Sunday May 5, 2013 .... Day 2

Today is Sunday, May 5, 2013. We arrived at Santiago International Airport at about 8:00am. Chile is located in the same time zone as home which I did not know at first. After getting off the plane, we regrouped and went through customs and security. Now we were on the homestretch. The last thing we had to do before we left was line up at the ATM and take out some money. There are about 500 Chilean Pesos for each $1 USD. We met up with Jorge, our group leader, and two students who go to college in Valparaiso. They will be showing us around the following two weeks and introducing us to more students. We got on our last bus trip before we made it to our hotel in Vina del Mar. The trip was about an hour and a half but the scenery was great. There were mountains everywhere you looked. The valleys before the mountains were full of trees and crops. We passed by a few small towns on the way and passed by Vina Indomita. This is the vineyard that we will get to tour later on this week and see how everything works. Before we knew it, we were in Vina del Mar. The city is great. It is located right on the beach in central Chile. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky and the right amount of wind so it wouldn't get too hot. We walked around the beach area and ate at Tiki Taco. I ordered chicken quesadillas and they were some of the best I have had. We continued walking along the beach and watched some mimes mess with people crossing the street. We even saw a Jack Sparrow look alike. We took pictures and made our way back to the hotel and now I am here writing my blog.