Street Performers in Chile

A special blogger broadcast about street performers in Chile...

When you stop at a light at a major intersection in Chile, you will likely have the pleasure of a theatrical performance! There are street performers all over Chile who perform acts, such as miming, juggling, back flips and dancing, while cars wait at lights. Often, people applaud and cheer loudly from their cars as the performances take place. Right before the light changes, the performers quickly walk between the cars and people offer them pocket change. Not only is this cultural practise highly entertaining for drivers (and pedestrians), but it is a very charming aspect of Chile!

We saw performers at almost every intersection in Vina del Mar. They are a bit more rare in Santiago, especially on weekdays, but you see them at the busy intersections on weekends. I wish I had photos of the performers in Vina - there were some beautiful clowns and mimes - but I've attached some photos of people we've seen in Santiago.

I think "street kids" that ask for money at intersections in Toronto could take a cue from the performers in Chile. People are far more inclined to offer money when they get some entertainment in return!

As a side note, you often see people selling stuff (fruit, candies, newspapers, vegetables) at intersections as well. Drivers buy tons of stuff this way, because it is convenient and gives them something to do while they wait.

Weekend Adventures in the Andes (and elsewhere)

On Saturday morning, we rented a Toyota Yaris and headed south to the Andes, to the area of Banos Morales, just South of Santiago.

It took about 1 hour to get out of the city and into the outskirts of the Andes mountains. The towns just outside of the city were filled with restaurants, wineries and ranches, where you could take horse back riding day trips along the base of the mountains and glacier-fed rivers. We continued to follow the road towards Banos Morales and pretty soon the towns were few and far between, and the paved road ended and became a dirt road. The mountains were breath-taking and the best part was that we had the views almost completely to ourselves!

We stopped Termas Morales for a picnic on the bank of a stream that jetted out of the side of the mountain. Unfortuantely, the banos (hot springs) we closed - we think that there were a lot of rock slides after the earthquake which limited road access to some of the areas in the mountain passes. We continued on the road until we could not drive any further (which turned out to be about 6 km from the Argentinian boarder), then took the stroller out of the car and walked to take in the incredible views. Some of the areas appeared to have been mined - there was a gypsum operation that we drove through and you could see some scars on the mountains were there may have been other mining, for minerals like copper. The mountains were completely different looking compared to the Rockies - very arid, with small green scrub in lower elevations, but mostly orange/yellow rock. We did see several glaciers high up in the mountains near the end of the road.

On the way back, the sun was low in the sky and casting beautiful shadows across the autumn scenery. Road side stands were a buzz, selling fresh nuts (walnuts, almonds) and honey. The boys fell happily asleep as we traversed the roads, back to the main thoroughfares heading back into Santiago. When we got back, we all showered to rid ourselves of the dust (which got into everything) and headed out for a dinner at Parque Araco, where they had a live band singing tunes from Cold Play, The Police, etc. It was an awesome day!

On Sunday we took the kids to the aquarium at the MIM (Museo Interteracto Mirador), an interactive museum for kids. The aquarium was pretty tiny and was damaged in the quake, so there wasn't tons to see, but the both kids got a kick out of the small selection of fish and a very entertaining parrot show.

Note about music in Chile - Surprisingly, we hear a LOT of Canadian music in Chile, including Celene Dion, Brian Adams, Alanis Morissette, Rush, etc. There is also another strange Canadian connection. Providencia, the very trendy commercial area in central-Eastern Santiago is named after the Sisters of the Devine Providence who arrived in Chile, from Canada, in 1853. Apparently they were headed to Oregon, but Oregon was flooded at the time and they couldn't figure out how to get back to Canada so they met a captain of a Chilean ship and came to Santiago, where the government of the time encouraged them to continue their charity work.

More Adventures in Santiago

We spent the rest of the week exploring more areas of Santiago.

On Wednesday, I took the kids on the Metro to Santa Lucia, which is a picturesque park on a very high hill, overlooking the city. The biggest challenge was navigating the stroller to the summit. I used my charades skills to figure out an "alternative" entrance to the park that didn't involve hundreds of stairs. We ended up ditching the stroller and taking stairs to the final summit, where the boys explored the castles, cannons and the local ice cream stand.

The park is the location where Pedro de Valdivia, the Spanish conqueror of Chile, first founded Santiago in 1540. It wasn't until the 1870's, when 150 prisoners landscaped the many pathways and gardens traversing the area, when the park really became an attraction for the public. The cobblestone, winding staircases, beautiful buildings and landscaped gardens are gorgeous.

It turns out that there is also an artisan market, which I stumbled upon as I made my way to the next Metro station with elevator access. I bought the boys matching Chilean draw-string pants, which made them look like little hippy children.

A note about dogs in Chile: Despite Chile's cosmopolitan/modern nature, there are stray dogs everywhere. But, unlike other areas of the world, the strays are often thoroughbred dogs - Irish Setters, Boarder Collies, Golden Retrievers, etc. The dogs sleep in the most precarious places - on busy street corners, in gardens in high-end malls, on the boulevards in the middle of busy thoroughfares, etc. At the same time, people take great pride in their "official" dogs. You see wealthy women with their little dogs wearing fancy dog outfits and other high-end dogs like German Shepherds running with their owners on the beach. It is a strange class division for dogs.

Thursday was a relatively low-key day - Jeremy was in a planning session all day, which was followed by a dinner, so the boys and I had each other to ourselves . We had a blast exploring the Parco, the pool and the mall entertainment, ending with room service for dinner. It was wonderful!

On Friday, the official Spanish lessons began. I met Catalina (friend of a friend) in the bohemian area of Barro Bellavista at 10 AM, and we spent four hours learning and practicing Spanish - asking for directions, shopping and ordering food. We also made an attempt to visit Pablo Neruda's Santiago house, but had to abandon the plan after William had a "moment" (i.e., completely refused to go on the tour because he was too tired and wanted to ride in the stroller, which certainly is not compatible with touring a poet's house). He was irrational and inconsolable. It was ugly. Fortunately, the lovely people at the house agreed to allow me to use my ticket another day. Hopefully I can make it back there and convince the boys to do the tour.

Catalina babysat for us on Friday night. Jeremy and I went out to a wonderful Peruvian restaurant, "Astrid y Gaston", which was absolutely fabulous. It was fabulous in part because the food and atmosphere were very fancy, but more fabulous because it was just the two of us!

Solo in Santiago - The First Two Days

Nearing the end of the second day, solo in Santiago with William and Jackson, while Jeremy works at the Kinross offices nearby.

Key learning: "Cerrado blah blah dias Luna blah blah blah" loosely translates to "closed on Mondays" My Monday plan was to let the boys loose at Parco Araucano, the giant park nearby, with a few balls and some sandwiches, as a low-key start to our solo mission in Santiago. Not sure why it is necessary to close a park to cut grass, water plants, rake, etc. but thus is the Chilean way, so I rolled with it and opted for Starbucks, pool time and lots of Pinocchio.

Got into the groove on Day #2 - jumped on the Metro with the boys and went to Los Dominicos, to the massive artisan market. There were several pet shops, with baby ducklings, parrots, bunnies, etc. and a few giant cages filled with other larger birds, which was enough to facinate William and Jackson. I did some very hurried shopping while William commandeered the stroller through the narrow pathways, cafes and nooks of the beautiful outdoor market. I concluded that I'll need to return and actually do some real shopping - the Alpaca woolen scarves / hats / sweaters, native artwork, jewelery, etc. were amazing. After exploring the market we hit a nearby playground to burn off residual energy and eat our sandwiches, before heading back on the metro.

The novelty of eating out with the kids has officially expired. Tonight we are making use of our kitchen in our suite and eating in. The colouring, sticker books, activity books, trains, planes and automobiles are losing their novelty at dinner time and it has become more stressful than enjoyable eating dinner out with the boys each night. Some babysitting is long overdue - hoping to set up a few evenings in the near future so we can have dinner without screetching, fighting over toys and the general mahem of keeping little boys up late and behaving in restauants!

I start my Spanish tutoring sessions tomorrow - a friend of a friend has agreed to teach me some conversational Spanish. When I speak Spanish, which is necessary every day given that most people here don't speak much, if any, English... I typically get puzzled looks. Fortunately my charades skills and innocent face have come in handy at getting my point across. Older women still insist on starting conversations with me about the children - I feel rude but often smile without responding because I have no clue what they are asking me.

I'll post some photos with this blog once I get around to uploading again.

Easter Weekend

After an early visit from the Easter Bunny (who took a rocket ship to Vina del Mar from Toronto to deliver eggs), we packed all our stuff and cleaned up the apartment before heading back to Santiago. This undertaking took the entire day, as you could imagine with us taking turns taking the kids out while the other one packed and cleaned.

It was a beautiful drive back to Santiago and after taking a few wrong turns, we ended up on the scenic route through the heart of the downtown, through Providencia and finally to Parque Araucano, an modern suburb of Santiago. A useless GPS and many obscure one-way streets resulted in it taking us forever to get to the Marriott - even though we could see the giant building everywhere we went! The day ended well when we finally got into our beautiful suite and had a delicious dinner of seafood pasta at a nearby restaurant.

We spent Easter Sunday exploring Santiago, so that I could be comfortable adventuring out on my own with the kids while Jeremy works for the next two weeks. We took the Metro downtown to Central Station and walked along the beautiful boulevard of Bernardo O'Higgins, through a few dodgy areas but past some of the great museums, monument and towers. The architecture downtown is breathtaking - so many gorgeous old buildings with gargoyles and ornate carvings, but also with tons of graffiti.

The Santiago Metro was really clean and efficient - putting the TTC to shame. I've mapped out a bunch of day time adventures to various parts of the city, also figuring out which stations are stroller friendly via the handy website, so I now feel comfortable sightseeing on my own. Stay tuned for whether this materializes as planned! :)

Vina del Mar

6 days in Vina del Mar… so much to say. We were fortunate enough to be lent a colleague’s vacation apartment right on the beach in Vina - away from the Gringo hotels in a prime area. Our own place afforded us the flexibility that we really needed with the kids. We explored the beautiful coastal city – drove up the coast as far North as Maintencilla, where we passed through gorgeous coastal towns lining the cliffs of the Pacific but also through some interesting Chilean industry [this part added by Jeremy for industry nerds: we passed by a Codelco copper refinery and LNG regassification facility at Quintera, as well as the ENAP refinery just north of Vina which supplies Chile with about half of its refined oil products]. Earthquake interrupted operations only temporarily - its back to business as usual]. Maintencilla was very laid back and off-the-beaten path beach town – had it been warm and sunny, it would have been flooded with people, but given the foggy cooler day, we had the beach to ourselves. Jackson was a real dare-devil, heading straight into the waves and William explored the rocks and collected kelp specimens. We enjoyed a few beers on the beach and a snack before continuing back South-bound towards Vina, and stopping for lunch at a sea side restaurant where we enjoyed fresh calamari, chili shrimp and conger (a kind of white fish native to the Chilean coast). Jackson was in a particularly disruptive mood and insisted on screeching at a couple of older fellows in the restaurant, who thought he was really cute and amusing, which only fueled the fire! It was one of those meals in a fancy restaurant where you wolf down your food and gulp down your wine as quickly as possible, so that you can get the heck out of the restaurant before your kids overstay their welcome! Needless to say we got expedited service.

On other days we strolled around the city, taking in a tour in a horse-drawn carriage, visiting a 19th century castle built by a German industrialist, museums and enjoying a dinner of cheese, baguette, roasted chicken and fine Chilean wine on the beach while the kids chased (and were chased by) waves on the sea shore. Most days the chilly fog that rolls off of the Pacific and gets trapped by the seaside hills did not clear until mid-afternoon, but by Thursday we were lucky enough to get a stretch of beautiful sunny and hot days that started in the early morning. The city was very quiet during the week but by Maundy Thursday it regained its spirit as people flooded in from Santiago and surrounding areas to enjoy the long weekend. Fortunately Vina has a Starbucks and is filled with playgrounds – which is all any parent really needs :)

Jeremy and I alternated taking runs up and down the coast, along the beautiful cliffs overlooking the strong Pacific waves that roll in onto the mixture of rocks and sand.

On Good Friday, we ventured South to the historic port city of Valparaiso, where we drove along the costal cliffs and circled into a random neighbourhood looking for beach, but finding a beautiful street high up in the hills looking over the port of Valparaiso. We watched the freighters loading and unloading shipping containers, enjoyed some shopping and ventured down through the twisting and turning streets to the city below (after visiting the Naval Academy Museum). We found ourselves in a sketchy part of town, but soon landed in the main Sotomayor square in front of the picturesque Armory were we had a traditional Chilean lunch. The architecture of the old city of Valparaiso was fascinating – most buildings were late 1800s and beautifully detailed - clearly it was a city of wealth at one time (before the Panama Canal rendered Valparaiso less prominent). We took a wrong turn and ended up on another mountain in the city, with another beautiful view, then had to painstakingly make our way back down the steep hill with the stroller and kids, only to retrace our footsteps back up another steep incline to where we parked the car. It was extremely beautiful and an awesome workout!

We just arrived back in Santiago and finally have internet again. We'll get better at posting messages on this blog and WILL add pictures soon!

First two days in Santiago

Friday Night - Mar. 26

Memories of two carts worth of suitcases and trashing the Maple Leaf Lounge while waiting to board our flight to Santiago. Determined not to drug my children, I reluctantly purchased children's gravol after helpful friends and colleagues insisted that I "go prepared". My last client meeting on Friday ended in a debate on which was more effective - Benedril or Gravol :) Gravol was the winner, but to our surprise, Jackson turned out to be part of the 20% group that gets hyper on Children's Gravol, which made the night that much more interesting.

Favorite quote from Friday night:
"I'm having such a nice flight!" William, age 3.5 years

Saturday Mar. 27

Our airplane's first stop was Santiago, after which it moved on to Beunos Aires, Argentina. Not many people got off at Santiago. When we arrived at the airport, the only signs of damage were wide swaths of missing ceiling tiles (presumably removed after the quake due to damage). After paying the hefty visa fees, going through some paper stamping (immigration), we collected our bags and proceeded through long pathways to the "receiving tents", where the public gathered to meet arrivals as the receiving area's ceilings were quite damaged.

We proceeded to the lovely Sheraton (about 16 km from the airport), located on the hillside of San Cristobal. The afternoon was spent relaxing and eating lunch at the pool / playground and recovering from the flight with an enormous nap for all. The boys insisted on sleeping together (naps and otherwise, since arriving) in the crib... which is adorable and working out surprisingly well.

Incidentally the Sheraton executive suite floor has a lounge with wonderful snacks and open bar, for about 4 hours each evening. The boys re-energized while we enjoyed some Chilean wine and beautiful views of the city, with the Andes in the background.

In the evening, we explored the neighborhood - Providencia -which is beautiful and reminded me of cities like Washington, with mostly low-rise shops and restaurants, with little court yards interspersed every few blocks. We settled on dinner at a pub, where Jeremy and I enjoyed a few mohitos and pisco sours... while we all snacked on traditional Chilean fare (including Civiche, which is essentially a delicious, cold seafood salad, with fish, shrimp, squid, etc.). By the time we got back to the hotel it was about 10:30-11 PM... Jeremy fell asleep during stories (before the boys).

Sunday Mar. 28

By the time we all woke up it was about 9:30 AM... so we headed to the lounge on our floor for a beautiful Sunday brunch of berries, buns, smoked salmon, etc. Afterwards we walked along the river that cuts through Santiago (surrounded by park) to the funicular (half elevator, half train) at San Cristobal. The train started in a lovely castle and went up the mountain. There was a musician playing a guitar and flute-like instrument while people boarded the funicular. The boys were so excited about everything!

(You could also take a road to the top, so many people had their bikes or had run to the top)

We walked up the stairs to a small chapel and past an open-air Palm Sunday mass, just below the massive statue of Jesus, which overlooks the city (and reminded us of Rio de Janiero). On the way down to the bottom we stopped at a wonderful zoo. Jeremy initially positioned the zoo like the zoo at High Park, but it turned out to be much better than that - with lots of lions, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, flamingos, etc. and viewing pavilions where you could come within a few meters of the animals.

By this time the kids were getting pretty hungry and cranky, so we grabbed a few "Italian hot dogs" which were anemic-like hot dogs covered in goodies like guacamole, which the boys loved (but were definitely really messy). After this, we walked back to the hotel for naps, which turned out to be sub-par stroller naps and some pool time under the hot Santiago sun... followed by dinner of Patagonian style lamb, fish and more Civiche, plus pisco sour and white Chilean wine.

In the night, we felt a small tremor - Jeremy woke up, then woke me up - but I wouldn't have felt it unless he pointed it out, as it was very minor.