THE END! (Finally :) )

So I suppose I better finish this up for all you faithful readers. I'll pick up where I left off:

Day 2:
Today we woke up and after a wonderful breakfast of bread and coffee we headed off into the Bolivian desert. During this part of the trip we stopped at a few different lakes and were able to look at flamingos. YES, they were pink. This was our longest day of driving and we didn't leave the jeep much. We passed through various Bolivian desert villages that looked abandoned. That night we arrived at what looked like the Ritz compared to the night before. The beds had blankets and there were even showers (they were COLD though). I decided to go for a walk before dinner and started to ambitiously make my way up the mountain behind the hostal. I quickly remembered that we were still at 15.000 ft and had to slow the pace a bit. From the hostal we were able to see the salt flat that we would drive on the next day.

Day 3.
On day 3 we spent most of the day on the salt flat . It was AMAZING! It looked like ice but after some taste testing we decided it was really salt! We stopped at a salt hotel in the middle of the flat and got to look around. Everything was made of salt...it was really interesting to see the different layers. Once we arrived in Uyni, Bolivia we said bye to our guide and headed to a pizza place to eat. I could've stayed on teh street and watched the business of the town for hours. All the women dress traditionally and I felt like I was in a different world compared to Chile. I was supposed to leave that afternoon to head back to CHile but due to rain , the tourist company put me up in a hotel. It was nice to have my own room and go to bed at a decent time. I rode back to Chile with two French girls. Trying to cross the border was quite entertaining. We spent about 2 hours on the Bolivian side because the customs people were eating lunch. once we got across we weren't able to go to the Chilean side and waited in front of the border (aka a line drawn by a stick in the sand) for the next jeep to come pick us up. Once we got to Calama I set off to find a hostal. EVERYTHING was packed and after about an hour of looking I finally settled for a cheap (not as cheap as a hostal) hotel. Eventhough it was more expensive, I really enjoyed my first shower in 7 days as well as the comfy beds. That evening I walked to the mall and ate TONS of salad at a buffet. It was great to have something besides cookies and bread. For the next day and a half I walked around and explored the town. I left the next morning for Santiago , landed by 11, and was in Vina by 1. Everything went smoothly.

AND NOW, I'm home. 2 of my friends drove me to the airport on the 14th. The flight went smoothly and I landed in Dallas around 9. WHAT A RUDE AWAKENING! I was suddenly surrounded by loud americans in cow boy hats. haha. Its been a challenging transition, but it is good to be home. I've been working a ton and trying to get used to suburbia again.

This experience was AMAZING. Sure I had some ups and downs, but I really grew and learned as a person. Thanks for all your comments and your time spent reading this! I am going to try and upload LOTS of pics for everyone to see! CHAO for now....