After a heavy week of learning about human rights abuses in Chile, we took a weekend trip to Valparaiso. Valparaiso is a city full of character, color, and art. There are not many housing regulations there, so houses are built on top of and all around one another!
On our first day, we had class and then went on a walking tour. We learned about the history of the city, and of its development. We even visited a children’s park that was built with a sustainable garden for people to grow and compost their own food!
Covering the walls of almost every street are murals, and artists selling their individual paintings and jewelry. The food there was amazing! I ate macaroons, a really delicious veggie burger, and we also cooked an amazing meal at our Airbnb.
We visited cafes, talked to street artists, and took trams up and down the hills of Valparaiso. We went to the famous poet’s (Pablo Neruda) house, and we visited the beach in Viña del Mar. While there, we took time to reflect and debrief on what we had encountered the previous week. Our weekend in Valparaiso was so much fun and much needed.