Thank you Helen Bing

Thanks to Helen Bing's ridiculously large endowment, I enjoyed a free trip to a beach town in northern Chile called Iquique (pronounced "E-key-kay"). It was the perfect way to spend Halloween weekend - lots of son, a pool with an ocean view, and no money required.

I spent the first day hanging by the pool and exploring the city. At night in the central plaza I saw an amazing dance performance, which I have a great video of, before spending three hours at a fancy restaurant (again, all thanks to Helen Bing).

My Halloween was quite different from the traditional trick-or-treat scene of the US. Instead of going door-to-door, I took a 14 hour trip across the desert and up 13,000 feet. Note to self: don't ascend so quickly ever again. Altitude sickness is not make believe. Despite the headache we shared as a group, all of us enjoyed the sites. Imagine driving through the desert and stopping to admire a scolding hot geyser spewing out water next to an iceberg. That is just one example of the extreme nature of Chile's landscape.


We thankfully returned to the hotel (the Radisson, for which I have a new found respect) just in time for a wonderful dinner and few hours to celebrate the holiday. We flew back to Santiago the next day after soaking up the sun for a few more hours.

School is going well - 4 more papers and I'm a free woman! The only thing that keeps me from going nuts is the fact that I have a trip to look forward to every weekend. I'm also really enjoying my internship. Today, one of the other gringas and I interviewed a Chilean micr0-entrepreneur about his business. His story was so insightful. I learned more about Chilean history and politics in those 30 minutes that I have in the past three weeks here in Santiago.

That's all for now...I head to San Pedro de Atacama this weekend (driest desert in the world - I hope I remember some lotion). I'll leave you with a picture of some passersby.