I am back in Santiago after spending the last 24 hours in one of the most beautiful and important cities in Chile, as well as all of Latin America! Valparaíso (Valpo for short) is a world-famous port city known for being the home to many poets (Pablo Neruda) and artists, the Chilean naval base, as well as an intricate system of cerros, or hills. Apparently Lonely Planet does a pretty good job of advertising this beautiful city because there were tourists from all over the world (even simply in our hostel)! I went with Johanna, a student in our program who goes to the University of Michigan, and while she was responsible and made reservations, I had not. We arrived in windy Valpo after about a two hour bus ride, and after finding our way to Hostel el yo yo, I quickly learned that they had no more availability for the night. Uh oh. The "dueño" (he was about 26 years old, rude, and irresponsible) told me that they have to keep two beds open for emergencies (a.k.a. people coming in at 11 pm and not having a place to stay), so if I checked back at midnight and there was still a bed open it was mine. 
After putting our backpacks into unlocked lockers and checking the place out, we set out to see what Valpo has to offer. The houses are built right into the hillside, and it literally looks like they are one on top of the other. Due to the fact that Valpo is also the home to many artists and painters, there is a lot of beautiful paintings around the city and the houses and buildings are all different colors. Basically a Kelsey haven. **Side note: For those of you who are not already familiar with my tastes and preferences, I love bright colors.
We took one of the famous ascensores, which were funiculars built in the late 19th century to cart people up and down these nearly 90-degree slopes, to the top of Cerro Concepción and witnessed some of Valpo's timeless charm. We spent time maneuvering through the extremely narrow and steep streets until we made it to La Sebastiana, which was one of the homes of world-famous poet, Pablo Neruda. Although we did not go into the museum we were still able to take in the amazing views. 
We later met up with some of the other girls (and one token guy, Kevin) from our program who had spent the day relaxing at the beach in Viña del Mar and were now ready to come back to our hostel and cook dinner. It took about an hour to prepare chicken, noodles and a fruit salad for nine of us, but it turned out great. We were able to enjoy each other's company, sip on some delicious Chilean vino tinto (which I believe was an equivalent to the U.S' $2 chuck) and relax. Although the hostel smelled of cigarette smoke and had maybe been cleaned one time in the last 30, no 40 years, it was still a pretty fun time. We had every intention of going out to a discotheque later in the evening, but one thing led to another and we ended up chatting with three Swedes doing a 6-month trek and conversed among ourselves until the wee hours of the morning, and then off to bed we all, including me, went. 
Johanna had received a recommendation from her host-brother for a restaurant that we should definitely go to, so this morning we spent a few hours walking around, checking out the port, and made our way to Los Porteños. This was a fantastic recommendation because for less than $7 each we got a basket of bread, two huge fish fillets, drinks and a large "side" salad. Luckily we got there right before the lunch rush because within about 30 minutes a massive flood of Valpo's locals came in to dine. We both ended up ordering the Merluza, which was really good, and the best part was that we were the only obvious tourists, even though we did our best to speak only Spanish to each other. Afterwards we decided to walk the 15+ blocks back to the bus terminal to get a ticket home, hopped on the cheapest bus we could find and made our way back to Santiago. 
On this trip not only was my guardian angel with me at night when I was needing a bed in which to sleep, but also today when I got off the bus. I stood up from my seat and just felt a little weird, and when I got off the bus I figured I should check to make sure I have my camera, even though I always keep it in the same place in my backpack. When I quickly realized it wasn't there I wanted to make sure that the bus driver didn't leave before I had my camera. I sprinted back onto the bus and looked underneath the seat I was in on the bus and it was there. The bus driver pulled out shortly after I stepped off the bus, so you could say I am pretty darn lucky! Until next time, ciao amigos! 
This is just an example of some of the public wall-art we saw! Muy bacán!
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