The city is currently recovering, not from a natural disaster or civil unrest, but from the Universidad de Chile fùtbol (soccer) game at Estadio Nacional yesterday. Though the final score was 1-1, apparently this was not good enough for the thousands of Universidad de Chile fans, who crowded onto the micros (public buses), waving their team`s flag, chanting, singing, for hours before and after the game. The micro drivers seemed nonchalant, allowing people to hang out the windows and doors of the bus and scatter shredded paper onto passing cars. Closing streets and metro stations, the celebrations reached a level unknown even in the world of US pro-football, in sharp contrast to the typical Sunday atmosphere in Santiago, in which everything is closed.

I hosted my first Chilean party on Thursday night, (though the majority of the guests were from the US,) and my host mom was anxious to oversee the preparations. She recruited two of my friends to help us prepare eleven plates of avacado and egg salad finger sandwiches, and produced three bottles of champagne to make Chilean New Year`s punch, "Pauncho Romano." The punch, which disappeared quickly, was comprised of three bottles of typical champagne, a pint of pineapple ice cream, and some pineapple juice.

Since traveling has occupied the majority of my weekends here, it was nice to spend the weekend in Santiago and explore some new areas. I spent Friday shopping, (many of the styles are surprisingly the same, though the 80`s are still alive here as well) and watching the various vendors and street performers. Trying to hunt down an obscure book for one of my classes, I eventually wandered into a series of Harry Potterish bookshops, almost hidden in a row of department stores. Closet sized and filled with ancient, dusty manuscripts, some of the shops were even lit by candles! Unfortunately, the prices were a little more modern.

Later in the weekend, I was able to see Plaza de Armas (a palm tree filled courtyard surrounded by government buildings) at night, and visit more of Santiago's gorgeous cathedrals. I also expanded my knowledge of Chilean night life, noting the unbelievable contrast between the neighborhood "discotecas" near my house and the Vegas-like clubs in Las Condes, the upscale region east of the city. Saturday night I tried the Chilean version of Mexican with a few friends, and was pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, I think our taxi driver took advantage of our unfamiliarity with the area to circle a few extra times, since the returning taxi ride was significantly cheaper than the ride to the restaurant.

I am currently trying to hunt down a sleeping bag for next weekend`s CIEE sponsored camping trip and trying to convince my host mom that we will not freeze sleeping outside overnight. Apparently the Santiguian conception of "cold" is somewhat different than in Wisconsin...