São Paulo and Arrival to Santiago, Chile

Hello my friends--I have returned :) It's a rather dreary Saturday afternoon (and the Andes bus pass is closed due to a winter blizzard) so I return hopefully tomorrow. But I figured I had some time to write to my lovely readers of the blog!

Tuesday morning at 6 a.m. I got into São Paulo bus station--It had more than 80 places for the buses, which is the largest I've seen yet (Retiro has 75). I called my friend and met him at the metro station. I got back to the house, hung out a little, and caught up on some sleep! I woke up around noon and sent some CS messages to meet for coffee or a drink, and I got a reply about some activities at 2 that afternoon as well as a phone #. I met a group of CSers at the Museo de Arte São Paulo, which I found out was the most important art museum in South America. My "culturation" continues! Lets see if Dr. Munson's class paid off (because I know my final grade in there sure didn't :p). There was a group of 6 of us, all eager to learn and see the art! I enjoyed the paintings and recognzied the names we studied, and I even appreciated some of the works a little bit too :) We left there and headed to an electronics festival, which features some VERY cool technological endeavours. It would be best to explain in person with a photo, but I'll leave one here and let you try to imagine what these things did! We hung out at a cafe, went to a book store, and were there for a while. There was then a CS weekly meeting just a few blocks away, and we all went. We arrived there early and enjoyed the conversation from people from all over the world...I met people from Italy, Colombia, Spain, Germany, Thailand, and all of South America. Oh how I love this network! We left around 1 a.m. and hit the sack...

Wednesday was another day of exploring and learning. I met Brunna, a Japanese Brazilian girl, outside the museum and we met with Daniel for lunch. I didn't feel too well but enjoyed the Japanese soup we ate :) We traveled all over São Paulo and saw the Cathedral de Sé, the famous park, and downtown. The time went quickly, and I was back at the house at 6 p.m., and we were going to a futebol match that evening; São Paulo vs. Botafogo (from Rio). We left at 6:30 and took the bus. The excitement mounted as we got off the bus, bought the tickets, and arrived at the stadium. Oh the excitement of a Brazilian futebol match. It was my 3rd Brazilian match and like the other 2 FULL of energy. You can see the photos, but they don't do the atmosphere justice! We headed to a cafe and got a little bit to eat. We then headed back and went to sleep.

Thursday I was meeting Daniel for Lunch before heading back to Buenos Aires by plane. Don't worry friends, I haven't sacrificed my passion for the South American bus system, but rather the 36+ hour bus trip would make my trip to Chile a little late. So I decided to fly :) The flight was without problems, and that evening I arrived to Buenos Aires. I purchased my bus ticket for Santiago, Chile, for the next day at 5 p.m., and returned to my apartment. I hung out with Luis a little but headed to bed. I got up the next day and did some laundry, re-packed my bag, and headed out again! The bus was a 19 hour trip, very similar to the others, except I believe this had the best service. 2 snacks, 2 hot meals, and all the wine I wanted were all in the price of the trip ($60 USD including the travel). I got to Santiago, Chile around noon the next day, rested and ready to go!

My next post will include all my Chilean travels, including Santiago, Valparaíso, and Viña del Mar. As always thanks for all the comments and love! ~Benjamín