No sleep in Santiago - Reggie West

This week has definitely been a whirlwind. It began with me being completely jet lagged and wanting to sleep for three days, but much to my surprise I realized that Santiago is too amazing of a place to waste sleeping. I can sleep in the United States; this I'm going to enjoy. It is pretty difficult to sleep all day when you have every terrain imaginable without driving distance. Deserts, mountains, lakes, cities, islands, even tundra (in Antarctica) all somehow manage to coexist on this thin strip in South America that we know as Chile. You can be in the middle of Chile and literally drive two hours to the beach one way or two hours to the mountains the other way. With amazing people, amazing food (the "bar-b-q" is fantastic) and this beautiful country as your background, I'm convinced that Chile is the world's best kept secret. One of the most surprising things about Chile is the level of friendliness of the people. Everyone talks about how friendly Chileans are. This is one of those things that you read about on websites and in your Fodor’s Travel Guide and you think to yourself, "Yeah, ok. Chileans aren't just terrible people, I get it." Then you actually get here and realize that they really are just that nice. They embrace everyone they meet with enthusiasm and a kiss on the cheek. I have never had so many people meet me and then immediately turn around and ask to cook for me and invite me to their house. I mean, you do not have to ask me twice to RSVP to a delicious meal with good people. I actually had to stop and google “why are Chileans so happy?” Yes, I was actually shocked enough to google it and judging from the google results, I'm not the first one. I could not find a straight forward answer but the everyone agrees: Chileans are just happy people. Chilean children are the country’s real MVPs. I seriously need to call Delta and find out the cost for three extra tickets to bring my host kids back with me. They're amazing. This weekend my host family and I visited the beach in Pichilemu, Chile. It is about a two and a half hour drive from Santiago. To say that the route was scenic is an understatement. I had to buy more iCloud storage half way through so that I can take more pictures. It was worth every penny. About halfway through the drive we came through Litueche – a quaint town that sits on a lake and uses a huge dam as its energy source. It's stunning. Have a look below.

On one side of the dam is a beautiful lake and on the other side you find huge rocks and mountains with a tiny stream flowing through them. It is one of those things that makes you say “you have got to be kidding me.” The sheer beauty of this place is just not fair. I see why people who are born in Chile tend to remain in Chile; honestly, why would you move? Pichilemu was in an entirely new category of beauty. This place has black sand created from the volcanic ashes. The coastline curves around the Pacific Ocean and you get to see mountains meet the water – this is the stuff dreams are made off. Imagine Malibu, Caifornia with black sand...exactly! As far as the classrooms go...the level of connection between the students and teachers is truly commendable. There is just a harmonious vibe across the board at the school. The administration, teachers and students are amazing. They really go out of your way to help in any way possible. The entire students staying in the same class and teachers coming to them thing is kind of confusing at first, but if it works for them, it works. With week one down, I cannot wait to see what else is out there. Dual citizenship may just be a possibility. I've gone on long enough, you can check out pictures of Pichilemu below! Ciao!