In Chile!

Yes, I am finally here after such a long wait! My flight to Atlanta was fine except for the seven hour layover. I left there around 11 and made first class with my "budy" pass. Let me just say, now I know why people pay extra for first class! Plenty of leg room, ability to recline, personal tv, awesome meal...it was great. However, once we arrived in Santiago around 8am, the line for immigration was very long. After going through that we had to wait about 30 minutes to get our luggage. Apparently they had to "sanitize" it for some reason. Then I continued through security to leave the airport. I finally saw Claudio and his family, I was so happy! I probably didn't stop smiling for quite a while afterward.

We drove to his house and had "once" and rested for a bit. Later we went to see his grandparents. Then we went to eat at a restaurant called "Tip y Tap."

This place was so good, I shared a churrasco with Claudio and also suspiro limeño, a dessert similar to lemon merengue pie but without the crust. So good! After that we headed home. I slept so well last night, I was so tired even though I slept a little on the plane.

Today was my first day in the city and it was so fun! Claudio took me to "Parque de las esculturas," it had many different sculptures by artists from Chile. Here's a few pictures of the park:

After walking around for a while we went to get some coffee, a Chilean tradition! These cafes are very ubiquitous in Santiago. We went to one called "The Coffee Factory." I had a drink called "Bombon," with espresso, sweetened condensed milk, milk, chocolate, and amaretto syrup. It was delicious! Later we took the metro then the micro home. The metro here is the subway and can get you around the city quite well. The micro is the bus system, which is used more to get you to the outskirts of the city.

So far, I am having a great time. I love learning more about the culture, people, and language. It's going to be a great month here!