Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Pichilemu : La Vida Dulce
This weekend I went to Pichilemu which is a beach town southwest of Santiago by three or four hours. I went with my friends Luke and Franny (who I stayed with for a week before my current apartment was open for me to move in) and our friend, Dustin, who works at Bridge with me. We did not know where we were going to travel to for our three day weekend (today, Monday, is a national holiday: The Assumption of Mary) until the night before we left. We were debating going to Cajon del Maipo which is really close to Santiago and is a great hiking spot. We talked about going to La Sarena which is another beach town, but much much to far away for even a three day weekend getaway. We decided that Pichilemu would be the best option to take.
The next day at the bus station we were purchasing lunch to go when I saw a familiar face. My roommate, Liz! Before she thought she might be going to La Serena but towards the last minute (just like us!) decided she would go to Pichilemu with her two friends, Jaime and Crystal. So the seven of us ended up being on the same bus there and back, which was pretty rad.
We got to Pichilemu pretty late, but we found a cheap place to stay almost immediately upon arriving which was a block away from the beach, and two or three blocks from the main part of the town. After that we wandered to the beach and walked until we found a place to get a snack and drinks while we watched the sunset. Then we bought a bag of fresh mussels for the equivalent of 2 USD and a couple kilo or so of fish for about 6 USD. We went back to our place and Dustin made us a stew with vegetables and mussels and a rich potato and zucchini dish. Then we just drank wine and talked until about midnight which was an amazing way to spend the evening.
The next morning we got up to go surfing. Having our instructions in Spanish was not the easiest, but our instructor drew pictures in the sand and some of the more important points were translated by Franny. Surfing is not easy, especially for a Kansas boy like myself. We were out there for a few hours and I could tell I was starting to get the hang of it. The best moment I had was when I was able to stay on my knees on the surfboard while riding a wave and held out my arms like I was embracing the wind (think of the movie, Titanic) for about 10-15 seconds which practically brought my friends to tears when they saw.
After surfing, we ate ceviche (juicy raw fish mixed with vegetables and lemon juice) by the ocean and then we went to La Punta de Lobos which is a cliff where people popularly watch the sunset and supposedly has some of the best surfing in the world. We watched the sunset there while watching the more pro surfers shred the waves and all sorts of birds crowding on top of the little island just off of the cliff (which I believe is actually La Punta de Lobos). After that we went back, ate dinner and hung out for a while drinking wine. The other members of my group went out to one of the more popular bars in the town later on, but I just hit the hay. I was exhausted by the surfing. It ended up being a great little weekend getaway.
Other than that, my classes have been going pretty well and I have my first private student now. Her name is Patricia and she is going to London in February, essentially just to learn English, but she wants to learn as much as possible before then! I get my first full paycheck in two weeks or so and it can't come soon enough!
I've recently attended two "intercambios" which are basically events held at bars where native English speakers and Chileans (native Spanish speakers, duh) can come together and share language. Usually how it goes is you speak a certain amount of time in one language and then switch to the other language. I've met some cool people at both of the intercambios so I fully plan on continuing to attend!
That's about all for now!
The next day at the bus station we were purchasing lunch to go when I saw a familiar face. My roommate, Liz! Before she thought she might be going to La Serena but towards the last minute (just like us!) decided she would go to Pichilemu with her two friends, Jaime and Crystal. So the seven of us ended up being on the same bus there and back, which was pretty rad.
We got to Pichilemu pretty late, but we found a cheap place to stay almost immediately upon arriving which was a block away from the beach, and two or three blocks from the main part of the town. After that we wandered to the beach and walked until we found a place to get a snack and drinks while we watched the sunset. Then we bought a bag of fresh mussels for the equivalent of 2 USD and a couple kilo or so of fish for about 6 USD. We went back to our place and Dustin made us a stew with vegetables and mussels and a rich potato and zucchini dish. Then we just drank wine and talked until about midnight which was an amazing way to spend the evening.
The next morning we got up to go surfing. Having our instructions in Spanish was not the easiest, but our instructor drew pictures in the sand and some of the more important points were translated by Franny. Surfing is not easy, especially for a Kansas boy like myself. We were out there for a few hours and I could tell I was starting to get the hang of it. The best moment I had was when I was able to stay on my knees on the surfboard while riding a wave and held out my arms like I was embracing the wind (think of the movie, Titanic) for about 10-15 seconds which practically brought my friends to tears when they saw.
After surfing, we ate ceviche (juicy raw fish mixed with vegetables and lemon juice) by the ocean and then we went to La Punta de Lobos which is a cliff where people popularly watch the sunset and supposedly has some of the best surfing in the world. We watched the sunset there while watching the more pro surfers shred the waves and all sorts of birds crowding on top of the little island just off of the cliff (which I believe is actually La Punta de Lobos). After that we went back, ate dinner and hung out for a while drinking wine. The other members of my group went out to one of the more popular bars in the town later on, but I just hit the hay. I was exhausted by the surfing. It ended up being a great little weekend getaway.
Other than that, my classes have been going pretty well and I have my first private student now. Her name is Patricia and she is going to London in February, essentially just to learn English, but she wants to learn as much as possible before then! I get my first full paycheck in two weeks or so and it can't come soon enough!
I've recently attended two "intercambios" which are basically events held at bars where native English speakers and Chileans (native Spanish speakers, duh) can come together and share language. Usually how it goes is you speak a certain amount of time in one language and then switch to the other language. I've met some cool people at both of the intercambios so I fully plan on continuing to attend!
That's about all for now!
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