Visita de los padres!

I know its been a while since my last blog, but I've been busy! Not with school--I haven't had classes since last Wednesday, and I still have this entire week free. It is las Fiestas Patrias in Chile. The 18th is their independence celebration and the 19th is a day of military celebration, but us American students got the whole week off! :)

I have spent the last Wednesday (10) to Tuesday (16) showing mom and dad around Santiago! They arrived tired Wednesday morning, and got to know the neighborhood and IES. We even had a party at IES that day where they watched us dance cueca (national dance) and got to try empanadas! After resting at the hotel, we had dinner at my host home's house--a Peruvian feast!

Thursday... was 9-11, a day with a different significance for Chileans. It was the day in 1973 of the military coup of Salvador Allende's government. We visited La Moneda (pres. palace) where there were parades and memorials, the Plaza de Armas (main square), and fish and agricultural markets. After a trip to the American mall Parque Arauco for some great ice cream, we spent the night in to avoid protests. :) (Though there wasn't much going on!)

Friday... we spent the morning at Cerro (hill) Santa Lucia getting views of the city, Iglesia (church) San Francisco- the oldest standing building in the city, and mom's favorite- the souvenier and crafts market! We had lunch with my 3 Wofford friends who are studying here, and visited another crafts market Los Dominicos before eating out with my Chilean family.

Saturday... trip to Valparaiso! Climbed hills, ate at a delicious French restaurant, and took a boat tour of the harbor. The views were the highlight of this day, and it was both mom and dad's first sight of (and ride in) the Pacific Ocean! Us at lunch in Valpo:

Sunday... morning at my church La Vina, we had a picnic for lunch in the Plaza de Armas before checking out the history and Pre-columbian art museums. Ice cream and pizza finished out the day.

Monday... we wanted to ride the cable cars at Parque Metropolitana, but it was closed until the afternoon so we headed to the Santa Lucia market instead. On the metro back to the park area for lunch, dad's wallet (including cash, credit cards, and passport) was stolen on the crowded metro. The rest of our day was spent in the police department and American embassy. What an experience! Though they were scheduled to leave that night, they had to change the flight to Tues. night to allow for a new temporary passport. Miraculously, the wallet including everything except the cash was turned into a post office box and dad and I took a taxi to the Correo Central (central post office) to retrieve it that night.

Tuesday... grateful we no longer had to spend the day getting a new passport, we spent our last day together riding the cable cars to the top of San Cristobal in the Parque Metropolitana and having a great lunch at a Chilean chain restaurant.

It was hard to leave them at the airport, but I was so grateful for the time we had together. Monday was my 8th week mark here, and I will be home in a little over 2 months-- November 29th!