June and July 2012 in Santiago: It's time for winter and visitors!!!!

June and July brought us some fun visitors.  First, Jess and Leah from Minnesota came to visit and then Megan from Seattle (who we met in Bolivia) came to visit as well.  It's so fun to see Santiago through the eyes of our dear friends.  Next is Susan, Mark's mom and this will be her first trip outside of North America.  We're so excited to see her and show her Santiago.

If you asked me what we've been doing for the last couple months, I would say that we've mostly been working.  I'm still enjoying my students and my classes and even though I'm mostly speaking English all day, my Spanish is still improving.  The same is true for Mark.  He can understand almost everything and his speaking skills have greatly improved since we left Boston in October of last year.

Even though it's winter-time here, the days don't get much colder than 45 or 50 (and sometimes it's even 70 degrees and sunny) and the nights don't get much colder than 35 or 40.  People say the worst will be over once August ends so we're grateful that this winter has been mild and really to us, after living in Boston, it mostly just feels like spring all the time.  The mountains surrounding the city are beautifully capped with snow and it's so beautiful sometimes, I almost feel like God must use photo-shop.  

We continue to try to raise funds for the kids homes that we worked with in Bolivia and here is the link if you want to give on-line.   http://www.ninosconvalor.org/help-us-hire-an-assistent-tia/

As always we'd love to hear news from home.  What has been going on in your neck of the woods? 

Peace,

Becky T.

Our friends Jess and Leah make a stop in Santiago on their amazing South American trip which takes them to Argentina, Chile, and Peru.  Becky met Jess in Fiji back in 2001.  Here we are visiting St. Christopher's Hill that overlooks Santiago.

St. Lucy's Hill in Santiago just before sunset.

Becky and her octopus friend at Mercado Central in Santiago, Chile.

Through Mark's work with www.ilovechile.cl, he got the opportunity to go to a ski-resort called Portillo.  Here are some amazing pics from that trip.

Not a bad way to spend a weekend!

A window at La Chascona, one of the three Pablo Neruda homes that can be found in and around Santiago.

Becky at La Chascona.  Our friend Megan was visiting us and she's a true Neruda fan so we took her to 2 of his 3 homes.  Thanks Megan for finally getting us to go see these places.  

This is the Museum of Memory and Human Rights located here in Santiago.  It documents and commemorates those who were killed and/or tortured during and after Pinochet's taking control of the government.  It's a fascinating place.  You can watch footage of the coup (golpe de estado) and you can listen to the radio broadcast of the last time Salvador Allende spoke publicly before he died on September 11, 1973.
http://www.museodelamemoria.cl/

Our friend Diego taking pictures for his skateboarding magazine.  Mark snapped this awesome photo.

Santiago's Smog, Vineyards, and Cemeteries.

 Concha Y Toro is Chile's biggest wine producer.  We took a tour of one of their vineyards located in Pirque which is about an hour from downtown Santiago.  In the U.S. you can find their wines under the labels: Frontera (cheap but tasty), Castillero del Diablo (people love the Cabernet), and Don Melchor (if you want to spend more than $100 for a bottle).

Carménère grape vine.  This particular stock was supposedly lost until a Frenchman found it by accident hidden amongst Chilean merlot.  It grows well in Chile because the bug that wiped out the Camenere in other countries does not thrive here.  If you've never tasted it, it's similar to a Merlot.

Entrance to the underground cellar.  Casillero del Diablo means The Devil's Cellar.

The Devil's Cellar.  Apparently someone was stealing Don Melchor's wine and so he spread the rumor that the Devil lived down there and that the Devil was stealing the wine for himself.  This rumor apparently put an end to the stealing.

Santiago Central Cemetery

Santiago Smog from Cerro San Cristobal (St. Christopher's Hill)

We've been told this is one of only two pregnant Mary statues that rest above a city.  Mary is, of course, pregnant with Jesus :)

Mark's new/used bike.

Surf's up! And some awesome glacier.

On April 28th and 29th, we headed to Pichilemu, Chile which is a small town but a big name for surfers looking for huge waves.  Several competitions are held here during the year and we went to check out one of them with some friends Leanne, Diego, and Jose.  This particular contest was called "Analog Pichilemu, Air and Style".  Waves can get up to 30 feet or more apparently and the rocks make it a very tricky place to surf.  We didn't see any 30 footers but it was still pretty exciting to watch.

Mark in a wet-suit.  His fourth time surfing.  He actually caught a few waves but his wife can't work a camera so she failed to catch the incredible moments.

Jose and Diego.  They are the photographer and designer of a surfing magazine called Lineas.   http://lineasmagazine.cl/  Diego also runs a skateboard magazine called Descaro.   http://www.descaro.cl/

Punta de Lobos (Wolves' Point)

Bompletos is a play on words combining "Bomberos" or Firemen and "Completos" which are hot dogs.  Chileans love their hot dogs which are often served topped with avocado, tomatoes, cheese, sauerkraut, and any other number of goodies.  

To celebrate Mark's 31st birthday, we hiked up to the San Francisco glacier.  This is about 100 kilometers outside of Santiago and it was a lovely day trip.

These gentlemen were having a family reunion and called us off of the trail to show us natural mineral water coming out of the ground.  Agua con gas for free?  We'll take it!

 

More about life in Santiago.

Well it's now April 23rd, 2012 and it's hard to believe we've been in Santiago for over 2 months and away from the U.S. for 6 months.  Some days it feels like it's been 6 years and other days, it feels like it was only yesterday that we were walking across Spain with Eamonn and Brend trying to imagine what our life in South America would be like.  Below, you'll see some pictures of our everyday life:  getting on and off the metro, hanging up laundry, going to work, etc...  Becky's Dad asked a while back to see some everyday life pictures so hopefully this is what you had in mind Dad.  We'll try to put up some more of where we go grocery shopping and our favorite cafes but for now, here are a few pics.  Mark will probably include a few from his work with www.ilovechile.cl as well.  You probably don't have to think about it too much to figure out which photos you see below are Mark's and which ones are Becky's.  God bless her.  She tries.

Entrance to the metro (green line) that is closest to our apartment.  Parque Bustamante is its name.  

E-Class.  Where Becky works.  This is one of their three offices.

Inside the E-class office.  Those two lovely ladies do not work with me.  The office behind the balloons is where I go to pick up stuff, get work assignments, etc... I (Becky) was too embarrassed to ask to take a photo of my coworkers.

Mark fixing the grapevines that hang over our wall.

Laundry day.

This is the Museo de Bellas Artes.  Haven't been in it yet but it's pretty close to our apartment.

On the red line.  The Metro turns into a bunch of fast-moving sardine cans during rush hour.

Look at all the people waiting to board.  (More like look at all the people waiting to shove their way onto the train.)  It's not always this crowded but between 8 and 10 a.m. and 7 and 9 p.m. it's usually this bad or worse.  The Santiago metro is pretty awesome though in spite of overcrowding.  Trains run often and on schedule AND they're clean!  Boston could learn a thing or two from the Santiago metro.

A bus, a taxi, and a pedestrian.

Some friends of ours from Sri Lanka who came to Chile through Start-up Chile.  It's a government program designed to encourage entrepreneurs to come to Chile to start up their companies.  www.startupchile.org 

Getting ready to eat some SPICY food at our place.