The first day we relaxed for a good bit (he had been traveling for about a day and a half). Later on we explored the city some.
The next day we went and looked at a few markets and walked around the city some more. Later in the evening we hiked up San Cristobal. Man was that hike rough! You walk up steep hills the entire time. I like to think that I am in decent shape, but after trying to conquer that hill, I feel like a complete failure in the fitness world ha. It was a lovely hike though with beautiful views of the city. We got to the top right as the sun was setting. It was a nice way to spend the evening.
On Friday we took an hour and a half bus to Valparaiso (Valpo for short). Valpo is a city port here in Chile. It is pretty much like any other city except that the city meets up with a series of hills (where most of the housing is found).
Once we managed to find the correct hill to go up, we found so many beautiful murals all over the walls. We just walked around the town all day and took a million photos.
Friday night we went out for drinks with Ben and Eric to this bar/restaurant a few blocks away from our apartment. We didn’t stay out too late because we had a big day ahead of us the following day.
On Saturday we had our first Liga de Desportes for work. This is a sports program that VE puts on once a month, and the kids have the opportunity to play different types of sports for a few hours. There was soccer, basketball, ping-pong, tennis, dancing, football, rugby, and a few board games. Jason and I both went. I was so excited for him to meet my girls. The girls all loved him and he fell in love with the girls! One of the girls latched on to Jason and never left his side almost the whole day. It was so cute!
Since most things are closed on Sundays, we just walked around A LOT, and did some more exploring. We walked in the park right next to my apartment and I took Jason down to the city center. On our way back to the apartment we stopped at the grocery store and bought food to make fajitas for dinner. The rest of the day we just relaxed.
On Monday we went to a beach, that is about 3 hours away, called Zapallar. This was one of the favorite things we did the whole week. The beach was incredible! This beach is more of a high-end beach resort; it’s where the rich people vacation (so there aren’t really any hostels or hotels for people to stay in). Because it’s not really summer anymore (even though it still feels like it - weather wise), the beach was pretty much deserted. We felt like we were on our own private island. The beach it self was actually pretty small:
But it had rocks that lined the shoreline with a walking path along the coast. We walked on both sides, and everywhere we looked was a beautiful view.
Here are two really pretty flower shots!
We also experimented with the self-timer on both of our cameras. We hadn’t taken one picture together yet, so we took a ton while at the beach.
After getting back from the beach, for our last night together we went out for dinner and drinks. We drank white Russians, ate a lot of cheese empanadas, and shared an egg dish that had potatoes, onions, and peppers in it. It was a delicious meal! We talked more about what Jason thought of my girls, and he had mentioned that he doesn’t understand how I can do the work I’m doing. More specifically, he doesn’t know how I’m going to be able to leave these girls when my time here is up. He fell in love with them after being with them for just a few hours and he wished he could have spent more time with them. However with me, I spend 6 hours a day with them every week and when it’s time for me to leave I will have been with them for 6 months. He was just bringing up the fact that it is going to be so difficult leaving these girls. He could not be more right, I got a little emotional during dinner just thinking about what it’s going to be like when I go home. I love these girls and I’m only going to be getting closer to them these next three months. It’s going to be so difficult and terribly sad when I have to go home, I really hope that I will be able to keep in touch with these girls and see them again in the future. Jason talked about coming back down here together at least once a year for a week or so to be able to see the girls again. I really hope we will be able to do that, we’ll see!
On Tuesday, we just relaxed and enjoyed our last day together. We walked around a little bit more, but for the most part we just hung out in the apartment. It was so sad to see Jason go. His time here was way too short, but it was definitely so great to see him. I’m so happy that he got to be exposed to a small part of my life down here. It really meant a lot to me that he got to meet my girls and that he loved them.
I have the most amazing family for making it possible for Jason to come down here and visit me! Thank you so much Dad, Mom, Alex, Brian, Bryant, and Elizabeth. I love all of ya’ll soo much! BEST BRITHDAY PRESENT EVER!
Until Next Time,
Liz
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