Santiago
We spend a week in Santiago to handle trip logistics. Connor left on Sunday afternoon after a tearful goodbye. He encountered some problems with customs at the Santiago airport – since he is a minor travelling alone, customs require a notarized document. Both Paul and I were at the airport with him, so the police allowed him to leave without said document. Needless to say, we were very worried when he finally passed through airport security and flew to Toronto, then San Francisco. We were extremely relieved to get the news that he arrived. Connor started high school on Tuesday and is adjusting back to life in P-Town. We miss him very much.
I spent the week in Spanish school – 4 hours each day. My class consisted of students from Holland, Germany, England and Japan – an interesting and fun mix. I was probably twice as old as my fellow students… I had two great instructors: Yuri and Maria Cristina; both were energetic and animated. I learned a great deal about the Chilean culture and language, and now feel much more proficient with my verbs and vocabulary.
While I was in school, Paul and Quinn spent their days in our rented apartment (nice – a 2 bedroom apartment on the 16th floor!). Quinn says that he hates cities and did not want to venture out. Paul met me after class to sitesee and handle logistics for shipping the car home. It seems to be much simpler than shipping from Panama to Columbia (not sure why…), but time will tell. Bottom line, we bring the car to the port on Sept. 21, the ship departs on Sept. 30 and the ship and car arrive to Oakland on Oct. 26. We’ll see…
Every day on my way to and from school, I walked through the city streets of Santiago. Santiago is a lovely city with wide streets lined with trees. The architecture is a mix of alpine-chalet, modern, hacienda and ordinary block styles. However, the city appears to have no zoning. One block has a 10 story apartment building, single family homes, 2 store business, restaurant, store and large commercial building. Very odd.
In general, Chilenos are non-confrontational and reserved. As I walk to school, no one greets me or makes eye contact, even if we are the only ones on the street. Except at the pubic markets, people rarely yell and seldom honk. After opposite behavior in Central and other South American countries, this confuses me. However, after initial contact, Chilenos are warm, helpful and friendly. I was often pleasantly surprised at the eagerness of Chilenos to assist us.
Today, we crossed the border to Argentina and are now in Mendosa. We left cloudy Santiago to the freezing, windy and snowy border in the Andes, to sunny Mendosa at 82 degrees. Crazy weather! We look forward to wine tasting in the sun tomorrow!
Tags: Chile
hwy1alltheway
Hey Guys,
The pictures from Chile were great. Santiago looks like a pretty cool city and more great pictures of Karen skiing. Those lessons really paid off because you look in pretty good form going down those slopes. Sorry to see that Connor had to leave because he’ll miss the last month of this trip. I’m sure he’ll be the envy of all his classmates when he tells them what he did for his summer vacation.
Enjoy the warmer weather in Argentina and get ready to get Quinn saddled up again. They have lots of horses in Argentina for him to ride.
Hi Karen,
Chile sounds absolutely amazing. Connor is getting acclimated to life in Pacifica again. Brogan has been spending a lot of time with him, which has helped him a lot. He definitely misses you. Bil took the boys camping in the Portola redwoods yesterday. It is beautiful weekend for it. I will get him set-up this afternoon with his own computer so that he can track the rest of your trip and hopefully chat with you online. Looking forward to seeing you again soon!!
Love ya,
Beth