I never knew much about Pablo Neruda besides the fact that he was some random Chilean poet. But after visiting his house on Tuesday, I've since discovered that he is actually a really cool guy. A little eccentric maybe, but he put so much work into his vast collections. Neruda built his own house in Isla Negra, one of the three he had during his lifetime. All of them were by the sea because Neruda was an agnostic who believed that the ocean was the source of all life and so he wanted to salute in his architecture and his decorations. His house in Isla Negra was modeled after the inside of a ship, with vary narrow doors and wooden floors. He kept building on to the house room by room as his collection grew, ending up with a house that was long and winding and perfect for a museum. I really loved seeing all the sea related things he had collected, from figureheads to ships in a bottle to shells. He even had an actual narwhal tusk!
After we took the tour of Neruda's house and explored the surrounding area and beach we grabbed some lunch at the restaurant in the museum and stopped by some little shops near it. Then we got back on the bus to head for home, but took a last minute detour to San Alfonso del Mar Resort where we saw the largest swimming pool in the entire world. And believe me, it is huge! Over 1,000 yards long, covering more than 20 acres and 115 feet deep at its lowest, the pool is like an ocean in its own right. They supposedly built it because the ocean right near the resort is unswimmable because of the crazy currents that pull bathers out into the sea. It was a great story to say I had seen it but it would have been better if I could have swam in it.
On Wednesday we had another relaxing day with little formal activities to go to. We had the morning off so a few of us wandered more around Vina del Mar to finish up our gift shopping. Then got a group lunch and sadly had to say goodbye to Mimo, who is leaving for New York for a week. We all went down to the beach since it was so nice out and some of the Chilean students organized some fun beach games. We played tug of war, a sack race, and some awkward "kinky" balloon games. Then we just relaxed, played some volleyball, and sat on the beach entertaining a friendly dog who we named Alejandro. He would run around jumping and chasing sand we threw and he even stole our soccer ball and almost ran off with it once.
It was great to get the chance to relax on the beach and enjoy the good weather. I still don't understand why the Chileans bundle up so much in this weather. I know this is getting to be winter for them, but they have no idea what a true Pittsburgh winter feels like. Our last activity of Wednesday was to go our last salsa class at the University of Santa Maria. I was kind of disappointed we never got to have a reggaeton class, but the salsa was fun once we got into it again and feel like I have gotten a lot better over our four lessons.
I cannot believe we only have two days left here. All the lack of sleep and constant bustle is starting to catch up to me I think, but I still am not ready to go home. Nevertheless, I am just going to enjoy and relish all the rest of the time we have here. Today we are going horse back riding, so that in and of itself will be an adventure. Check back for updates on the dwindling days we have left!
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