After relaxing at the hotel for awhile, a small group of us headed to the beach to shop at the artisan booths. The artisans are all very talented, and many of the shops along the beach have handmade crafts, rather than mass produced goods. Many of the people tried very hard to communicate with me and Hannah, and sometimes we understood enough to have a short conversation with them. Once the people we met figured out that we did not speak much Spanish, many either started trying to talk to us in English or slowed and simplified their sentences. We walked all the way down the beach to a castle on the rock outcrop in Viña del Mar. The inside of the castle was less decorated and less architecturally interesting than I expected, but the views were beautiful.
To end the evening, most of our group went to a party at the house of one of the Chileans who lives close to the hotel. I had a lot of fun talking with some of the people there and getting to know some of the Chileans and people in our study abroad group better. It seems to me that many of the students here in Chile have studied or traveled abroad in the United States, and love telling us what cities they have visited, which for the most part are on one of the coasts. This past week has been very busy, but also a lot of fun. I can't believe our trip is halfway over and that on Friday we will be heading back to the airport for our journey home.
No comments:
Post a Comment