So thursday night, as you will see on the respective blog, included hosting my chilean friends to the apartment. Well the following day, friday, I went to lunch with the fellow interns on the team and we sat with some girls from colulmbia who are doing a couple of months of pediatrics here. I told them I was from america, they said "we are going to vina del mar today...do you want to come,,,"....so i thought about my weekend plans for a couple of hours after work and i knew they were leaving friday evening, so i called carolina around 6 30 and confirmed - yes Ill be there! After throwing some clothes in a back pack I took the metro to the bus station and got my ticket for vina del mar! Its been a while since I have experienced that feeling you get when you spontaneously decide to do something that you know is so not your average experience. I said to myself, "when else can i go to a random chilean beach with girls from columbia?!". The bus left at 9 45 so we got empanadas in the train station and ate them sitting on the ground. Its so refreshing to not worry about formalitys like getting clothes dirty etc :-) i Love it!
We made it to vina del mar circa 12 am and taxi'ed it to the main street, the taxi driver said the hostel that ana (on of the girls) had was sketchy, so we walked down the street and found one that looked acceptable, we stayed there (mamma mia 7000 pesos per night per person ...14 american dollars)...ladies and gentlemen "no frills" is an understatement...i said to myself when i was taking a shower "dont look down...stay focused.." lol...dont know how clean the facilities were but its okay it got the job done! on a more serious note it is humbling to have less in terms of amenities because it makes me realize how much I am blessed with in the first place..the majority of the world doesnt have it as good as we do back home, so who am I to feel grossed out by a dirty shower anyways - right? After arriving at our hostel and getting tucked in, around 12 45 am, I was ready to put on the pjs and fall to a sweet sleep, then came the famous words "vamos!"...what?! thats right, of course it was time to go out - just as routine as it is for me to have coffee as the day gets started it is for my new friends from colubmia to go out dancing around 1 am, it doesnt even have to be a special celebration, thats just the way it is for them...well i was along for the ride this weekend and going with the group - so there I was, no latin moves in me at all and falling asleep with every step, but dancing away nonetheless. We ventured to a dance club my friend cony reccomended and then over to the casino (hotel vina del mar), where we danced until they closed, at 5 30. I was a little shocked I made it that long, I guess its less than being on call, but doesnt seem to be the same! We slept until noon, which when i saw the time i felt so lazy but then i remembered I didnt go to bed until 6 am. The following night was a basically a repeat but with a more entertaining dance club that included 4 floors and a different style of music on each floor.
My time with the girls this weekend taught me alot about life outside of the US. My traveling mates are all in med school in bogota columbia. We talked about life there and the need to really be aware of surroundings and the violence that is so embedded in their culture. There are several movies you can watch or any number of newspapers you can read to highlight all the corruption there, and so many other places. It breaks my heart to know of such terror in the world, but it gives me hope to see such educated and strong women breaking free from it all. They really have their head on their shoulders and I am really thankful I went along for the trip.
The seafood in vina del mar was delightful, as were the local artisan markets (thank you to the sweet older artist who knitted my afghan, it really kept me warm yesterday during the cold. However, yesterdays cool temperature made me naive to the sun that was out today, hence my atrocious burn *mom you must really take that picture off facebook!)
Well tomorrow starts a new week, Jennifer is coming along to Sotero tomorrow morning, henry has headed back home (we miss you!) and so we can make the daily AM commute together. We already have a couple of things lined up for this week and will be sure to keep you updated!
XOXO
besitos
marta
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