This weekend was nice and relaxing. I went shopping at a mall here in Santiago, which was a strange experience. The malls here are just like the ones in the States, transplanted here in Santiago, with all Chilean stores. The mall was crowded and rather busy because it is a fun activity to go to the mall with friends and hang out. Most people don't really buy anything at these malls, they only window shop. I did manage to pick up a nice warm sweater and jacket which was fortunate since the temperature dropped here. It's now a balmy 2 degrees Celsius. Brrrrr.

We have also started our class called Chile Contemporaneo. It's a class for my program that runs for two weeks about the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in Chile. It is very interesting. So far we have learned about the history, the political structure, and the society of Chile.

On Monday as a group we all went to La Moneda which is the presidential palace in the middle of the city. Unlike in the States, La Mondeda is only where the president works. She lives in a private home somewhere in Santiago. The tour was really cool since we were able to go inside La Moneda instead of just the interior courtyards. We saw the rooms where the president does the entertaining of foreign and other important guests, where the press confrences are held, and other such rooms. Then we were able to go upstairs and see a recreation of President Allende's office and where he died. It was a sobering moment, and I felt expecially privileged and greatful to be shown such a historic site, especially for Chile.

Last night it rained for the first time since I have been here. I was a little dissapointed since it did not really rain that hard. It was like a gental sprinkle, although it apparently it hailed in some parts of the city. The rain did clear out all the smog from the city so the sky was bright blue this morning, and you could see the mountains so clearly this morning. I still can't get over the fact that they are the Andes and that they are so BIG.