Chile Continuar!
Now that we are in La Serena we are able to get around easier and do many more things. It was cold and rainy in Santiago and the house was on a dirt road and it was very precarious getting in and out without getting stuck...that's where this pic comes in...
Daryl's truck sunk in the mud. We had to get a tractor to pull us out, but that was last week and I'm on to this week's adventures.
Yesterday we had a great day. Esparanza, Penny's companion had a birthday. Instead of helping around the house she took us to town and to the Feria. This was a huge vegetable market. Esparanza does not speak English and we speak very little Spanish so it was fun to try and communicate. We did surprisingly well. Chris, John, and I went by ourselves so I didn't have to worry about the kids and we learned a lot of new words and tasted a few new things at the Feria. After we were done there she drove us to El Centro. Basically the center of town to look around. She kept asking me things and whatever she asked I said, "Si!" so she kept taking us to new places. We ended up at the museum of archeology here in town. It is a small museum but had some very interesting things, a shrunken head, a mummy, and a statue from the Easter Islands. After we got our fill of Chilean antiquities we headed to the Ricova, this is a HUGE market where you can buy all kinds of trinkets. We have a few peeps to bring things home for so this was a good preview of what is available. We were having so much fun that we lost track of time and almost missed lunch.
Esparanza loves Mexican food so we made a whole Mexican feast for her for lunch (mostly Americanized Mexican food). Here in Chile lunch is their main meal so it's a very big experience. A huge meal is served and everyone sits around the table for a couple hours eating and chatting. We learned this the first day after almost offending one of the office workers, but we quickly came back and sat down and enjoyed sharing comparisons between our country and theirs. Johnathan (a native Chilean) said that his favorite part of visiting the United States was free drink refills at restaurants, and that we had a sauce for everything, salsa, dressing, BBQ sauce, etc. I think him and Chris were separated at birth because they can spend hours talking about food!
After our delicious lunch we headed up the mountains (the Andes) to Mamalluca, an observatory. The night was very clear and the moon was only a crescent perfect for viewing. I have never seen anything through a telescope that big before (at least that I can remember) and I was amazed. The moon was spectacular and so was Saturn. We were also able to see a couple of other galaxy's and the milky way. I forget how much I love the night sky when you can actually see things. You can't see much in Illinois, but when I lived in Lake Isabella it was spectacular on cold clear winter nights. It was very dark up on the mountain and very disorienting, I felt dizzy and light headed the whole time and we were not that far up so I know it wasn't from the altitude, John also felt weird himself. C stayed very close to us as he was worried about Chupacabra, which we have been teasing him about since we got here!
Oh, before we went up the mountain we had to wait for the tour bus in this little town at the base of the road. They had one man selling trinkets in the park that we purchased some neat things from. While I was standing there a dog came close to me and dropped a rock at my feet, which I quickly kicked away. He ran after it and returned and dropped it again. He was playing fetch with a rock! So cute. I had dismissed him at first because there are hundreds of dogs all over the streets here. STRAYS EVERYWHERE! This dog belonged to the man selling trinkets, and was very well trained.
Today I've spent the day making Empanada's and they were delish! I watched Esparanza like a hawk and wrote down copious notes and hopefully can recreate them when I get home.
Here are some pics for your enjoyment!
Papa and the children on the 4 wheeler!
a view of the farm in Longovilo, very beautiful and remote. Miles from the nearest neighbor, on a dirt road. The house was bigger than it looked, but had no central heat we only had fireplaces. The hot water was iffy at best, I think I've had warmer better showers at Big Meadow for girls camp!
On the farm in Longovilo they have these mounds that they are making charcoal in. They make the hut and fill it with wood and light a fire and after several days they have charcoal that the men can sell.
Here is a picture of a store near the Bio Bio that we went to in Santiago. Very stressful for me, crowded, dirty, there were dogs peeing on the merchandise!
After our first adventure out I realized that L was better off in the stroller that we brought, it kept him confined, so I made a sling out of a sheet to carry CH and it worked like a charm. So now when we go out CH gets the sling.
Chinese food in Milapilla. It was delish!
The Plaza de Armes in La Serena. It was so interesting to me that there were so many people out in the plaza just sitting and enjoying the day and socializing, we don't socialize in the US anymore and it's sad!
pretty self explanatory!
A picture of the Gypsy camp. We could only see it through a small opening in the fence. We were taking pictures and a gypsy saw us and started running our way shouting to the tents something in Spanish...we didn't stick around to see what was up! I've never moved so fast in my life. Wasn't sure if they were friendly or not, didn't want to get my money stolen so we left.
Houses...yes houses.
I just thought this was funny...Blues Clues anyone?
Esparanza at the Feria. If you really want to learn Spanish have a guide that doesn't speak English and go shopping!
Easter Island statue, it was huge and very cool!
A whaling boat, can you imagine trying to spear a whale in a boat that size? World's deadliest catch???
Oh, the best part of yesterday was seeing a protest. A bunch of students from the University marching down El Centro with drums shouting chants. I was a little scared at first but the police were there and making sure everyone was peaceful. We had to exit the museum here and walk with the protesters about 1/2 a block. I think they were more interested in us crazy Gringos taking pictures of them. Talk about immersed in the culture! Glad I didn't have all the kids this time, L would have marched right along with them.
So as you can see my stress level from the post before last is diminishing. I'm sure it will come back when we are flying again, but for now I'm enjoying the culture and learning a new language. This morning Penny took L to the store with her, and as they were walking out he saw another little boy is age and without being told to he says, "HOLA" to the boy...already learning Spanish!
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