TGIF?

This week was a difficult one classwise. Yesterday, Claudio showed up on time for the first time all week; fifteen minutes early actually. I was shocked. Unfortunately, him showing up extra early can't make up for the minutes he showed up late. But this does mean I'll be showing up next week.

Carlos didn't return yesterday either, and we found out he wont be back till Monday. Sad day. We watched the rest of Machuca. It's a wonderful, hilarious movie with an extremely sad ending. It's supposed to take place in Chile right before the military coup that overtook Allende in 1973. I really enjoyed it, and it was based on a true story.

After class, I had to go explore Avenida San Martín with my partner Erin. When we got there, we just walked along taking photos and observing the impact of globalization on the avenue. There were lots of foreign restaurants including the ever so popular McDonald's. I guess the put avocado on the burgers instead of ketchup and mustard, weird. There's also a huge casino and five-star hotel along the avenue right along the beach. I'll upload my photos when I feel like it.

We then headed to some vendors along the beach so we could be tourists and buy souvenirs. I bought my pelola something that hopefully she'll enjoy. It was really warm at this point, and the sun was beating directly on us as it was setting. I love the ocean. I def want to live near the ocean when I'm older. Zapallar anyone? Ha, I wish...

Next, we headed to her house so we could put the powerpoint together. It was assigned Wednesday and we had to present Friday, not cool. Carlos would've given us the weekend for sure. Her house sits on top of a hill on the opposite side of Viña as my house does, and she had a view of the entire city. I definitely got a case of the jealousy bug. They had a deck that I just stood in awe on. I took pictures of the marvelous city I'm living in so you can see what it's really like in a different perspective.

We finished the project within a couple hours, and after enjoying an once with her incredibly sweet mom, I headed home on the micro.

Today, I woke up and showered, ate, and got ready to leave. As I was leaving, my housekeeper Carolina stopped me much to my surprise, and then proceeded to adjust the collar on my polo for me and then said "Ok, now it's good". Ha, although she speaks way too fast and I rarely understand her, I love how sweet she is.

Class wasn't quite as difficult today, though I did have to listen to him brag about how Chile is one of the most stable countries in the world. It really is a great country, and it's def in my top 3 after studying here of course, but hearing Claudio present the facts in the way that he does just has a bit of arrogance behind it, so I just get sick of hearing about how Chile is the real Holy Land (that's all me, he never would actually say that).

Presentations went smoothly in Carlos' class. After, we discussed the movie from yesterday a bit, and then we were let out early since it's Friday. Nice.

I'm going snowboarding tomorrow morning, and as of 3:30 this afternoon, I had no clothing whatsoever that would be good for the snow. I decided I'd go wander the streets for a bit in search of a thrift store. My main goal, pants. I did find thrift stores, two or three actually. Unfortunately, I need to learn to check out the store before entering. Turns out two of them were just for women. Nice one Matthew. The third one was the jackpot. It had sky (Spanish for ski I guess?) in the window so I knew it would have what I need. Unfortunately, it was way more than I wanted to spend (about $15 for a pair of snow pants I'm only going to wear once is not worth it). I eventually gave up and headed home empty handed, and set out a desperation email to the rest of my gringo friends here.

Later, Rodrigo arrived home and asked me about my luck in finding clothes. He told me to wait a second, and returned with a perfectly sized jacket. He also had a fleece sweater for me to wear that's specifically designed for skiing (it even says ski team on it). Awesome. Then he came back with what I think he said is a neck warmer, and some gloves. Amazing. He also mentioned something about a hat, but I haven't seen it yet. Regardless, I'm super stoked since I went from nothing to everything but pants. As of now, I still dont have any, and I dont know how likely it is that I'll get any before tomorrow. My plan is to either just wear two pairs of jeans, or just deal with being wet all day. Regardless, I'm looking forward to it more now since I have everything else I need. I'm meeting the group at 4:45 tomorrow morning, then we're taking a van to Portillo (google it) about three and a half hours away.

My parents are making me a nice snack lunch to take, and I went out with Rodrigo Jr. tonight to get a big bottle of water. The mountain is around 10,000 feet so we'll get winded very easily and I was told to bring lots of water. I'm really excited, and I should probably sleep now. I'll make sure to take pictures of the beautiful lake that is right at the base of the lifts with the huge mountain peak in the background. =)

Buenas noches amigos. Chao.