Hola from Santiago!

First post from Santiago!  We got here last night about 9 local time.  I am so excited to be here!

Anyways, we actually were supposed to arrive yesterday morning, but our flight was delayed because the plane was hit by hail.  So the airport gave us hotel vouchers and breakfast vouchers and we came back in the morning and spent all day in the plane.  But in a way, I think that was good because we didn't sleep the whole way there! (the original flight was supposed to be from about 9pm CST to 8am EST, but the new one was about 10am CST (supposed to be 8am) to 9pm EST).  For clarification, Santiago is in EST, aka the same time as NYC, Boston, Detroit, etc.  Three hours ahead of Arizona right now.

Anyways, like I was saying before I interrupted myself, we didn't sleep the whole way and could actually see things out our windows!  We saw the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatán Peninsula (as an archaeology major, I kept an eye out for Maya ruins, though I didn't see any), northern South America (we think it was Peru- and again, as an archaeologist, I wanted to see Machu Picchu, even though I knew it was unlikely), and the Andes!

We were cruising at 30,000 feet.  That gives you an idea of how tall the Andes are!

Time got away from me there!  I meant to write a more detailed blog post about our first day here, but I got distracted talking to my roommates (which, I suppose, is a good distraction).  Anyways, now at half past midnight, I suppose I should turn in too and brief y'all on our briefings sometime soon when my roommates aren't trying to sleep. :) 

We appreciate your prayers!  Adiós from Santiago for now!

EDIT: Additionally, if you want more frequent updates on our trip (plus videos!), you can go here and read posts from Nathan and Kelly, our project directors. Enjoy!