Day 2: Exploring Viña del Mar

This morning we landed in Santiago at 8:00 am. The plane ride was very long and uncomfortable, but I was so happy to be in Chile. It took us a while to get through customs, but we finally met Jorge and two students named Marcello and Thomaz. They are both students at the university that we will be visiting. It was very interesting to talk to them and learn a little about their education and what they do for fun. I'm excited to get to know them better and to meet other kids my age tomorrow at the university. We then had an hour and a half bus ride to our hotel in Vina del Mar. The view of Santiago into Vina del Mar was astounding. There's mountains surrounding the city with hundreds of palm trees and empty spaces, it's a lot different from any of the views in Pittsburgh. I've seen so many pictures of South America from textbooks and pictures from my Aunt Norma, but it was amazing to see in person. The picture below doesn't do it justice.

When we got to the hotel, we were able to shower and get settled. We headed for lunch around 1:30. Jorge took us close to the shore to choose a restaurant and we ended up eating at Tiki Taco. It was challenging to order and try to communicate with the workers, but it was funny when someone would mispronounce a word. I thought my small background in Spanish would help, but it is something I will have to work on while I'm here. In Chile, lunch is their biggest meal and they take their time to enjoy themselves, unlike America. We stayed at the restaurant for about two and a half hours, it was a lot of fun to bond with everyone on the trip.

 

Once we left the restaurant, Jorge took us around Vina del Mar. It is such an amazing city. We walked through a park on our way to the shore, where there was a ton of kids running around and playing. They had a puppet show, pony rides, a playground, ice cream stands, and even clowns. We stopped at the rocks by the shore to take pictures and it was the most beautiful view.

 We continued to walk down the shore and the whole way down were different vendors selling handmade things, like jewelry and purses. There are a lot of stray dogs in Chile and it is interesting because the Chileans are not affected by them at all. They just wander the streets undisturbed.

 Another strange thing is that all the houses and buildings here have fences around them. This city is unlike anything that I have experienced before and I’m having such a great time. Right now it is 6:45 and a bunch of us are in the hotel sunroom writing our blogs. Tonight we are going to go to the mall and explore the city a little more. We have a big day tomorrow for our first day at the university!