Santiago

Well, it's been a long few days and I didn't know really what to write.  Santiago was very cool, the hostel I stayed at had about 50 americans, all volunteers doing the same thing I am, so we really didn't use spanish at all.  I met some really cool people, hopefully we will stay in touch and perhaps hook-up back in the states...  I am not going to lie, I went out every night I was in santiago, there really was not much to do at the hostel and I wanted to practice spanish(major reason why I am here).  Met a few really cool chileans.  Seba is the man, he is the receptionist at the hostel and I even had my parents talk to him through skype.  I met another really cool dude named Willo, who is a english teacher here. I will post pictures soon... Anyway I was with a bunch of english teachers that were all 22-24, so its nice to hang out with some chileans my age, they do the same thing we do, look for the cheapest place to booze and party.  However, they party until 6 am. Anyway we hung out in the middle of one the busiest streets in Santiago(seriously inbetween inbound and outbound traffic).  Its kinda like a small park, with grass and a large statue nearby, anyway this is highly illegal and I was told not tell the policia that I spoke any spanish... after that I went to a another hostel that Willo's brother worked at.  We bought a bunch of beers and listened to music and hung out.  Greatest thing is, Willo and I love some of the same bands, which is weird, because these bands are not overtly popular.

Willo and Alicia. 

Gringos: John in the back, Brad on the right, and obviously me. Rest: Chileanos

My last night in Santiago I went out to dinner with some friends, ate some amazing ribs and went out for "terremottos" which translates to earthquake, apparently they are what you drink to get drunk(think long Islands), however I did not know if they would have them in Arica. So I think a terremotto consists of some beer, a lot of wine, and some ice cream(maybe some pisco).  Its taste isn't wonderful, but after a few beers it was delicioso. Anyway, after that I headed to get some more drinks with another group of friends and another chilean/british man came up to us and hung out for the rest of the night. Had some good convos.

I didn't go to sleep, because I had to wake up at 5 am anyway to catch a flight.  I can't tell you anything about the flight, but I know it made one stop(like stopped to let people off, grab their luggage from the bottom of the plane and then took off again). But I slept the entire time... next post will be about Arica.