Just a Few Notes

This short entry is not about any particular adventure, no particular destinations and no given topic . . . just a few random notes before we set out for another day in Valparaiso.

We came upon this front yard garden a few blocks from our apartment. Most notable for me was the Bird Of Paradise plant but the entire yard was beautiful.



We have talked in past postings about having this apartment until November 8 and possibly into December. As Summer approaches, the housing market will become very difficult. We are therefore always keeping our eyes and ears open for future accommodations. An acquaintance recently told us of a house in Concon that was currently available so we went to have a look. It was fabulous. Great price, well located, beautifully furnished . . . So what was the catch? The landlord would not rent for any less than one year. The next day we called and tried to convince him to accept nine months. "Nope".



We have since talked to two people who advised against moving to Concon. Traveling back and forth to Vina (where we expect to find work) takes 20 minutes now, but come summer time, the commute becomes an hour or more of bumper to bumper traffic. Also, students that we may be tutoring will not make that commute in the summer. Sometimes things work out for the best. Often we don't know it at the time. It was however, a lovely little place. Just for your information, it was the third door on the left.



There are several small bakeries, vegetable markets and flower stands along most streets. There are also fresh meat shops. Yes, those are what you think they are in the display case!
The meat shops all seem to be very clean though.



This little adventure is not ALL about exploring and finding work.
(although a little cash inflow would be good)

This is a sample of what goes on between all of the other stuff that we talk about!



And as warm and inviting as the above picture is, the evenings and mornings in our apartment are quite cool. There is a heater in the apartment, but the propane tank was empty. So there it sat . . . taunting us. This week, we caved! We had the tank filled and can now take the edge off the cold. (I can hear the cries of sympathy all the way from home!)



No more pictures, but there are a couple of more items of note.

When we first moved into the apartment, we mentioned (whined about) the trips to the giant grocery stores. I am please to let you know that we are now avoiding those places. Between smaller grocery stores in the neighborhood and fruit and vegetable stands down the street, we are much happier on that front.

And speaking of shopping, everything here is priced with the tax included. It is convenient but you can quite easily come to believe that there is no tax being charged. I suspect that the government may like that.

Should Canada get rid of the PENNY? Well, in Chile there is a 1 peso coin. In Canadian terms, 1 peso equals about 0.2 cents. Keep in mind that most things cost the same here as they do in Canada. With paper money, the largest bill we have seen is the 10,000 peso note. This translates into about $20. We have heard that there is a 20,000 note but have yet to see one.

Many places do not accept credit cards citing the cost of the transaction as the reason. This is not only in small shops. A car rental outlet that we talked to would not take the card. I haven't been able to get my debit card to work yet. It works at bank machines, but I haven't cracked the code to make it work for purchases yet.

We had a meeting with a Scotsman earlier this week about getting some work. He runs a company called Instruction Ingles. It sounds promising but nothing concrete yet. If it works, we would be tutoring two students at a business in Valpariaso, two hours each, twice per week. Essentially, 8 till noon, two days per week. Stay tuned.

One more little story.....the other day, we were walking down a very busy downtown street. There were many cars and people milling about. What do we hear but the clip clop of horse's hooves coming down the street. Now, that isn't all that unusual as there are many horse-drawn carriages around here. However, what we saw didn't fit with what we had come to expect. It was a young man riding a horse and pulling two smaller horses along behind him. He was dressed just as he might be if he were riding around on his ranch out in the countryside. He seemed most comfortable and not at all concerned about the cars. We couldn't figure out what he was doing. Then he rode up to a light standard, got off his horse and tied it up.....just in the wild west! Maybe he was just coming to do his shopping!! In almost every way, Chileans are living in the 21st Century, but then sometimes.......
OK, I'm done rambling for now.

Just one more thing. If I never hear another car alarm, it will be too soon!

OK . . . later,

Norm

Another Day, A Little Less Rubber On The Soles!

When you don't know where you want to go, you can't get lost! When you're not looking for anything, it's often easy to find it!

Today was another "Exploration Day" and Charlene had identified some points of interest in
Valparaiso that we would attempt to find. (A couple of old churches and a neighborhood of
historical interest) We were just leaving the building and trying to decide how to catch the bus
when an English speaking resident of the building overheard us and offered us a ride in to Valparaiso. Good start!!

Almost every neighborhood has a few shops like this one. Corner stores really, but very small. This one has full street exposure. Others are even smaller with just a tiny doorway to the street.



As it turns out, churches can be quite easy to find as the steeples stand out above the rest of the buildings. This is the Iglesia San Francisco, built in 1854. We had read about this church (and a few others) in the English version of the Valparaiso Times. This is one of three churches in Valparaiso that were the focus of an evaluation by Italian architects who had been invited to assess the safety of these buildings should there be an earthquake. This church is one that is in great danger of collapse if even a minor tremor should occur. Our pictures cannot begin to show the decay. Someone recently suggested it is being held together with "chewing gum and prayers", and it is easy to see that is the case. We marvelled that it was still open for services. Unfortunately, we arrived hours before it would be open for afternoon mass. We will have to return another day.



It is a lovely church, but by the looks of it, I'm not sure that I would want to be inside for more than a quick look around. The brickwork is crumbling, and if you look closely at the clock tower, you'll see the vegetation that has taken root through holes in the roof. It is sad to see such a beautiful building in such bad shape. The contrast of poverty and wealth in Valparaiso is evident everywhere. This church is in an older neighborhood, and it would seem that these areas are not given the priority that is necessary to maintain them.



Virtually the only construction going on in Valparaiso / Vina seems to be high rise condos / apartments. The crumbling of the old to make way for the new makes for interesting contrast. There is no doubt that the homes in the foreground were still being lived in.



Here again we liked the contrast between new and old. The color of the homes is typical of Valparaiso, and the curved faces of the well maintained buildings is interesting. You can tell that this is near the waterfront as the land is flat. Another few blocks to the left and the land starts to rise for yet another cerro (hill).



Copper mining has been (and still is) a major industry in Chile and one that Canadians are heavily involved in (Primarily in the northern 1/2 of the country). I have nothing to back this up, but am willing to suggest that this monument is dedicated to the copper industry by simulating a stranded copper wire. This monument is in one of the town squares. It was Saturday, so people are selling their wares.



In past visits to the town plazas, we have found men (mostly but not exclusively) playing cards and dominoes. Today it was Chess.



After a short sit-down, we were off to a giant fruit and vegetable market.



Some of the produce is new to us but most is quite common. One change we have noticed is that the celery is about 4 times the size that we see at home. For the most part, people are happy to have their picture taken and will often pose for the photo....



The market area was huge, much like the Farmer's Market in Saskatoon. Some was outdoors and some indoors. What we marvelled at was the volume of produce and how they could possibly sell it all. It seemed that almost every indoor stall carried much the same thing, but everything looked fresh. The indoor produce was certainly more appealing. Outside, the sun beats down on everything, and some of the veggies were looking less than appetizing.





This fellow was quick to laugh and smile and more than happy to give Charlene a taste of some fruit that she had never seen before. There she goes being brave again!! This fellow could not speak English, so we couldn't really get the name of the fruit, but when Charlene questioned whether she should eat the seeds on the inside, he made us aware through interesting body language that of course eat the seeds, they are good for flushing out the system!!



After a bit of a walk, we ended up having a snack in Victoria Plaza. Almost every plaza has a fountain or a statue in the centre, and this one is no different....



Here we are after another walk, at the monument to Captain Arturo Prat. He was a much-loved Chilean hero of the War of the Pacific (1879) between Chile, Peru and Bolivia. Throughout Chile, there are many statues of Prat, and May 21, the day of his death, is a national holiday.
The following is a passage from the "Insight Guides Chile and Easter Island".....

"Prat's ship, the Esmeralda, was trapped in the bay of Iquique by the two biggest battleships of the Peruvian fleet, the Huascar and the Independencia. Prat refused to surrender and his ship resisted the enemy fire for two hours, until the Huascar rammed it. Sword in hand, Prat leapt into the Huascar with a handful of men, and was cut down. The Peruvian commander, Admiral Grau, was gentlemanly enough to send back the captain's sword and a letter he had written to his wife. It earned him equally generous treatment when the Chileans captured the Huascar later that year."

Prat's body is buried beneath this monument. It is also located on the original site of the Prat Pier, so there are archeological treasures from many shipwrecks buried under the monument as well. There are tiles placed between the monument and the shore line to indicate where the water line has been throughout the years. This is a very historical and interesting part of Valparaiso. Apparently it gets very busy around here in the summer as cruise ships dock here and passengers come ashore to do some shopping and sight seeing.



In our search for what we thought was going to be an area of old homes of the wealthy as well as a castle, we headed up Cerro Cordillera. Well.....this turned out to be the wrong cerro! We got into a neighborhood that we had some second thoughts about being in. We have never felt threatened in any way no matter where we have been, but we have heard enough people warn us to be careful that we don't want to push our luck. This was definitely one of those times that we thought, "let's not push it". So, we turned around and started back down the long hill....not before we took some photos though.....



Should any of you be interested, this one is for sale!







How did the old Merc get here and how long has it been resting on this street??!!



Valparaiso is full of surprises. There is a great deal of poverty, but also the streets are filled with expressions of the people and their culture. It is not unusual to find beautiful murals painted on walls along the long, winding streets. This particular mural was absolutely beautiful and almost appeared three-dimensional.....





This is Iglesia Matriz at the foot of Cerro Sto. Domingo. This is another one of the churches evaluated by the Italian architects. This one was found to be in fairly stable condition, but recommendations were made for fire escape routes and improved safety standards. It is much newer than Iglesia San Francisco (I'm not sure what year it was built) and in a better part of the city. We went inside to find a lovely wooden interior with beautiful stained glass windows.



As we walked out of the church, we were struck by this scene of 7 dogs lying in the sun. The fellow on the steps seemed to be a street person, but he was obviously taking care of these dogs. We regretted that we didn't take the time to go to a grocery store and buy some dog food to give to this man.





At the end of the day, our dogs were barkin' from all the walking we'd done and more than a little bit thirsty and hungry. Our Saskatoon friends, Gerry and Elaine Friesen, had suggested the Restaurant Hamburg just off the Plaza Anibal Pinto. This restaurant seems to be quite famous around here and is mentioned in many tourist guides. A most interesting place and highly recommended. The following is an exerpt from their pamphlet:

"Wolfganag Scheuber, a sailor by himself, collected maritime items from all over the world, like ship bells, flags, torpedos, etc. He turned his place into a treasury spot and a maritime museum. With good typical German and international meals, excellent wines and cold beer, the Restaurant Hamburg will serve not only sailors. Wolfgang Scheuber welcomes all kinds of visitors from all over the world."

Just so you get a sense of the food that is offered, here are a few of the menu items....
Rollmops mit Bratkartoffeln
Gulasch mit Kartoffeln oder Nudeln
Smoked Kassler with Red Cabbage
Sauerkraut with Boiled Potatoes

There is also a variety of Chilean food if the German doesn't tickle your fancy.
In this photo, Charlene is signing their guest book. You can get some idea of all the memorabilia. There didn't appear to be an inch of space available for more!



This was a new friend we made after supper.....



This was a great day from start to finish. We just love finding hidden treasures, and Valparaiso is definitely a good place to do that. As a guide, we have been using a walking tour site we found online called "Natalislang Virtual Walking Tours" (www.natalislangvalpo.blogspot.com). It is excellent, even listing a variety of restaurants and giving brief reviews of them. So.....if you ever go to Valparaiso, you might want to have this site bookmarked.

Until next time......With love, Charlene and Norm

Chillin' With The Chileans

On Friday, the 19th, the holiday atmosphere was continuing. We were to find out that the holiday would actually last for four days, and life would not fully return to normal until Monday, the 22nd. We were fortunate enough to be invited by our friend Ines to her family's weekend/summer home in a town called Olmue. This town is inland from Vina, and we started the approximately 1-1/2 -hour journey by foot, train and car. (add a bus for the return trip!)

As an aside, we have nothing but good things to say about the transportation system in Chile. The buses may be questionable in terms of their mechanical ability, but they are always clean and very available. If we miss one, there is another along shortly. Also, the drivers don't seem to get uptight about where they pick people up or drop them off. If we are walking down the street and put a hand up, they will stop. The same goes if we want off mid-route. We just walk to the back door, and the driver pulls over. So, the bus experience has been great. The train turned out to be the same.....very clean, affordable, and on time. The on-time part is kind of a surprise given what we have read/heard about "Chilean time"!

So, off we went by train. We arrived in a town called Lamache. We called Ines to let her know we had gotten that far, and she and her husband, Javier drove the 20 minutes from Olmue to pick us up. Olmue is apparently a somewhat upscale, summer home community where the people with enough resources can get away from their dinky, noisy city apartments and spend some quality time in the country. In Canada, we go to "The Lake"- here, they go to their "summer home". At least until recently, a place at the lake was within the reach of most of the middle class in Saskatchewan. I get the feeling that a Chilean would have to be doing very well to have a summer home. One difference is that our cabins tend to be close to nature, while the summer homes tend to be within towns.

(I should say that most of what we write about this country and its people are simply our impressions based on our short time here. In some cases we may be just plain wrong!)

This is the front of Ines' and Javier's home in Olmue. What used to be one level, is now two. A second level was added about ten years ago. You will see in a later photo (if you look closely) that the second level is open. From the loft, you can look down over the kitchen area. There were 4 bedrooms I believe. Three had outside access to the small backyard pool. Lovely!!
If you were able to see behind me, you would find a narrow, 80 metre driveway with a locked gate at the end.



To start the feast, we were invited to sit on the patio where we were served empanadas and pisco sour. The view from the back yard was of this mountain. They called it Cerro (hill) Campana. It is apparently a popular climb for tourists that are so inclined.



What appeared to be an overgrown, somewhat out of control area of vegetation in another area of the back yard turned out to be a miniature orchard offering an amazing variety of produce. Here Charlene and Ines are once again using the translation bible to stitch the conversation together.



This is one of three small Avocado (Palta) trees but as we walked about, we would come across cherries, oranges, lemons, almonds, apricots, apples, and in the neighbor's yard, figs. She also had two raised beds of herbs and spices.



Una palta....



Here is where you might see the open second floor. I should also mention that while Ines' two sons were unable to make it, we were joined by Javier's brother, Marcelo and a family friend, Hector. Both were from Santiago. Javier and Hector spoke no English. While Marcelo initially, I suspect modestly, said he did not speak English, it became clear that he could get by quite nicely. As a result we were able to have real conversations while practicing our limited Spanish (and sign language when necessary!) Most enjoyable.

Many Chileans will apologize for not being able to speak (better) English. If they have even a little, we will often suggest that their English is far better than our Spanish. Hopefully, we can improve our Spanish and their English in the time that we are here.

Lunch preparations are underway with Javier in the foreground, his brother to the left at the counter and Ines with Charlene in the background. Hector is on the right.

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Chileans traditionally eat their largest meal of the day near mid-afternoon. (This makes complete sense and explains the small stores closing from 1:00-ish to 4:00-ish each day) We sat down at about 3:30 to what we were told was a pretty typical meal. The salad consisted of cut veggies, (celery, cucumber, tomatoes, cauliflower, palta, broccoli, etc.) The protein came from a selection of chicken (pollo), beef (carne) and sausage (sachicha). And of course, wine to compliment it all!


Dessert (postre) was something called Mote con Huesillos...the following is the "Wikipedia" explanation....

Mote con huesillo is a typical Chilean non alcoholic drink and dessert.

It is made from husked wheat (mote), mixed with sun-dried peaches (huesillo) that have been rehydrated in water for hours. The water in which the peaches were rehydrated is mixed with some sugar, and the wheat is mixed in a glass with the peaches and the peach-flavored sweetened water.

This drink is usually sold on streets, from carts and stands, during the summertime. The boiled wheat and huesillos are also bought in markets for domestic preparation.

The industrial preparation of this drink has had only partial success in Chile.

After lunch meant a walk about the neighborhood. The sun seems very intense here. We definitely feel the heat on our faces. More so than at home it seems.




The scenery and homes were very nice, but the roads, sidewalks, boulevards and yards were not kept as we might expect in a community like this in Canada.





This is the town plaza where it appears that families come to gather and visit after the big meal. This would be about 5:30.



After returning to the house for more dessert (Dulces Chilenos - small cone shaped pastry filled with chocolate pudding) an a glass of Ponche de Duranzo (Peach juice mixed with white wine and fresh fruit), it was time to hit the road. We walked back to the town square where we caught the bus to Limache (20 minutes), the train to Vina del Mar (40 minutes) and then a 20 minute hike back to the apartment for an 8:00pm arrival. It was a long but very good day.
One of the best parts of visiting another country is seeing how the people live. You don't really have that opportunity unless you are invited into their homes. Granted, this was a tiny glimpse, but the longer that we are here, the more we are learning.

Mental note: In the future, no matter how friendly a dog seems, if the owner tells you that the dog might bite . . . . listen to them!!

It seems we are running a little behind on the postings lately. We are in the process of writing the next one. To begin with we felt that if we didn't keep up we would fall hopelessly behind. These days there is less to report on and seemingly less time to do it. It's amazing how time can expand and contract to accommodate the plans of the day. It would be a stretch to say that we are overly busy, but most days are full and time is flying by.

Until next time,
Norm and Charlene

It's Party Time in Chile!! Dieciocho (18)

We have been hearing about the September 18th National Day (ie: Canada Day) celebrations in Chile for what seems like months. About how the country closes up shop for several days and parties hard. About how virtually everyone (of age) drinks to excess and dances the nights away. We brought in extra groceries in case we weren't able to find a shop open as businesses started closing up on Wednesday and were said not to be open again until Monday. For a party of this magnitude, we began asking where we should be to take part.

Finally, the day arrived and we were veeeery curious to see just how this party would shape up.

With so much talk of the party, I had many wild visions in my head about what might take place. I (Norm) had half expected to wake up on Thursday morning to see people pouring out onto the streets in celebration. Funny how our imagination can lead us astray!
What we did find was a very quiet city. Refreshingly so! To walk the streets without the roar of the traffic was a treat in itself. The party was apparently being held in the homes and hearts of Chileans, and not on the streets. (There were some small corner stores etc. that were open)

We we told that the public gathering that we should attend was at the Sporting Club (the horse race track). A 30-minute walk to the south-east brought us to the track and the celebrations.



These shots are of the track facility. Its a lovely place! If you look closely at the next shot you will see some children flying a kite. We've mentioned in the past that kites are very popular here. Wherever there are kids and a little space, there are kites for sale and in the sky.



The festivities were set up in the infield of the track and consisted of booth after booth of barbequed treats. You could also get fresh juice (pineapple and banana mixed with ice cream should you desire it), and of course pop, wine, beer, or pisco sour.

Notice the Andes Mountains in the background!



Every booth had a Parrillita (barbeque grill) cooking anticuchos (mixed meat kabobs - chicken, beef, sausage, wieners). Of course, there were also plenty of empenadas available.



Charlene got adventurous again and tried what looked like ground beef mixed with spices, rolled into a fat sausage shape and put in a hot dog bun. We're not sure of the name but this one turned out ok! She really is enjoying what she's eating, I just happened to catch her mid-chew!



Another area of the field was full of games of chance much like you might see at a community association game night.

Much of National day is traditional food and traditional dance. Those of you following along will know that the dance is called the . . . . . . . Cueca! The BBQ and the Cueca seem to be the underlying theme of the holiday.



We took refuge from the hot sun in a massive temporary structure. The walls and ceiling were covered with tree branches. It allowed enough natural light in but seemed to keep the heat out.
All manner of food and drink was available here while the band played and the dancers danced. Some patrons were plucked from the crowd to participate in the dance. Fortunately, these gringos were seated well to the back!!



This lighting provided our camera with a challenge or two.



As we strolled back to our apartment, we realized that we had been invited out to a friend's tomorrow and had forgotten to pick up a gift. A bottle of wine seemed just right, but if you recall, this town had been shut down for the holiday. What to do??!! Well, today we learned that, in Chile, you can buy a pretty good bottle of wine at the Esso! Problem solved!

We finished the night by curling up in front of the computer and watching a movie. (No English TV remember) Earlier in the week we ventured in to a Blockbuster video store and walked out with a couple of recent releases. Address, telephone number and passport number were all that was required. Passports are required to rent a hotel room as well. Earlier, we had to produce our passports to gain entrance to a university. Passports are just something that we just never think about in Canada unless we are leaving.



So, National Day in Chile proved to be very nice. It was much like Canada Day would have been at home, minus the fireworks. It wasn't the party-fest that my imagination had conjured up and in some ways, that was disappointing.

The holiday continued on the diecinueve (19) and for us it would mean a trip to the countryside to chill with the Chileans.

Until then,
Hasta Luega,
Love,
N & C