My first coffee at 5pm

My problem: Chileans don't really drink coffee...they keep telling me it's a crazy gringa thing. Primarily they drink alot of tea. Unfortunately tea just doesn't do it for me....I'm just really dependent on my morning coffee.

My other problem: the closest coffee I know of "to-go" or with wifi is Starbucks! I feel rediculous going to starbucks in Chile...especially when I never go to starbucks at home. So here I am...AT STARBUCKS!...at 5:15pm and I keep wondering why I've felt so strange all day. The answer : I haven't had ANY coffee, and I'm gonna be honest...coffee makes me happy.

I slept in really late this morning, and I still feel tired (because I've had no coffee) but also because I am sun burnt. I went surfing yesterday. My friend Jamie and I met some new Chilean friends who like to surf so we drove in a yellow "mini-bus" to a town north of here called Mantacillo ( I think that's how you spell it). Anyhow, It was awesome. We got pulled over by the policia on the way for no apparent reason, and they kept us pulled over and looked over the car for like 20 minutes...again for no really good reason. We got to the beach and got in the water, which is MUCH colder than the oregon coast has been this summer. I nearly froze to death without booties...i was literally sitting in the water shivering after only 30 minutes. The best part is that the girl I was surfing with didn't speak any English, of course! So, it was an interesting time of her and I trying to communicate even about the simplest things....there was alot of hand motioning going on for sure.

Chilean independence holidays officially start next weekend (Sept 16-20). It's a pretty big deal. For example...there are already flags EVERYWHERE! The streets downtown have been closed off for little dance parties...they are selling little streamers on the street corners...and people are generally just in the mood to party. Yesterday, we got invited to spend the independence day weekend at the beach with our new friends....as they said it " you surf...you bbq...surf some more...bbq...surf...party..bbq...drink...dance...sleep" that was the English translation anyway. Funny. I'm exicited to be at the beach and not in the city, though. It will be more relaxing.

So, back to me right now, the good news is I'm drinking coffee. The bad news is...I'm meeting friends at yoga in 20 minutes, and my coffee just got cool enough to drink....and I'm walking to the class. The goal tomorrow is to get coffee before I do anything else...or maybe the goal for my trip is to not be so dependent on my morning coffee....