Now that I've finally gotten around to uploading some pictures, I'm going to back up and tell you a bit more about my time in Santiago, and then introduce you to Valparaiso. I haven't yet taken any pictures of Vina del Mar, which is the city right next door to Valpo and where I actually live, but I promise I will soon.

This picture basically sums up Santiago. Think it just looks like a gray rectangle? Look closer. The bottom of the photo is the city, as seen from the top of Cerro San Cristobal, a park with a huge hill, which was my favorite place out of everywhere I visited in Santiago. At the top, you can just barely see the Andies. And the reason you can't really see any of this? Smog. Lots of smog. The view from the city would be absolutely stunning on a clear day, and I hope I'll get to see it sometime this semester, but apparently the only time it's clear is right after a good rainstorm, which temporarily washes the smog out of the sky.

This is Valparaiso, as seen from one of the many cerros, or hills. The part you can see here is called the plan, which is the flat part closest to the water, and probably comprises about 1/3 of the city. The rest is of the city is up in the cerros, which surround the plan. The cerros are incredibly steep, with winding, switchbacking roads, and numerous staircases and narrow passageways constructed when donkeys, not cars, were the way to get around. The cerros are, I think, the most interesting part of the city, and I plan to explore them more this week.

These 2 pictures were taken on one of the cerros, I think Cerro Allegre, during a tour of the area we took during orientation. The one on the left is the whole group, 20 students plus the program staff and the man who led our tour, a gringo who apparently played a large part in revitalizing the city, transforming it from somewhere nobody wanted to visit into a UN designated world heritage site. The second is a street atop the same hill. I love all the different colored houses, and of course the wonderful view, and I hope I can find this spot again.

And this last one is liceo Pedro Montt, the school where I'll have my internship. I'll be working 15 hours a week with a 1st grade class, starting this Tuesday. Beautiful, isn't it? I was going to take another picture from the front, but then one of the students, a high school aged boy, started catcalling at me from the window above the door, and I decided that taking a picture in his general direction would just encourage him.