Bing Dinner and Blondie

Me and Gavin looking spiffy at the Center.

Laura F. and Brittany donning their dashing dresses for Bing Welcome Dinner.

That Thursday of our first week, we had our Bing Welcome Dinner, sponsored very kindly by Peter and Helen Bing. It was held at this very fancy restaurant up Cerro San Cristobal, found at the end of Pedro Del Valdivia all the way until the hill entrance.

View of Santiago from Cerro San Cristobal

Me and my Talis-buddy Michael aka "Jebby"

Brittany and Keryn feel great after having their AMAZING Pisco sours

Chris, Brittany, Keryn, me, and Angela with our Pisco sours (and my orange juice)

Emily and me with our Pisco sours

Keryn, Chris, Emily, me, Imani aka "Mabel", Caddie, and Michael aka "Jebediah"

The girls decided to do a tree picture. Laura P., Diana, Lynsey, and Emily

...so I decided to have my own tree pose.

...and so did Esthena.

Walker watches the girls with amusement.

However, the view of Santiago from the top of the hill was breathtaking. When we approached this open grass area with a table of delectable appetizers, a waiter kindly approached me and offered me a Pisco Sour, which is a famous cocktail in Chile with pisco, lemon or lime juice, egg whites, simple syrup, and bitters. It was a bit strong, but overall good and warmed me up inside. They had really good treats to eat before the actual dinner, but I forgot to take pictures! Let’s just say I ended up eating about the same amount as dinner.

The dance area part of the restaurant/hotel, where every Thursday during the summer they have a DJ that blasts music until almost 5 am.

The tables that will serve as our first Bing Dinner!!!

Caddie and me about to enjoy our three-course meal.

Me and my Insanity buddy Angela

Left clockwise: Brian, Hunter, Angela, me, Caddie, Gavin, Keryn, and Christie

The dinner itself was amazing, but I forgot what we had for some reason. It was some meat dish I believe, but the most interesting part was that it was served with potato chips!! I don’t know if potato chips are a sign of fanciness here in Chile, or just in this specific restaurant. They were as filling as a regular bag of chips.

Left to right: Caddie, me, Angela

Torta, the Chilean version of the US cake.

Also, I think every time I took my eyes off of the wine goblet, it magically refilled each time I looked back at it. Are these people trying to get me drunk?

On the way to Blondie on the metro.

Left to right: Emily, Kevin, Chris, Will, Christie, me, and Gavin

After the dinner, we all decided to go to a club for the first time. We really had no idea where we were going, except for this one guy Brian who had said that this place we were going to go to was amazing. In any case, we ended up going a bar called Blondie. It seemed pretty sketchy, but I wasn’t sure what to expect anyways. Upon entering, we noticed that it was all basically youth our ages, around 18-25 ish, which was perfect. It was surprisingly a blast, and we had such a great time. A girl asked me if I was married, which was interesting. However, she lost interest when she found out I was 5 years younger than her.

Imani and me with some Chilean people who decided to dance with us,

including the girl who asked me my marital status (left)

Chloe, Imani, me, Emily, and Will having the time of our lives (Emily slightly more)

Ariel aka "Pearl", Michael and me having a "Black Luv" moment

Basically the epitome of our experience that night.

I was surprised by the end to find out that it was actually a gay club. I guess I should have known haha!