SHOPPING: still not fun, even in Chile

Yes mom, I still do not like shopping, even in Chile :) Well after three weeks of being here i finally decided to make the scary journey into the mall, my reasoning being: we´re in CHile, how bad can it be? WEll I´m sorry to disappoint, but it was like every other HUGE mall in the US. 4 floors, tons of people, and way too much stimulation. Luckly the girls I was with felt the same way. So we left about 1 hour after we arrived. Its funny how minus the language, living in an advanced city in another country is very similar to all of the cities at home. I know this is going to sound awful, but there was a McDonalds in the mall, and we decided to get McFlurries. You are probably asking, why in the world would you got to Mc D´s when you´re in CHILE surrounded by ice cream shops on every block? Well, my only answer is it was familiar and we knew what to expect when we ordered. And honestly that first bite was amazing. Don´t get me wrong, I love being here and trying new things, but every once in a while, familiarity is very refreshing and comforting. I also find comfort when I see another person out running (rare) or another person who is not obviously from here. I feel an understanding and a connection. It makes me feel like I´m not as along (not in a lonely sense but in a "I´m way out of place here" sense). I guess my point is, although I love exploring and experiencing new things, a little familiarity can go a long way.
So moving on. Thursday was busy but good. I finally splurged and rode the metro to the beach to run instead of going through the city. It was great. The air was crisp and cool, and there´s a sidewalk that runs from Valpo to Vina . That night I FINALLY got to talk to David...which was wonderful (don´t go getting a big head dave :) ) and then went to bed. Friday was good as well. I visited a church on friday night and met a ton of chileans. We sang camp songs (in spanish) which was AMAZING...made me feel at home. Then we handed out bread on the streets. An interesting experience that I didn´t necesarily agree with...I wont go into it, but if your interested drop me an email. Saturday was GREAT!! I went with one other gringa and about 7 chileans to the Jardin botanicals. SO PRETTY. We had lunch and then played mafia...those of you who are camp counselors probably know this game. It was hard to do in spanish but I managed. Afterwards we went ot a classical concert in a park near my house. It was in a huge stadium like thing and was GREAT. WE got in for free (a chilean friend had a connection) and the handed out FREE handfulls of choclate...yes, still craving sugar. Anways, at around 10 I decided to leave and meet some other peole at another concert about a block away. The name of the group was Inti Illmani...they are a VERY famous group form the 70s and sing songs about revolution etc... the music is folklore, and I can´t even count the number of instruments they played. It was so neat to see how into it the people here were. After wards a friend and I went out for about an hour before goign to bed.
One funny thing i´ve noticed here is the excessive amount of horn honking. Even in traffic when you can´t go anywhere or do anything about it people are laying on their horns. I find it pretty funny. I have also realized how much I don´t know. After spending the weekend with lots of chileanos and only catching bits and pieces of conversations I realized how much i have to learn. Its exhausting trying to keep up with conversation.
Well I suppose thats all for now. We´re getting ready for our trip to the south on saturday..I can´t wait!!
love you all
Cristina