Update!

My chicos.
On my way home last night.

At the beach in Vina.

I love it here! :)This is one of the murals in the open air museum.

This mural is of bread, because it is the great equalizer: old, young, rich, poor- everyone eats bread. Especially, I might add, in Chile. All the time. With every meal.

A street near the open air museum, very close to my house but in quieter neighborhood than the downtown.

A view of the ocean from the open-air museum. It is an art project of my university, with mosaics, murals, and a great view. I also realized yesterday that I am right next to it! There is even a really beautiful plaza with mosaics.

This is the view from Pablo Neruda's Valpo home. It has been one of the best views yet. Neruda is a famous Chilean poet, and was also a presidential candidate and a total character. His house is absolutely fascinating. They don't allow photographs in the house, but I did get this one:
I'm a rebel, huh? Neruda loved the ocean, so his houses are designed to resemble boats, complete with furniture from boats, low ceilings, canals, circular windows, etc.

My university, from across the street.


A view from one of Valpariaso's Ascensors. They are these old outdoor elevators that take people up to the top of the hills.




I've now been in Chile for over a week! Tomorrow I finally have some free time so I'm really excited. The tours that my program, ISA, schedules are really neat. However, it has been very busy and a break and a day to catch up on sleep will be great. The picture above is from a boat tour of the port. They were not happy with us.





The port.

My "Mama" packs me a lunch. It's great. No joke.
From the museum.

The picture above is from our orientation at the university. The traditional dances were beautiful, and I'm signed up for a class! (One day a week for an hour- sounds good!)