this city is a madhouse. you can't walk two feet without running into throngs of people dancing at lively concert, laughing at a rowdy street performance, or just falling over themselves drunk. all of valparaiso seems to have converted itself to one big roaming party. yesterday, el and i stumbled across a wild parade, complete with stilt walkers and painted dancers, which traversed the entire city. as the evening closed, we were packed into parque italia, amongst a sea of humanity dancing to live cumbia music. i have never seen so many people partying in my life...it looked like all of valparaiso had emptied itself out onto the streets. and that was just the day before new year's. i can hardly fathom what it's going to be like tonight, when everyone else arrives for the real new year's eve festivities...