The Second Day In Chile : City Tour and Salsa.

On our second day in Chile, we started off with some lectures on Chilean culture.  We learned about the various regions and their climates, and various characteristics of the culture from politics to literature.  After finishing all the lecture, we took a city tour of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar.  Some of the views in Valparaiso were absolutely amazing.  The shoreline and old buildings are gorgeous.  I can definitely see the European influence in Chile, mainly in the architecture and layouts of the city.  It was interesting to learn a bit about the history of both cities, and what kind of changes they've gone through over the years.  Valparaiso is a major port city, and just seeing the port was insane.  The boxes on top of boxes, stacked right off the shore, and the ships being unloaded so systemically was simply mind blowing.  After the city tour we stopped at a place for what were supposed to be the BEST empanadas.  I have to agree, they were delicious.  I had a steak and cheese empanada and then bought a cheese and caramel empanada.  I can't remember the last time I've had food that was simply so fantastic.  After our snack of empanadas, we headed to our salsa dance class.  The dancing was quite comical, seeing each other make mistakes and just cracking up about how ridiculous we knew we looked.  All in all, it was lots of fun, although I still don't think I'll be fitting in at any discotecs.  Then after returning to our hotel, some of the Chilean students took us out to share and drink and break the ice.  They were very hospitable, and we had a lot of fun joking around and singing, as it was a karaoke bar.  I don't think I've ever met people so kind and welcoming to people they barely knew.  I can tell this trip is going to be a lot of fun.