Nothing but blue skies

Well, it has been quite some time since I’ve blogged which means one of two things: 1) I’m just living such a boring life that there isn’t anything to write about, or 2) I haven’t had any time to sit down and write down my adventures. Well, it’s the latter. Hannah came down to visit me after her Ecuador program and we spent two glorious weeks together exploring my hometown of Santiago, the coastal and valley terrain of La Serena, and the colorfully decorated hills of Valparaiso.
Hannah made it down here safe and sound on Thursday, May 22nd and on Friday we went up to Cerro Santa Lucia
for some sight seeing on one of the most clear days I’ve experienced since my arrival in February. Hannah just couldn’t understand my constant onslaught of, “look at the mountains” comments until her last day when she saw the Santiagan Smog.

(View of the Andes Mountains on a smog free days)
After work on Friday we boarded an overnight bus to La Serena, which is a beach town located 6 hours north of Santiago. We arrived bleary eyed, feeling like we slept uncomfortably on a bus at 6:30am, but safe and with all our belongings. Then after a short nap we toured the city, visited some museums, and checked out the beach.

(not exactly the best beach day)
From what I’d imagine it is a nice beach but it was cold, damp, and visibility was minimal. We decided to call it an early night because of Sunday’s plans and I don’t think La Serena has much of a nightlife this time of year. Sunday we toured the Elqui Valley which included a tour of a pisco distillery,

(Hannah and I at the birth place of many fun nights)
lunch at a restaurant that cooks their food in solar ovens,

(Solar oven restaraunt)
a stop in Gabriel Mistral’s house and schoolhouse, and a stop in some small town plazas. The weather broke for us and the sun accompanied us on our tour. Mistral is one of the two Nobel Prize winners from Chile.

(Hannah with stray dog # 456 and 457 of the week)
All in all it was a great day. Monday we returned to Santiago, and hung out with the family Monday night.
The next week we did some more sight seeing at Cerro San Cristabol

(Taking the teleférico to enjoy the view of Santiago)
, Vega Central, Mercado Central, and Plaza de Armas among others. Hannah got a chance to explore the city on her own while I worked and have some heart to heart talks with my Chilean mother Elizabeth, even invoking a tearful explanation of Elizabeth’s family, and relationship history.
Friday after work we hopped on a bus and got into Valpo late and woke up early to walk the famous hills of Valpo. We toured Pablo Neruda’s Valpo house in the morning, then walked up and down some hills before meeting up with Juan Pablo and Stephanie.

(Hills of Valpo)
They made the trip out to Valpo to meet up with Hannah and me. After meeting and greeting Juan Pablo drove us around to a few spots and then took us out to a great seafood restaurant overlooking the ocean. I swear he’s the nicest guy I’ve ever met. After lunch we drove around in the hills and then we went to the neighboring city Viña del Mar and treated us to some gelato before we strolled up and down the boardwalk on the beach. After our meandering, they dropped us off at our hostel. Right there would have been an amazing birthday, but there’s more. We met up with some of my US teacher friends and we had a good time dancing the night away.
Sunday Hannah and I woke up at an outrageously early time of 9:30 in order to hurry back to Santiago because my family was insistent on us returning in the afternoon. I realize this was a little “American” of me to assume, but I thought when we got back at 2:00 someone would be there to greet us, but of course we waited until 6:00 and when it seemed nothing was materializing, Hannah, MJ(her travel buddy from Ecuador) went to get a chorrillana.

(Very excited for our Chorrillana)
And not two minutes after ordering, I got a call from Raul telling me, “Everyone is here waiting for you” That’s the way it works. The night was eventually filled with wine, Domino’s Pizza, and entertainment from José Tomás as he danced to reggaeton and hip-hop.

(Jose Tomas dancing to Fergie's "Fergalicious")
Monday, was spent wandering the streets of Plaza del Armas one last time and eating some seafood in Mercado Central. Sadly, I saw Hannah off Monday night and then met up with MJ and some other new friends I met through Hannah at the Phone Box Pub, to talk about how much we miss Hannah.
The last two weeks flew by and it’s amazing to think of how much we did and saw.