strawberries are less than a dollar a pound
back in santiago after another hectic weekend. since i only have 2 more weekends before classes end and jona gets here and the beginning of the end begins i have been trying to live them up big time. this weekend i went with alison and her dad to valparaiso and vina del mar and then to cajon del maipo.
i love valparaiso. the buildings are falling apart, there is dog poop all over the sidewalks, and it generally smells like urine but it remains to be so beautiful. it is a town of windy narrow streets that shoot straight up these crazy hills and colorful houses with graffiti covered walls.
vina on the other hand could be any other beach resort town in the world. there are big high rises over looking the beach and a big casino resort as the main attraction. at least they sell churros on the beach there.
today we went to the cajon del maipo and it was absolutely wonderful. pretty much since i've gotten here i have wanted to go hiking in this place called el morado and we finally went. we had to take the only bus a day which goes there at 8:30 in the morning but it was totally worth it. hiking there looked like something right out of the sound of music, beautiful valley leading straight into the heart of the andes. incredible. i also got to see a rather disappointing lagoon (i mean they can't all be winners) and my first glaciers ever.
unfortunately, on the way back from cajon we received a very real reminder of the dangers of playing in the mountains. on the way back this group of four students who help out my mountaineering class got on our bus. it turns out that while they were hiking there had been an avalanche and had been separated from someone in their group and were now organizing people to come and help look for who they lost. at least that is what I understood of the situation..there was a lot of horrible chilean slang being thrown around. i really hope that everyone is okay.
well the weekend is over and it is back to another school week.
i love valparaiso. the buildings are falling apart, there is dog poop all over the sidewalks, and it generally smells like urine but it remains to be so beautiful. it is a town of windy narrow streets that shoot straight up these crazy hills and colorful houses with graffiti covered walls.
vina on the other hand could be any other beach resort town in the world. there are big high rises over looking the beach and a big casino resort as the main attraction. at least they sell churros on the beach there.
today we went to the cajon del maipo and it was absolutely wonderful. pretty much since i've gotten here i have wanted to go hiking in this place called el morado and we finally went. we had to take the only bus a day which goes there at 8:30 in the morning but it was totally worth it. hiking there looked like something right out of the sound of music, beautiful valley leading straight into the heart of the andes. incredible. i also got to see a rather disappointing lagoon (i mean they can't all be winners) and my first glaciers ever.
unfortunately, on the way back from cajon we received a very real reminder of the dangers of playing in the mountains. on the way back this group of four students who help out my mountaineering class got on our bus. it turns out that while they were hiking there had been an avalanche and had been separated from someone in their group and were now organizing people to come and help look for who they lost. at least that is what I understood of the situation..there was a lot of horrible chilean slang being thrown around. i really hope that everyone is okay.
well the weekend is over and it is back to another school week.