valaparaiso and viña del mar

I am currently on my first trip away from santiago, and i already miss the city. I have made quite a home for myself there. BUT it is good, I came here to travel and see a lot... so here I am. Trying to be as cheap as possible, while having a good time. which has been an adventure in itself. every dollar i spend is calculated, and even then i think i am spending more than i need to.

So i got into Valaparaiso this morning with a group of sweedes, germans and a dutch girl, all very nice (sweedes LOVE south america). the city is nice, a little dirty and crowded, but full of life and history (picture long beach with mountains and 300 years of history). I took a solo trip to viña, no one else was craving the beach like i was. i came to realize how lucky those of us who live in southern california are, the beach was nice, but no comparison. CROWDED, and not all that swimable. but i really enjoyed napping and reading on the beach (don´t worry mom i wore sunscreen). tonight me and my deutch speaking friends are going out, should be fun. sweedes love me. haha.

Santiago has been simply wonderful. i am at the point where i am becoming familiar and don´t feel like such a douchebag walking around or taking a metro. my family amazes me with their kindness and positive spirit on a daily basis. me and mike made konos food for them yesterday, and it was so fun. they would not stop talking about how much they loved it. the potatoes i made tasted EXACTLY like konos potatoes, im not talking similar, i mean the same. and that is not easy with weird chilean cheese. it was delicious, i have also never felt so full here. it gave them a taste of the american diet, haha, they want more.

school is good. my spanish is progressing. but i still want more. I am set on learning the language, for real. I don´t just want to be able to buy a peice of bread, I want a conversation. Chileans are such interesting people. they resemble us in a lot of ways but their is an indescribable latin spirit in them that I love. It is this beautiful combination of resiliance, positivity, warmth, and a general enthusiasm for life. It is very refreshing.

Hope you guys are enjoying my blog. feel free to comment below. or send me an email anytime. i check it obsessively: bettles.bettles@gmail.com. i want to know how you are doing as well. this is fun but it feels a little egotistic (is that a word, there is a word spanish similar, i am forgetting english!) i would love to make this more of a forum, if you guys are up to it. this blog is not about patriarchal forms of education (that was for you rose e)

Love to all of you.