Shawn goes to college
Trip Start
Oct 19, 2007
1
124
126
Trip End
Ongoing
Valdivia,
Chile
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Valdivia has a large college across the bridge and since I love college campuses and I haven't seen one yet in SA I decide to walk over there to check it out. The campus is very nice with huge quads but instead of being wide open like US campuses the quads have a ton of trees. This particular campus doesn't feature any large buildings and instead it has what look like stationary trailer homes and I gather that this is where the various classes are held. It's cool seeing all the kids walking around and it's a bit nostalgic and I think back upon my days at college which I am assuming weren't a whole lot different then the days here. It's great seeing kids that age as they are idealistic and liberal and it's interesting to think how college is such a crux in one's life and how after college you have no idea what lies ahead. The various routes one is able to choose to reach the end of one's life is infinite. College is such an interesting microcosm and unlike any other institution in the world. I don't really want to talk to anyone because I don't want to be that 32 year old foreign stalker so I just wander around and I end up sitting on a bench in one of the quads and translate a news story from the paper I carry around. I try to translate one article each day which really helps me increase my spanish vocabulary.
Later on Andy and I hit up the Kuntsman Brewery (Kuntsman, prety funny if you replace the K a C). Gill decided to stay in and she probably made a wise decision as we end up knocking out two table taps and somehow get wasted. We leave there and check out some bar in downtown Valdivia and it just so happens to be a karaoke bar and within 10 seconds we realize we are the only gringos in the entire joint which is pretty cool. Reminds me of some of my evenings in Brazil. The place is packed and Chileans are knocking out cut after cut and Andy and I just chill at the bar drinking Havana Rum n Cokes. At some point in our drunken haze we decide it would be a good idea to sing a song as well and we choose "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. Not a bad choice since most of the people in the bar knew the song (every other song was usually an English song, so once again people know the lyrics to songs although they don't know what the lyrics mean or how to speak English). The thing is we sound absolutely awful. I sing about as good as Mel Brooks probably does but with like a mouth full of Big League Chew and I was banking on Andy to carry us through but to my chagrin he sounds about as bad as I do. The good thing is we are wasted and don't give a fuck and the other good thing is the person working at the bar in charge of karaoke sings with us once he realizes we sound like two retarded heyenas in heat. Andy wants to bust out Comfortably Numb afterwards and to my surprise the dude singing with us is cool with it (probably because all the patrons would be treated to another comedic performance and more reason to make fun of the two severly off key and wasted gringos). I stay out of this one and let those two belt out the song.
We finally decide we can't drink anymore so we walk the 2km back to the hostel (although it was probably 2.5km because no way were we walking in a straight line) and once we get there we figure out that we are hungry. Hah, retarded, why didn't we think of this while we were still in the city center. We walk all the way back and find a cab to take us to a burrito joint (it wasn't a burrito joint but if you live in Chicago you know what I mean as burrito joint is just general terminology for any shithole place that stays open all night to cater to drunk fucks). I get a couple cheeseburgers and some fries and it's probaly the best meal I have ever had. Upon returning to the hostel we come to find out that the door is locked and we definitely do not want to wake up the old piece of shit so I have to climb a fence next to the house and break in. Nothing like breaking into your own hostel at 4am. The bad thing is the old hag hears us and gets out of bed and she is not a pretty sight especially since she is not happy (she sort of looks like Madusa if Madusa was a meth addict but with a lot less super powers). We go into Andy and Gill's room and wake her up as well and just start laughing our asses off because the old lady is so pissed and because we are tore up and everything for some reason is hilaious. It was a fun night but I have a feeling I may be paying for it in the morning.
fin
