We've Finally Arrived!

May 5, 2013

We woke up on the airplane, still flying to Chile.  The flight attendants served breakfast, which was surprisingly good, that consisted of a croissant and some yogurt.  I was pleasantly surprised that the breakfast was warm and enjoyable.  When we finally landed, we spent what seemed like forever getting through lines for the fee to enter, customs, and passport control.  Everyone was paranoid that the airline wouldn’t take our money, because we had somehow messed up our bills, but everyone made it through without any problems.  Once we got outside, we all pulled money out of the ATM.  We then got on a bus that was waiting for us and rode the hour and a half from Santiago to Vina del Mar. 

Once we were finally at the hotel, everyone went to our rooms and unpacked some.  Jess, Becca, and I all took showers in the time we had, because we felt gross from the trip.  Once we were clean and settled, we met the rest of the group and we all went out for lunch.  We were all starving by the time we got to the restaurant, and I couldn’t have been happier when I saw the waiters bringing baskets of chips and bowls of salsa to the table.  I was slightly taken aback by the salsa verde, but when I tried it, I was astounded by how good it was.  I had never had it before, and it was absolutely to die for.  I ordered a Taco for lunch and when it arrived I was shocked by how big it was.  I was so hungry that I almost managed to finish it. 

After lunch, which Jorje and Brice kindly paid for, we went for a walk around Vina del Mar.  No one could believe their eyes when we got to the shore.  The water was so blue and so clear, I wanted nothing more than to jump in and stay at the beach all day.

 This was the view from the street, I wish I could see this every day forever.

Here is a picture with the sand and the waves.  Ignore the pole in the middle, it was on the edge of where I was standing, and it was hard to avoid in the photo.

After the beach, where the water was freezing cold (I dipped my feet in to see), we went back to the hotel. Free for the day, Hannah and I ventured back into the world, and wandered the mall and the kiosks outside of the mall.  We stopped on the way back to get ice cream and water, because Jorje and Brice have been telling us not to drink the tap water.  The ice cream was absolutely delicious, and I will definitely go there again before we leave.