Sunsets and smog

Those of you who are friends with me on Facebook will already be familiar with my 'first sunset' photo - the magnificent sight that greeted me on my first day in Chile. For anyone who hasn't seen it, this is what I saw when I looked out of our bedroom window on my first evening in this new country.

It really is a tremendous sight; and a week or so later, I took this picture which shows-off the mountain in all its snow-capped splendour.

However, Santiago is not all sparkling skies and dramatic panoramas. Unfortunately, a lot of the time (in winter especially) the city is covered with a thick blanket of smog. Nestling as it does between two mountain ranges, while providing an unbeatable backdrop, does, however, create a trap for all the pollution characteristic of a capital city. Sadly, the mountains are often obscured, as the photo I took at sunset today shows.

The 33

Phoenix 2

Walking through central Santiago this morning, this was the scene that greeted us: Phoenix 2, the rescue capsule which brought the 33 miners trapped underground in the San Jose mine safely to the surface.

The capsule is currently exhibited outside La Moneda, the presidential palace in Santiago. Hundreds, if not thousands of people have already queued to have their photograph taken with it.

But the most striking thing for me is its size. The guard to the right gives you some perspective of how narrow the capsule is. I think I would struggle to fit into it.

Learning the lingo

There was good news this week. On Monday, I completed my 20th hour of Spanish lessons at Woodward Chile and so it was time for an assessment to check on my progress. And the good news was that I passed and have now started Spanish level 2!

So far, learning Spanish has been a lot of fun but quite difficult. I arrived having studied Spanish at evening class for a year and was quite confident I could communicate on a basic level. How wrong I was. I had not been prepared for how different Spanish in Chile would sound. And even now, I almost always have no idea at all what people are saying to me.

Firstly, people in Chile seem to speak quite fast. Of course, native speakers always speak faster than learners. But the Chileans I've dealt with, by their own admission, talk quite rapidly.

They also seem to swallow their words. Again, probably quite a standard thing for native speakers - the final letters or syllables in words get lost or dropped and words run together.

Then there's the difference in pronunciation. The Spanish that I have been used to is spoken with a th sound for the letters z and c, whereas here, s, c and z are all pronounced with a s sound. Getting used to the pronunciation is easy but it makes spelling a bit tricky.

Add to this, changes in lexis. Lots of vocabulary is different from Spain. For example, the word for avocado (which Chileans eat a lot of) is palta, not aguacate. And don't even get me started on 'Chileanisms' - colloquial expressions and phrases which proliferate standard conversation.

So as you can see, getting to grips with the local lingo is a challenge. One that both amuses and frustrates me in equal measure!

I never tire of this view

It's 7pm in Santiago's business district and the suited and booted are scurrying home; streaming down the steps to the underground, impatiently tapping their feet in bus queues, or honking and hooting their way through insane traffic.

Meanwhile, a lone tourist stands on the corner taking pictures, amazed that such an everyday scene is being played out against such an astounding backdrop.

Manquehue against the Andes

Wow wow wow!

Willie Colón

On Saturday night, Willie Colon returned to play in concert in Chile for the first time in 15 years. And wow did he not disappoint!

One of the pioneers of salsa music in the 60s and 70s, this man can still absolutely enthral a heaving theatre. Salseros young, old and from all over the planet were there; singing at the top of the voices; dancing their hearts out and generally going crazy for this man.

What an amazing experience. I am so lucky to have had the chance to see this consummate performer.

Thanks to yokanti for the video

Pass the Ferrero Rocher

I just met the Spanish Ambassador

12th October in Chile is Columbus Day, marking the date that Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas. It is a national holiday in many South American countries, as well as in Spain. So to celebrate, we went along to an open day at Estadio Español - a sort of country club for Spanish ex-pats (and their descendants) in Santiago.

It was a really fun day, with lots of traditional dancing and costumes from each of Spain's different regions. Each region also had a stand, serving local food and manned by natives of that area.

Dancing a Jota from Aragon

It didn't take us long to find the stand from Aragon and we both looked on rather wistfully when we saw its giant picture of the basilica in Zaragoza alongside the River Ebro. We sampled a really tasty tortilla and then Carlos started chatting to a man in front of the stand who was wearing an "I'm from Aragon" badge. He turned out to be the president of the Aragonese ex-pat club and when Carlos told him he was from Zaragoza city, he was met with "Hombre!", open arms, an enormous smile and the biggest bear hug I've ever seen.

We were then paraded around the Aragonese area and introduced to numerous people, one of whom was the Spanish Ambassador to Chile, with his wife and his aide! Of course, I didn't realise this until Carlos translated to me later, which was probably just as well!

The Aragon stand

More fantastic hills

Last Saturday, Carlos and I took a stroll up another fantastic hill that is slap-bang in the centre of Santiago - Cerro Santa Lucia. Once again, it has the most amazing views of the city and of course, the snow-capped Andes.

San Cristobal, the city and the Andes in the background

Originally a look-out when the city was first founded, the hill was later landscaped into the sort of place I can imagine Georgian ladies twirling their parasols and enormous meringue dresses as they promenaded along the terraces.

The Neptune terrace

After winding your way around the the different levels, you reach a turret standing aloft the hill's pinnacle, providing panoramic views only beaten (so far) by the neighbouring Cerro San Cristobal. Although the steep, slippery steps are mildly terrifying when attempting to negotiate your way back down to ground level.

The turret and very scary steps to the top

Cerro Santa Lucia really is a lovely place to while away the afternoon, something the locals seem to do in droves. Although you had better be in a romantic mood, as the majority of visitors are couples, particularly teenage ones hoping to find a hideaway where their parents won't be watching!

www.flickr.com jaynescarman's Cerro Santa Lucia photoset

Start the day with some pomp and circumstance

This morning I went to see the changing of the guard at La Moneda, the presidential palace in Santiago. Taking place every other morning at 10am, I had read that this display always drew a big crowd and was something not to be missed. Well, I can safely say it did not disappoint. Rigid lines of immaculately dressed soldiers filed across the square with pinpoint precision, their tightly-executed manoeuvres flanked by a host of Chilean flags rippling in the breeze. Meanwhile the military band gave a stirring performance, as gaggles of excited schoolchildren and passers-by alike watched with awe.

How does an earthquake cause a sore head?

Answer: if it comes in a glass 
 

A terremoto

Last night I had my first 'night out' in Santiago and was taken by Carlos and his colleagues to a delightful bar called (rather aptly) 'the fleapit' (La Piojera). Imagine, you go down a dark, packed, cobbled alleyway into an even more overcrowded basement bar - bare floor, rustic-looking tables and chairs, glasses and paper napkins littered everywhere, conversations pitched at ear-blistering decibels, lots of jostling and folk musicians playing in the corner. Needless to say, the sharp suits of the accountants and lawyers I was with were an interesting, if incongruous, addition to the mix.

Anyway, the drink of choice in said establishment is the 'terremoto' or 'earthquake'. This drink is legendary in Santiago and consists of a pint of sweet fermented wine with 4-5 scoops of pineapple ice-cream on top, all served in a plastic tumbler. It may also contain some sort of liquor but I didn't quite get to the bottom of that.

Needless to say, the drink gets its name from its ability to make the ground move beneath you and I can certainly say it did. Carlos and I had one each to last us the whole evening and found ourselves staggering home. And I suddenly discovered an amazing fluency in Spanish which I do not have in my lessons!