Hola from Antofagasta

Thanks very much to everybody who sent me a birthday wish or a birthday present in the form of money! I really appreciate all your thoughts, especially when I'm so far away. My internet time is limited, so my blogs will be shorter and more infrequent. But I'll still try to stay up on it.
The day I got here from the early Santiago flight, Andy and Pat picked me up with the owner of our hostel. His name's Marcelo and he's a great guy and the proud owner of the Hostel Mosáico. It's a great fixer-upper place in the southern part of Antofagasta and he's putting us to "work" in exchange for a free campsite to stay in in the adjacent lot. He doesn't really ride us hard, though, he's very relaxed. We've installed tiles on a patio and in an outdoor shower, built and installed frames and walls for the shower, begun collecting materials and planning to build a large outdoor stone barbecue and smoker, repaired countless little things, planted countless plants, and enjoyed each other's company immensely. His girlfriend's name is Loreto and they are both very inviting. Andy, Pat and I have been just thick as thieves and we make trips to the city and the beach all the time. There's cheap booze and thrills here and we love to take EPIC hikes in the hills immediately behind the town. They used to be huge copper mines, so there are GIANT endless caves to explore, too.
The locals have thick accents and drop their S's a lot, but I love speaking and hearing Spanish everywhere and am doing my best to teach the guys and not translate everything. It's a much more simple lifestyle here than in Brazil, but it's rustic and fun. So far, we've been sleeping in, working somewhat, meeting people (a goofy but funny kid from Canada named Carl and other people that come in and out of the hostel), swimming, drinking, and learning guitar, language, construction, locations, and new foods.
I literally have two minutes left before I get charged for another hour of internet, so I'll adjourn now. More as it develops. I miss you all and think of you. Friends, classmates, family, parents, everybody.

Take care of yourselves, I certainly am doing so for myself.
Brad