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.
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| 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. |
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| St. Lucy's Hill in Santiago just before sunset. |
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| Becky and her octopus friend at Mercado Central in Santiago, Chile. |
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| 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. |
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| Not a bad way to spend a weekend! |
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| A window at La Chascona, one of the three Pablo Neruda homes that can be found in and around Santiago. |
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| 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. |
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| 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/ |
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| Our friend Diego taking pictures for his skateboarding magazine. Mark snapped this awesome photo. |
