Ahogarme en Español: Tiempo libre en Valdivia antes de la empieza de clases

I arrived in Valdivia on Thursday, after a short flight from Santiago. It was definitely nice to just have a short jaunt down here, as opposed to making the whole trip at once. I have, though, come down with a mild cold. I'm blaming the air quality in Santiago. I still was able to explore the town and take some photos in the day and a half I had before our orientation today. Most of the students arrived yesterday, and so most have yet to get out into the town. Everyone is meeting up later tonight to go out in town, since tomorrow we are free to relax and recover from travel and what will surely be a ridiculous night.

There were a few other students on the day early flight to Valdivia with me, and we have had a good time wandering around Valdivia, which is incredibly beautiful. The school and my host family's house is located on Isla Teja, and it is a short walk across the bridge into the city center. Valdivia is the capital city of the Los Rios region of Chile, which includes 14 major rivers, which all converge before flowing out past Valdivia and into the Pacific Ocean. It is majestic. Colorful boats line the shores near the bridge. There is even a big submarine which is now a museum.

Today we had our orientation for the study abroad program, I spoke Spanish nearly all day, and felt pretty damn good about it. There was definitely some bumps in there, but I feel like it's coming quickly. We went and got a fantastic almuerzo (lunch, and pretty much the only meal that seems to matter in Valdivia) at Agridulce, which was paid for by the program and was quite nice. Everyone seems legit, I had a truly fantastic day, and am looking forward to tonight. I'm going to lay down for a couple of hours.

Monkey tree, one of many growing around town. Truly bizarre.

Just some pretty stuff on my way to the bridge yesterday.

These guys deliver on scooters, which are unfortunately not designed in similar abstract fashion.

The view from the Isla Teja side of the bridge of the center of town, the fishmarket, and some lobos marinos, which are seals, but look a little different than the ones I remember from California.