Weekend fun

Last night was the celebration for Arica's 200th birthday, so we went down to La Plaza near El Morro (a huge cliff) and watched the dancers and singers and fireworks! Before that I did....absolutely nothing. This weekend has been so relaxing! Saturday, we went to the beach and walked the whole way (about an hour) and ran into a parade celebrating the weekend. We couldn't find the rest of the group on the HUGE beach so we just plopped down and ate our almuerzo! After awhile, we walked back the way we came and finally found everyone. A very few of us were brave enough to get into the cold water - I mean COLD. the only reason I could stay in it was because the bottom half of my body went numb :P The waves were awesome, too! There were a lot of wind surfers that were fun to watch too. I will never have the strength or the courage to do that!

Yesterday, once again, we had nothing we had to do. It feels so good to say that! I got up early and went to church with my grandma; I actually understood much of what was said - that may have been because I had a program with all the words in it too, but still. I sat with her boyfriend Carlos and she was up front where the rest of the lectors sat. After Mass I went back to bed for about an hour, then Nolan came over for lunch. The room was FULL with family members and we had a great meal. Salad (their style with little lettuce and a lot of veggies), rice, chicken, potatoes, and of course started with ceviche, the Chilean dish of lemon fish - actually quite delicous! Aside from the orange guts mixed in, yucky. After we ate I went for another snooze up in my room and later on watched a movie in bed with my mom Soledad while we ate chocolate. Ended the night with those fireworks by El Morro and went to bed!!

Today we did a whole lot of nothing again (I'm getting way to comfortable with doing whatever I want all day long) but we did have an orientation at the school. We met some profesoras, got to know the library, and walked a little around campus. After that, a whole lot of nothin :) Tomorrow classes begin, we'll see how I feel after a whole day of those!!

The pictures here are of El Morro - the place where Chileans beat Peru 200 years ago, and some of the group at a local hang out place called "Chill Out," where you go and literally just...chill out. Aaand a toilet at the university. Without toilet paper. And without a seat. Enjoy!!