Santiago, always our arrival and departure city

Denny and I once again came through the flight well:  walking upright, with all bags, passing through customs and immigration easily (well, with just a short examination of all Denny's meds for the next four months) and to the waiting warm welcome of our cabbie friend, Gabriel.  Last year Jann and Ray's friends, Nick & Gloria, had sent Gabriel to collect us from the airport and this year they arranged for the same.  It is SO wonderful to be greeted warmly by a familiar face!  Gabriel whisked us off to our apartment and by noon we were fast asleep recuperating!

The apartment is lovely!  SMALL, yes, smaller than yours in Chicago even, Christy & Drew!!  Like yours too, it is in a high rise overlooking the city, the 22nd floor, perfectly located for transportation everywhere and close to many great restaurants and sites.  It is maybe 400 square feet with basically two rooms.  One enters into the kitchen area where there is a two burner heating unit, an oven, a half frig, sink and cupboards.  There is a small table and a tiny livingroom straight ahead plus a very small deck.  To the right is an entry into the bedroom just big enough for a queen sized bed and a desk.  There is also a nice sized bathroom.  They had taken everything of theirs out so we had the entire closets etc.  Basic, clean, and all that we really needed, but it really shows how spoiled we are in the US!

SMALL, yes, smaller than yours in Chicago even, Christy & Drew!!

Denny found this apartment on craigslist for $25/day.  The couple that live here (an American with a Chileno wife) are back in the states visiting for a month.  We stayed 3 weeks so I could take Spanish classes.  Located on the main street of Santiago, the Avenida Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins (also referred to as Alameda), and just doors from the Santa Lucia Metro stop, it was convenient to just about everything and a very fun place to be!  There was 24 hour security, a laundryroom, gym and swimming pool.  We were content and are sorry to not be able to stay here upon our return in April!

Each evening we walked the Barrio Santa Lucia streets and chose a restaurant from the pictures of food on their billboards or plates displayed in cases up front.  We shared the huge plates and were blessed with friendly, patient waiters and waitresses.  A meal cost us about $8 including two cervezas.  The streets are filled with people -- so much fun to people watch.  There are street vendors everywhere with everything you could want -- we laugh at the underwear ones -- right out there in everyone's path with everyone going through them etc.  The stores stay open til nine and it is amazing how fast the street empty after nine.  We try to be home soon after oursleves.

Sometimes we did stay to watch and listen to the flute players -- those South American kind of flutes with two rows of reeds.  Both Denny and I love their music!!  One night there were two opera singers out there.  They were great!!  There are benches on which you can sit and listen.  We really like to walk the streets, browse the shops, and people watch!  Quite often people try out their English on us and I am getting braver with my Spanish.  You know Denny, he talks to everyone!

New Year's Eve was a delightful surprise!  Our very own Times Square experience!!  One half block from our building is the main street of Santiago -- O'Higgins.  They closed the entire 8 lane street down for perhaps 8 blocks about 4 in the afternoon and street venders began to set up their New Years Eve goods.  There was confetti galore plus all sorts of decorated hats and horns etc.  People started gathering, a festive note in the air!  We had dinner just off O'Higgins and were greatly entertained by five young men who "started celebrating early."  There were a series of bands playing at a nearby Plaza that were broadcast on the tvs in all the restaurants plus on the videotron on the Entel Tower.  The Tower was spectacular: pulsing, strobe lights of varying colors, loud music and the show.  Kids were dressed up in their best clothes and a joy to watch!

By 10 we were back in our cozy apt. but we watched the crowds gather from our patio, filling up the street, shoulder to shoulder.  They kept coming and coming up the side streets, running even as the countdown to midnight and fireworks began.  We found that by standing in our bathtub we had a perfect view to watch everything through the bathroom window.  LOLOLOLOL   It was wonderful!!!!  The fireworks were glorious and went on for over a half hour -- with others in the background all over the city.  The grand finale was a waterfall coming down from the top section of the tower -- all around it -- with intermittant additional bursts.  Truly a New Years to remember!! Happy 2009 to all, may we see greater peace and stabilization and a return to a prosperous economy!  CHANGE!

    Denny and I also started our cultural explorations.  We returned to the beautiful Cerro Santa Lucia first -- a park perhaps a block from our apartment that we found last year and loved.  You may remember some of the beautiful pictures from there on last year's blog.  I will put the link below in case you'd care to see it.  It is a great place to walk, to simply sit in the plaza, and to climb to the top to look out over the city.  It is just across form the Artesan Market where we love to browse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_Santa_Luc%C3%ADa

One morning Denny took a walking tour while I was in class.  He visited the Plaza de Armas and local churches like the cathedral pictured here and took photos of his favorite statues.  The statues really are impressive and go from military tributes to childhood play.  There are lots of fairs rotating through the plazas now because it is summer here and the children are out on holiday.

I took eight Spanish lessons at the Natalis Language School.  I went each morning for three hours.  It is about a twenty minute lovely walk to and fro -- I enjoyed the walk very much...looking at the signage that is slowly emerging as readable for me, listening to greetings and conversations that are beginning to make sense.  I had homework though!  EGADS!  I came back to the apt. every noon with a brain cramp and yet had to practice, practice, practice ("TU ESTUDIAS!," teased mi profesora) after only a short break.  I often talked to myself (conjugating verbs) on the way there and was in a trance on the way back...beware Santiago!  It made a big difference though, especially because it was one on one.  I signed up for a group lesson (no more than 5) but no one else was a complete novice.  My "profesoras" have been two very excellent, sweet and patient young Chilenos.

Saturday night we went out for a short walking tour and then bar hopping with a British couple who were also taking Spanish classes and our two profesoras, Romina and Catalina.  Here is Denny's account of what happened on the way to meet them:  "Sally and I were searchingfor the street number on Santa Dominga where Sally's two professoras live very near the Plaza de Armas.  Somehow we missed it and had gone the wrong way down the block and then came back to it.  We were walking the right way searching for the elusive numbers which quite a few buildings did not have displayed.  We were, of couse, somewhat distracted by our search.  We worked our way through a crowd of people at a bus stop, a number of whom were seated at benches, others standing around.  I had a quick return to reality when I felt a hand slide into my pocket.  I have always had quick reflexes and also strong hands from all of the years growing up and "getting" to milk the cow.  I grabbed the pickpocket's hand before he got it out of my pocket and held on for a minute before he wrenched it away.  I turned and started running after him as he ran through the crowd.  As he ran he threw something in the air as if he was discarding whatever he had stolen.  It was, I'm sure, a practical ploy to slow a pursuer down so he could get away.  It was some torn up bank deposit envelopes.  Happily he hadn't reached the small amount of money I had in my pocket, maybe 20,000 pesos, so my inattention turned into a lesson and interesting story rather than a real loss."  Later Romina said we were very lucky as there are many very skillful pickpockets in the area and they often work in teams for distraction and carry second shirts to change into quickly and throw the people and the police off.  I just stood there ...  Denny...?????

When we finally did meet up with the others, Romina and Catalina gave us a personal tour of the area and then took us to two local bars, one that we would have never found that had a band and great local food.  I should have stuck with my usual beer, for I got really tipsy on four pisco sours.  Denny tried a local favorite:  white wine with cointreau and a scoop of pineapple ice cream.  YUCK!  it was really a fun, fun evening though!  Mucho gracias Romina por la  "proposition!"  (When she emailed to invite us out, we almost deleted her email into spam because it was entitled "Sally, I have a proposition for you..."  Imagine her chagrin when we explained that in the US a "proposition" usually had something to do with either sex or drugs!)

Denny and I look forward to returning to Santiago and looking up our friends for a few more Spaniush lessons and another night out on the town -- hopefully without any thieves!