Bali Hai

Today, we split into groups and went on quests around Santiago. My group's was to find a post office in the neighborhood called Providencia. Easy, right? WRONG. First of all, there's only one. Second of all, we took about 65 wrong turns in the first half an hour of walking and ended up in a different neighborhood. We finally got on a bus headed the right direction, but once we got off and started asking people, no one knew where it was. Everyone gave us some kind of direction or tried to help, but we ended up walking around a very small area for another 45 minutes until we finally found the tiny little storefront with the blessed sign, "Oficina de Correos." Then we ate lunch and came home.

In the afternoon we had oral evaluations and presented our findings to one another. For dinner tonight we went to a restaurant called Bali Hai, which is a LOT more about the presentation (performances of traditional Chilean and Easter Island dances and music) than the food (which was pretty terrible). But there was a lot of audience participation in the dances, one at a time, and then at the end we all got up and danced. I realized that I desperately need to take lessons in something. Probably salsa, it seems like the easiest. But seriously, it's pathetic that I can't dance. One of the guys in our group, Justin, was amazing and would have made everyone else feel bad if he wasn't so enthusiastic about us all cutting loose. It was fun. Tomorrow we're going to Isla Negra, where Pablo Neruda lived, and I'll be able to bring my camera and take loads of pictures. Que bueno. O como se dicen in Chile, ¡bacán! Y ahorita, voy a buscar alguien para jugar spades. Buenas noches.