Last weekend, my friend Emily and I took the short hour-and-a-half bus ride to the beautiful city of Valparaíso. A few kids from our CIEE group got placed at schools in Valparaíso so we conveniently had a wonderful tour guide and a friendly place to crash. We spent the weekend with my friend Dana, whom I'm sad I don't see more often. Despite the chilly weather - I did not prepare for it to be this cold this soon - I had a wonderful weekend.
Valparaíso is a beautiful, colorful, coastal city on a hill that is covered with graffiti. It's an art lovers paradise.
Our weekend began with a tour. Dana showed us her hostel, her school, her new home, and where she had to evacuate for the tsunami warning.
*** I'm sorry for not sending out an email about the earthquake in Chile. I was completely fine. It was on the northern coast pretty far away from me so I didn't feel a thing. I don't have a TV so I honestly didn't even know it happened until people sent me messages. ***
Since Valpo is on the coast, everyone that lives on the lower half of the hill (Dana) had to evacuate up the hill for fear the earthquake would trigger a tsunami. Dana said they even had a "tsunami day" from school the next day. My favorite quote: "That doesn't sound nearly as fun as a snow day." - Kevin Kuhles. It was just precautionary. Thankfully there was no tsunami and everyone was OK. I didn't have to worry about the tsunami warning in Santiago since we're surrounded by mountains.
Dana continued to show us around the city. We ate delicious seafood and walked through many ferías (street markets).
Check out this sweet phone.
The weekend was great. On Saturday night we went to a crazy fun ska concert. My white Ked-like shoes got ruined - soooo many people jumped on my feet. But it was a blast and we ended our night at a Cuban dance club which was fun but...I only kind of know how to salsa. Looks like I just gotta practice more! :)
Monday morning before heading back to Santiago, we went to this awesome breakfast cafe. They actually had more options that just coffee and toast! A miracle! And here is the cool sign hanging outside:
Since then, my students took their first test - mostly good/decent grades! - and I JOINED A ZUMBA CLASS!!!! It's wonderful. No one really talks before or after class so still haven't made any new friends...but it's a work in progress.
I got to run to my coworker asado. Nos vemossssss!
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