Words from the other half.

I thought since this is our blog and Annie has been razzing me to write a bit that I would do just that. I think the most important thing about this first couple of weeks here is how comfortable I feel. In general I do pretty well adjusting to new places, cultures ect and of course the fact that I speak decent Spanish and have studied Latin America for the past several years makes it all the easier. And while I feel I am comfortable here, I think my subconscious is still catching up. Most recently I have had a reoccurring theme to my dreams where I dream that I am in the States telling some friend that I need to either go to or go back to Chile. In the dream I am really worried that I am going to miss out on something important, in the most recent dreams a day or two of school, and I try to figure out how I can get back to Chile quickly. I have been waking up from these dreams, looking around and reminding myself that I am in Chile. When I was traveling through Asia last year I remember having vivid dreams of this same style and I find it interesting that they are now occurring here.
Dreams aside, I really am enjoying Santiago. As a lover of the city life I find myself fitting in perfect here. It is busy, congested, colorful, noisy, polluted with people and traffic and alive. At the same time it is lush and oddly peaceful. And while I thought San Francisco was green, I now believe it has nothing on Santiago. The street we are now staying on is very popular for upper class Chileans and tourists to dine and drink $$$, while one street away is very popular for Chilean college students to get drunk. Needless to say this neighborhood, mixed with perfect weather in the middle of summer, has given us a view into the partying habits of Chileans and I am very impressed. The Metro here is clean, utilized, rapid and convenient. I think it rivals anything I have seen in other major cities. The architecture here is an amazing combination of classic European styles and modern design. I constantly find myself just looking around in awe. I love the little subtleties like cobble streets and decrepit buildings everywhere we have been. In general it has been a visual theme park.
Since this is my first post(thank you Annie for being a bit more diligent)I could go on forever but I am not going to. I have many other things to share about this experience so far and I am sure I will have more in the future but I will end this here before it becomes a novel.