Feliz cumpleanos a mi! :)

Even though my birthday was on a Monday AND I had to teach a two hour English to third graders all by myself AND I had a midterm, I still found time to make my day fun! :)
I invited two friends over to have "once" with my host family. My host parents, two host brothers, and my host brother's best friend also came to celebrate with me.
Best gift: A banano aka A FANNY PACK! I now feel like an authentic Chilean. :)
Photo 1: My host family knows that I don't drink alcohol so they bought me a special beer "sin alcohol"-- without alcohol. Liz thought it was hilarious and proceeded to take about 230498 pictures of me with it.
Photo 2: My birthday gifts with our beverages.
Photo 3: Me with my host mom, Vickie.
Photo 4: Modeling my banano....
Photo 5: The jovenes. From left to right: Pablo (my host brother's best friend), Diego (my host brother), Me, Paige (a Tufts student who is also studying abroad in Chile).
Photo 5: My tres leches birthday cake. Complete with 20 trick candles. Oh Diego... :)

Valle de Elqui

On Saturday, October 9, I left for a weekend trip to Northern Chile. Because I had a three day weekend, I was able to see a great deal of the Valle de Elqui seven hour north of Santiago.
After our long bus ride, we visited Observatorio Mamalluco to stargaze. It was amazing! It was so exciting to see constellations that we can't see in the Northern Hemisphere.
The next morning, we headed to Monte Grande to visit the Gabriela Mistral Museum. We took a short hike up to her grave as well. After that, we cooled off in a nearby river. We were so excited to escape the overpopulation, smog, and schoolwork in Santiago!
From there, we headed to Pisco Elqui where we saw a Dia de La Raza parade. We did some exploring and had a picnic lunch by the river.
The next day we took a hike to the top of a mountain overlooking the city of Vicuna. We had breath- taking views of the entire Valle de Elqui.
We had a beautiful and relaxing weekend! :)
Photo 1: Me and Gabriela Mistral! :)
Photo 2: The view from Gabriela's grave. She's got it made.
Photo 3: Our private river/ swimming hole.
Photo 4: The church in Pisco Elqui's plaza.
Photo 5: Sunset in Valle de Elqui. This was taken on our bus ride between Pisco Elqui and Vicuna.
Photo 6: Mission accomplished! After our hike of Cerro La Virgen in Vicuna, Chile.

Valparaiso Take 2

On Saturday, September 25, I took a day trip to Valparaiso with about 15 other students from my exchange program.
We visited Chile's Naval museum, toured Pablo Neruda's home La Sebastiana, and had a picnic on the beach. It was a beautiful day! :)
Picture 1: The Chilean coast
Picture 2: The whole gang at La Sebastiana
Picture 3: Chile's Naval Museum