Valparaiso

This weekend I took my first foray outside Santiago, towards the coastal town of Valparaíso. I was looking forward to that familiar feeling of getting on a bus and escaping for a while, which is exactly what I did.
Valparaiso was absolutely wonderful, wonderful in the sense that I could wander around small streets, filled with colorful if not dilapidated houses, watch people, dogs, and vendors interact, and be out of Santiago for a weekend. For all those reasons, it was great. Unfortunately, I showed up in my skirt, t-shirt, and bathing suit, and entered a world of fog. I put on my long sleeve, but that was to be my outfit for the rest of the weekend as I didn’t pack much, and I had anticipated spending one day on the beach. Turned out it wasn’t freezing, so it worked, but I did buy a $5 red kids backpack from the supermarket when I got back into Santiago so I could pack jeans and such for my next day trip, instead of lugging my meager belongings in a plastic bag, which had been the case.
I met up with my fellow interns and we headed out for the night. We first found a bar-restaurant for dinner, and about half way through they turn on the tv, pull out microphones, and start the karaoke. We freaking were eating a karaoke bar without knowing it! After about 10 songs had been sung, our table got up and did some renditions of english/beatles/oldies songs (hey jude, etc), and got applause. I personally think it was out of sympathy. When we finished with dinner, we ended up at a suuuuper cool place, where 20 minutes after we arrived, a band playing Andean music took the stage. They were awesome, and after a few songs we were up at the front of the stage, dancing with the music. I myself had some difficulty finding the correct beat and dance moves for Andean music, but boy did I try... Oh, and when I sat back down to watch the happenings, I noticed four eyes staring at me from behind the bar... yes two cats held court, almost administering the drinks. The name of the bar `Los Gatos`, or `the cats´w as actually more literal than I initially thought.
The next morning I took to the streets by myself to explore the city a bit more. I ended up starving at 11 and found a cafe around the corner. I ended up talking a while with the owner, who turns out just opened the spot two days before, right when he got his venders permit from the government. He was a banker who worked the typical 8 hour work day about 30 minutes away, and would come down on the weekends to mend to his spot. He was super excited about the place, and took me on a full tour, expanding on his future ideas as well. It was just really neat to talk to him, and hear someone fulfilling their dreams. He’d been planning it for about 5 years, and I show up two days after opening. I’m thinking I’ll go back in a while to check up on him...
And now another work week begins! As I plan on what I want to do and see in Santiago and around central Chile, suddenly 3 months appears extremely short. This is a good thing.
Oh, and now I actually have an address...
Elena Blanco 993
Providencia, Santiago, 7520145
Chile
(it´s where I be, fool)
Peace.