Classes

The past few days have been pretty relaxing. On Monday I took the micro into Valparaiso, and spent most of the day just walking along the coast. I just started at one end of the city, and I followed the main road that follows the coast until the road ended. It was a beautiful walk, and there were great views of the docks, beaches, coast, and ocean. I think I walked 10 miles total. I stopped for lunch at a little restaurant on the ocean, and I had Conger Eel to eat. It was pretty good. I ended up getting a migraine in the late afternoon, so the rest of the day was spent sleeping.
Yesterday I took it easy in the morning and then took the micro to the main mall in Vina. It's pretty much the same as any nice mall in the US, with a couple big department stores, a food court, a thousand shoe stores, and random people at the kiosks in the middle asking you if you want to get a massage, try the newest aromatherapy, or buy a soft pretzel. I didn't buy anything, and afterwards I walked along the beach in Vina to meet up with the Ultimate Frisbee club that was getting together to toss on the beach. I was surprised that there is an Ultimate club here, but I guess there's a big enough gringo influence that it's successful. Yesterday we just tossed around, but we're going to have a game on Sunday!
This morning I went to orientation at the university, and I felt like a freshman again. We all had our nametags, group monitors, and several hours of boring speeches and awkward mingling. But I got a class schedule, and now I'm trying to figure out what I need to take. I'll let you know once I do.
There's three things that every Chilean has: an extreme love of simple carbohydrates, a penchant for occasionally smoking unfiltered cigarettes, and a dog. The Chilean diet is this: 5% soda, 5% vegetables and fruit, 15% rice and potatoes, 25% chicken and beef, 50% bread. They love their bread, and most of breakfast and dinner is bread.
I hope everything is going well back in the states, and you´re all enjoying the beginning of spring!