Hey guys. Right now I am in the south of Chile with Heidi. We are staying in a small town called Pucon. It´s a really small touristy city that offers everything do to with nature; hiking, rafting, canyoning, horseback riding, ziplining, beaches. We´ve seen a lot of gringos here, heard a lot of English and French speakers since we arrived yesterday morning. Our hostal is really nice. It´s kind of on the outskirts of town but it´s big and really quiet...

Che Familia! I am currently in Wine City: Mendoza, Argentina. Mendoza was ranked the 7th or 8th wine capital of the world I read somewhere and it definetely lives up to it. Friday we arrived late to our hostal because the bus ride took 12 hours when it was only supposed to take 7. The great thing about our hostal though is that we get a free glass of wine every night . Saturday Heidi, Sam and I rented bikes and did the "route of the vineyards." Route ...

Me encanta Buenos Aires!! I went to Buenos Aires with a small group of students September 10th-September 15th. Samantha and Josh are friends that are also from the University of Minnesota. Mike is from Colorado. Emma is from New Hampshire and of course there was Heidi and me. The bus ride took 26 HOURS....but it wasn't as bad as it sounds; I slept most of the way and we were given food on the bus. Our ride was almost worth the trip as well; We passed throu...

September is going to be good...i can just tell. September 18th is Chile´s independence day. People have already started to decorate their houses, their cars, the groccery store with flags and other patriotic decor. My host mom tells me that it is the biggest celebration she´s ever seen; there are stands on the streets selling traditional Chilean food and beverages. There are people in the streets dancing and fireworks over the ocean at the end of the nigh...

Hola! My first few weeks in Chile have been so exciting and new and fun and frusterating all at once. The frusterating part is, obviously, the language barrier. There are times at the end of the day when my brain just feels like mush from trying so hard to think and speak and comprehend a different language. But I am learning quickly and that is ultimately why I came to Chile: to learn Spanish! The weather: Right now it is winter in Chile. Winter here is no...