La Serena es la ciudad que donde estamos viviendo. This is where the headquarters for CTIO is located, en un recinto privado. There are a total of four American REU students and two Chilean PIA (REU equivalent) students. Con juntos, we live in LA CASA 13 in el recinto de TOLOLO. Most of the staff astronomers reside here as well. The beach is about a 30minute walk, but we usually go via taxi collectivo (a taxi with bus-fare equivalency).

During the first week in Chile, after an 8 hour flight from Miami, we were bused off (8 hrs via Salon Cama -- muy comoda!) to an astronomical conference in Santiago.  Smack dab in the capital, we investigated la ciudad a pie. Ate Pastel de Choclo for la primera vez (hmm!) and learned what to be Chilean implies (passion -- para la vida, pisco -- grape brandy solely de Chile, and persons -- home to ~1/3 the population). From Santiago, we took a day bus to the seaport Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.

Back in La Serena, the schedule of events is always changing...We work during the week on our projects, attend seminars, lectures, and teas. Work (9:30) till la siesta (13:00 hasta 14:00), work again (hasta 19:00), y musica y baile (0:00-)..The weekend consists of ultimate frisbee and soccer en la playa, dancing (salsa y merengue, por supuesto!), visiting local clubs, and walking. We walk everywhere, all the time. La Serena is a beach resort town during the summer months (January - March), and becomes home to many transients.

Cerro Tololo is about 80 km (2 hr drive) from where we live in La Serena. To get there, we take a "carry-all" from headquarters to the mountain, and are assigned a room, flashlight, and car (though for some reason students don't get the car priveledge)...Food on Tololo is fantastic. -My new favorite place to dine!