
Last weekend on Sunday Laura and I went to Cajón del Maipo yet again. This time we braved the public transportation to get there and it proved to be successful! We just had to take Line 4 of the metro (which is by far the best) to its end and hop a bus down to San Jose de Maipo, which is a super cute town with not a whole lot going on. There is a plaza in the center that has a mini artisan fair on Saturdays and Sundays so we poked around there a bit and then decided we should decide what to do after each buying a cutesy pair of earrings for less than $1 each. Not bad. We wanted to do a little trekking (or hiking as some may call it) but we had no idea what to do. Luckily we found a tiny, one-desk tourist information spot that was OPEN and for a

We got all that for about $10 each and left with full guatas and big smiles. We walked for a little bit, took some silly pictures (one of my newly-discovered favorite pastimes, seemingly) and then hitched a ride back down with another family. They took us all the way down and we hopped out right in front of the bus that we needed! You could say it all worked out pretty well! We got back home in great time and good spirits. It really was a great day!
I think the coolest thing about our mini trip was that the day before we were there, in the middle of the mountains, we were on the beaches of Viña del Mar! Laura, Ellie, myself and two of our Chilean friends (Pablo and Sebastian) went to Valpo for the night on Friday night to check out a semi-famous discotheque there. It's called El Huevo, the egg, and it is famous for having 4 different environments, or rather, there should be something for everyone. Well
Laura, Ellie and I went to the beach while the boys were cooking and just talked about life; it was a really nice time and was a great way to take advantage (buzz word: aprovechar) of our little time left here. Before getting back on the bus Laura and I went and found some amazing alfajores (my new favorite cookie treat) that Laura had supposedly tried with her friend Amy. She said they were the world's greatest and yes, she was right. I was hoping it would last me longer but unfortunately I finished that baby off before I got home. Mmmmm manjar.. I will miss you.

We finished off our treats and I got home just in time for Mama to offer me more.. oh boy. Overall it was a super weekend and this week I was busy doing tedious things (e.g. studying), getting yellow fever shots and searching for the changing of the guards ceremony at La Moneda--I am determined to see it before I leave Chile!! Oh, and for the yellow fever shots it was quite the process! And let me tell you right now, it pays, LITERALLY, to know Chileans! I knew we had to get Yellow Fever shots before going to Bolivia (which is one of our destinations come July) so I asked Pablo, who has traveled quite a bit himself, if he knew where to get it/how to go about it. He gave me every last detail and helped me take care of all of it. First, to get the shot you need a prescription from a doctor with their special stamp. Of course I know zero Chilean doctors but luckily Pablo knows one! He took us to his office and this nice man had actually spent about 20 years in the U.S. so he was delighted to speak English with us. He happily wrote us the prescriptions for the vaccination for free (this was the equivalent of having an entire check up and physical, we just skipped that part) and the next day Pablo directed Laura and I to the Hospital Salvador which is over 200 years old! The vaccination clinic was extremely chiquitito (a.k.a. super small, as in one tiny hospital room) but the woman who gave us the shots was a sweetheart. It also may have been cheaper to do it here and so far so good! I got the poke yesterday and I'm feeling great today!...minus the fact that I can't feel my left arm. But that goes away, right?
Yesterday was the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and being as that is the Patron of the University Católica classes were suspended, yet again (not that I have classes on Friday, but I wasn't able to teach either which means Kelsey = sad). There was a special mass at Casa Central (the University's main campus) at 9:30 am so I decided to go to kick off my Friday the right way. I showed up dressed as per normal (jeans and tennis shoes), backpack and all that I'd need to spend the rest of the day studying. I arrived at the mass after combing through all of Casa Central trying to find it and when I found it I instantly started to sweat; it was one of my worst nightmares--I was BY FAR the most underdressed person there, as if being a gringa doesn't stick out enough already. There was a Latin choir and orchestra, a lot of professors dressed to the nines and me. I was mortified to be so underdressed and had I noticed before I got to my seat I wouldn't have paraded down the center aisle and sat one row behind the reserved section right in front. It doesn't matter because the mass was beautiful and it was another great experience at La Católica. Oh, and right after I left I saw my phone and Pablo had sent me a message in Spanish saying, "Kelseyta, don't be scared if you see a lot of people dressed really formally, the students are always invited and never come!" ...would've been nice to know before sweating through a week's worth of antiperspirant.
So I am growing to love Mama more and more every day. I am so lucky to live where I do and would be so content staying here with her, eating lunch together, every day until I leave. I love her and Carlos and the way th


Oh man I should get to my work. I ended up staying in today so I could do exactly that and after discussing Latin and South American geography with Carlos and mama as I ate meat that was practically still bleeding and watching the U.S. tie with England, it's time to hit the books! I'll write again soon seeing as I still have half of you left to fill before I leave Chile!
Love always,
Kelsey Marie
p.s. In case this ever finds its way to my blog I decided to throw in a link to a few vids I just uploaded to YouTube. One is just a little bit of the La Piojera atmosphere and the other is a mini documentary from my day in Cajón with Laura.
Click me! to see La Piojera and Click me! to see my mini documentary (Warning: May be a little shaky!)
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