One more gringo in the house!

Ellen is here!!! Yey!

Thursday we had a team bonding dinner at KY (http://www.restobarky.cl/). Thai food restaurant that looks like a scary ghetto place on the outside and once you enter it's like Willy Wonka's magical basement. 

Jimena

Trini and me

Ellen and Tamara

Ellen and Jimena

Mauricio

Tamara, Valentina, Lina, and Trini

 Me, Mauricio and Ellen

The gang

Saturday we met Ethel and family for breakfast at Cafe Melba. After we went to Ethel's apartment and had a photoshoot on the balcony. Notice the snow capped mountains in the background.

Ethel and Thorston

Then we went shopping at Portonato! Cheap Cheap Cheap!

Fresh cut fruit for 1,000 CLP

And Churrrrrrrros!!!!!!!!  Destiny had been craving churros all day...and we were so happy when we finally found them!

This is the churro cart right outside of the Portonato metro station.  They were crazy good...filled with chocolately, carmely, manjar type stuff....yum!

Gringo Approved!

After our churro coma we decided we needed to eat again....so off to Bar Liguria. This place I'd heard about for months and never got the chance to go.  It did not dissapoint. Super cool atmosphere and good drinks and good food! I'm ready to go back!

My favorite purchase of the day was bling for my cell phone....for 500 pesos (1 dollar)....can you believe it?? 

Here's the other pattern I got!

Today is St Peter and St Paul day in Chile, so I'm off work.  Ellen and I headed out to Cerro San Cristobal and then had a coffee at Patio Bella Vista.  It's been a great visit and hopefully we'll have some more adventures before we both fly back to the States on Friday night! Yey!!!

Antofogasta

Ay yay yay...lots of stuff to report!

Early last week Mauricio, Eduardo and I packed it up once again and headed to Antofogasta to deliver some training at a mine. Antofogasta is a nice city by the sea and to get to the mine you driver thru the desert.  Pics below!

Snuggle Weenie

Back to Copiapo & the Feria at Los Dominicos

Work took me back to Copiapo this week (1 hour flight north of Santiago). Eduardo, Mauricio, Mike and I headed up the mountain to visit one of our projects and do some field training.  Here they are resting up for our two hour drive up the mountain to the man camp.

Literally up the mountain...

And up the mountain some more....

And a some more....

Until we arrived at the man camp. Nice rooms!

Then another 40 minute drive to the Construction office. They had the first big snow the weekend before, so I was scared we were going to slide off the side of the road and never been seen again.

It was awesome to see the scenery and get to experience what it is like to live and work on a mining project...but man is it tough...not sure I could hack it!  Here's a pic of Mauricio and I on the flight back home...happy to finally have coca cola.

On Saturday I hung out with the Santistebans and we hit up the feria (farmer's market) at Los Dominicos. Tons of variety and everything is so cheap!

This lady was super excited to sell Ethel this cucumber....lol!

Ethel, Me, Ethel's Nice, and Ethel's Mom

Ethel's husband strolling by the stands

This guy was awesome...he kept giving us samples.

I finally found out what these things (pepinos) taste like....kinda like cantaloupe!

They also sell a big variety of sea food at the feria.

Nice relaxing weekend!

And thanks to Ethel, I have a picture of Jeremy and I during his visit a few weeks ago!! 

Ciao!