Monday

Sorry it's been so long between blogs lately...estoy un poco flojo (I'm a little lazy).

Friday I had one class, and Suprise!, it was canceled. The day wasn't a total waste, though. I worked hard on my travel plans for later in the semseter, among other things.

ISA scheduled excursions both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. On Saturday we visited a museum in Viña del Mar which had everything from bugs to human artifacts to stuffed pumas. Afterwards, we jumped on a micro and headed up the coast to Reñaca, a beach town about 15 minutes away. First let me clarify something. When 20 gringos pile onto a micro, it is quite a scene. For instance usually when I board a micro, I am the only gringo on it. Needless to say, when a Chilean boards a micro to discover that he/she is the only Chilean on it, the facial expression is priceless. Anyway, on the way to Reñaca we stopped at some sand dunes next to the highway. We hiked to the top and walked around, and watched some kids try to sandboard down the dunes. I decided to try my hand at it, so I borrowed a board from one of the boys. It was pretty fun, although the thing didn't have a heelstrap so toeside turns were impossible. The beach at Reñaca was very nice, and since it's winter, the town was quiet and the beach nearly deserted. Apparently during the summer it is very crowded. After Reñaca, we headed farther north to Con-con. The main attraction of this town, for our purposes at least, was cheap horse rentals to ride on the beach. Those of you who know me, which is probably everyone who reads this, will also know that horses and I don't get along very well. Either way, the "horse rental" to "ride on the beach" is more aptly described as "stubborn, swaybacked, burro rental" to "slog around in the mud". I bought a coke instead. The bus ride home along the coast gave us a perfect view of the sunset, and it was indescribably stunning.

I must comment on the fact that Chileans know how to have a good time. Saturday I went out with some cousins of a friend of a friend and we went dancing until 6 in the morning. It was a blast. And that's all I have to say about that.

Sunday was a tour of Valparaìso, specifically the history of the town. We visited the Marine headquarters, and a number of historic sites in the city. Also, we rode two "historic" ascensores made in the 19th century. Now while I never got back on the horse that bucked me (very literally), I did ride both of the ascensores. Our tour guide was Pablo, a history prof at PUCV who I'd say is about 26 years old. He did a great job and all 8 of us that went on the tour had a blast.

Today I had two real classes (meaning I took notes and learned something) both of which were very informative and not boring. Also, we have to read a book in spanish for my writing class, so I'm slogging through Las Adventuras de Tom Sawyer. I picked a kids book because I thought it would be easier, but it took me 1.5 hours to read about 15 pages. Yee-haw. Hope all is well at home.

ya me voy
Andrew