Exploring Vina del Mar

After lunch I took a brief nap and then took some time to explore Vina del Mar. The area is very nice, with many restaurants (several of which have mexican/tex-mex food), bars, shops, and even a park. I have found that Chile has many stray dogs, but people don't tend to pay much attention to them. I can only assume rabies and aggression is not a big problem with these dogs. These dogs seem to know when to cross streets and walk the city streets just like people.

I observed the locals to get a sense of what types of activities are popular here. I saw some skateboarders, who were pretty good. I'm not quite sure what the most popular music is here, but I have heard some American music being played in various places. One guy was listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" on a radio on the street. I also heard some American songs covered in Spanish, and on the bus I even heard some songs such as "Yellow Submarine" played on pan-pipes. I find this very interesting, and would like to talk to some locals about the type of music they prefer.

Tonight we ate dinner as a group at a Mexican restaurant called "Margarita."The food was very good. Tomorrow we're attending some lectures, taking a tour of Valparaiso, and even taking a salsa dance class. It'll be a very busy day (we have to start pretty early in the morning). I'm very excited.