Room with a View


I thought I would start out this morning by posting a picture of my room so you can see where I've been sleeping for the past week. It's not particularly glamorous (and I apologize for the quality of the picture) but it's home for the time being. I'm going apartment hunting today, so we shall see what turns up. The hostle is nice for now, but five months without my own kitchen --i do have my own bathroom a few doors down-- might get a bit old. Not to mention, I now have new friends who would prefer a better location. --we currently are located in the middle of the suburbs.




This next picture gives you an idea of why my room isn't so bad. I get to wake up to this view every morning :) How fabulous is this??? I don't know how people can walk around all day and not look at the Andes... I'm sure I'll get used to them with time, but they're still so stunning. ("sublime" if you will...hahaa)



As I'm sitting at my desk, I have a pile of coins staring me in the face, so I thought I might as well give you a taste of the coins here while I'm at it. Back in the states, there are a lot of people that detest change. I know I'm not a huge fan of using it (although I do keep it in a big jar and exchange it when the jar is filled), but here, they are essential. You use coins for a lot of things. Busses for one, only accept coins (and I myself ride the bus at least twice a day). You also use them to tip people (such as the guys who "assist" you in parking your car in parking lots...a completely superfluous task) and pay tolls (there are lots of tolls here for those who drive themselves). Sorry for the quality of the picture, but you get the gist. I threw in our own coins to give you a size reference and a source of comparison. If you'll notice, the first three coins all display the same profile (I'm in the process of searching who's that is) and the third contains the country seal (the old version that is...the new version, which is below, contains the same face as the last coin. It reminds me of our dollar coins back home). The teeny tiny coin is worth 5 pesos, the next is 10, the third 50, the fourth 100, and then 500. To give you a basic idea of how much these are worth, I believe the american dollar is currently worth about 560 pesos.