Last night in S-Town

Hey all,

Sorry for the tardy post, but we went out early and came back late on Monday. Much to report. Yesterday morning, Matt, our Scottish friend Andy, and I went out to see (Chilean poet and Nobel Laureate) Pablo Neruda´s house, which is just a couple of blocks from the hostel. We were dismayed to find out when we arrived, however, that the house (which has been converted to a museum) is closed on Mondays. Instead, we went to La Vega, an enormous farmer´s market in the bordering neighborhood. Fresh produce, meat, and fish were everywhere, but so were the security guards who didn´t allow us to take pictures. I still managed to squeeze a couple off, though.

After the market, we walked around the area near La Vega. There were people selling tchotchkes everywhere we looked. Bootleg movies, bootleg hats, bootleg shoes--if you can name something that can be reproduced as a cheap knockoff, they had it. I also bought a disposable razor. Don´t worry, I´m not shaving my beard--I just need to do a little maintenance. We then took a cab to a Metro station and bought our bus tickets to Valparaiso, on the Pacific coast, where we´re headed today.

Walking away from the station, we stumbled upon La Republica, once one of the wealthiest parts of the city. Today it is a popular hangout spot for students of the nearby universities. We saw a group of university-looking dudes walk into a bar and decided to follow them in. It didn´t look like anyone in there was under 25. We started talking to some kids and ended up spending the entire night with them. We went to one dude´s house via the Metro, talked to his mom, rocked out to some tunes, and played magnetic darts. They came back to the hostel with us and we chilled some more. Though we didn´t want to, we finally had to say goodbye. Muchas gracias, amigos.

We´re off to Valpo at 2 PM. Peace.