Getting to Know Santiago

Waking up today absolutely sucked! But once I got moving everything was a bit better. On the agenda for today was the capital city of Santiago. We started out at the stock exchange building in the city. It was so much different than I would expect. It was quiet and almost empty. It was evident that almost all the trading is now done electronically. We then walked around the city for a while and went into the cathedral in the city. The one thing that seems to remain constant in this entirely new world is the Catholic church. We went across the courtyard into the history museum! This was such a rich environment for learning the Spanish language with many complex sentences and a Chilean student there to help translate. I was even able to make faces at children at the museum on a field trip! Once we had finished up at with this sightseeing, we decided we needed to eat. The main meal of the day is lunch in Chile, and ours was very delicious! We went to a fish market and had some of the freshest Chilean sea bass possible. I had mine with a seafood sauce over it, which was so delicious that I could have eaten it by itself as a chowder! After lunch, had the opportunity to go INTO the presidential palace of Chile! It was incredible, we were able to get so close to where the president lives and does his work. Then took our time and headed up to get a view of the city from above. There were some great picture spots from above the city. Unfortunately, my camera was dead, sad face. Its fine because the rest of the group got some amazing pictures. We then had a nice 2 hour trip back into Vina del Mar, before we were off for the evening. Tonight was a bit of a slower night. Now that everyone is getting to know each other more, just a touch of exhausted, starving hostility was detectable. We are starting to become a real family! Refueling from dinner cheered everyone right back up. Its unbelievable how the trip has just started and everything we have already experienced. And more to come with each day. Hasta luego!