Tuesday, October 11, 2011

leaving viña-->santiago-->home!

sunday morning was a struggle because our logistics were off. we woke up, checked out of the hostel and tried to figure out the best way to plan our time. our bus from santiago to go home left on monday around 1pm. we wanted to spend one more day in viña but needed to get bus tickets asap because it was a long weekend and it would be booked. after spending a better part of the morning figuring out that we would leave viña as late as possible (this is why traveling in smaller groups is better fyi), we bought tickets back to santiago for 7pm. we headed straight to the beach for several hours and mariah and bri went to valparaíso to mil tamboures, a drum festival. i would have gone, but i was so content lying in the sand and trying to brave the freezing cold water when i got too hot. we met back up at the hotel around 6 and headed to the station. we had booked a hostel the night before, so we took taxis to the hostel (which was a legit hostel and really nice and really cheap) and went to dinner.

early monday morning, we woke up to 40 degree fahrenheit weather. it was cold compared to "high of 85" mendoza and breezy viña del mar! we explored the city of santiago for a few hours before we had to leave at 1. because monday was a holiday (día de la raza or literally, "day of the race" aka columbus day in america), the streets were actually empty. nothing was going on. santiago is a really nice city; it's very clean and sophisticated. it has very tasteful architecture and is set within the fronteras, or boundaries of two mountain ranges. we went to a park, the government building, and a city market. we stopped at a grocery store to buy snacks and headed to the terminal to go back to mendoza.

plaza in santiago

gorgeous church

post office in santiago

yes, there was a llama in the plaza

wearing a mini sombrero and tassels

indoor market...it was pretty small because it was a holiday

fresh fruit and fish

there were a bunch of fish restaurants

artichokes!


sign in the kitchen of the hostel in santiago...how to make pisco sours!!

we climbed on the bus for the 7 hour ride back to mendoza, and again, had to make the ascent back up from sea level, through the pass/andes mountains, back home. scariest thing ever. there was a trunk in front of us that hadn't been able to make the hairpin turn on one of the curve and was just sitting on the road with cars backed up front and back. in our huge andes mar double-decker bus, we manage to maneuver around the 18 wheeler, almost sliding off the edge of the cliff. i admit, i screamed a little, as did others, but don't worry mom&dad, i'm alive. around 8pm, we pulled back into mendoza. as much fun as chile was, i have really come to appreciate mendoza's lack of westernization and abundance of charm. sure, there is no beach or starbucks (it was incredibly strange to walk into starbucks in viña, it felt almost too comfortable), but there is great charisma within the city and its people. on top of a great (but tiring) trip to chile, my host family is back from colombia!! we haven't gotten to talk much because my brothers have school early and i'm gone all day with classes, but i'm excited to catch up with them this weekend. my spanish has surprisingly not gone down the drain, so i'm also looking forward to conversing with them more fluently. this week especially i have noticed that i am feeling so much more comfortable with the language...and because it's been almost 3 months, it makes sense (that's what i've heard at least). even just writing blog posts, i have to catch myself with spanish syntax/vocab, etc.

this weekend also looks promising. ifsa-butler has provided us with a free (well, i guess not free because we pay for the program) wine tour at several bodegas, or vineyards, this saturday. lunch included. yummy. since the flowers are blooming and it's consistently in the 70s here, it should be beautiful. it's crazy because when i first came to mendoza, my friends and i were so excited about the wine tour, but kept reminding ourselves that it was in october, which seemed so far away when we were here in july! but i have a little less than 2 months to go...it's crazy! it has flown by and i have learned so much about myself in such a short amount of time.for now, i'm just going to keep plugging along with homework (tomorrow's the weekend for me what what), the language, the culture, and the fun.

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