Valparaiso is a ciudad built on massive cerros (hills).
I lived on one... Cerro Yunguy, and my butt and calves have yet to forgive me.
A day must be planned over the HOP. Leaving between 2 pm and 5 pm is death from drowning--in your own sweat that is.
The people of Chile have planned it well though. They understand the environment in which they live in and therefore plan their lives around it.
Lunch is taken around 2 pm and it's a grande meal! Soup/salad, bread/appetizer, entree and then dessert. They eat while there is heat and once that disapates they go back to work finishing between 8 and 9 pm.
I fought against this ingrained design at first by eating lunch at noon and attempting to descend and climb that massive HOP in the afternoon. I soon found myself exhausted and sweaty, without a shower and just plain irritated by 4 pm.
Mind you, there are Collectivo's, shared taxis, but I was living on a very strict budget. If you can't hoof it, you can't do it.
I had to follow the rules of the environment or stay in bed. Some days it was a tough, tough choice my friend!
But on returning I realized I based my day around many things--work, friends, bathroom schedules, classes, writing, and well, sunlight.
What do you base your life around?
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