5/5/13

So, today was my first day in the actual country of Chile. Going through customs after getting off the plane was another long and boring process. After filling out two forms so that the Chilean government can know everything and anything they want to know about me and paying 160$ in crisp, unwrinkled, unmarked 20 dollar bills, we were finally able to officially get into the country. We met Jorge who had been waiting for us, along with two Chilean students who were very friendly. They talked to us about Chile and answered any questions we had. AND they spoke English. This is a huge plus for me because I know no Spanish at all after taking four years of French. Anyway, after meeting them and waiting for everyone to get their money out of the ATM, we got on the bus for Valparaíso/Viña del Mar for another hour and a half. I got a nice nap in after being crammed in the airplane for 10 hours beforehand. We arrived at Hotel America and everyone had a chance to unpack and take a much long-overdue shower. After that, we walked into the city together and went to Tiki Taco. I had an enchilada and ordered my first ever alcoholic beverage. So that’s exciting. After spending two hours eating (I think that was the longest lunch I have ever been at), we walked along the beach and I got to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time. That is one of the pictures below. They also had a lot of street performers by the water. The second picture is of a clown that was real funny. He stopped traffic and hugged random people on the street. We also passed by a market that had all kinds of neat things. The apartments by the beach were amazing too. I couldn’t imagine living in a place with such a great view. So today was good and I barely felt any jetlag. It might be because we are still in Eastern Time.

Until tomorrow…