La Serena

So, I learned an interesting thing about Chile yesterday. In Chile, there is no ozone layer! This means, someone who receives 14 years of sun exposure in one state, would receive 50 years of sun exposure here! What a difference. So. when in Chile, don´t forget your sun screen, nobody wants premature wrinkles. With this said, I had a wonderful vacation this weekend. With my COPA exchange program, I traveled about 6 hours in bus to the north, in a place called La Serena. Considering Chile is the longest and skinniest country on earth, the drive was all coast line and was very beautiful. But, I slept. Anyways, let me tell you what I did in La Serena, other than have an amazing time. The location we stayed at would be like a resort kindof. It had a pool, a ping pong table, pool table and foosbal. The condos were connected but had two floors, seven places to sleep, a kitchen, two bathrooms, a living room and a balcony. Absotlutely beautiful. We could see the ocean from our back door, and were located next to Iguana Empanadas. 

All the activities were pre-paid, so all I was responsible for was food. Upon arriving, we went to the grocery store and my friends and I bought stuff for burritos (white beans from a box, they were already cooked, cheese, tortillas, salsa, which were actually spicy, and rice), stuff for sandwiches, cereal, fruit and chocolate. We ate like queens. Night one we made our burritos, and they turned out grand! The next day, the day was cloudy untill about 3, however we laid on the beach for 2 hours in the clouds! Don´t let this confuse you, your white skin will get burnt in the clouds. However, once the sun came out it was sooo nice and warm. We laid on our towels and soaked up the sun. Around 4 I went inside with my friend but stopped to have a fried cheese and shrimp empanada before going in. It was good. That night, we went on the bus and traveled to an observatorium with our group. It was very beautiful however the light from the moon made it impossible to see all of the stars. But, we did get a real close look at the moon, and that was awesome. 

Day two, we left at twelve and drove two hours to go to a solar restruant. They use the sun power too cook. This meant, they have solar ovens. It takes two hours to cook little rolls, and they even boil water for tea using the sun. The food was awesome considering how slow cooked it was. We had rice and chicken, followed by flan for dessert. I had an herb tea, which had a mint leaf and hot water in it. Very natural. After this, we visited the Gabriela Minstral musuem, who was a Chilean poem writer and won the Nobel Piece Prize. My friends and I ate this popsicle, bright green and pink, tasting exactly like a watermelon. It costs us 30 cents. After we got home, we went to play in the ocean. Despite my terror of waves, the water was warm enough to play in, and we worked up an appetite for dinner. We went to a seafood restruant, and I had lobster pinchers and salad. Very tasty. I didn´t tell you yet, but me and two of my friends were the color of the lobsters. But, I didnt´get my face burnt!!!

Well, the last day came, and we went to a national park. It was in a dessert climate, very mountanious, a lot like Colorado. However, we drove an and hour and a half through the park to get to the main attraction. It is a rain forest, from the second region (we were in the 4th region) that was adapted to absorb the mist from the ocean to survive. The forest was wet, mossy and magical. Absolutely beautiful.

After this, we went home to tell our families about our vacation. Yesterday, I went to school as well as tuesday, and today I´m writing to say hello.

So, I hope everybody is doing great! I love you all

Un abrazo,

xoxo... Kati