social lubricants: who needs alcohol when you have shopping and food?!

Can't quite figure out my fav. posting format, so we'll go back to normal story-telling.
Right now I smell like smoke from going out to clubs both nights this weekend, which was a lot of fun, except now my tia patti is going to have to wash a lot of clothing...
My host brother "Nacho", aka Ignacio, is playing God of War in the living room. He's adorable, very sweet and talkative, and I'm so glad we get along. I love my host sister but she has her own life and boyfriend so she's not always that interested in talking with me.
Last week I looked up vintage shopping in Santiago and a bunch of us girls went exploring. It was so much fun to take a break from classes, get to know each other better and, as much as I hate to say it, shopping really does bring (some) girls/guys together. Anyway, since we mostly did thrift store/vintage stores, at least my anti-consumerist beliefs weren't totally compromised. Or at least thats what I told myself...
For lunch we walked to the Mercado Central, which I thought would be like a huge farmers market, but was much more like Pike's Place Fish Market in Seattle. Anything and everything that swims in the sea was for sale;there were rows and rows of huge trout, glistening eel, crazy white furry meat things, and even sea urchins! After being harrassed(verbally) by every restaurant owner to dine in their establishment, we opted for a tiny empanada stand just on the outskirts of the market, and it was definitely the right choice. For just about $2 US, I got a huge, mouth-watering shrimp and cheese empanada, a sopaipilla, and a soda.

Then later we went to a real mall with department sores, which was interesting, although nothing called out to me. However, since I love foreign countries' food courts, we did explore the food options and I found a place mom would love. It was a food place dedicated to, and called, Frutos! which sold only fruit-based products.

On the counter were dozens of fresh fruits waiting to be blended into delicious drinks, so I ordered a Cherimoya juice. Cherimoya is one of chile's most famous fruits, its often translated into "custard apple" but it basically looks like a green mango from the outside. Inside its a creamy white color and when blended it makes the creamiest juice. I was with Jessie and Katie, and they each got raspberry and kiwi juice, respectively.