Update

Not too much going on lately, been going to class every day, and going out at night celebrating birthdays and any day really. had a good time in Valparaiso, just put some pictures up on facebook. It was nice to get out of Santiago; all the Chileans say "Santiago is not Chile," and they're definitely right. We took a harbor cruise, walked through some of the poor neighborhoods, and took one of the funiculars (elevators on a hillside). Heading North to La Serena which is a seaside town that's near some world famous observatories because the deserts nearby make it one of the darkest places in the world and the stars look incredible. In Chile the skies are s bright at night that their constellations are composed of the negative space in the night skies where the stats aren't... I can't wait.

Bienvenidos a Chile

Made it to Chile around 9am yesterday morning after about 17 hours of traveling. Flying over the Andes and watching the sky turn red as the sun came over the horizon was absolutely beautiful. Changed out of my plane clothes and donned my new winter apparel that was purchased at a deep discount in summertime Boston. Got to our apartment and am rooming with my friend Dan from the YMCA three years ago, and two girls, one of which is best friends with Kristen’s roommate in China.

Hung out in our apartment for a while then left to go to the supermarket for some snack foods for our pad. Chile is the only other country I’ve been to that gives out free samples of the foods in the store… pretty awesome. Picked up some Chilean wine (3 bottles for $6 US) then came home and made an amazing breakfast sandwich with ham, egg, cheese, avocado, and salsa on a baguette and a pitcher of sangria. Went out to dinner with the group to and then wowed some Chileans with a lovely duet of Summer Nights with a Columbian girl… they then made us sing about half a dozen Michael Jackson songs, before I floored them with my rendition of Sweet Child of Mine. Epic. Kept the party going for a while with some tequila in non-regulation shot glasses (read; huge glasses) before moving onto a bar called PubLicity, an Irish pub, then back to our place for some sleep.

This morning fell back asleep after breakfast in bed (complimentary room service breakfasts daily) and strolled to our meeting place about 25 minutes late… which is acceptable in Latin countries… except this time. Almost missed the tour of Pablo Neruda’s (Nobel Prize winning poet from Chile) house that was actually really awesome and quirky. Kind of what I’d like my house to look like some day. Ate Filet Mignon for lunch with some great wine, then siesta at the apartment before we go out tonight. This place is beautiful, weather is like early fall in Boston, leaves are almost all gone and those that remain are bright orange and red. We’re surrounded by the Andes Mountains, and this city feels like it could be Denver if Denver were a fraction of the size, and closer to the Rockies.

Cerveza tiempo

Birthday Layover

An explanation of the previous post, for those that haven't figured it out yet.

My ticket home from Hong Kong wasn't until June 30th. I was thinking about going to Taiwan and staying with a friend, but our emails missed eachother, and that was becoming less and less of a possbility, and my funds were getting smaller each day. I'd spent the last 3 nights sleeping on the floor of my friend's hotel in HK, and I was kind of getting bored in the city. Plenty to do if you've got money, although not too much for the backpacker. This is when I hatched the plan to leave 9 days early, come home and work, and enjoy Boston for a while... Of course I didn't tell anyone this.

So on the 21st I walked into the front door of my house and said hello to all of my roommates as if I'd just come home from class rather than a 16 hour flight and a 5 hour bus ride from New York City. Needless to say they were shocked... My brother couldn't believe his eyes; but this was just the beginning. The next morning I woke up early and headed down to the lovely town of Hebron, Connecticut to try and track down Kristen, whose address I vagueley remembered from exchanging addresses and credit card numbers to book flights for the past 2 months.

I found her house on the second attempt and her brother let me in the house and showed me where her room was. I walked in while she was still asleep and woke her up. I'd say it was the best surprise of all time (especially since she had been talking to me in Hong Kong (my couch in Boston) just 8 hours earlier.

Spent a few days in CT, headed to Boston, went to work, Kristen came up and stayed the last week with me. 4th of July, Tyler's birthday, my birthday yesterday, shopping for warm clothes for Chile (next Saturday's low is 28 degrees) and on Thursday I begin the second half of Travel Summer when I fly to Santiago, Chile where I'll stay for a month and spend the following month bummin' around South America. 3 Continents in 3 weeks isn't too bad.

Adios,
Josh