FELIZ CUMP!

happy birthday to me! and to Rachel! and to Uncle David and Christopher, whose birthdays follow mine...it is birthday season, and I've been living it up here in Chile.

Thursday (bday day) was a good day, starting with teaching class in the morning and returning home to make hashbrown style potatoes (mmm) and heading out into Valpo to get lost and take a lancha tour of the port (in a small boat). There are some pretty incredible vistas from the water of Valpo, and I think it helps to show how I really do live in an area that is, essentially, hills falling down into water. On the lancha tour I met a French girl and she ended up spending the rest of the day with us, eating veg lasagna at a tasty restaurant and exploring for a bit (complete with a pistachio ice cream- my fav!). In the evening, after teaching my evening English classes, I came home to beautiful decorations (streamers and balloons) set up by Alvaro, as well as to a fondue pot! And this incredible tapestry made by the Bolivian nannies that Alvaro works with. Both are beautiful (no, seriously...the fondue pot is beautiful too). Friday I bought extra cheese and made a quite tasty cheese fondue (if I may say so) and we bathed bread, carrots, broccoli, apples, celery, and oranges in the cheese (guess if it was an 8-year old Chilean or not that wanted to dip the oranges...). I also bought the only dark chocolate available in Viña (I swear everything comes with almonds) and whipping cream, and chocolate fondue is on the list of this week's treats.

To celebrate, I went out (briefly, because I had an 8:30 class on Friday) with my French friend and with Alvaro, and I drank my traditional birthday mojito. Yesterday I met with an English teacher friend and some other friends and we made guacamole and pisco sours to celebrate as well, which was delicious. All in all, 22 was a delightful birthday, and pictures shall come.

In literary news, I finally finished Love in the Time of Cholera, which was heart wrenching and excessive, all in once. It would have been difficult to have read it in Spanish. I'm continuing with the Open Veins of Latin America, but I'm looking for book suggestions, in English or Spanish, for when I finish. Feel free to send books to me too, in packages...I love getting mail. I promise that any mail or packages sent will be reciprocated with postcards or other small packages!

I'm off to continue with typical fomingo activities....huge abrazos for everyone.