Just call me Lobster Liz...

Let my preface by saying I really did put on sunscreen at least 3 times and there’s a freaking hole in the ozone layer here…

So I look like a lobster. A very splotchy lobster who clearly was distracted when applying sunscreen, but a lobster nonetheless. I’m also not just saying this. My host mom Patty pointed at the lobster magnet on the fridge in reference to me. My host dad and brother both commented on my burned redness, and my host sister did a nice little snicker when she saw me. I could just see her thinking “Oh those gringas, they’re so hilarious with their sunburns”. But despite the sunburn, I feel so much better about my life and what I’m doing after this wonderful weekend, so I think it’s worth it.

Valparaíso and Viña del Mar are two gorgeous sister cities right on the Pacific Ocean. Seven of us girls from the program decided to get away for the weekend and go to Valpo (as we cool locals call it), and before you wonder about the extravagant amounts of money it costs to stay in a resort type place like Valpo/Viña, let me assure you that I only paid $16 USD for lodging for two nights and only $12 for transport to and from Valpo, and none of it was particularly sketchy. Oh how I love being in a different country…

Friday: we arrived in Valpo in the rain, and Julie, the girl whose Spanish puts all ours to shame, decided we should follow this lady who said she had a hostel. And yes, that did seem pretty shady to me at the time. We ended up in this adorable house in a slightly rundown part of Valpo that had been converted into a hostel. The dueña of the house was the nicest most adorable woman in the world, and everyone in her family were super friendly the entire time we were there. Truthfully, we didn’t do much besides eat, cook, talk and laugh. I had a wonderful time, but it doesn’t make for the best storytelling. Just imagine six soaking wet white girls walking through a gigantic open-air market buying veggies and fruit for our supper and cracking up for no apparent reason. That’s basically how cool we were.

Saturday: A small table with two bottles of wine on it collapsed onto my foot resulting in a small but fairly deep cut on my big toe. Don’t worry, though, the dueña fixed up my toe and told me to go wash it in the ocean. It’s fine now, but we were out the wine we wanted to have with dinner. We also went to the beach, and I “swam” in the pacific for the first time. By swim I mean stand at about knee level and let the waves slam into me, which generally resulted in me falling on my ass and getting salt water in my eyes. In case anyone is wondering, the Pacific Ocean is really amazingly cold. I also had an amazing ice cream cone and some serious sunscreen issues. Apparently I’m way too ADD to efficiently put on sunscreen. We ended the evening chatting with some other hostel guests who sell bonsai trees for a living. Incidentally, another drink that I don’t recommend trying is wine and coke. It is disgustingly sweet. And morally wrong.

Sunday: We went up Cerro Concepción, which is a hill with magnificent views of Valpo and the ocean. I took about a gazillion pictures, and some sort of link or photo spread will follow shortly. It was so beautiful. You have to ride up the cerro in a rickety asensor that looks like it’ll fall apart at any moment, but don’t worry, it was working today even if it hadn’t been the day before. I love it when the operators say such comforting things. There are truly no words to describe the beauty of that scene, and pictures cannot capture it. It isn’t something you’d ever find in the US and it really drove home to me how lucky I am to be in a different country with the freedom to experience such amazingly lovely things. This experience is invaluable, not only for the places I go but for the people I meet. I have met so many people here already whose passion and personality make me feel honored to know them. This applies to some of the Chileans I’ve met but also to the people in my program. I am so lucky to have this experience and to be with these people in this country. Even if everyone makes fun of my sunburn.