June

I've been pretty busy the past month academically and therefore haven't done anything too exciting, but I've been enjoying roaming the streets and frequenting the eclectic cafés of Valparaíso. I've been putting more time into my photography class and am pleased with the way many of my photos are turning out. We had a "salida del campo" (a field trip) today and went to Quilpue, one of the regions on the outskirts of Viña. We spent almost 6 hours hiking through the countryside and I took a whole roll of pictures of the natural beauty, interesting garbage items that we encountered in the more polluted areas, train bridges, some old cars, people, and a horse. Tomorrow I'm going to go to the main dock of the small catch fisherman to take pictures of the festivities celebrating San Pedro, the patron saint of fisherman.

Most of my classes are done or I'm wrapping them up now, and I'm getting ready for my last big trip. I'm going to San Pedro de Atacama (the desert up north!) with a few of my friends from my program from July 5-10th, and after that will be flying back to the US on the 20th. I can't believe my time here is coming to an end, but I'm really looking forward to making the best of my last three weeks here without classes. I've posted some of my favorite pictures from the past month... they are pretty random, but if nothing else they show how pretty it still is here even though it's winter!