Beginning of Chile

I've now been in Chile about a week and half and it's been great!
The first three days we were in Santiago, so we got to explore the "city life" of Chile. We ate at some awesome restaurants, but very few were actually Chilean. One day we went to this place that had Vegetarian/ African food and it was muy deliciosa. I got raspberry juice to drink and that was pretty awesome too.
At night, me, two girls from Georgetown, Claire and Shannon, and a guy named George all went to this local pub to eat and I got my first taste of Chilean wine (good and cheap). Then these older guys at the table beside us came over and talked to us and ended up driving us to this discoteque kinda far away. It was really different than the clubs in the states- more like European, but we had a good time. There was a glass dance floor and these crazy lights. The guys bought us all tequila shots and it was pretty cool.
After Santiago, we went to Viña del Mar (my home!) and I got to meet my host family. They are so sweet! It's a dad, Juan Carlos, mom, Laura and a 22 year old boy, Martín. I was kinda hesitant about the brother at first because he looked like a sketchball, he turns out to be really cool. He knows tons of people in this area and loves to take me out- it's through him that me and my friends have met most of the people we hang out with. The dad isn´t home much because he owns a hotel and manages an airline in some obscure island called Robinson Crusoe Island, but the mom is an "ama de casa" (housewife) so she´s always home. She is an international chef and used to own her own restaurant, but now she suffices to create delicious meals for me! :)
There are so many cool places to go around here. My favorite is "carretear" (to go out), because all the discoteques around here are really good and not sketchy. The first night I got here we went to Cafe Journal (pronounced like "urinal") and stayed out until 5 in the morning. That´s the norm here, you pregame at 10, go out at 12 and stay out until 4 or 5. It was really rough at first, but now I´m more used to it.
Also, the popular alcohol here is called Pisco. Do not ever try it.. it is aweful.. but very cheap. The Chilenos told me it was sort-of a right of passage to get drunk off Pisco while you are here, but I´m over that hump, and so would rather stick to my more familiar Vodka and Rum.
When we´re not going out, there are a lot of other cool things to do. There is a clock at the entrance between Viña del Mar and Valparaíso that is made out of flowers, and the time is always exact. I definitely took a picture in front of it. Also, all the shops here are super cheap. So far I have bought some really cheap and cute boots, a hand-knitted hat with ear covers, a backless shirt with the name of a Chilean store on it, and this grey wrap thing. All for really cheap!
I guess the last thing to mention in this post is that the Micros are really scary. That is the bus system here, and everytime I ride it, I feel like I´m taking my life into my own hands. The drivers don´t ever completely stop to let you on, you just kinda have to jump, nor do they stop to let you off. And walking to your seat on it is an art- kinda like learning to surf. They also don´t slow down around turns.. basically.. they never slow down or stop unless it is absolutely necessary.
That´s all for now! I´ll write again later!