(An ascensor in Valparaiso, Chile)
On Monday morning, my Dad and I hopped on the metro/bus and took a quick trip out to Valparaiso, Chile. Valpo is a really old port city on the coast that is built on more than 40 hills and famous for its eclectic and colorful arquitecture and houses built all over these hills. It is also famous for its street art that is all over the streets of the hills.
(Street art in the Museo al Aire Libre (Open Air Museum) in Valpo)
On Monday, after a bus adventure through the hills of Valpo and eventually grabbing a quick taxi to our sweeeet apartment we had rented for the night high on Cerro Alegre with a view of the port and getting settled there by oooo-ing and ahhhh-ing at all of its glory, we headed out to explore. We ate a delicious set menu lunch at a Lonely Planet recommended restaurant and then walked down the hill and over to a neighboring hill where we took our first ascensor (apparently these were on the Amazing Race this season!) up to the Museo al Cielo Abierto (Open Air Museum) and wandered the streets looking at some very incredible and amazing street art amongst the colorful houses. We walked WAYYY up the hill (I think I gave my Dad a workout) to try and visit Pablo Neruda's Valpo house but it ended up being closed on Mondays (for future reference, lots of things are closed in Valpo on Mondays and it's probably not the best day to go there, but we made it work!).
After a full day of exploring, we headed back to our apartment to shower and get ready for dinner. After realizing that our restaurant of choice was closed because it was Monday, we settled on a cute little pizza and Italian joint called Alegretto. It turned out to be delicious and very cozy inside! After dinner we headed back to the apartment and watch some television before crashing (which happened very quickly thanks to the glass of wine I had with dinner, I think I'm related to my mother in that sense).
On Tuesday morning, we slept in and then awoke to our delicous little tray of breakfast that had been left outside our door by the Hostel staff. After a slow and relaxing morning of getting ready, we headed down to hit the last of 3 viewpoints we ended up going to, wandered the city a bit more, and opted for heading back to Santiago a little bit earlier than planned since the weather in Valpo was gloomy that day.
Back in Santiago, we spent the day relaxing in our hotel and ended up going to the grocery store for some quick lunch fixings while beginning to pack and get things together for the following day. That evening, I took my Dad to my favorite restaurant in Santiago, Tiramisu, with my friend Lindsey. As always, it was absolutely delicious (mmmm trout and salad, yes I did just say trout)and it was fun that my Dad got to meet one of my good friends down here. I think he really enjoyed the restaurant, not only is it delicious but the environment is also really cool and it's always booming with people. When we got back to the hotel, we skyped with my Mom and hung out a bit before hitting the hay.
On Wednesday, we woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel, did some final packing, stored our bags at the front desk of the hotel, and headed out for some last day Santiago errands and hanging. We headed over to the medical clinic where I will be getting the shots I need to have to do Machu Picchu and took care of some business and then went to the mall and shopped for a bit and ate one last meal together. My Dad bought a great La U fútbol polo shirt and I got a new fleece for winter! We ate at a very Chilean sit down restaurant and ate oodles of palta (avocado). Then, we headed back to the hotel for some couch cuddling before the transfer service showed up to take Dad to the airport. Saying good-bye was harder this time than it was in January I think, because I knew how much I had missed him and knew what was coming more so than in January. It was absolutely incredible that I got to see him down here for this past week and show him all about my life for the past 3.5 months and the next 2 months (little less). I'm so glad he got to come down here and am so thankful to my parents and my Grandma for helping to make it happen. It was fabulous and a week I will always remember and cherish, especially as a boost to power through until July 1st!
After my Dad pulled away, it was a quick smack back into reality as I grabbed a taxi back to my apartment, finally had a brief skype call with Jess after 2 weeks, and ran off to meet with my language partner before going to my soccer game that night. Soccer went WAY better than the last game I went to! We won 8-2 and I stopped a goal from going in when it was only about 6 inches away and the goalie was far from the goal! Woohoo! Our record is now 2-1 with a winning streak of 2, go Barcelocas!
Yesterday was pretty great since the whole Geography department of La Católica had a field trip this week for the actual Chilean students so all of my classes were canceled until my 5pm culture class. Also, as it had rained the night before, we woke up to the Andes outside our window having been dusted with snow! So pretty! I spent the day playing a lot of catch up, taking my laundry to be done, catching up/having my heart stomped on by Lost, and other things of the sort. After class yesterday I went over to my group-mates house in Vitacura (ritzy part of town) to work of a presentation on a summary of a text we have next week. It was definitely in a very nice part of town, and it was fun to experience hanging out in a Chilean families house and working on a project. It was also really funny because I showed up having read the entire article already, whereas none of them (or the 3/5 group members that were there) had read it yet and were kind of reading it as they go. It was kind of a confidence booster because I'm pretty sure I understood the article just as well if not better than them, and it was not written in my native language. Definitely nice to get that little boost after feeling inapt at communicating so often. Also, it was kind of a rude awakening that my Spanish has a loooong way to go as far as conversation is concerned. Overall, it was really great and the two guys I was with are both very nice, one even walked me to the bus stop and waited with me to make sure I knew how to get home!
So, it's been fairly effortless falling back into routine after my Dad's visit besides missing him being here with me. He took back several things and souveneirs and gifts I had acquired for me and my pink flower alcohol from Mendoza, Argentina and Medio Medio (wine beverage only sold in Uruguay) were taken from him due to the high terrorist alerts which sucks, but such is life there's nothing I can do about it now. In the past few days I also purchased a ticket to go to San Pedro de Atacama, the driest desert in the world in the North of Chile, May 28th-June 1st, and have been talking with Karen about when she will be in Chile at the beginning of June! I have also (almost) officially changed my return date to the US to July 2nd, leaving here July 1st so get those 4th of July plans going because I will want to do some celebrating about being back in America!
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