By Popular Demand - #2

So this 2nd post has been a work in progress for awhile now...so here are my random thoughts over the last week....

LAST SATURDAY:
I am so glad that this blog has found you all well...and since you have asked for it, here is numero dos!  Though I can't promise any long winded post, as there is a techno asado (cookout) going on outside and they are already feeding me beef and beer!  Life really is great here :)

So some of you have asked how the food is down here.  Well with the exception of the free pizza/beer/ceviche that we found last night, it definitely isn't as cheap as we thought.  Don't get me wrong, it isn't THAT expensive - you get salad, bread, juice, entree, dessert and espresso with almost every lunch "special" here!  But the food is interesting to say the least.  I don't know what I expected, but Chileans LOVE hot dogs.  It's bizarre.  But their hot dogs are covered with so many amazing toppings, we can't stop eating them!!!  My favorite so far is a hot dog covered in guacamole, spicy peppers and tomatoes.  They also love their mayo and put it on everything (including hot dogs).  My most useful spanish phrase thus far is "sin mayo".

TUESDAY:
So after being lured into a really fun asado with our neighbors here in Santiago, I am back!  I have just completed my 2nd day of intensive spanish classes.  I signed up for a 2 week program and I am hoping it will be enough to refresh/learn the basics.  So far, I have learned quite a bit and am really enjoying it.

This coming weekend we are going to Santa Cruz for a wine festival (somewhere south of Santiago), thanks to our friend Cristian whose mother lives there!  I will definitely post pictures from here as it is supposed to be gorgeous (as is everything down here!).

SUNDAY:
We just got back from an amazing weekend in Santa Cruz.   This weekend marked the harvest for the Colchagua Valley in which Santa Cruz lies.  The whole town comes together to celebrate the harvest in  the town square.  Vineyards set up tasting booths and vendors set up food booths with everything from meat on a stick to empanadas to my new favorite Chilean food - sopapillas!!!!  It was fabulous.  We went down there with 2 of our friends - Cris and Nadine.  Cris' mother and grandmother live in Santa Cruz and were sweet enough to not only let us stay with them, but also feed us 2 amazing lunches!  Made for a really great trip.  Some pictures of the festival below, including one of the bathroom bus - what an amazing concept...flushing toilets, sinks, air-conditioning and light jazz.  All festivals should have these!

Stephen, Me, Cris and Nadine on OUR bench.

Apparently llamas are a normal thing at a festival in Chile?

Bathroom bus!

Meat before it was on a stick!

Stephen started working this past week as well.  He is teaching english for the ecotourism department at University San Sebastian a few hours a week and went on an overnight camping retreat with the students and other teachers last Thursday and Friday.  He went to Cajon del Maipo (same place we went a couple weeks ago) and had a great time meeting the kids and teachers and being outdoors in a beautiful region of Chile!  It is such a cool position and sounds like he will get to do alot of these types of activities in the future as well - I am a little jealous :)

Other than that, not much going on down here, though I promise to update this more - we finally have internet and will make it easier to be more connected.  We miss you all and hope to see some of you down here in the coming months!

Love, Stephen and Steph