 2/3 piscolas spread between 8pm til 3am me and joe got up and showered and ate breakfast. hilariously, john awoke still a bit drunk ...