Autumn in Santiago

One of the things I am loving about Santiago right now is how beautifully the seasons are changing.




 I am from Southern California where, let's face it, there's not much of a difference between summer and winter.  Although I still happen to think that LA is the best place IN THE WORLD (hehe sorry I miss it), I have always fantasized about strolling through central park on a lovely autumn day, sitting safely in a London café while rain pours outside, and jumping around in the snow in one of my cousins' backyards in Cleveland, Ohio. Life is tough when it is sunny every day! Hahaha... :P
 

 Anyway, every morning when I step outside of my apartment and take my first breath of the freshmorning air, I can't help but to notice a little smile forming on my face. The autumn here is just so gosh-darn beautiful -- especially after that rain we just had, which cleared away all the nasty smog. It is such a contrast from those relentlessly hot summer days we experienced when we first arrived in Santiago for this exchange program. 



Yesterday, my friend Jade and I wandered over to a nearby park and allowed our innerseven year-olds to run wild! A few days before, I saw a picture on Jade's Facebook page of her doing a handstand in the Atacama desert (located at the North of Chile... it is actually the driest desert in the world) and I was soooo jealous! I have never done a handstand before but have always wanted to (maybe you remember my pitiful attempt while on top of Machu Picchu?)!  I am always wayyy too afraid of falling on my head and dying a slow, painful death.

courtesy of Jade's Facebook 
Well good news! JADE TAUGHT ME TO DO A HANDSTAND! Other good news, while I did fall on my head at first, I did not die a slow OR painful death! (yet...)
practicing...


I DID IT!


This means I accomplished goal #084: Do a handstand!

We also did other fun things like backbending, bar flipping (?), and tree climbing. 



 


As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, later that night, I met up with a bunch of students from my program and had a Thanksgiving feast! I mean, you try and picture autumn without Thanksgiving! It just doesn't sit well. The feast turned out amazing! I made French Silk Pie. Never Fails. 
the process:







the feast: 




 









 To end this photo montage, here are a couple pictures of me holding a hedgehog. Yup.



♥