Warming up...

It seems like spring is just about here – it was in the 60’s (F) this weekend, flowers are starting to bloom all over the place, and we've had a lot of chances to get outside. We just got back from a hike through a canyon not far from school. Here are a few pics…

You can't tell from the picture, but this lizard along the path was at least 15 feet long:

It was yearbook-picture time at school this past week, and the photo-taking experience was A LOT different than what we expected. The photographers play dance music and encourage everyone getting their picture taken (and waiting in line) to dance around. The dance-party atmosphere is encouraged by the fact that it’s dark in the room and the only lights are the spotlights on the student getting his or her picture taken. Each student gets 3-4 minutes worth of pictures, and the photographer (who is also dancing) tells them do things like toss their hair around or spin around in the chair and make a Zoolander-esque sort of face. AND THE PHOTOGRAPHERS PUT MAKE-UP ON THE KIDS. Even the boys. They powder-up their faces and cover up pimples and things. It was pretty unreal.

We had our first brush with the law a couple of days ago after turning the wrong way down a one-way road. We got pulled over and briefly spoke with the cop as he took my ID card and started to write the ticket. We were pretty bummed out because we’ve heard stories about $150 tickets and having to take a day off of work to go to court, but just as he was starting to write it there was a huge CRASH! sound because somebody rear-ended somebody else literally fifteen feet away from us (totally unrelated). The cop had to go deal with the accident and so he quickly gave us a warning and then let us go. Pretty nice timing.

It was Claire’s birthday this past week, and yesterday we had a joint party with a few other friends from work who have late August / early September birthdays. The party had an Olympic theme and everyone was supposed to dress up as an athlete. Lots of soccer players, runners, cyclists, and a few field hockey players. Claire and I opted for a vintage look and wore togas with laurels on our heads.

This is kind of random, but here's a picture of what is probably the funniest Chilean adthat we've seen (it's on the back of buses all around the city) - the baby's incredibly thick head of hair is AWESOME:

We saw a kid running around in the neighborhood the other day wearing a Duke University sweatshirt – pretty surprising.

We’re only two weeks away from our Spring Break! It falls the week of Chilean Independence Day (September, 18^th). Everyone here calls the holiday “dieciocho”, and it celebrates Chilean freedom from Spain (led by a red-haired Irish guy named Bernardo O’Higgins, who then became Chile’s first independent leader and has TONS of stuff around Santiago named after him). We’re looking forward to Chris and Erin coming into town and then heading north to La Serena and the Elqui Valley to do some exploring.

Last, but not least, here are two mullets of the week (taken as we pulled away from our hike this afternoon). The first one is from a guy who was unloading a mountain bike, and it’s a style that a lot of dudes at our gym have. For now we can call it the MEATHEAD MULLET:

The second is a little bit more alternative, and while we can call it the RAT-TAIL MULLET it’s a little bit more distinct than that because it’s usually off to one side (I don’t know if you can tell in this picture but it’s definitely to the right side of his head):

We hope you’re feeling better, Meg!