Santiago x2

Ok so I lied about not getting on here for a week. Turns out I have free wifi where I'm staying and I decided it would be easier to blog as I go.
I'm in Santiago! We got here after a 13 hour bus ride. It was awful. Sooo long. My butt hurt so bad by the time I got there and we were sitting right by the bathrooms..Yeah..I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. We got here last night at 11(ish) with no plans of transportation or hostels. Luckily a nice young couple helped us out a little bit (apparently we looked lost with our group of gringos). They told us that we would have to take a taxi because the metro was already closed and we would probably have a hard time finding a hostel because of the holiday weekend. We flagged down a couple taxis and had them take us to a plaza where we knew of a few hostels (thank goodness for guide books). Long story short, we ended up randomly landing right in front of the hostel we were looking for without even realizing it. Finding the hostel was one thing, finding a hostel that could fit 8 people on the spot was another. Fortunately our luck was good because not only could they fit all of us, but they fit all of us in one room. I couldn't believe our luck. I'm not really a spontaneous traveler so I had no expectations but everything worked out. The hostel we're staying at is called La Casa Roja, it is amazing. It used to be an old mansion and has a ton of big rooms as well as a huge kitchen and a pool (with a swim up bar which isn't in use right now but still, how cool.) aaand free wifi. Thank you hostel fairies.
We all got up pretty late this morning (everyone except for Laura and I went out partying at TWO in the morning and got back at almost FIVE! Crazy people) and went in search for food. Unfortunately all the stores are closed so we wandered around until we found a 'los pollitos dicen' which means the chicks say...anyway it's the name of a fast food place. It has greasy chicken but we were starving and ate there anyway. The rest of the day we wandered around which was kinda nice because we're on the completely opposite side of Santiago than I was on with Mom so it's like being in a whole new city. We went to a light show tonight, it basically told the history of Chile by showing it on the capital building with fireworks. It would have been amazing if there hadn't been a milllllion people there. Seriously. I don't even think I'm exaggerating. A few of us split from the group and made our way out of the masses, definitely easier said than done. I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to see it but I'm relieved I made it out of there alive. Tooo many people.
Tomorrow the holiday weekend is officially over, thank goodness. Stores will be open, Starbucks will be waiting for us (I'm pretty sure that's why we stayed an extra night here. We're all waiting for our starbucks) and we will be able to eat something besides gas station food!! Not kidding. That's what we've been surviving on.
Tomorrow we're headed to Mendoza, Argentina which should be an adventure. It's a 6 hour bus ride and I'm pretty sure we're sitting by the bathrooms again but what can ya do. Hopefully I'll have wifi at our hostel there as well. But if not I will be home Friday. Miss you all! Ciao!