Sight-seeing in the Sunshine

I looked at my calendar today and realized that I've been in Santiago for a full 3 weeks now....even though it feels like I've been here for much longer. In the U.S. my weeks flew by because I was working almost every day, tutoring almost every night, and trying to pack in tons of activities on the weekends. Here the lifestyle is much slower and more relaxed so each day feels twice as long. Right now it's still strange to me and I sometimes find myself twiddling my thumbs and wondering what to do next! I mentioned this to my Argentinian friend Victoria "Viti" and she told me I was being too American hahaha.

This past week I did my first touristy activities in Santiago. One afternoon I went with Lucia, a girl from Uruguay, to el Cerro de San Cristobal. It's this giant hill in the middle of the city with a tram up one side and a hiking trail up the other. We were both feeling adventurous and decided to try the 4km hike. The views were stunning and even though it was pretty hot outside it was so worth it! At the top of the hill is a sanctuary, chapel, and statue of the Virgin Mary. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

View of downtown Santiago from the very top!

More of Santiago.

My friend Lucia and I near one of the lookouts.

The statue of Virgin Mary that you can see from downtown.

Prayers and notes of thanks to the Virgin Mary.

 This weekend I also had a chance to go with two friends to a beach outside of Santiago called Viña del Mar (Vineyard by the Sea). Tanya, Victoria "Viti", and I took a bus from Santiago and traveled about an hour and a half to the playa (beach). It's a pretty popular destination on the weekends, so the round-trip bus tickets only cost us about $10. Viña (as it's commonly called) is a huge town on the beach with universities, its own subway system, and tons of resorts. I think I was kind of expecting some sleepy beach town and was definitely surprised! The town was originally settled by the Germans in the late 1800s, so there are some amazing buildings downtown. We spent about 5 hours walking around on the beach, seeing the sites, visiting a cafe, and just having a lovely day. I took so many pictures that it's hard to choose my favorites, so I'm going to post the link to the others here if you want to have a look:

Plaza along the beachfront path.

Viti (Argentina), Tanja (Netherlands), and I enjoying a snack.

Jumping picture that we did on the first try!

An example of the German architecture.

Viti and I by the flower clock. It reminds me of Disneyland. :)

 All in all it's been a lovely 3 weeks in Santiago. Up next for me: moving to a new apartment closer to the center of the city (and for cheaper!), meeting with my professor to try and get my project moving along, trying to volunteer for the Adidas Santiago marathon at the beginning of April. I hope that you are doing well! Miss all of you.

Ciao ciao, Krista