Well, the trip to the botanical gardens was really nice. I was accompanied by my new friend Mai(Chile). What a sweetheart and a fellow dog lover. I have to say her mastery of the English language is incredible. We sat for quite a few hours talking about life in general and the similarities and differences of Chile and the US. It is nice to meet people whom have strong family and moral values. With it being overcast, I still managed to get some decent photographs of orchids and a number of other plants I have never before seen. I was told that the gardens contain over 1000 varieties of orchids. I lost count.... I'm a man and of course can only count to 21. After the garden we went for a walk around the area and low and behold what do I find? A store that sells bulletproof jackets and bombas(bombs I think). Now why can't we have those in the USA? Just not fair... A little ways further we found a Spanish steak house called La Bulleria. I give it 4 stars.. The lamb was cooked in a wood fired oven and was simply divine. The steak in a blue cheese sauce Mai ordered was quite delicious as well. Since I know very little about wines, I let Mai choose the merlot and I was quite impressed with her choice. She knows her stuff. Although the prices were about 20% below US prices it was well worth the price. Of course we had to tell our friends at the hostel about the food and how good it was. Then someone made the mistake of asking how much it cost. Well, everyone fell out of their chairs at me spending 65 dollars for lunch. I said, "that's a really good deal compared to home", but it didn't seem to help. It's probably because you can walk down a couple of blocks and get Sharma and a coke or pizza and beer for a buck. Oh well, it wasn't Mc Donald’s and was worth every penny.
Later that evening it was off to dinner with the guys James (South Africa, yes that is a country not just the end of the continent) and Kim (Australia, you know that really big island). We met up with four others for a really nice and cheap dinner. Then it was off to the clubs, well not really, the groups organizational skills was the pits. Thankfully, to a well place note from Steve(San Diego, CA) and Jessie(Berkley, CA) we knew where to go. Then it was off to a snails pace searching for the right club. It is hard to get directions when the people you ask have no clue, and don't tell you that vital piece of information. With the search complete the party was on.. I did manage to meet a really nice girl Karla(Quito, Ecuador). It turns out she is a fellow shutter bug. We all had a blast and again as every day so far partied until the wee hours of the morning. Well, I can honestly say I don't think anyone will forget me. And, I did it all with my clothes on. Apparently, the way I can dance made me a number of fans and now I am the talk of the town. I think my past dance experience may just have a little something to do with it... I don't know you tell me.......
