To all my loyal blog followers, I am truly apologetic for leaving you hanging without an update for such a long time! I am now to the point where I have truly finished with the vacation phase of my Chilean adventure, and I am quickly falling behind with updates for all of you since I am occupied with work at Matetic and weekend excursions to Santiago with coworkers and friends. More about that later!
After a great time with my new friends in Santiago, Smita and Paulo and I were on a bus to Valparaiso, and we were fully stocked with bus supplies (wine cheese and chocolate) since I had lost a bet and was deemed as provider of provisions. Smita and I had a grand old time swigging white wine and looking at pictures of our travels thus far, and Paulo used his spanish speaking skills to get directions to the hostel from a Valpo local, all while we listened to the loud snoring of the man behind us (pictured below). When we got to Valparaiso, we hopped on a local bus and then took our first trip on the infamous Valparaiso "acensors," which were built by european settlers in the late 1800s and had scarcely been repaired since that time. We arrived to the hostel and had a laugh when we discovered that our three bed reservation had in fact been a reservation for a double bed and a twin in one room, leaving the three of us to quarrel about the sleeping arrangements for the remainder of the day! After getting settled at the hostel and cleaning/arranging our baggage, Smita and I left Paulo to his nap as we went for a walk to the marina and then up a different acensor for a view of the city. On the way back, we came across a cool bar where there was a band preparing for that night's live performance (pictured), and we enjoyed a few cervezas and headed back to the hostel to see if Paulo had left yet to shop for the ingredients for dinner, since it was his turn to cook for us. We enjoyed a few different types of beer and wine as Paulo cooked some delicious spaghetti, and we mentally perpared for the fury of Valparaiso's premier night club, known as "El Huevo."
We set off for el huevo at around midnight, the three of us joined by three hostel friends and a definite urge to party it up and dance until the sun came up. Inside the club we found a very diverse set of options for a night full of dancing and enjoying local beverages. There were a total of 5 floors at the club, each with its own music selections, from Chilean pop music, to salsa, hip hop and reggaeton, and a more relaxed outdoor level on top which served as a great place to reconvene with the group and cool off from the dancing below. This club was definitely a blast! Paulo and I ventured off to the reggaeton section and made some trips to get some sprite and piscos, and our friends from Santiago, Brazil and Israel were interspersed all throughout the club. SOmehow we succeeded in never leaving anyone alone in the club, while still enjoying all the diverse options and dancing styles. Latin american dancers and far superior to Americans, and several times we went to the Salsa section just to watch, and I made a promise to myself that sometime soon, I will learn to dance salsa. By the time 5am rolled around and the club closed its doors, our friend from the hostel (via Santiago) had learned of an afterparty nearby, and he had the secret password required for entry - - the night was not over! This afterparty took place in an underground bar very well suited for non-licensed parties, and we all had a blast attempting to converse with the locals and dancing until we could dance no more. By 7:30am we had all made it back to the hostel and fell fast asleep until around 2pm. When I awoke, I found myself alone in the double bed, and Paulo and Smita in the twin bed, and both of them were amusingly agitated with me because I had fallen asleep in a way that I took up the whole double bed and they were unable to move me! I'm sorry Smita and Paulo!!!
When we had rallied that afternoon, we made our way to a breakfast place, "el desayunador," and randomly ran into a friend from the hostel in Santiago there, Shannon. We enjoyed our late afternoon breakfast and made plans for dinner with Shannon, and I was the chef for that night. In the meantime, I was dead set on finding a pair of work boots, since I had worked myself into the last possible day to find boots that were waterproof and big enough for me. Smita and Paulo were gracious enough to join me - after all, our group slogan was "birds of a feather flock together!" We took a bus trip to Vina Del Mar, where I was actually able to find a timberland store with an exact match of boots I had previously used for wine work in the States! With a 20% sale going on and a perfect match for my size, I was more than enthused to have found what I needed and I was instantly mentally prepared to make the journey the next morning to Casablanca, where I would be picked up by someone from Matetic and have my introduction to my new place of work and new home in the countryside.
That night, I cooked up a full lineup of mexican fajitas and the four of us sat down for a final meal together. I was sad to leave my new friends, but glad to have met such great people and to have developed such a close friendship after only a few short days. If I ever journey to London or Sao Paolo, I know I have a place to stay, and the same for them when they come to my house, which consequently does not currently exist! LOL
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