Just one of the many shops overflowing with pottery and art.

On Saturday I woke up uncomfortably early after my night out to go on a trip with the study abroad group. I was warry because some of the trips with the group have been terrible before, but this one was already paid for with my program admission fee and it turned out to be really fun and very worth while.

The bus left Valpara'so around 10 AM and we got to Pomaire around noon. Pomaire is a small town where the number one source of commerece is aritsan crafts. The streets were lined with small shops where artists sold there work as they create new ones from behind the counter. Two and a half hours did not seem like enough free time in this wonderful place, but I made the best of it.

First I sat down to lunch with some friends and had the best oven-baked empanada I have ever tasted. An empanada is cheese and vegetables or meat wrapped in a type of bread dough then baked or fried. Its kind of like a hot pocket, but way better.

After lunch I broke away from the group to do some serious shopping. Everything is so cheap in Pomaire, I only brought about the equivalent of twenty dollars, but this payed for my lunch, my bus fee home, and everything I bought which included (all handmade) a hat, two pairs of earings, a piggy bank, a pot, two wind chimes, a gift for my dad (cant tell you what it is!!) from the Incan culture, a painting on a clay plate, a clay pot and some little figurines of Chilean animals. Can you believe that? I got the majority of my Christmas shopping done all at once, now the only problem will be getting all that shoved into my suitcase when its time to go home.

Five minutes after the bus was SUPPOSED to leave, I jumped on with my pockets empty, but my shoppings bags full and the bus left to Isla Negra, the most important house-museum of Pablo Neruda. When I got there I suddenly understood why Neruda wrote so much beautiful poetry. This house was his primary home where he lived out the remainder of his life and was burried in the backyard on a cliff overlooking the sea.

While waiting my turn to go into the museum, I had a second late lunch with some friends in a quaint little restaurant adjoining the museum and overlooking the sea. A guitar player seranated the room with romantic Chilean songs. It felt like a scene out of a movie.

Finally our turn came to go into the museum. In this house, Pablo Neruda kept a large collection of art, the biggest collection of sea shells I have ever seen, and every room was filled with eclectic objects Neruda recieved as gifts or collected over the years. The most amazing things to me included the fire place mossaic room where the walls were made out of lapiz lazuli, a giant globe, the dining room built like in inside of a ship and the desk in Neruda's study made from a door of a sunken ship that Neruda found washed ashore.

After the tour I had just enough time to go down to the beach and collect some sea shells. There was even a lovely sunset to put a perfect ending to a perfect day. This was a great day trip, but I am even more excited about leaving on a nine-day backpacking trip on Thursday. Where will I go? Keep looking for my blogs and you will find out soon!

Chao!