Iloca!!

Hazard: picture overload on this post! In two days I took at least 150 pictures that I kept and my mom took another 100. It's been hard narrowing it down.

The first of many!: 

Caroline: I think you'll appreciate this one.

On Wednesday my family and I packed up and left for Iloca! Which is a city a little over 2 hours from Curicó. We stopped one time to take pictures on a bridge (puente!). 

The family minus Felipe

My mom and I!

We got into town at about 6 and I got my first view of the sea (el mar!)! It was so beautiful! The sun was at a perfect place and I got a ton pretty pictures. A lot of people say that this part is not very pretty because there was a tsunami, but I

agree to disagree! We stopped and went to fly kites on the beach and it was perfect. I haven't flown a kite since I was like 6 and I've been missing out. I felt so incredibly happy with the gorgeous view and the feeling of carelessness. I can't even explain it. Oh and I don't think I've written about Chilean people's obsession with kites yet. There are always people in the streets flying them. Everywhere. And there are a lot of street vendors selling them. It's great!

 Things were going great! And then this happened. hahaha

 Hmmmm...

 After a while, some relatives and friends came to the beach. Then, we left together to go the the house. My family's close friends own a big house there. So that night, we ate, laughed, talked, and played cards and bingo. I didn't really think that bingo would be hard, but it was when they read off the numbers (numeros!) really fast! We played until one or two and then I was finally able to go to bed. That night, I got my first big wave of major frustration with my Spanish skills. When a bunch of people are trying to talk to you at once at one in the morning things can get pretty frustrating. I kind of wanted to cry, honestly.

This is what happens when your bored with a pile of rice in front of you

 Things were better in the morning when I woke up and had this:

 With this as my view out the window:

After everyone was ready, most of the people went to play fútbol on the beach and a few of us went to the market. There were so many things that I wanted to get for presents (regalos!)! But my mom said that there were even more in Santiago. She did buy me a little coin purse that says Iloca, Chile on it.

 Later, when we were driving around, we stopped to take some pictures:

 Me and my cousins!

We headed back to the house again (de nuevo) for empanadas and soup. We went down to the beach and collected some sea shells. :)

 Then at about 6, everyone left. We stayed in Iloca and walked around the beach some more.

I still need to take pictures of these parks that they have everywhere. All over the place, there are these outdoor gyms. They have a bunch of regular gym equipment, but it is made out of playground material. Soon, I'll go and take pictures of more machines. This was the only kind they had at the beach. I really like the idea of these and wish they had them in the U.S.. This one is for your waist.

We couldn't help but stop and ride these little 4-wheelers! It was a lot of fun and I think I was laughing for all 4 laps.

After that, we went back to the house to grab our bags and then had some tea (té!) and hot chocolate with the family friends. At 8:30 or 9 we were finally on the way home. I slept in the car (el auto!) most of the drive home.

Oh and one more thing. When people ask you 'do you know the sea?' (¿Conoces el mar?) they mean 'have you been to the sea.' At first I was confused and I'd say yes and then they'd ask which one, and then I'd have to back track. Haha. It's the same things with cities and other similar questions. ¿Conoces Valparaiso?

Anyways. I had such a fun time in Iloca! I love the sea! It was a great time with my lovely family and we made so many memories!