Welcome back, wireless

So it turns out the only thing they had to do to fix the wireless at the hostel was to turn it off and turn it back on again. Thank you, random english speaking tourists, for figuring that out.

Yesterday we went to La Moneda, the presidential palace. While we didn't get to see Michelle Bachelet (their awesome female president), we got to see a lot of amazing things. My favorite room was the one were Allende's office used to be. They've recreated the layout of the room with some of his original furniture and paintings. They've also recreated his sistting room, and in it they've put the couch where his body was found the morning of September 11, 1973. It's an amazing thought to think you're looking at the same things that such an important man saw everyday. Then after the official tour, we talked for a long time with our professor, Peter Winn. He's a historian and has been studying and writing about Chile for many years. He was standing 100 feet or so from La Moneda when the coup started. He told us an amazing story about how he moved around to see everything that was going on, who he talked to, how he narrowly avoided being taken to the Estadio Nacional (where they rounded up the first large group of political prisoners), and how he eventually had to run as the military began opening fire on the plaza. It was unbelievable to see where we were standing through the eyes of someone who'd been there to witness so much terror and fear.

After our tour we had a big group dinner at a restaurant called Las Vacas Gordas, where we all ate the first night. It was nice to have a group closing as orientation wraps up. Today we have a few more charlas ("talks," which are a nice way of saying lecture) and then a big group dinner with all of us, our professor, and our resident director. It should be a nice way to officially close orientation. Then tomorrow (god, I can't believe it's that soon), we all get picked up by our different host families. I'm still scared but excited! And it'll definitely be nice to get out of this hostel. We just got two more random roommates, who are staying for no one knows how long. And there's a REALLY loud group of teenagers who got dropped off two days ago. So even if my host house doesn't go totally smoothly, at least I'll be living with one person and not gazillions of strangers!