ascensores

So I was waiting for the micro this morning when this man camp up to me asking for the time. Upon hearing me speak, he immediately reverted to English, but I stopped it. He asked where in the US I was from, and I said, apparently unclearly, PA. He definitely heard "Transylvania" and started talking about Dracula. I admit that I was entertained, so I nodded and let him keep going. This actually happened to me later in the day again, a similar event, and I think it is super funny.

After finally sorting through the class scheduling confusion at Casa Central, I met up with Thomas again for a small lunch and a trip to buy our Chilean identification cards at the Registro Civil in Valparaíso. We waited there almost two hours... I pulled number 91, and it was only 0n 40... but all the same it was super fun, especially if he knew a word in German but not Spanish or English. I love the German accent coupled with Chilean Spanish. Anyway, it turns out that neither of us had the correct paperwork (I needed my actual passport, not a photocopy) and we have to go back again anyway to buy our IDs. So we decided to ride an ascensor! Ascensores are these cool things that are like funicular elevators, but are much older than those. They basically eliminate the need to walk up about 200 steps, and are really really fun. At the top of Ascensor Reina Victoria, we has a sweet view of Valpo and met the really nice conductor guy. Upon hearing the German accent, he excitedly pointed out the Lutheran church close by, and we chatted it up for a while. And there was a slide, descending from the platform! This we utilized of course. After a trip exploring the surrounding streets, we parted ways, and I followed the palms of Avenida Brazil back to the university. Walking around the city and exploring the crazy steep streets and haphazard colorful buildings is my new favorite activity. On one street today, we saw two TVs stacked vertically, painted with the words "apaga la tele, vive tu vida." Turn of the tv, live your life. There is a lot one can take away from this place, and I have just scratched the surface, I think.