A little about the town

I´m getting more and more settled in Valparaiso each day. The city is right on the water and you can see the Andes Mountains from certain points as well. There are so many amazing views. A lot of the residential part of the city is up on huge hills which makes walking a lot more difficult! There are hundreds of streets that wind through the town and it is impossible, even for locals, to completely know their way around. I now know how to get to school and back by bus so I think I´m doing pretty good! Drivers here are absolutely crazy, and every time you have to cross the street it´s a sprint for your life! They drive so fast through the city and don´t pay attention to people or other cars or anything else for that matter. Horns honk every second but it´s just part of their way of life. One thing that gets to me is there are stray dogs all over the streets and no one pays them any attention. I am such an Animal lover and it is hard to deal with, but my family informed me that it´s normal and people just don´t care as much for animals as we do in the states. My house sister that is studying to be a vet tries to adopt the stray dogs out, which is wonderful! I´m going to try to go with her one of these days when she posts signs and talks to people.

Although the bus stop is pretty far from my house, the school is too far to walk to so I take the bus to and from school. It costs the equivalent of about $0.50 each way, but when school starts we will get a student discount. Right now it is their cold and rainy season and I didn´t come prepared as far as shoes go. I have been wearing tennis shoes and my feet are soaked and freezing by the time I get home! It has been my mission the past two days to find a pair of boots, which hasn´t been easy because typically the biggest size they make in women´s shoes is equivalent to a 9 in the US and I wear a 10. After looking and looking I finally found a pair of not so attractive rain boots that fit, but they will get the job done!

I am also getting accustomed to tea. Chileans drink hot tea with every meal, and while I´ve never been one to drink tea, I must say i´m enjoying it! The food has been really good so far. I told myself I would try everything once, and there have been a few things I didn´t like, but not many. They serve bread and salad with every meal. Lunch is the big meal of the day and we have had pasta, rice, pancakes covered in spinach and a white cream sauce and other things. Dinner is usually just bread with leftovers from lunch (and tea of course!). I am finally getting used to the money here and can estimate pesos versus dollars.