Chile and The Fam

For those of you planning on visiting Chile, do what the books say. Santiago was fun, but I saw everthing I needed to see in 3 days. The Presidential House was sweet, the views were amazing, and the night life was interesting (Santo Secreto....think Mad Ave on crack). Definitely worth a visit, but I though Santiago wasn't really special.

Now Viña del Mar y Valparaiso....yes. These places have character. I live in Viña, right next to the border to Valpo, so I get a good view of both cities. Valpo is a rougher....more grungy (but in a good way). It's got this run down, I don't care kind of attitude that I really like. I haven't seen much of it yet (the navy, some stores, the other university), but I'm sure that'll change.

Viña is way ritzier. In the downtown part, it reminds me a lot of California. The downtown isn't too ritzy, just very busy and very cool. Its further down, closer to the malls where Viña is very chic. There were little palm umbrella for people, many vendors, and unfortunately, corporate America (Pizza Hut is neighboring Dominos).

My family is really great. My older sister (23) and my dad understand my Spanish the best and have been acting as translator for the rest of my family. My madre is so sweet, and she laughs very easily. My younger siblings (15 year old sister and 8 year old brother) were more shy at first and are slowly warming up. They just started school on Wednesday, and I haven't seen them as much as the others.

Today, I'm going to some beaches (Renacca and such). Hopefully I can even out my awkward burn tan that I'm rocking right now. School starts Monday, but I don't have class until Tuesday, so it'll be a nice weekend for me. I promise pictures will come! I happen to be one of the few without wireless (even my US fam has wireless now!), so I need to just go to a wireless cafe and upload for hours.