Día cuatro y cinco!

Below are photos of when we arrived in valpo and viña on the bus..so they are a little blurry, but you can get the gist of how beautiful this place is! :)

these were my first images of valpo and vina after coming over the mountains/hills down to the cities and the ocean. its an incredible view

Below are photos of the bus ride to Valpo

This was like a nieghborhood outside of santiago. all the houses were the same, it was a little creepy. like suburbia where i did not expect to see it. lol

This was right when we were starting the drive to Valpo. and it was so funny to see this guy on the horse just galloping down the highway. I barely got the picture he was going so fast. lol

Below are all photos from "cerro santa lucía"

Below are all pictures from the artisans place. And the last two are of the gorgeous view of the andes mountains and an old church right next to the little artisans village. I think the mountains look fake here. haha

These things were funny, you grab hold of them and then the liquid rises. But the higher the liquid rises and then starts to bubble is supposed to represent your love factor and how lovable you are. It was soo turisty, but still funny. :)

Yesterday (sunday) was a little hectic with leaving Santiago and traveling to Valparaíso y Viña del Mar. We went out saturday night until like 3:30 in the morning. It was absolutely insane and it doesn't actually get crowded until like one in the AM here. I am never going to get used to that. Going out will be few are far between for me. But my friend Kayla loves to salsa and merengue, so we are looking for a place to go out and find some chilenos (the word for people from chile) to teach us. Well she knows how but I definitely don't. I am sure the locals would laugh at my lack of rythm, but hey I am still willing to try! Oh and the clubs here, they love their techno music and also they love american music. Its almost always one or the other. It's funny even in the restaurants you hear american music. Like today on the streets of valpo, we were hearing frank sinatra coming from some store, it it a little odd. I never knew how influential we are in the states. But anyways, yesterday morning was SOO difficult to get up. We had to pack all of our things (and I think I have the most bags...go figure right? lol) and then a truck took our bags to Valpo while we spent the rest of the day in Santiago. We went to this little place that had all kinds of artisans, like little shops where everything was hand crafted. It was like its own little village, absolutely adorable! We also had lunch there, and I think that was by far my favorite meal in Santiago. And it was so simple to. They have all kinds of natural juices here and they are SO good. My favorite is pineapple juice (jugo de piña)..but at that little cafe it actually had little chucks of pineapple. Its kind of crazy, all fruits and vegetables taste so fresh here. Like even some veggies like I don't love at home taste amazing here. I have no idea why, maybe they are just more fresh.

Okay I am getting off track. So at the little artisans shop place, we had lunch and looked around. Most things were pretty expensive though so I didn't buy anything. But as Kayla and I were walking around we stopped at one shop and this super adorable old man came over to talk to us. He explained that he was a collector of containers for yerba mate tea (which some of you know that I love), like not just gourds (which is what they are usually made out of) but also some made out of silver and extremely decorative, they come from the indegenous people like the Mapuche people. If you don't know what I am talking about, you should google yerba mate, it is a very social tea, more found in Argentina, but sort of here as well. Anyways he had published a few books and showed us those as well as told us all kinds of history and artists and literature of chile. It was hard to understand since they talk so fast here and shorten words and kind of mumble, but so interesting as well. It is always uncomfortable though when they talk and take a little bit of long pause and I'm not following what they are saying and have no idea if they are pausing to ask a question or get confirmation. Yeah it is a little awkward, but I know it won't always be like that. lol.

So after that, we went to "cerro santa lucía." Cerro means hill in spanish, and this is the supposed place that santiago was founded. It had a little fortress or castle thing on the top, we climbed up with tiny little rock stairs all the way to the top. It was really fun. I wish I could remember all the history of this place, but I go figure I can't. I have caught a little bit of a cold from a whole bunch of other kids that have gotten sick, and it was a little hard to focus with all the information. 

Then after that, we got on the bus and took the hour and a half bus ride to Valparaíso. And let me tell you, the view was amazing! Its kind of weird, the scenery here reminds me a lot of idaho. I will post pictures and you guys can tell me if you agree or not. But I know the pictures just don't do this place justice, especially of the Andes mountains, they are breathtaking and that view will never get old. 

We arrived in valpo at sunset, and we came over the hills (lower part of andes I think) and you could see the whole valley of valpo and vina and then the ocean in the distance. it was incredible. it reminded me of cinqueterre in italy, because of all the colorful buildings and the perfect view of the ocean. I will post pictures of this too. And they might not be that great since they were taken on the bus, but you will get the idea. 

We met our host families at the University. Erin and I's dad and youngest son were there to pick us up. The mum is a little sick and she has been wearing this mask, like you see people do when sars and the swine flu broke out. lol. But the family is amazing! The family is: the Mum (Pilar but her nickname is Pilly (pronounced like peely), and the dad (Guillermo - but his nickname is TuTi), Ignacio (14year old boy), Maite (16 year old girl), Gabrielle (17 year old boy), Constanca (pronounced like constansa - and she is in here 20's  - haven't met her yet), and then the oldest Marcello (not pronounced like marchello - and he is 27 years old oh and a guy). The family is amazing! Erin and I seriously lucked out. I feel so comfortable with them and so at home. It is also a little comforting that the mum knows english (she used to be a translator) so we can use english just in case. The mum and dad have a catering business, so they make amazing food! I will have to take a photo and show you guys. Also, Erin and I have our own rooms which is great and we even have wireless internet too. I just can't say enough good things about our family. I wish you all could meet them and see for yourselves.  

Okay and today.. we had our first day at the university. We had our orientation, placement exam and tours of Valpo, oh and we got to go to the ISA office as well. It was so cute, our host families have to take us to school the first couple of days and then also pack us a lunch. We all ate our lunches in the ISA house/office and it was like being back in elementary. lol. We all wanted to know what each had and wanted to try it. I am sure we will be trading some days too. Well not me, since there is only one other girl here that is vegetarian. :)

Tomorrow is our first days of classes, and we are taking two classes. Grammar and conversation and culture. We got a tour of the university today, which is in two buildings, but I don't really remember where our classes will be. But I am a little excited to go search for them. lol. It is so funny, since us "gringos" (what the chilenos call us, or any foreigners and its not a bad or negative word here) are so different, the chilenos stare at us everywhere we go. Its like we are putting on a show or something. Oh and we get "piropos" (cat calls) everywhere we go. It's pretty funny. But then again we have been traveling in like groups of 10, so I am sure it will cut down once we adventure out more in small groups. It is weird though, I guess because I have dark hair and little bit darker skin tone that I don't get that many stares. I have a feeling if I was by myself I would fit in a whole lot better. 

It was cool, we found out today that not only do we go to classes and have the ISA excursions, but there are activities planned with the university too. Like we had the option (which of course I signed up for) to do something called "intercambios" which mean exchanges. So we will go in the city with chileno students and they will help us with spanish and then we will help them with their english. I am so excited to meet the locals this way. I am nervous for our first one this thursday, but it should be interesting and a great experience! :)

We took the metro (train) to school today, it was awesome. It is like right next to the ocean. We came home on the metro right when the sun was setting, and it was just so beautiful. I will have to get a picture some time. I love the metro. Tomorrow we are trying something called a "taxi colectivo" and these are taxi that carry like 4 or 5 people. So they are cheaper than a normal taxi and very common. There is also the bus here too, but I guess thats not the best transportation for us. I have a feeling we will be taking the metro the majority of the time though since it is the cheapest. 

Well I think I have rambled long enough. lol. I should work on being more witty and direct but yeah I am sure that won't happen! hope you made it through it all or at least skimmed to the best parts! :)  lol

chao (yes thats how its spelled here)

Britt (my family calls me this, and they roll my R, it is so funny to hear, but I love it, I fit right in with having a nickname too) :)