El Fin De Semana

I apologize for falling off the blogging boat for a couple days--it's obviously going to happen. Friday was a great day. We got our Chilean IDs, at least the paper copies and then went to Pablo Neruda's house La Sebastiana--he has the coolest houses!

I plan to go to his third house in Isla Negra very soon--probably before the end of the month. I also got my schedule done--I don't remember if I wrote about that in the last blog...either way four day weekends=travel time. Friday night we went out with our Chilean friends from the school, it was a lot of fun--they had rented out the VIP section of a club for our group.

Saturday morning we woke up and went to the beach in Vina. They so aren't kidding about that ozone thing...I wore SPF 50, was only out in the sun for about two hours total and burned..not nearly as bad as my friends because I really don't burn much but the sun is for sure much more dangerous here. We hung out at the beach went and had lunch then took the bus back to Valpo. There is so much to discover in this city--everyday is a new adventure.

I also have been working on my Honors Thesis for St. Edward's--my proposal is due Thursday. Originally I had planned to work with just Pablo Neruda and his influence on the Chilean culture; however, I think that I have developed an idea to run with--Working thesis title- "The Power of Words, the Color of Hope" integrating Neruda's influence along with the great poet trio and connecting everything to how words and color are an integral part of the culture here. It's interesting to look around and see it everywhere. Graffiti here is often not just a scribble with spray paint (sometimes it is) but is largely murals and profound statements of inspiration. Our director for ISA told us that they paint the streets bright colors, especially in the poor communities, to offer hope to the people--it's fascinating. Living back home in the states, seeing a bright colored house amongst all of the red and browns that line the streets sticks out like a sore thumb--that's what I thought before I came to Chile. I remember thinking how ugly the bright orange house looked...my ignorance is once again educated, thank GOD. If you have any thoughts or ideas about my thesis, I'd love to hear them.

Last night at Taco's a karaoke bar my friend and I went to, we heard this song ...it's my new favorite, the lady who sang it also had some serious pipes.

Today our Chilean sister is coming to town for lunch, I am excited to meet her--other than that the plans for today are slim to none, as far as I know at least.

More randomness about Chile:

-coffee is instant--all of it
-I haven't had hardly any processed food at all since I've been here, considering almost everything in the US is processed--it's crazy!
-I took my first collectivo last night--multi-person taxi 
-the Pacific is FREEZING, and SOOO SALTY
-Mexican beers are more expensive than European beers


Chao