A tale of two Santiagos

So the kids had a spontaneous day off of school today because they had to do some repairs at the school.  We thought that it would be an ideal day to go skiing since none of the other schools have off.  I really dislike skiing and Elisa wasn't that excited so we stayed back to have our own adventure and Rob, Renee and Jonathan took a bus up to the resort  El Colorado.

The Ski Experience (as told by Rob)

There are a number of ski resorts within an hour or so drive from Santiago, and we found a nice bus service to get us to the "family friendly" one, El Colorado.  After a 1.5 hour trip going up over 3000 m (10,000 ft), with lots of tight curves and exactly 40 switchbacks (there are signs on each), we arrived feeling queasy but excited.  The view was stunning, you can see all the way back to Santiago - which was clearly visible in the morning, but hidden by a thick layer of yellowish smog by the early afternoon.  We decided to skip lessons and go straight to slopes.  Despite some anxiety here and there, we all did well and enjoyed the day out.

The City Experience (as told by Sarah)

Elisa and I decided to check out the local museum scene.  I did some research online and found that there was a kids museum, science and technology museum and a natural history museum all in the same park west of downtown.  Google translate failed me this time because it did not highlight the fact that the kids museum was destroyed, the natural history museum is under renovations after receiving earthquake damage last year and the science and technology museum rivals the Curious Kids Museum in St Joseph, Michigan (which is perfect for Elisa but J. and R. would have been bored out of their minds.)

That said, we made it an adventure anyway.  We took the Metro at a little before 10 without realizing that there was a protest planned downtown for 10:00.  The metro was filled with students and teachers carrying banners, blowing whistles, playing drums and jumping around.  Elisa (and I) did not know quite what to make of it all but I put on the "looks-like-they-are-having-a-good-time" face and we carried on.  Later we saw TV clips of what was going on at street level and I am pleased to say that I wisely decided that today was not the day to have lunch at the Mercado Central as was originally planned.  Based on the map and internet the museums (or what we thought were museums) were all in the same park.  What they didn't say was that it was impossible to enter the park except through one entrance hidden on the side of the park (no wonder nobody was there!).  We found it and, once we realized that two of three of them were closed, we headed to the science museum. We explored for 30 minutes and then hunger set in.

All of Santiago is covered in graffiti.   In our neighborhood it is somewhat intermittent but it covered everything where we were today. I assume that most of it is political (including the occasional swastika) and have challenged myself to at least learn enough local Spanish to translate those that I can read (Dad - I am hoping for some help in October - I am sure that it will still be there).  The kids are intrigued more with the mess of it all than the fact that it is a form of expression.  Interestingly, unlike in the States, somehow the subway lines aren't covered in the graffiti.

So we asked the folks at the museum (there were at least five of them hanging out and we were the only two people in the museum) where we could eat locally and they suggested a restaurant next to a church nearby.  We passed a lot of half torn down houses, graffiti, stray dogs and cats, and finally got to the recommendation.  It was perfect.  A complete hole in the wall with Chilean workers having their afternoon meal.  There was a handwritten menu on the wall and an old lady in a little box where you placed your order.  You had to pay 100 CP ($0.25) to use the bathroom or at least to get the toilet paper.  I ordered a toasted cheese sandwich for Elisa and a papaya soda (we keep seeing it so it was time to give it a try - Elisa loved it but it was just sweet to me) and I ordered a cafe con leche (which they proceeded to make with Nescafe) and an avocado sandwich (when in Rome!).  As we were waiting we watched the TV scenes of the protest  (they estimated that 60,000 people were there) and I realized that we'd be heading straight home after lunch rather than have the full adventure.  We didn't see much on the way back and that was fine by me.

BTW - The darn pots and pans are at it again!  (and car horns and whistles and .....)