El Mercado!

So this morning our culture class (love it) went to the market down the street from the university. It was SO GREAT and I wish we had places like it in the US. The first floor was both inside and outside an old warehouse building. What I liked most about it were the colores. Everywhere you look there are fruits and vegtables of every size, color and shape. Its not the cleanest place..there are dogs and cats everywhere, but as long as you wash the food I think It´s safe. Anyways, when you walk in , people are everywhere buying, selling, talking, its such a lively culture. We walked to the top floor and there were resturants that used the produce from the bottom floor to cook their food. It´s cheap and supposed to be good so I´ll have to try it out sometime. One thing I´ve noticed here is that everything is smaller in comparision to the US. Everything from popsicles, to ice cream cones to cookies, to toilet paper to bread, EVERYTHING is smaller. It seems like a much more environmentally friendly society. They don´t waste as much here. They eat when they´re hungry, only use the lights when its dark out, and reuse bags , foil, etc. We should take some lessons.
Yesterday we went on another tour in the afternoon. Our group went to one of Pablo Neruda´s houses and got to walk through it. It was AMAZING. Once I figure out how to put pictures on this thing I´ll post some of the house. It is 5 floors and each floor has TONS of windows facing the ocean. Its on a hill so you can see FOREVER. Each room is colorful and unique. I rode the metro home with our tour guide. I was talking to her about studying abroad and learning spanish, etc... and she told me I should NOT Hang out with gringos (english-speaking people). I know this, but its so hard to meet people right now because everyone is on summer vacation. Anyways, she took me to her house and we talked for a while. She doesn´t speak any english and talks very fast, but i think i understood the important parts. Well I suppose that´s all for now. I hafta get going to class.
:) cristina