Los Andes

Today, mi familia and I took a mini trip to Los Andes to do some shopping. Ok, it's not exactly a mini trip. It's basically like if we were going to Bellevue from Seattle. But it was nice to see a new part of Chile. And they actually had a mall! So I checked out some of the shops. Lots of cute shoes, but I didn't purchase any. I did however replace my glass ring that broke last year with a new one! Then we went to a store called Hiper Lider which I'm guessing is the Wal-Mart of Chile. A grocery store/department store/electronics store all in one. Believe it or not, I managed to find a cute dress there! Not a wedding attendee dress (still on the look out for one of those), but a cute dress for going out. Also, I found PHILADELPHIA CREAM CHEESE!!! My host mom bought me some cream cheese yesterday, but it wasn't quite the same. So finding the Philly kind was like a jackpot. It was a very nice little trip!

Poroto

Another delicious dish from Chile!! This one is called "poroto" and is basically just beans and noodles in a thick broth. It is so tasty and perfect for cold days (like every day here in the winter). I will have to get the recipe from my host mom so I can make it when I get home because this is definitely something I want to eat again and again! Que rico!

Neverland Sushi Bar

So last night I ended up in a pretty weird situation, but I got some free drinks and free sushi out of it! I went with this guy to Neverland Sushi Bar in El Centro of my city and it was a pretty cool place. I would have enjoyed it more under different circumstances, but I thought it was cute how they had theme nights. We happened to be there on Country Night and all the waiters and bartenders were dressed up in cowboy hats and scarfs and boots for the occasion. It was really quite cute. The sushi, of course, was not as good as what you can find in Washington. We ordered the Ebi Roll which was shrimp, cream cheese, rice and avocado, however it was mostly rice and not enough of the insides to stand out. Plus the rice was a bit mushy. Maybe that's just the way they make it here, but I would definitely stick to Seattle sushi! But it's definitely somewhere I might return, perhaps with different company.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

It's unbelievable that the King of Pop is no longer with us. Even down here in Chile, they have been playing his videos and news of him over and over. It just goes to show what a huge influence he had over the entire world. But his legend will surely live on.

Buenos Aires Zoo

While in Buenos Aires, of course I had to visit the zoo. And lucky me, it was only a few blocks from my hostel! I think it was the best zoo I have visited anywhere so far. The landscaping was very pretty (the photo above is what you see right when you walk in) and most of the animals had their own little homes that seemed to be designed for the region that the animal would come from. It was very cool, though, because they had animals that I hadn't seen at any other zoo such as camels, black panthers and siberian tigers. If you like zoos like I do, I would put this one on your list. But we'll have to wait for the comparison to the Santiago Zoo later on my trip!

Termas Jahuel

So this is a bit overdue, but I just received the pictures this week. A couple weeks after I arrived here, while the school was on strike, I visited Termas Jahuel Hotel & Spa. This was more like a resort! It was secluded up on the mountain side, you needed to ask permission to enter, it was like nothing else I've ever seen here in Chile. This place had an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a spa, four or five buildings for rooms, tennis courts, hiking paths, it is ridiculous. I went up there with a colegue to talk with the executive chef of the restaurant to ask for students from my Liceo to come up and practice their skills. But I mostly just looked around in awe. I asked about the prices for the spa and how much it would cost to stay, surprisingly it isn't that expensive. But I guess compared to other things in Chile it would be.

Gran Cafe Tortoni

When I was in El Centro, I visited the Gran Cafe Tortoni which was a cafe recommended in my travel book. I'm so glad I decided to check this one out because it was so cute. All the employees were old men. The waiters were wearing tuxedos and the hosts were wearing sweater vests with ties. Argentina is known for their delicious meat, so I decided to get a steak sandwich. It's true. It was probably one of the bests slabs of meat I've ever had. The book also recommended getting the "chocolate con churros" which is a staple of Argentinian "postres". It's rich hot chocolate with sugar-coated churros for dipping and it was delicious! The atmosphere was so nice and I enjoyed sitting and reading my book while I ate. It was a nice break from the busy streets outside. I definitely agree with the book's recommendation for this place!

Buenos Aires

Well, aside from a small, unhappy incident involving a mugger and my stolen camera, Buenos Aires was an awesome place to visit. I definitely did not have enough time to explore everything so I think I'm going to return at another point in my life. The city is made up of a few different areas and I only made it to three, but I loved them all. I stayed in the Palermo area which was definitely a modern, schnazzy type area with cool shops and restaurants. I also visited El Centro which was basically the downtown. I did some shopping and exploring, but walking everywhere gets really tiring! Last, I visited Puerto Madero which was the waterfront area and saw the Puente de Mujeres which is the bridge shown above. It was definitely different than any bridge I've ever seen and the town was super cute. So far, I liked what I saw and will be very excited when I go back to see more.

Mapuche Celebration

This past weekend, I was invited to a traditional Mapuche celebration. Mapuche are the indigenous people of Chile and the ceremony was very cool and very similar to a Native American ceremony. Lots of chanting and dancing. I was very flattered to be a part of it. Plus it was a gorgeous day out so I spent most of the time sitting outside in the sun. After the ceremony, we had a delicious feast of pan c/ pebre (the BEST pebre I've had so far), arroz, papas, carne y ensalada. (Bread w/ pebre, rice, potatoes, meat and salad.) It was definitely a cool experience!

Angels & Demons

I realized I never wrote a review of the movie! Overall it was really well done and very intense. I found parts to be a little slow and lengthy, but they were definitely important to the story. I was a bit disappointed because my favorite parts of the book were when he was researching and searching for the different churches and discussing the art pieces (mainly the parts about art, duh) and that seemed to only translate into about 30 minutes of movie, while the other 2 hours were discussing the rest of the story and lacking in a lot of action. While it was a good film, I believe "The DaVinci Code" translated better into the big screen.

La Sebastiana

One of the sights we visited in Valparaiso was "La Sebastiana" which was Pablo Neruda's house. This is where he wrote most of his poetry and was inspired by the view. Unfortunately it was a little cloudy on Saturday so I didn't get the best shot, but you can still see the amazing view of the port and ships. No photos were allowed inside the house, but it was so cool. Each room was a different color or design and he had collections of the coolest antiques. I'm sure they weren't necessarily antiques back then, but they are now! My favorite was probably the horse from an old carousel. The house was architecturally very interesting because he bought it when it was incomplete because the original designer had died before he could finish it. Neruda made some interesting changes, but it turned out very cool. Definitely a place worth visiting.

Valparaiso, Part 2

So this past Saturday, a friend from the program and I decided to take a day trip to the city of Valparaiso. The city was soooo pretty and I got super excited when I saw the ocean. All the houses are different, very vibrant colors which is a huge change from the US, but I liked it a lot. When I have a house, I want to paint it bright blue. The city is very hilly and we're not talking small ones. The hills are very steep and high, so in some areas they have "acensors" which are like hill elevators. Unfortunately they are closed on the weekends, so Dominique and I had to walk. It was great exercise. The city is a port town and there were some big ships in the harbor. It definitely felt like a pirate town...so of course I loved it. Plus it was full of cool graffiti that was more like art than vandelism. I definitely want to go back and visit more museums. One day here was not enough!