Vamos a Montevideo

Nieve falso

It rained last night and me and Flaite glumly acknowledged we couldn't go up to La Parva cos actually our legs still hurt too much....and we are going to Montevideo tomorrow so have to get ready. And anyway maybe it will be cloudy or maybe it didn't even snow, just rained on Santiago. And I have to go to the dentist...que lastime

My legs hurt from marching

As Chile's thundering aviation force showed how reasonble it was, I was marched up Cerro Provincia on the weekend. Not all the way to the top because I didn't want to walk through the snow and I was tired after trudging 4 hours of the killer gradient with a overloaded pack. No tarantulas, vizcachas, degus spotted but I got to see a condor swoop right past. And lots of sparkling lights from the city below. Lindo.

Dieciocho - show me your patriotism

Today's the day of flag waving, cueca dancing, empanada stuffing and 'round here the day is honoured with completo worship. Que bonito mi ranchito

Birthday flowers

Today was the last day for the birthday flowers...one month is pretty good going.
The chocolates didn't last that long. Obvio

Vendedores de la calle

Saturday is feria day...buy fruit and veg, sell bolsas asi

The other September 11th

What a strange month September is here. It is a whole month of springtime Fiestas Patrias - patriotic festivals based around dieciocho, the date of Chile's independence from Spain. This is followed by Army Day on the 19th. But counterpointed to these extravagant shows of national pride is the anniversary of the 1973 military coup d'etat overthrowing the world's first democratically elected marxist government of Salvador Allende.
A few demonstrations occur but they are usually violent and end up with fatalities, apparently one or two each year. Most people quietly finish work or classes early to be snug and safe, off the streets of the known volatile areas and then wait for the news reports to flow.

11 de Septiembre is also the name of one of the main east-west arterials of Santiago. I thought it was named as a sign of remembrance for the inauspicious date but it was given this name during the dictatorship years as a celebration of the date of the military takeover. Many people now use the street's original name, Avenida Nueva Providencia, as a sign of protest. Despite the distastefulness of keeping this street name today, it remains because the mayor of Providencia, who was an important part of the military governemnt, is the one person who has the authority to change it and he doesn't want to.

Oh nueve, nueve, nueve

maybe chile will qualify tonite? No TV so I can only tell by the loudness of the cheers from the neighbours if chile scores goals or wins.

No cheers, guess that was the losing sound of Brazil 4 - Chile 2

Conejita

crystal bunny art














conejita bonita