EMPANADAS

Today was the first day we attended lectures at USM, the University in Chile.  We got to the University and it was amazing.  It is right on the beach...if I went to this school, I would never be able to go to class.  It is covered in plants and palm trees and unique designed buildings.  You look out any window and there is the ocean.  Some of the students took us on a tour of the school and we soon began our lectures.  In our 4 hour lecture (soooo long...) we learned about Chile and its comparison to other neighboring countries.  It definitely was not the most interesting lecture, but it was informative.  At 1:00 pm, Javier, one of the students from Chile working in the program that deals with the American students, took us to the school cafeteria for lunch.  We had sausage, mashed potatoes, salad, and bread.  Chileans LOVE bread we have learned.  It wasn't amazing, but the lunch was eatable.  The cafeteria was crazy busy...we sat at the same table as a ton of the other chilean students and were able to interact with them.  After lunch, we met two other girl students who took us on a 4 hour bus tour of Val Pariso and Vina Del Mar.  This was unbelievable.  We climbed hills, took the incline, saw amazing statues and buildings, etc.  The girls, Daniella and Valeria, took us to a local restaurant and got empanadas...these are the most amazing food anyone can ever eat.  ChileIt is fried bread and we can fill the middle with whatever we want.  A lot of people got seafood and meat in theirs, but I ordered a tomato, cheese, and pepper empanada.  We really want to bring empanadas to the states and put dessert in them since they do not make this kind..omg they would be to die for!  After empanadas, we had our first salsa class.  The class is from 7:30-8:30. The first half of the class is solo salsa where we can learn the moves and the second half is when we pair up with a partner and learn how to move together and do turns!  I am definitely joining the Pitt Salsa club back at school!  Later that night a few of the Chilean students came to our hotel and picked us up to go to the karaoke bar.  We tried the signature drink- Pisco Sour- and it was really good!  Then me and Evan were the first to sing karaoke and we sung Total Eclipse of the Heart!  It was really really fun and we were able to really get to know the Chilean students!