The past few days...

In the past few days I have done quite a lot.

In my conversation class we went to a Feria which is like a farmers market. It was such an awesome experience. I got to see vendors sell their food and we compared the prices at the Feria with a place called Jumbo which is like a Walmart. It was crazy, the Feria was so much cheaper and they had a wider variety of food. It is interesting to me that here in Chile it is so much cheaper to buy fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, and flowers at a Feria whereas in the US it is usually much cheaper to buy everything at a supermarket. It makes me think about why there is such a difference and why we as Americans prefer to go to a supermarket and get our shopping done quickly, whereas many Chileans go to the Feria and spend an afternoon there.

All of the girls and I

The next day we went to the fish market. It was crazy! So many birds, pelicans and seals were all there. It is kind of sad, because the fishermen throw the left overs from the fish into the water/ on the sand and that is why the seals all congregate in this area. But it was such a cool experience and I saw a penguin! It is weird though because there shouldn't be a penguin this far north, but nevertheless it was there and swimming around.

Friday, I went out with the girls to Valpo for the night. We first went to an art store where they had really amazing paintings of Valpo. They also have a gallery that focuses on one artist but it rotates frequently. Then we were hungry so we found a restaurant and had once (dinnerish meal). I split mine with Amelia and we had coffee, strawberry juice, ham and cheese sandwich and then these super good pankaka's which are similar to crepes but instead of nutella they put jam or manejar which is delicious. After this, the girls and I went to on of their houses and planned out our vacation for next weekend. We originally wanted to go to Patagonia but we procrastinated and didn't plan stuff quick enough to get good prices, so instead we are going to La Serena. It is much cheaper and going to be a blast!! We are spending 3 nights there and paid for the bus ticket (7hrs and 30mins) and the hostel all for $100. Quite a great price for the area we are going. More info about this when we plan more...



The small bathroom stalls

Amelia

After planning out all of that: Amelia, Sam and I went to meet a friend down at a bar called La Playa. We got there at about 12 and it was pretty dead. So we got some piscolas (pisco and coke) and just chatted. People started showing up around 2 to 3 and it was getting very busy! We all drank more and then danced a bit as a group and stayed until the placed closed. I am guessing that was at 5ish but I can't quite remember. Hahah. Then I got home at 6am and passed out. My host family told me when they woke up they realized I had fallen asleep with the light on. Hahahah :)

Saturday at 10:30 (4hrs later) i woke up and met most of the girls to buy our bus tickets to La Serena and then we went to Con Con to surf!!! It was so hot and I had quite a strong hangover.. So that was an interesting adventure. We all surfed and it was a blast but the waves and tide seemed to be much stronger than what I was ever used to. So I was exhausted and surfing was interesting. After spending the day there, I came home and showered and fell asleep super early.

Today I went for run in the morning with my friend Julie Ann. We ran from Vina to Valpo which was great because I wasn't sure how far I could run.



Me and Tess going surfing