Chile... EFT Part Tres (The Last Part!)

After arriving in Puntas Arenas, Chile, they took us to our hotel to check in and have lunch. The lunch was a bit too fancy for me, but the hotel was nice and I was happy to be on solid ground again. After getting settled into our room, a few of us decided to walk accross the street to a little craft fair to buy some souvenirs. The money in Chile is 500 to 1 US dollar, so it was weird to buy something that cost 10,000 pesos. It then started pouring rain, so we hurried back to the hotel. Then, the whole group met up to take a tour of the city. It was still raining, and most people were really tired, so they did not really want to be on a bus. The downtown area was pretty small, so there was not much to see. We stoppped at a museum and all went in to look around. We also stopped at another craft fair. Everything was penguins - every souvenir literally had a penguin on it. We even got our picture taken with a guy in a giant penguin suit. After this part of the tour was over, most of the students went back to the hotel, but about 15 of us decided to continue on the tour and go to the cemetery and another museum. The cemetery was not a normal underground burial one, but one with above ground tombs. When we got to the cemetery there was a funeral procession going on, which was a bit creepy but also neat to see that aspect of the culture. By this time, it was raining so hard and our clothes were soaking wet. Finally we got back on the bus and went off to another museum. I was pretty much done with sightseeing by this time, so Amy and I breezed through it pretty quickly.

Once we got back to the hotel I read a book, took a nap, and then got dressed for dinner. We all met up to leave, and I was happy to be going to eat. Little did I know what awaited me at the restaurant, which possibly could have been the most interesting meal of my life. We arrrived at a large banquet hall and all sat down. My table was quite fun, and we played table games and sang songs while we waited for our food. (We were the only ones in the restaurant.) First they brought us soda, which was fine, and then ham and tomato pizza. I ate that after picking off the tomatoes, and it was alright, but then came the main course... Super Ponchos, otherwise known as hot dogs. These were not just any old hot dogs, but long white looking hot dogs with tomatoes, sauerkraut, guacamole, and mayonnaise piled on top of them. Needless to say, I did not eat one, but it was hilarious to watch everyone deal with the situation.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and had dessert and hung out for awhile. It was not very late, so a group of us decided to explore the city a bit more. We stayed close to the hotel, but we went to this really fun place that had a lot of Chilean people there and got to experience some of their culture. We talked to several people around us, which was really interesting. By that time there was a huge storm outside, and while we were sitting there the power went out. Luckily, there were candles on the tables so it was not pitch black, but it was funny because a guy was onstage playing music and it just cut out. After about 15 minutes the power came back. We stayed for awhile longer and danced, but then we decided to go back to the hotel. It was extremely windy outside so we got blown around a lot. It was so much fun though!

The next morning we packed up and headed for the airport to begin what seemed like the longest day of my life. We took a plane from Puntas Arenas, Chile to Santiago, Chile in order to catch a flight to Buenos Aires. That flight was only 3 hours long, but by the time we arrived in Santiago we were starving. We headed to a buffet restaurant in the airport that could hold all of us and ate lunch. By this time is was probably 5pm. We were supposed to catch a flight at 8pm to Buenos Aires, but we soon learned that it was delayed, and they did not say by how long. We got lots of snack, including Starbucks!! They have one at the airport there (they don’t have Starbucks in Argentina) so Amy and I got Venti Frappucinos, and they were amazing! We then hung out near the terminal and played games and read magazines. We were all really tired and irritable, and dreading having classes the next day, which was a Friday. With a one hour time change and a 3 hour flight ahead of us, we knew we would not be getting home until very late. We eventually got on the plane around 11pm, and Rafa, our director, decided to cancel classes for the next day, which was great. I slept on the flight back, and after landing and retrieving my luggage at the airport, and a one hour drive back to the Pepperdine Casa, I finally made it home and to bed around 4am. What a trip! Overall, this was the best “vacation” I have ever been on and something I will never forget!