Some fotos

A couple of fotos from our trip to Valpo/Viña a couple of weekends ago (I know, I know... sorry for the delay :) ).  Like usual, I have borrowed some pictures from friends; the source is (always) credited at the bottom of the photo.

First, we visited one of Pablo Neruda's houses in Isla Negra (he has three: one in Valpo, Santiago, and Isla Negra).  Gorgeous! The man had good taste in property.  He built his house with the idea of making it a boat on land; it was really a cool thing to see.  I'm definitely ready to move in.

                                                                                                     

                                                                                                          ©Kaitlin King

 Right on the sea.  Gorgeous.

Later, we headed over to Viña, where our hotels were, and had dinner in Valpo.  Some somewhat blurry photos of Valparaíso:

 

at night...

...and during the day:

Valparaíso has flat parts (the picture above), but something like 98% of the population lives on the cerros (hills).  The houses are literally one on top of the other, connected by a bunch of really narrow, sketchy pathways/staircases:

...imagine being faced with this guy on the way back from the bar, yeah?

Here you can kind of see the one-house-on-top-of-the-other thing.

While in Valpo, we saw a performance by a local musician named Pascuala Ilabaca (click the link to go to her Myspace page).  Really cool.  She played the accordion and sang for us (her own songs and covers of more traditional pieces).  If you click here, you can watch her (awesome) version of Chilean folklore legend Violeta Parra's "Puerto Montt está temblando" (the video is not too great, but it's the only one I could find).  The lyrics describe Parra's experience with an earthquake in May of 1960; pretty fitting given our little "experience" at the beginning of the semester, yeah?

Anyways, after some time in Valparaíso, we visited a vineyard on our way home:

Me and my friend Matt, mid-wine-tasting:

Finally, we paid a visit to the sanctuary of Chile's first saint: Teresa de Los Andes.  It was a beautiful sight to see:

Anyways, that's about it for right now.  This week in school is going to be pretty stressful, but afterward I should have some time to relax.  This weekend we're set to go build houses in the south (FINALLY), so I should have some good stories to bring back from there.  Until then, hope everything is going well with you all; ¡que les vaya bien! ♥

Viña 3.19-21

Just a couple of pictures from Viña this past weekend.  As you know, I take very few pictures, so a big thank you to my friend Emily for giving me permission to use a couple of hers.

Our little beach spot in Viña.

                                                                                                    ©Emily Williams

We stayed in a little hostel not too far from the beach.  The girls in the group shared a room. From the left: Emily, Ryann, Julianne (Julie/Jules), and me.

                                                                       ©Emily Williams

In Viña and Santiago people sometimes try to entertain drivers stopped at traffic lights for spare change (by juggling, flag-twirling, etc.).  Here's one of those guys in Viña. 

                                                                                             ©Emily Williams

Last but not least, a very pretty sunset on the beach.  Beautiful!  

Hopefully we'll get to head back again in the next couple of weekends before winter sets in (and I'll try to take more pictures!). ¡Que todo les vaya bien! ♥

Happy one month, Chile!

Almost two weeks and no post!  My apologies. These past two weeks have absolutely FLOWN by, so I hope you'll pardon the lack of posts on my part.

So let's see... as far as the replicas and the blackout last week, all is fine and there's nothing to worry about around here.  I slept through the blackout and barely felt the replicas, so neither really freaked me out too much.  The people around me were definitely pretty shaken up, though; all activities and events were canceled the day of the replicas, and everything was covered non-stop by every news channel on TV.   I guess country-wide blackouts and 6.0+ aftershocks will do that to people. 

Classes at La Católica started two weeks ago, as I mentioned, and they seem to be going pretty well.  I also got the news last week that La Chile's schedule has been changed again (exchange students no longer have to stay until July 30th), so I'm going to try to take a class or two over there if I can.  Excellent! I'm so glad they changed that up. I'm already signed up for a few classes at La Católica, and I should have my full schedule (with classes at La Chile) set by next week.  Honestly, I'm just glad that things are finally getting started; I'm excited to have a set schedule and the opportunity to meet new people.  All of this waiting around for the past month has been killing me, no lie.

We went to the beach at Viña del Mar this weekend, which was pretty nice.  It was good to get out of the city and sprawl out on the beach for a couple days.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a few pictures up, but we'll see.  ¡Chilenismos!

Chilenismos* of the Day

(*...you know) 

Jote: Technically, "vulture." Slang-wise, un hombre muy jote = that dude at the club who keeps trying to get at you and won't leave you alone, to the point where it's annoying and a problem.  Fitting, right?

Apagarse la tele: Literally, "to turn off the TV."  To black out after too many drinks.