I know it's been a little while - sorry for the hold up. While in Chile I didn't really have computer access since cyber cafes don't really exist there anymore... My week traveling to Chile and being there was interesting in the least, and a bit of an adventure. As some of you know, I was under the impression I'd be staying in Vina del Mar, a smaller town about an hour and a half from the capital Santiago. Upon arriving in Vina, however, I found out I was supposed to be in Santiago... it was quite the mix up but thanks to my skills in Castellano, I was fine, just very tired when I got to Santiago...

In Santiago, I did a bit of exploring my first day, just walking around the city, avoiding the metro so that I could get my bearings a little bit... The second day, Olga (the woman I was staying with) took me to the Precolombian Art Museum in downtown Santiago and it was phenomenal. I loved the variety in ceramic art from all over Latin America, everywhere from Mexico all the way down to where I am in Chile and Argentina. There was metal work, some of the most intricate and beautiful I have ever seen - and not just in gold, many of the works were in copper, some in silver. There was also some work in wood. In this region, there was artwork done of bigger-than-life sized wooden figures, they represented deceased persons, if I'm not mistaken, and had something to do with the afterlife.There was also some discussion of Precolombian mummification. Turns out these guys had it down more than two thousand years before the Egyptians. They put twigs and leaves and such inside the bodies to preserve them, and the mummies turned out looking a bit different, but pretty cool nonetheless.

Olga and I also went to the Cultural Center in Santiago where there were exhibits on a variety of art forms. There was a photography exhibit featuring stills from "night life" in Santiago - pretty interesting; also an exhibit on Ecuadorian masks, and an artist who sews tapestries depicting a variety of scenes - many dealing with independence, war, the Pinochet era, etc.

The third and final day, Juan, Olga's brother, took me to the Museum of Memory dedicated to issues like the ICC, UN Reconciliation Commisions, we got there in a VERY roundabout way, but I got to see a pretty good part of that end of the city in the process, which was nice. The museum, when we got there, had been mostly closed down due to the earthquakes (which surprised me since Santiago really didn't see much of the damage from the earthquakes at all...) but there was an exhibit about the UN tribunals all over the world for peace and reconciliation after conflicts, detailing the conflicts in short as well as the purpose of the tribunals. Pretty interesting stuff... and they had an exhibit open about all of the memorials in Chile dedicated to those who lost their lives and the dissapeared persons during the Pinochet era.

It was really cold in Santiago - colder than Rosario has been usually - since it's right between the Pacific and the Cordillera (the Andes). Passing through the Andes was PHENOMENAL, I might add - on my way in there wasn't much snow so it looked pretty different coming back when everything was covered in snow and the pass had been closed down that morning as a result of the snow...

Anyhow... the people that I stayed with were alright but I really missed my friends here in Argentina while I was there... So when I got back on Friday, I spent time with my Argentine family :) and rested up for a fun Saturday night. Saturday, I watched the game with Marcelo, Bibiana, Maribi, and Marcelo's dad again, and went to the centro comercial with Maribi since her younger cousin had asked for her help in finding a new sweatshirt... Afterwards, Maribi and I had dinner with one of her friends and we changed, got ready and went to Mdm, a REALLY big nightclub that it seemed like half of Rosario went to that night. Two of the three floors were open that night, and they played a variety of music in waves - electronic and house, regeton, cumbia, quarteto, electronic again - it was pretty bazaar. We got there around 2 and left at 6 - I got back to my apartment at 7. It was a pretty fun night, but quite a difference ambiance from when we'd gone out before.

Yesterday (Sunday), Maribi and I went to one of the "shopping" or malls to get a bite to eat and catch a movie at night with a couple of her friends and we ended up talking and heading back to drink mate and relax.

I'm starting to feel kinda sad that I'm leaving soon and am not looking forward to all of the school work that is looking me in the face starting in a couple of weeks... However, I am REALLY glad to be seeing my family, celebrating my brother's birthday with him this year, and getting some quality time at the lake in the sun and HEAT. I miss warm weather a LOT right now. I've missed half of my summer and I'm none too happy about that right now haha.

Anyhow, I hope you're all doing well and I'll see you all soon! Much love from Rosario!!