La escuela?....no!

I seriously can not believe that it is already time to go back to school. Although I also feel like I have been on the longest winter break of my life. I really have enjoyed these past two weeks here. I will put up pictures someday. Today I'm supposed to move out of my hostel and into my apartment, and I am super excited to have some permanent housing. I also want to stop eating out twice a day. I really liked staying at the hostel though and sharing a room with a different backpacker every night. It's really cool to just go out and hear where they have been traveling and stuff. A couple of nights ago, a big group from my hostel decided to go out to this club/bar, and we stayed out til at least 5. It was so much fun, but once again the music was driving me crazy. I just keep wondering how a crowd in a club back home would react if the DJ started spinning KC and the Sunshine Band. I was actually so happy when I heard Rihanna that I started dancing on the table. Talking about KC, I saw him in concert last Tuesday at the International Song Festival. This is the biggest concert in Latin America literally. But it's not like I went to see KC because JUANES was performing!! Oh my god, he was so good, and he got everyone in the crowd dancing. It was such a good time.

My orientation day was today at the University. And I can not believe it, but I think I might be the only U.S. exchange student, which I actually think is pretty awesome. You would not believe the number of German students, and French ones! I am seriously going to be fluent in both (along with Spanish) by the time I come here. Other than the Germans and French, there is a small group from Switzerland, Canada, and Australia. This should be exciting if not very entertaining. I really can't wait to meet my future roommates though because I want to practice my Spanish more, and one is from Ecuador and 2 from Bolivia. My Spanish has gotten heaps better in the past week, just because it has had to get better or else I wouldn't be able to talk to anybody because almost none of the natives speak English, which is fine with me.

During this past week, I went to Valparaiso with 3 friends from Germany and Lebanon. The city is a good 40 minute walk from here. It's a very charming city when you get to the hills, but the city below is not very nice or safe. In the hills, there are really colorful buildings and many museums. We went to the home of the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda, and I decided that I was going to live in it cause it was so cool. It had so many cool rooms and little nooks everywhere. I also went to the mall in Vina and it might be the biggest mall I ever seen, after Arundel Mills of course. It has so many American stores, and also a Dunkin Donuts!!!!! I don't think you realize how happy I was when they actually had a lemon donut..que rico!

All in all, I have been actually kinda dissapointed with the food here. They love these huge hot dogs and hamburgers with all these gross toppings on them, like this weird mayonnaise and gaucamole (I don't like guac). And it's been difficult to maintain my vegetarianism over here, but I've managed with the help of the humble empanada de queso..a kind of pastry that is filled with cheese and is also very cheap. Yay! The girls in my apartment have hired a cook, so hopefully said cook will prepare some healthier food for me. Also my apartment is so cheap (compared to the states). It's like $250 dollars a month plus the cook and the cleaning lady they also hired. I am going to be so lazyyy.

Well it has been cold for a couple of days now, and I didn't really bring many warm clothes, so I actually got sick, which is very rare for me. Also my neck hurts like whoa, and I know exactly why even though I did not tell my mother this. It was probably all the headbanging I did to the 80s music at the club, and boy am I paying for it now.
OK it is a beautiful day today, so I am going. Maybe I will update again later : ) Ciao