El Kiwi en Sudamérica

Continuation...

Well, after all the fun happenings up to Thursday this happened next:
Friday was brilliant- The weather was fantastic for one thing. Not full on, but rushed between events. Youth group was good times, then I went with Becka, Ashlee and Sebastian to have Chinese for Dinner. Afterwards they were nice enough to let me use their computer for a mammoth 'skype' call to my family (which lasted forever- well into the morning, thanks to the tolerance of my hosts). Skype should get a Nobel prize, how good is it?

Saturday I was going to watch the rugby, but I must've misread the website, because it for sure wasn't on (and of course it was a vintage game of epic proportions- yep I had to miss it) After that disappointment I met up with the Gappies to give them a tour around the city. So we caught a micro, looked around Santa Lucia (this mint castle-like thing) then walked through the city. The city streets were jam-packed with people, streets sellers, buskers and a dude who tried to sell me an MP3 player (but to no avail, it had a label on the back from a store, and the others had seen on the news that some people around there are selling fake copies that don't even work-So it was either hot or a fake). We had a look around the markets, bought some Inca Kola (it's brilliant- like a bubble gum flavoured fizzy drink- i'm gonna buy crates of the stuff when I go to Peru).
Then we went though Bellavista, then back to my place for a quick bit to eat. After that CJ had an appointment to get a tattoo (his first) and we all tagged along to watch.The place he had it done looked real sterile: white walls, chairs like a doctors examination room, and surprisingly no wall with some common designs on it. Cj was in very good hands, The guy was real professional. He had this laptop were he scanned the pic Cj wanted (it was the Spade from a pack of cards to go on his back) printed it to size and let us look at a gallery of some of his work. But we thought that Cj wouldn't like us to hang around while it was getting done (and it would have looked kinda wussy as well). That was my day with the Gappies.
After that I went with Becka, Ashlee, Sebastien and Allison to someone’s karaoke birthday party in Bellavista. I would have show my skills, but the taste of the other singers seemed to be alot more 'danceable' than anything I would do, and people at least need to be able to dance if the singing is bad. Next time maybe!)
Sunday was good times- Church as per usual (if it is as per usual that means brilliant) once again the weather was fantastic (it's been like over twenty degrees the last few days, Bring on summer!) Afterwards I visited the Valenzuela family for lunch. It was good times chatting and seeing some improvement in my understanding and my speaking (Most Sundays seem to be near immersion).
And to my surprise I found out that some of the extended family was coming around. Silvia comes from a family with I think 10 kids all up, mainly sisters. So a sizable portion of the Sobrinas/Primas (Nieces/Cousins) came around with aunties/sisters and grandma. You could call it a pleasant surprise. So it was good times chatting, getting a hard time from everyone, trying to understand what people were saying (I'm used to the craziness of my Mum and two Aunties with the cousins- Times it by 4!) Then we went to one of the family’s place for onces and more madness. Definitely a 'famalia bàcan' (chilean for cool family). Then I eventually got back to my apartment
-It was a pretty full on weekend-I think i'll have a siesta this afternoon maybe (but the weather is so good...)
So, Here are some photos-Yes thery'e not all amazing, red eye disease is epidemic, but they all tell a story:

R to L: Alex, Phil and CJ at Santa Lucia
Me with some of the Moya Family
Cesar and me climbing San Cristobal (The big hill with the Virgin on the top)
Me in the snow, Colorado Ski field

See the grey patch of cloud: I'm breathing that in as I type- Mmmmm mmmmm... The Valenzuela Family this last Sunday
Me with the primas (cousins) : Not a 'vintage' photo of me, but everyone else is looking good
And the fountain at Santa Lucia (Where the earlier photo was taken)

Good good, those are the photos: Sorry to anyone with a dial up connection.

Chao

posted by Nathan Sinclair @ 6:18 PM