In Viña del Mar and Valparaiso

Saludos a todos! We´re interneting from Reñaca, just north of Viña del Mar. We´re staying with my good friends Viviana and Alberto and their two kids. They have been just wonderful - Viviana picked us up in Santiago on Saturday (I had to laugh because I had warned Sean that her car might be small and we´d have to squeeze in our big bags, because she had a small car when I was here 7 years ago. However, she´s definitely upgraded - showed up in a big Kia SUV!). They are amazing - so excited to show us cool things about their area. We arrived at theirt house in Viña de a huge dinner - Vivian even remembered that I loved ice cream and had bought some special flavors for me. We were up until 1 talking. Sunday we got up and we all went to Isla Negra, a town where Pablo Neruda had one of his houses, and went to the museum. I had been before but it is worth seeing again, and Sean was fascinated by Neruda´s many quirky collections. Then we stopped by a beach for a bit before returning home. Chileans do love their beaches and the weekend - the beaches and the roads were packed!

Yesterday we met Viviana and Alberto for lunch in Valparaiso - they both work there, and we enjoyed taking a cable ascencor (escalotor, kind of) up one of the cerros to a cool restaurant with a great view of the city. Sean and I explored the port area a bit then came back to their house by bus. Such a colorful lively city (and very few foreign tourists, though many Chilean ones). Viviana brought home a Chilean specialty food that is a lot like lox for dinner - we ate at about 11:30! Then we again talked until late.

Today we´re running errands and taking it easy - which is really easy to do here. So many folks come here on vacation, so Reñaca has a very touristy holiday feel. So many people going to the beach. We´re about to walk there ourselves.

Either tomorrow or Thursday we´re going to take an overnight bus south to Villarrica, where the Nilo family now lives. I lived with them during my study abroad time in Santiago and have always kept in touch and visited them a couple of times since.

Sean is learning a little Spanish and getting bolder about it. I´m getting good at translating and maintaining him and me in the conversation at the same time. And my vocabulary of chilean slang is coming back to me, too.

Hope all are well. Thanks for reading.-Nancy