needless to say, i loved the playa.

• Roundtrip bus ticket to Viña del Mar: 6.000 pesos
• A bed in a hostel 5 minutes away from the ocean: 8.000 pesos
• Chile's weak attempt at a Mexican burrito: 5.200 pesos
• A completo for lunch from a stand on the beach: 900 pesos
• The buy-in at a poker game with some French guys at my hostel: 150 pesos (if we could pause for a moment to allow for some bragging, I knocked one of them off the table! ...but then returned his money to him at the end)
• Total money spent on a two-day beach trip: about $40 USD
• Overhearing Chileans joke about how sunburnt the gringas were going to get, napping on the beach, watching a sunset over the ocean, enjoying a vacation without the stress of classes or homework, bonding with the wonderful people that I've been lucky enough to spend this semester with, and working on my tan just in time for the Christmas season: priceless