Today is our last day in Viña. Cate and Amanda had made a list of things that they wanted to show me, and I think we’ve crossed off just about everything. I got to see those incredible dunes that ive been seein in cate and amanda’s pictures and they were beyond words. Minus the desolation and thirst, I actually feel like I now know what it would feel like to be stranded in the desert- colossal mounds of sand are actually as hard to climb as you would think!




My profile picture is taken there but it really doesn’t capture the beauty. We took a pretty long bus ride to get there but when got off right in the middle of a highway, all you see are these massive sand piles. There were people selling wooden snowboards for sand surfing, and the occasional asshole who would zoom by on this 4-wheeler. God, men and their need for speed?



Yeserday, cate and I went to the house of famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. This was only after we drank wine and ate some ceviche in a super market haha. This event was then followed by lunch where cate and I both sampled our first chorillana (a pile of fries with chopped steak, chorizo onions and a fried egg on top)…obviously the equivalent of a heart attack on a plate, but we had a massive hill to climb after it so we weren’t too preoccupied with the calories. Valparaíso is incredibly beautiful in that it has the look of the semi-beautiful brazilian favelas and their colored roofs, but without the drug lords and with actual sanitation. That, and it looks right into the pacific.
When we got to the house, there weren’t a lot of people there because the day had been pretty overcast. Regardless, as we were looking out onto his patio, cate says to me- “Neruda must have just said to himself- im going to build my house in the most beautiful location in valpo.” And she was right. The house was an asymmetrical, 5-floor masterpiece of collectibles for the poet’s life. The entrada came with an audio tour that detailed the acquisition of each of his collectibles, as well as his philosphies about homes and objects, leisure and work. The decorations in their entirety had this very whimsical element- pink and white striped wall paper, a very bulbous fire place that separated his circular living room and the boxy dining room.. all enclosed by floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the colorful rooftops of valpo and into the mar. it was really spectacular.


Later that night, we celebrated sarah’s (friend from cates program) last night. Amanda cate and I begun the festivities with Annies (generously provided by Amanda) and a WHOLE LOTTA rum and piña/durazno jugo. Another homestay student from Mississippi came along and pregamed the night. For some reason, we felt is necessary to preemptively tell her that she was going to feel overwhelmed/excluded because of our dominating New York peronalities..as if she wasn’t going to discover this on her own?! The conversation turned political/religious but we knew we had to make a decision. AGREE TO DISAGREE …and keep drinking.

(clearly i felt bloated)

We ended up going to a bar right around the corner. Personally, I felt like I was in a Brittney Spears video..but then again, when do I not. The back of the bar was the dance area and white tapestries hung from the ceiling to create a circus-tent affect. Naturally, the gringas got on the DJ stage, which in turn caused fear and trepidation in our onlookers below and thus no one asked us to dance. Finally, some 12 yr. old white boy that looked straight out of the opening scene of clueness..asked me to dance—


but how long is it acceptable/legal to grind with a minor?
we left cuz cate felt ANOTHER craving for mcdonalds. This time, her defense was that she didn’t get two pieces of meat…only one. We’ve been justifying these late-night cravings with the notion that on the granjas, we’ll be more or less vegetarian, free of alcohol and marijuana, and thus we’ll regain our bodily purity- somehow. These fun argentinian guys started to talk to us after we chowed down, and we exchanged emails. GREAT SUCCESS- tour guides for when we travel to Mendoza! I found their Spanish a lot easier to understand so that puts me at a certain degree of ease. Also, ive noticed that all of these south american men smoke cigarettes in a very feminine way and ive questioned, on more than one occasion, whether or not theyre gay? Commentarios? Maybe its just my American perception of gay behavior/indictors…
Amanda is coming to meet me for our last day of fería shopping and then its off to the granjas. We’ll wake up tomorrow at the crack of dawn to travel the two hours from viña to Santiago and take another 5-6 hour bus to Linarés, and then another short bus to somewhere near the farm. Cate said the woman sounded really sweet on the phone, and this is also where ill be ringing in my 21st year of life, so hopefully we enjoy the company.