Hello, pisco.

Today outside it's sunny and warm. We're going to the beach. I am never coming back to Canada.

... just kidding.

The past few days have been fantastic. Friday I went wandering again. I found a market and bought some veggies, managed to communicate somewhat. Although I only wanted one onion and somehow I got a whole kilo, so we'll call it a partial success (rice and onions! Yum. Hah.) I saw some sea lions basking in the sun out by one of the piers in Valparaiso. Incredible. They're enormous! Friday night we drank some vino and I went to bed and was a good kid, but last night we got into the pisco and danced til 5.


Pisco is a wine-based brandy, Chilean or Peruvian in origin, depending who you ask. To me it tastes like wine meets vodka with some sugar, and it has exactly that effect on me. Ayeeeeeyeye. Hahaha. Delicious. Chris and I split most of a bottle last night playing poker with some of the other exchange students and a few Chilean friends. (For the record, I came fourth out of eight or nine. Poker champ.) and then we met up with B and we all went and tore up a dance floor.

The more I wander this city the more I like it. It's scruffy but it's so flashy. Valparaiso is colour, colour, colour. From down by the water, the houses look like jellybeans cascading down the hills, all different shapes and colours, stacked on top of each other. The graffiti seems to be a national art form, it's everywhere. You can track different artists by looking at the style of the graffiti. There's graffiti on the doors of the people who live in the slightly dicier areas because, well, it's hard to stop an artist sometimes, door or no. There's hardly a wall untouched.

You go ten minutes by bus to the sister city of Vina del Mar, and it's a totally different story. The buildings are ritzy and new, the streets are clean, there aren't any dogs begging for scraps. There are two Starbucks. Wait, what country are we in?! That's where the best beaches are, too, and they're gorgeous.

As far as my game plan goes, there's been a few changes. I think I'm going to give Mendoza a pass. It'd be fantastic to see, for sure, but I think for this trip it's too far out of the way. So from Valparaiso, on approximately Tuesday I'm going back to Santiago for maybe a night. Then I'll head north, probably by bus, to Iquique. Surfing and paragliding for a couple days, and then to San Pedro de Atacama. Mostly I'm just trying to make this all happen so that I can have the most time possible in Peru. Touristy, yes, awesome, clearly. If I end up with enough time I might check out Nazca and the Nazca lines. Wikipedia that. (Piper! Wikipedia challenge: "Nazca lines" to "banana". ie what I am living on... hah.)

Well everyone, have a fantastic Sunday. I will be on a beach, missing Hartholt family dinner. A little sad about that.

PS... shout out to my Mom's office friends, who apparently are following my trip. Hi!! Thank you!! :)

s.