First of all, for anyone who was concerned, we've safely arrived in Chile. Not only that, but we've had a couple of the most productive days in our entire lives. We had to run like gazelles to catch our flight in Atlanta, but once we were on the plane, there were 9 solid hours of light dozing combined with Mission Impossible 3. It was by far the most impossible mission I've ever seen.

When we got to Chile, we took a shuttle to our hostel, which has been rated the nicest one in Latin America. Erin might disagree, but I thought the one in Costa Rica was nicer. If nothing else, this one would definitely win the award for Hostel with the Most Bizzare and Erotic Pictures on the Wall, although that was not mentioned in the guidebook. Every single wall was festooned with either ponographic Picasso-esqe sketches or skeletons attacking the living. It was impressive. The place also had a foozball table, which to me was worth the price of admission right there. Unfortunately, the only picture we took of the place was of our dorm room, which didn't have the decor or gaming tables of the rest of the place. We even met a couple people with TEFL experience while we were there and talked to them. The one who'd taken a TEFL class was really positive about it, so now we're both pretty excited to get started on that in a month. Erin says I need to brag about the weather. We're definitely not in the middle of a heat wave in Chile. It's a little cold out of the sun, but maybe in the 60's in the middle of the day. The Chileans seem to think this is really cold, and they all wear scarves and hats and winter coats, but the weather is pretty damn near perfect for us. We thought it was a little foggy the first day, but it turns out it was actually just pollution. Apparently, the cooler weather in winter causes a layer of smog to settle into the city, a lot like in L.A. Anyway, once we dropped our stuff off at the hostel, we immediately went off in search of a place to live for the next two months. We found one within an hour and a half, and now we're moved in. Most Chilean houses aren't much to look at on the outside. I'm not sure there's a really good way to pretty up concrete, but they're mostly nice enough once you get inside. Our room has its own private (and incredibly steep and dangerous) staircase and its own private bathroom. It's pretty roomy with lots of storage space, so we're really happy with it. The rest of the house is like a labyrinth: there are two kitchens, and lots of tiny hallways with tiny doors leading to different rooms. The guy renting us the room is named Jorge (that's George in spanish), and he lets out rooms by the month mostly to students at the university. There are a couple other folks around the house pretty much constantly, which is good for practicing spanish. After about thirty seconds of trying to explain something to me, Jorge's wife realized that Erin was a more productive person to talk to. She says I'll learn fast, though. We're not exactly certain how many people live here; we've met 3 students so far, but there are also younger kids and random neighbors wandering around the house as well. We met a guy who we are meeting for beers in about an hour; he's one of the neighbor/live-ins that may or may not live here. Today we unpacked and went shopping for food. There are a bunch of fresh vegetable stands near our house, and it turns out a big bagful of them only costs a couple dollars, so it looks like we'll be eating healthier than expected.

Pictures of our place soon to follow...