La playa!

I told Michelle when I arrived in Santiago that I REALLY wanted to go to the beach. When choosing a post-grad trip, getting some sun was high on importance. So she grabbed some friends, Nati and Cota, the night I landed we headed on our way.

First we stopped downtown and grabbed some drinks with friends. I tried my first Pisco Sour which includes a raw egg (I like all drinks with eggs!) and it was decent. Next we stopped at a Pronto, which is a speedymart gas station. Nati and I picked up dinner - they served hot dogs, french fries, and hamburgers! Perfect way to greet an American.

An hour later we arrived in Viña del Mar where we went to my first South American club. Kids can go out when they turn 16 here, so it was difficult finding a place where college graduates fit in. After Cota led us in 10 different directions around the city (it was at least midnight at this point), we ended up at a place FULL of Argentines. Argentine boys are known by Chileans as being quite arrogant, but also much more attractive than Chileans - which will make the next few weeks a bit more enjoyable. They also prefer cumbio music to reggaeton, which upset me a bit since I was really in the mood for true electronic or reggaeton. We danced a bit, shooed off some dumb 18 year olds, and made our way to....

...the CASINO. Yes, Vegas veterans, I found my way into another casino within a week of leaving Vegas. I was extremely happy to cash in the Euros my mother kindly gave me and did decently enough at Blackjack to pay for my trip to the beach. The casino games were all in English, which was quite refreshing, but drinks were NOT free. Not as fun as the US where at least you get something for your losses. We started getting sleepy and landed at Natís grandma´s house around 5.

I LOVE Nati´s grandma´s house. It is this little cabin on the beach with three bedrooms. Two of the bedrooms have mulitple beds to house her family members who decide to visit en el verano. I decided I will do the same when I´m older to entice company AND enjoy the beach at all times. She made us breakfast (fresh bread, fruit, juice) and we sleepily got to the beach by noon.

The beach at Reñaca was absolutely beautiful, and my pale skin was very, very happy. After a few hours of sun we went to a small market. From Reñaca we drove to Valparaíso, a cute artsy town I have 5,000 pictures of. The town is gorgeous and full of art everywhere. So many walls are covered, and a famous poet keeps his beach home there. I fell in love with it, but from conversing with locals it is becoming much more touristy.

For lunch (I´m documenting most of my meals for Megan Hamilton) Nati showed me her favorite dish there called chorillana, which consists of french fries covered in onions, beef, and egg. Absolutely gross and delicious at the same time. We shared a huge serving (think Don Juan-sized). The restaurant is COVERED in people´s writing. I wrote ¨I´m awesome ¨ on the wall and hope to find it when I come back.

For sunset we climbed sand dunes about three stories high and watched the sun fall over the water. It was breathtaking and I LOVE playing in sand, so I was in heaven. The best part, of course, was running all the way down.

We went back to Nati´s grandmother´s house where she made us delicious spaghetti and spoiled us a bit more. I noticed her earrings looked like a pair my grandmother had - and then she said she got them in the USA! I took a picture to show Grandma Norman, but I SWEAR they are the same. I really enjoyed abuela and will definitely remember her.

A few tan lines, money in my pocket, and lots of french fries later (we had them again later in the week - I´ll post all of that later), we drove back to Santiago. Great and busy first 24 hours in a new continent.. the girls informed me later that they usually take three days to do everything we did in one, but I am very grateful for speeding things up to show me the coast.