Today was the first day of class. I had Chilean cinema and the History of Chile. I will have both classes again tomorrow, only cinema will be at 8:00 instead of 9:30 :( They were good classes and the History prof seems like he was really excited and into what he was teaching so that was good. After class we tried to sign up for sports but that turned out to be an adventure, we were told may things by a variety of people. Some said the registration was closed, others said you didn't need to sign up and others said to just show up and sign up... I am thinking about joining jogging and rowing. The group that went in search of rowing today had quite an adventure and it sounds like there might be room on Wednesdays... Eventually we'll figure it out. Today I learned about the buses. I took a bus to and from school. It is pretty easy but you have to know which number bus to take. Luckily my mom made me a list of which buses to take to get to school. Tomorrow I will figure out how to get to the beach for jogging, unfortunalety it is farther than school. All the sports activities are in different places. Jogging is on the beach, rowing is at the lagoon, other activities are in Valparaiso, etc. Soon we will get our student passes which will but the bus rate to 1/2-1/3 of the normal price so that will be good.

The food here so far has been good. Nothing too surprising or strange. Dinner has been the same thing everynight, only they don't call it dinner (or cena) but onces, which is more like tea time or a light meal. It is always bread (baguettes and other good bread) with avocado, cheese, sliced turkey, crackers, tea or coffee. Sometimes we have jam or dulce del membrillo (?quince jelly). Breakfast is basically the same thing, although I have had cornflakes twice. I hope dinner changes a little bit as time goes on but I have a feeling it won't. Lunch on the first day was beef with spaghetti, bread (always, always bread. A meal is not complete without bread), some cooked spinach dish, tomatoes and ice cream. Twice I have had chicken with rice, salad, tomato and bread. Yesterday we had beef stew.

Yesterday I went to church at 10:30 with my mom, she was nice enough go with me even though they normally only go to church for important holy days and funerals. After church I went with my dad and the daughter's dog to el Sporting (big sports complex) to run. After that a met up with a bunch of other students and we walked to the beach where there were some craft stands set up. We also had lunch on the beach at a little restaurant/stand. I had a completo (hot dog in a huge bun smoothered in tomato, avocado and mayo, I think they can also come with ketchup and mustard but this one did not.) It was good but maybe a bit too much tomato. I think there was a whole avocado on top to the completo! Others had hamburgers and churrascos, which we think were roast beef sandwhiches. Next to our table was a little power wheels race track that was extremely entertaining. Little kids on powerwheels are cheap entertainment :) After walking around on the beach for awhile we went to the mall to buy phones and printer paper. Here printing is free but you have to bring your own paper. Then it was time to head home. My walk, with two other guys, was a little over an hour. Needless to say, we got our exercise in yesterday.

Today was cloudy again and tomorrow is suppose to be cloudy too. Yesterday it was sunny and warm, but today felt more like October.

Here is a picture of my bed, nightstand and dresser/desk (on the left).

My closet and tv, complete with a VCR player and tape player :)

The wonderful view out my bedroom window. The orange building is part of the building I live in.

Hill in the background of previous photo. All the hills are like this, it is pretty amazing

Avenida Limanche (around 6:00), It is dark by about 7:00 here but will stay light longer as time goes on.

Some awesone sand sculptures on the beach