Santiago
Best Cathedral we´ve seen this trip, rivaling the best of Europe.
La Moneda, where Pinochet´s right-wing coup went down and where an agnostic single mother currently runs the country. Nuts, I tell you.
Josh and Kelsey, our native.
Best Cathedral we´ve seen this trip, rivaling the best of Europe.
La Moneda, where Pinochet´s right-wing coup went down and where an agnostic single mother currently runs the country. Nuts, I tell you. 
Josh and Kelsey, our native.Top of the hill near our hostel, Cerro San Cristóbal
Valdivia´s creation
Chile is kind of nuts. Basically, this conquistador named Valdivia went south for a long ways down the western side of the Andes, battling through Inca tribes and other such ilk and finally reaching this huge valley between massive mountains on either side. Santiago is the result of a settlement started here. Sitting on the top of one of the city´s largest hills today at sunset, I was thinking about the ridiculous ego trip this man would get if he were to see the product of his labor. Santiago has about 5.5 million people, and the city sprawls out in every direction to distances way beyond what the eye can see. It is a massive, seething, polluted metropolis. It exudes power and growth.
The reason I say "nuts" is that it shares a huge border with Argentina but is totally different. If Argentina is Eurotrash for the third world, Chile is the land of teenagers in hoodies and sneakers and old men with caps and vests and young women with Patagonia jackets (and this basically is Patagonia, so eat my dust haters. Also, for those of you who sneer at people who wear North Face jackets, be aware that Josh has been freezing here in his humble light jacket while I have been totally comfortable and warm in my North Face, upper middle class "poser" jacket. Also, be aware that I now own a pair of socks with llamas on them). The Catholic Church is intense here, not just an afterthought, but a strong youth culture is breaking barriers and while we were here there was a significant gay rights demonstration.
I´d like to point out that as an International Economite, I love this country. They have FTAs with almost every major Pacific Rim player, and are part of my favorite FTA, the "Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership," which is a serious FTA for serious free traders like New Zealand, Brunei, Singapore, and Chile. They also have Foreign Direct Investment openness protected by their constitution. The result? An economic jugernaut in a continent of laggards.
We´ve been getting a lot done here. We got haircuts (unnecessary for Josh, obviously, but totally necessary for me) and our laundry done (totally necessary for both of us). I made a few calls home, and have finally updated my blog to have pictures on it from earlier (check earlier entries, at least until you see Alex riding a buggee. That shot is priceless). We also changed our plans a bit so that we´re coming home on July 27th, ditching an unnecessary, costly, and totally out of the way excursion to a mosquito infested beach in Northern Peru so that I can have a little time at home in Washington state and Josh can hang out in Jersey a little more before law school.
Another cool thing is that we´ve been hanging out with an actual friend here, a girl from Iowa who is a student here who we met in Buenos Aires. I was a little skeptical at first, after all, we only knew Kelsey three brief days and my desire to fast track the Santiago portion of the trip was being tempered by Josh´s insitence that we spend some time during the weekend here with somebody we actually knew. After all, why would I want to hang out in Santiago, the LA of the Southern Hemisphere, when there were serious mountains around that needed climbing? Unfortunately for my sense of righteousness, she has been a fantastic tour guide and a lot of fun to hang out with. She took us salsa dancing with her school friends last night, and while Josh and I are not made for that sort of thing (to say the least), we had a damn good time.
More than that, Santiago is so...great. Besides the pretty spectacular sunset we saw today (actually, the clouds portion was not in either of our top 300 sunsets of all time, but the lighting over the city and mountains made us feel like we were flying. For some reason there was a soundtrack of gregorian monks, which always adds to such moments. Also, there was a funicular, and I like that word/invention a lot), we also saw a big cathedral and an underground museum. Ok, so there isn´t that much to do here, it´s kind of like San Jose or something, but we really like it. It is comfortable and the food is great and we´re having a nice dose of civilization before we reverse Valdivia´s trek, back into the land of the Inca, the heart of the conquest, the most "open veins" of Latin America, and the mountain adventure.
The reason I say "nuts" is that it shares a huge border with Argentina but is totally different. If Argentina is Eurotrash for the third world, Chile is the land of teenagers in hoodies and sneakers and old men with caps and vests and young women with Patagonia jackets (and this basically is Patagonia, so eat my dust haters. Also, for those of you who sneer at people who wear North Face jackets, be aware that Josh has been freezing here in his humble light jacket while I have been totally comfortable and warm in my North Face, upper middle class "poser" jacket. Also, be aware that I now own a pair of socks with llamas on them). The Catholic Church is intense here, not just an afterthought, but a strong youth culture is breaking barriers and while we were here there was a significant gay rights demonstration.
I´d like to point out that as an International Economite, I love this country. They have FTAs with almost every major Pacific Rim player, and are part of my favorite FTA, the "Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership," which is a serious FTA for serious free traders like New Zealand, Brunei, Singapore, and Chile. They also have Foreign Direct Investment openness protected by their constitution. The result? An economic jugernaut in a continent of laggards.
We´ve been getting a lot done here. We got haircuts (unnecessary for Josh, obviously, but totally necessary for me) and our laundry done (totally necessary for both of us). I made a few calls home, and have finally updated my blog to have pictures on it from earlier (check earlier entries, at least until you see Alex riding a buggee. That shot is priceless). We also changed our plans a bit so that we´re coming home on July 27th, ditching an unnecessary, costly, and totally out of the way excursion to a mosquito infested beach in Northern Peru so that I can have a little time at home in Washington state and Josh can hang out in Jersey a little more before law school.
Another cool thing is that we´ve been hanging out with an actual friend here, a girl from Iowa who is a student here who we met in Buenos Aires. I was a little skeptical at first, after all, we only knew Kelsey three brief days and my desire to fast track the Santiago portion of the trip was being tempered by Josh´s insitence that we spend some time during the weekend here with somebody we actually knew. After all, why would I want to hang out in Santiago, the LA of the Southern Hemisphere, when there were serious mountains around that needed climbing? Unfortunately for my sense of righteousness, she has been a fantastic tour guide and a lot of fun to hang out with. She took us salsa dancing with her school friends last night, and while Josh and I are not made for that sort of thing (to say the least), we had a damn good time.
More than that, Santiago is so...great. Besides the pretty spectacular sunset we saw today (actually, the clouds portion was not in either of our top 300 sunsets of all time, but the lighting over the city and mountains made us feel like we were flying. For some reason there was a soundtrack of gregorian monks, which always adds to such moments. Also, there was a funicular, and I like that word/invention a lot), we also saw a big cathedral and an underground museum. Ok, so there isn´t that much to do here, it´s kind of like San Jose or something, but we really like it. It is comfortable and the food is great and we´re having a nice dose of civilization before we reverse Valdivia´s trek, back into the land of the Inca, the heart of the conquest, the most "open veins" of Latin America, and the mountain adventure.
3 comments:
loving the pictures - thanks for posting so many, they really bring the stories to life. also love the way you two talk about each other in your respective posts. keep it coming ....
Hi Dylan - I'm Josh's grandfather and just wanted to note how much I personally appreciate all you've written, your photos, your opinions, comments, etc - all great stuff. You two guys are providing top drawer entertainment for us readers. Enjoy the rest of your fantastic journey.
Sheldon Roskin
I am very proud of you boy. Keep up the narrative and photos. Facinating
Love Dad
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