Finally Exploring Valpo!

I had some time this morning before my first class and my friend here from the University of Maine asked me if i wanted to walk around Valpo before class. Of course i was excited to walk around and be cultural instead of laying in bed all morning. We got on the metro and headed towards the ISA office so we could drop off our lunches. We picked up my other friend Natalie, from California, on the way and we headed out to explore the city!
We stumbled upon this random street that had a nice area to sit that was covered with tiles that made a special little gem in the middle of no where...this is what we were hoping to find!

Natalie and I sitting on a bench in Valpo

We continued walking a little bit further and found what is called the Open Air Museum which is basically a bunch of murals along the walls of these streets that has been made into a museum. There is this man who has completely transformed one street from DRAB to FAB. It was this old run down street which is now covered in bright murals and beautiful pictures. When we arrived there he was working on a self portrait of himself. 

Painter, unsure of his name

This painter really liked my friend Redyn and asked if he could draw her portrait. We didn't have time today but she made plans to go back on thursday so that he could practice his people drawing skills. As we were walking alway he was yelling to us, JUEVES! to make sure that we knew he would be expecting her back there to paint. I think i will join her on this trip because that is super cool. Too bad he didn't want to draw a picture of me but I think it'll turn out amazing. I'll be sure to take pictures if i actually join. 

This is one of my favorite things that he did. he turned the steps into a mural and it looked really cool! Imagine living on this street!! You would get to see beautiful artwork every day instead of the boring tan walls that it used to be. 

the steps in the open air museum.

Then he let us paint on the wall...very cool right! We each took turns painting and this is what we ended up with! I'm excited to go back on JUEVES (thrusday) to see if it is still there!

3 hearts with our first initials. (Redyn, Abby, Natalie). Hopefully that'll be there forever! I am definitely going to return to see if its still there! Hopefully he'll spice it up a little bit so it doesn't look like kindergardeners painted on the wall.

Overall, great day! I felt very cultural and I even started planning some trips of my own around Chile and Argentina. If anyone has any suggestions of where to visit please let me know!!