Almost 4 weeks!

It is almost my fourth week here in Chile!  Crazy to think, right?  Not much has happened since I last wrote, but figured I would still update because I probably won't be able to write until after I come back from Machu Picchu! 

Friday, I had classes.. the usual haha.  Later that night though, our group went out to Monesterio, a local pub, to hear our group leader's boyfriend play in a band.  They were awesome!  The singer had such a unique and amazing voice.

Our group leader's (Kim's) boyfriend is on the left, Javier.



Saturday night we were invited to un asado (barbecue) at one of Javier's friend's house.  It was a gorgeous house and had a perfect view of the beach in the backyard.  We all had tons of fun playing games, hanging out, and eating great food. 

Sunday was kind of a chill day for me.  I met up with my friend Janae to work on our presentation that was supposed to be due Wednesday, but it got moved to Friday.  Works for me! haha 

Monday was a holiday here, so we had no classes.  My host family took me and my house mate, Allyson, to different areas in Arica.  They took us a cemetary to visit our host mother's father's grave.  It was a private cemetary and it was very similar to the United States.  Afterwards, we went to this place called Eco-Truly.  The people that live there practice Hinduism and live in these interesting houses.  They also use no water.  It was very interesting to see.  I would not live there though haha.  When we were done visiting Eco-Truly, we went to a place for lunch.  Can't remember what it was called.. but I ate some good food.  I had pastel de choclo.  It was mainly of corn, chicken, olives, and I have no idea what else was in it haha.  It was good though. 

Also, my mom has been begging me to show pictures of my host family so here is some.

Antonio (my host father), me, and Allyson

Me, Karla (my host mother), Allyson, and Francisca (my sister)

Last but not least, I'm going to talk about Machu Picchu!  The plan is that I leave Sunday for Tacna, Peru.  From there, I will take a bus to Arequipa and will stay in a hostel called Misti House.  The next day, I will have pretty much all day in Arequipa until I leave for Cuzco on a bus at 9:00 pm.  We will travel at night and will arrive in Cuzco around 6:00 am.  I will stay the night in Cuzco at another hostel called El Tuco.  Then at 7am on Wednesday, I will be at Machu Picchu!  I will be there all day and won't leave until 9:30.  I heard it is amazing there at night, so it will be awesome to see.  I will take a bus to a town called Ollantaytambo and stay at Hostel Los Andes.  Thursday, I will travel back to Cuzco and that night will have another bus ride to Arequipa.  After arriving in the morning, I will go back to Tacna and eventually back home here in Arica on Friday.  Should be an exhausting trip, but it will be all worth it. 

This week is going to be a hectic week, because tomorrow I have a quiz, Thursday an oral exam, Friday a presentation, and then at 1:00 on Friday I will leave for my overnight excursion in the mountains.  Not sure if I'm looking forward to that or not because they say it is freezing there.  Well, I need to get some studying done!  Until next time.. chauuuu!! =)