Suenos and Cerros

Hola everyone! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD! Things are moving SUPER fast here and I can't believe my time is coming to an end! School is looking good, except for my cine class...blah. On Friday I went out with some of the other Luther ladies to a vegetarian restaurant on cerro Alegre in Valpo. It was SO SO good! AND it was actually warm inside...the Chileans don't believe in central heating. We each ordered something called a SUENO (dream). Its this brownie like cookie topped with the richest chocolate sauce imaginable. It truly was a sueno. I will definitely have to go back there before I leave!
Last night I went walking through the cerros (hills) of Valpo with one of the chileans I know. We started on Cerro Mariposa (in the center of the city) and walked for two hours on an Avenue called Avenida Alemania. The first hour or so we were in the upper class area with AMAZING houses. THey reminded me of doll houses and were all different shapes and colors....I wish my camera worked! Its amazing how much things can change between cerros. We turned the corner and were in a poorer district of Valpo. This is when my friend said, "if someone tries to assault you, give them everything." and promptly followed by saying, "you said you wanted to walk the cerros tonight, so i figured I'd give you the whole experience." At this point i was a bit nervous...It's not like I stick out or anything..haha. So we're walking on this street that is NOT lighted amongst run down houses and numerous stray dogs. In the end I was glad I got to see the real Valpo but at the time I was feeling pretty nervous. So we're walking and these guys start throwing rocks at us from above and yelling. All the sudden I see bright flashes of light and hear loud popping. It was only fire crackers but I was FREAKING OUT. So we keep walking and I figured that we were going to head down. I was wrong. We crossed into a better section for a while and I felt a little more relaxed. After about 15 min he warned me that this next section was a dangerous one and again told me to give up every thing if someone asks for it. yikes. So I felt like I was holding my breath for the next 15 minutes while walking through this area. We walked past some cops doing a drug bust and continued up the cerro. FINALLY we reached the end of the avenue and sat down to look at the port. It was such a beautiful view. We then headed down and took a micro back to vina where I had a McDonald's burger and tea...odd combo. It was a great night, and I'm so glad I got to experience all of valpo, I'm also glad that nothing happed.
Today the sun is out, YESSSS. I'm going to hopefully spend the day writing a paper...if I can focus, which is rare. I suppose thats all. Miss everyone
Love Cristina