The hostel where I'm staying seems to have a very limited supply of hot water, so my showers tend to be very... focused. Between here and the place I stayed in Viña, I've trained my body to recognize even the slightest temperature shift that signals a coming blast of scalding or icy water.
I spent my afternoon organizing a couple of intercambio meetups for this weekend. I didn't like how things went on Tuesday, so I'm making up for it by hosting my own! It should be a lot of fun; so far about a dozen people have expressed an interest in coming.
It just occurred to me that I probably should confirm that the restaurant where we are meeting up is located where I think it is. The place was recommended to me by a conocida (acquaintance) who lives nearby, and I'm familiar with the Plaza Ñuñoa area, so I'm pretty sure I'm not being completely irresponsible here....
Well, enough work for one day. I have a rooftop party to go to!
It took me awhile to get to the place. It wasn't hard to find, but the buses were packed. "Sardine cans" doesn't even begin to describe what I was witnessing. I had to wait for 3 buses to go by before I could find one that I could fit on!
Finally, I arrived. I rode the elevator up to the 27th floor and found the door to the roof.
Wow, Santiago is gorgeous! I wish I could capture what I saw, but it really has to be experienced.
Santiago does have a bit of a pollution problem. Some people don't like the smog, but I find it kind of enchanting (wait, hear me out). Seeing the mountains disappear into the haze... it makes me feel like I'm at the edge of the Earth — as though if I were to go past the mountains, there would be nothing... or perhaps I would reach the Far Lands.
I met up with some friends tonight and made a few new ones. My Spanish has regressed a bit, but fortunately, most everyone there spoke English... and everyone else seemed willing to be patient with my Spanish.
The event was organized by members on InterNations, hands-down my favorite online community for networking with expats.
Starting next week, I'm going to be posting more info about each of my goals for 2013. I'm super excited to get started, and I am looking forward to sharing my progress with you this year!
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| I've finally found the Vega! Maybe next time I'll try to locate it at street level :P |
