Saturday and Sunday in Santiago

It's been almost a month since I got to Santiago, but this past weekend was the first one I spent in the city. I was excited to see what it was like to be here on a weekend, and of course the city didn't disappoint.

I'm sure Friday is a great night to go out, but unfortunately I did not experience this because here Thursday is also a great night to go out and I had to sleep on Friday to recover. However, Saturday during the day was wonderful. I went to about three different parks and did a lot of walking around the city. I found a few great spots to read and a few more to run in. My friend Juliana and I had lunch in a restaurant with typical Galician food, and Saturday night I went out with several of the other international students. Sunday morning I went to the cathedral for Mass. It is absolutely incredible and a beautiful thing to watch. I had lunch with a friend and we came across another park neither of us was familiar with.

Santiago is very alive on the weekends with plenty of people in the streets. It's such a different world because people--young and old--typically don't go out until at least 10, so when you're walking around at 1am there are still plenty of people on the streets. It's very strange to see a group of people who are at least in their 60's walking around so late, but I like the fact that everyone participates in the nightlife here. I was very happy to remain in Santiago for the weekend, and I've got 4 more months and much more to discover about the city itself in the midst of all the traveling I would still like to do while I'm here.

And as for going out late, living here is completely changing my internal clock. I usually go to bed early and get up at the crack of dawn when I'm at home. I was getting up at about 5:30 on average last semester, but here getting up early is a struggle. We go out so late that you have to take advantage of a nap, and getting up early is not only difficult but pointless. The city doesn't wake up until about 9:30 or 10, and it's a slow process. It's a different world in some ways, but I'm adapting and learning to wait until 11 to go out (which is what time I'm meeting my friends tonight). I'm also trying to overcome my American tendency to be on time (or 5 minutes early) to everything.