Chile!!
Trip Start
Aug 03, 2008
1
21
23
Trip End
??? ??, 2008
Valparaiso,
Chile
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
I'll start with my typical disclaimer-this entry is going to be rushed and mediocre as its 10:30pm and I still have a 6 page paper to write. (at least it's in English)
I'll also start with something else that's become pretty typical on my trip. I have been relieved of yet another belonging, this time being my beautiful, precious camera. I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say that this time, I will admit to being partially at fault. So, needless to say, no pictures. I can't afford to replace my camera but I do hope to steal pictures from friends so that I have some way of documenting the last month of my time here... (And the most exciting month.. bleh)
Okay, so..
big night out
. my trip to Chile was a fantastic time. We left at 6:00pm on Wednesday, which also happened to be the exact time of St. Thomas class registration, so big shout out to my friend Liz for registering for me and not messing up. The bus food was terrible. I had to sit alone on the top level because I booked way later than my friends who got the 1st class seats. We got to play bingo, which was fun... but there's really no way to make this trip fun. Crossing the border to Chile was super slow (more about that later) and we just sat there for something like 2 hours before being allowed to cross. We had planned to arrive in Santiago in the early afternoon to allow some sight-seeing, but seeing as how our 20 trip ended up being more like 24, it cut into our time. We basically just ate in Santiago, obtained currency (and let me say, it is fun to get a stack of 10,000 peso bills) and got tickets to Valparaiso. From the little bit I saw of Santiago, it looked like a beautiful city. I can say that the subway system is a lot cleaner, faster, and overall more efficient than that of Buenos Aires.
After about a two-hour trip from Santiago by coach bus, we arrived in Valparaiso. It was dark so we couldn't see much. We had all gotten plenty of rest on the bus ride so we decided to drop our stuff off at the hostel, take quick showers, and then meet up with a friend of a friend's boyfriend named Felipe, a native of Valparaiso
valparaiso, chile
. He ended up making our trip. He took us to possibly the biggest club I've ever been in, with 5 floors all blasting different types of music. We ended up on the roof for most of the time, which was amazing. To one side was the ocean, to the other was the rolling hills that lead to the Andes. We walked home to the sun rising, which is a good way to do things (and which I've gotten much better at during my time here).Friday morning we got up early (all things considered) and went sightseeing. The first stop was the former house of Pablo Neruda, who's considered one of the most important poets of the 20th century. He wrote the "Twenty Poems of Love and a Song of Despair", if that helps. It's the only thing I had heard of. Anyway, his house was beautiful. I promise to steal pictures of it sometime.
After old Pablo's house, we decided to visit the "ex-carcel", which is the ex prison that has now been turned into an art space. It was quite difficult to find, due to different directions from every person we asked (it might be some sick little came that the Valparaisans play with tourists..) but eventually we made it. I really loved this place. It was very desolate, but there was some great art in it. I can't really explain this, so again, wait for the pictures but do take a look
ex-carcel
. After a long day of seeing two whole tourist attractions, we decided to make supper to save some money (scrambled eggs and French toast... sofisticado) and then utilize our friend Felipe again for nighttime entertainment, which he provided excellently. This time we climbed up way too many stairs of "las ruinas" in English "the ruins". I'm not sure what they were the ruins of, I should've asked, but anyway it was really high and had a great view of the ocean and the city lights. So we just hung out with a bunch of Chileans, some Canadians, had some drinks, it was a great time. We were there until about 4:00 am, when the group decided to go to a club, but I was still tired from the night before, so I called it an early night.
Saturday we got up at a respectable hour to head to the beach which is actually in the city called viņa del mar, but it doesn't really seem like a separate city. They're right next to each other. I don't know what goes through my head every time I'm outside and think it's a good idea to forego sun block. Anyway, this was the case. The beach was beautiful, and the people were in general much less attractive and much more conservatively dressed than in Buenos Aires, so we had no issues stripping down. The water was FREEZING because it allegedly comes from the arctic or something
ex-carcel
. All I know is it was cold. But the weather was perfect.Saturday night, Felipe advised us not to go out because it's a bit dangerous. Thursdays and Fridays are more university students who are more harmless, but Saturdays are when all the people come out from their hiding places and cause problems. So we decided to partake in some innocent entertainment and took this box-car thing on a cable (sorry these descriptions are weak) up to the top of a hill to get a view of the city and the ocean once again. It was gorgeous to see everything lit up, and the lights and music from the simultaneous parties going on across the city.
Then we had seafood and went to bed.
A lot of the group left Sunday morning, but a few of us stayed (class? What class?!). We decided to split up for the day, so I made my friend Caitlin come with me to the mall so I could go 'gift shopping' and whatnot. I got a Subway sandwich, which was amazing, but no gifts, sorry kids.
That was basically it. The trip home was a little shorter, but not without its share of drama
ex-carcel
. When we left Santiago, the drivers said that we may have to turn around at the border because the border workers were going on strike and may not let us through. It turns out that we were allowed to go through (after our driver passed around a cup saying, "Please give a tip to the border workers, they're working very hard, we'll get through faster) and without much delay. It also turns out that we were the last bus allowed through before they shut the border down. I don't know if it's shut down for hours or days or weeks but I just know I was glad we made it through because I'm getting up there in absences from class and I forgot to tell my program that I was leaving the city... or country.I got back at 8:30am this morning to face my rough "10 hours of class Tuesday". I'd be lying if I said I made it to all 10 hours. I just have this week and next week and I am DONE with classes, I am pumped. I bought my tickets to Peru, so there's no stopping me now. I just need to buy my tickets within Peru.. and my cards still haven't come so that's posing a bit of a problem. Hopefully the USPS pulls through by tomorrow, because I officially have the equivalent of $9 which will get me lunch through Thursday. If that doesn't work, it's back to the crooked Western Union agent.
Alright well I'm out folks, I hope everything's good. I'll put up a few random pictures I can find posted on facebook from our trip.
1 month until my return!
