El Mall, Valpo, Cerveza, Politicos... mi vida en Chile!

Yesterday was a pretty standard day. I met up with a couple friends and we walked all the way to the mall. Mall in spanish is centro comercial, but they call the mall here "El Mall", very gringo of them. After the mall, we met up with a few other gringos at Cafe Journal for a few beers and just called it a night early.
Today I decided to start making plans for the year. First plan is to go to Mendoza, Argentina soon. I fought bus tickets for about US$40 round trip and a scenic 6 hour bus ride through the Andes mountains. I'm going to talk to the other students tomorrow and try to get a group together to go. After researching, I met up with Bradford (from Ohio) and we journeyed through all of Vina to find Starbucks. I can honestly say that was my best decision ever. We left Starbucks to meet up with Justin (Minnesota) and Philipp (NY) in Valparaiso. Valpo was just such a cool place it was hard to not go back. We found a very nice restaurant and ordered beer and coffee. Strangely here, Heiniken is a cheap beer. I haven't really figured out why, but it could be due to the heavy German influence. We spent the next hour or so chatting about American politics. Thankfully, most of my friends here are fellow liberals. I remember reading a study that said democrats are more adventurous, and I think we all proved that by coming to Chile. It was a very relaxed day. I got everything I want: coffee, beer, and politics with a view of the ocean. It doesn't get better than this! Tomorrow I plan on finally finding a gym and then just enjoying the beach for the rest of the day. I have been here a week and have not spent enough time near the water. I don't know what it is, but I maintain my contentness by going to the ocean. There is just something very humble about watching the waves. Time to study some more before my first day of class Tuesday! Adios!

Edit: I forgot to mention today was Dia de los Ninos (Kid's Day). It is just like Mother's Day, but for kids. There were parties every where! Kids here are freaking spoiled! Yesterday at the mall was like the day before X-mas in the US. It was crazy busy because they buy a ton of gifts for their kids. We are going to have to start this tradition when I get back!