Parents!

Ok, so the parents are here and life is good. A brief synopsis of what happened before they got here and then what we have been doing.

From Santa Cruz we went out to visit Montes Winery. We had a private tour with a very nice tourguide who gave us some of the premium wine to taste even though it was not included. The whole winery is built feng shui with music playing in the barrel room and all the energy flowing out of a fountain in the center of the winery. It is really cool. The wine was fantastic and we tasted four kinds: a cabernet sauvignon/carmenere blend, a cabernet sauvignon, a syrah and their premium wine the M. All were very good and are all exported to the states. We also had an awesome cab driver who pointed out all sorts of things inside and outside of the city on the way to the winery such as what school he went to and what different fruits and vegetables were growing in the countryside. It was a good day.

The next day we moved on to Pichilemu, the surf destination of Chile. We spent the day on the beach getting tan and also eating empanadas that are awesome and cheap. The beach is gorgeous, black sand stretching as far as the eye can see with big waves breaking over the sandbars out in the horseshoe bay. We relaxed the first day and then on the second day I took surf classes. In the morning was pretty difficult since we were out deep, the tide was high and the waves were big. It was only me and a 20 year old instructor who had been surfing his whole life. He was great. Then in the afternoon, I went out with him again and a few more people and it was much easier. We were catching the beach breaks and I actually made it up and stayed with the wave a few times. Hopefully this will happen more as we move up the northern coast of Chile in January.

Sarah is a friend of dogs. While I was surfing, she managed to befriend at least 3 stray dogs who joined her while tanning on the beach. One even followed us all over town, waiting for us while we did internet and everything. It was very cute.

Then the parents arrived. The last few days have been filled with food, touring and lots of wine. From barbeques in Santiago to cooking dinner in Viña del Mar, we are living the life. We have been staying with the sister of Sarah's dad in Santiago. It is a huge family and a huge estate and it was all parties with bbqs, paellas, going out to salsa and everything. We are in Viña del Mar right now at her other apartment. This is a seaside resort next to Valpairiso and is gorgeous. We have spent the last few days sightseeing during the day and having wonderful dinners and wonderful wine at night. Tomorrow we are going for a winery tour and lunch at Viña Casas del Bosque. My brother and Sarah's mom are arriving soon and we really look forward to it.

Life is good.