Skiing in the Andes was by far the best thing I have done here thus far. It was painful to leave the mountains and head back to smoggy Santiago. The day began bright and early where I met up with 6 other people from my group to get on a van that would take us up the mountain. The drive to the mountain was about an hour and a half and over an hour of it was spent going up a very steep mountain on switchbacks, we were lucky none of us puked. Even though we were all getting pretty car sick we were too excited to think much of and the view wasn't too bad either. Once we finally got up to the mountain we spent about an hour renting gear and buying lift tickets before we hit up the mountain! The mountain was small but had some of the most incredible views I have ever seen. I took tons of photos and need to get them up on the snapfish account so you all can enjoy them as much as I am. I hope these two suffice for now.
We happened to go skiing on the most gorgeous day that we have had here and I skied in leggings, a t-shirt, and a raincoat. The sun was shining all day which made an already perfect day even better. The other 6 people that I went skiing with hadn't skied or snowboarded in a few years so for the most part we took it pretty easy, the mountain was pretty intermediate so no one had too many problems. The last run of the day was the most incredible one we had, we took a run that circled the top most peak so we were able to see a 360 degree view of the Andes mountains. It was SO hard to leave, I was seriously considered staying in a hotel for the night and skiing on Sunday too!
Monday night I went to a sports bar with some of my friends and we watched the Patriots game, it was fun to do something American for a change.
Tuesday was my birthday and it was wonderful. During our break at school my director and classmates came in with a birthday cake and card and sang for me. My director also serenaded me with a classic Chilean birthday song, it was very very nice! Then last night my mom was kind enough to invite all the other students in my program (14 others) to our house for empanadas and pisco sours. Besides the fact that my sister was sick it was a lot of fun. We ate another cake and then headed out of the bars so I could celebrate my 21st in style. We had a ton of fun and needless to say were very safe! Although the day was lots of fun it made me miss home and friends a lot!
Tonight I am heading out to my directors house with the rest of our group for food and some good spanish conversation. It should be a blast
This weekend is Independence weekend so I have about an hour of class tomorrow and then we are done until next Monday! I will be leaving for la playa (the beach) tomorrow night and I will be there for the whole weekend with my mom and her two kids and then my mom's boyfriend and two of his kids. It should be interesting. I have a good amount of homework to do and can't wait to relax after this busy week of carrete (partying).
Muchos besos (kisses)
Mink, you may have one of the best 21st birthday (week) stories ever. Skiing in the Andes? Please. I'm glad you were able to celebrate with style and grace :)
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