it is chilly in Chile

I do not know why we all thought it would be warm and rainy in South America, but it is NOT. Every night has been in the 40s and brrrr! In Santiago there is snow on the mountains. We arrived late late Saturday night and I met a nice man named Vincinte on the plane who shared a taxi with us, since there was van waiting for us that we had requested from our hostel. He told me about the earthquake. He was at work and he said that it lasted for 2 and half minutes! I asked him if people ran and he said no, they were relatively calm and there was a lot of praying. It really was a tragedy and more and more we run into people who tell us about their experience with it. Even our cab driver´s brother´s wife was hurt.

Our first day in Chile, my b-day, we spent at the winery. We had to navigate our way there which was tough. So many people were trying to help us, but Chilean spanish is very hard to understand not to mention only Doreen has an easy time with the language. Finally we found a cab with the help of a new friend and although we were late, the wine was still very good. We had a nice dinner, but unfortunatelyI got sick (like Doreen and Steph before). I was up all last night emptying my stomach (not a fun ending to my 22nd).

Anyway, this morning we went to LA PARVA, a ski resort in Chile. We rode up on this road that was switchbacks all the way to the top. 41 in all I think and each one was labeled: curva 1, curva 2, you get the point. The snow was like spring skiing, but I know Marc and Ben are still jealous. The Canadian ski team was practicing and we had a great day. We are tired, so off to bed.

p.s. thank you for all of the birthday messages. I miss you all very much.