November 5th - I arrived in Santiago at stupid-o'clock in the morning. After taking a quick airport shuttle, I knocked on Meghann and Michael's door somewhere around 4 in the morning. Their new roommate had arrived! For the next month, we all lived in their tiny (tiny) one bedroom apartment, in a perfect location! Right around the corner from a metro stop, and walking distance to several different parks. And a fantastic ice cream place. I've been excited about this portion of my trip since I booked my tickets...Meghann (my beloved college roommate) and Michael (her awesome husband) moved to Chile a little over a year ago.
During my first couple of days there (let's be real, it was the first full week), I did next to nothing. It.Was.Awesome. Meghann and Michael would head off to work in the morning, and I would sleep in, not worrying about what time I had to check out of my hostel or what time my bus was. I took walks through the parks, sitting to read and people watch. I walked through the mall. I watched a little tv (and by a little, I mean 2.5 seasons of Hart of Dixie - thanks, Meg, for the addiction). I ate delicious bread. I washed dishes. And I waited patiently for my roommates to come home and tell me about their days. We drank beer. We laughed. We watched TV. We took pictures.
My first solo trip was to Cerro Santa Lucia. I had to take the metro - and I survived! Santiago has a pretty great (and sometimes extremely crowded) metro system. Anyways...Santa Lucia. Very cool. It's a hilltop park with fountains and stairs and delicious strawberry drinks. At the top is Castle Hidalgo, and gorgeous views of the surrounding city.
After a relaxing week, the first weekend in Chile was action packed! On Saturday, Michael had to work so Meghann and I took a day trip to the colorful town of Valparaiso and the beaches of Viña del Mar. Valpo had brightly painted buildings, artistic graffiti, and the first..and most delicious Chacerero (Chilean sandwhich with green beens).
Viña had beaches. And coldness. Cold beaches.
...but it also had $2 sunglasses...
When the time came to take the bus home, we missed it. Flat out, misread the ticket, sitting in the terminal minding our own business, missed it. That was going to result in us having to buy new tickets. Meghann, in all her awesome Spanish-speaking glory, proceeded to convince the ticket guy to exchange our tickets at no cost. Those spanish lessons just paid off!!
On Sunday was a 5k Color Run...
...and then...while we waited for Michael to shower...we couldn't visit Easter Island, so we brought Easter Island to us...
Thanks to weird Chilean stuff, and Meghann's school winning some sort of dance compeitition, Meghann (as well as all of the students) had an impromptu day off work. I had my own personal tour guide for the day! We decided to take a rather intense hike up Cerro San Cristóbal, which lead to this glorious statue overlooking the city.
Afterwards, we visited the Plaza de Armas which was litered with trash...the results of one of the many strikes going on.
Despite our failed attempts to see La Moneda Palace (the presidential palace), the first week was a great start to my Chilean adventures! Reunited and loving it!
~Jac
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