Ya estoy of regreso de Chile! Inolvidable experiencia para mi that SONABA for so long to visit this country. Finally, we abandoned the idea of going by car to Santiago: The path is long and the landscape exceptional, had paid dearly and did not have enough time to make it worthwhile. Consequently, making the most of the cities we visited and Chilean friends. Here comes the story of those 15 days.
Charlotte and I left on August 15 for La Paz. There, we recovered our passports and took the bus to Arica, where we we had together with Juan Luis, a friend of Christian with whom he had spent several days in La Paz in June. The trip from La Paz to Arica, known for his landscapes and breathtaking cut the breath, deserves his fame. Cross the Sajama National Park, then the Chilean province of Parinacota, home Chungara Lake, one of the highest in the world (approximately 4500m). From the office, we have an unparalleled view of the lake and the volcano Parinacota which borders ...
The passage of the customs, we feared the habit, went well (however, remember with emotion the mimolette (French cheese orange) sent by the mother of Charlotte, we prefer to throw before turning the controls for fear of fined us ... luckily sausage instead went miraculously).
Our first minutes in Chile were not the most pleasant. We just Arica, while Charlotte had gone to buy something to eat and left me in reading the full guide of Chile, a stranger approached the table where she sat and stole Charlotte's backpack, which contained her passport, her glasses of view and video camera ... the worst that can happen.
Juan Luis, arrived a few seconds later, then led us to where "the cops" (as they call the police there) for reporting thefts. Then call the French consulate in Santiago to see what Charlotte had to do. After several steps (and much time in government), just to get a temporary passport in Santiago, allowing him to return to Bolivia. Now, the problem is that he knows how to get back to France, because our plane is scheduled to make a stopover in the United States, which require to have a biometric passport or, failing that, a special authorization which requires several weeks to get it. Therefore, it is forced to re-start the paperwork to get a new biometric passport and new visa ... that much more difficult from overseas. I think the arrival in Arica, do not ever forget ...
We stayed three days in Arica in the family home of Juan Luis. His brother and his brother, with whom he lives, have two restaurants. Then we take advantage on Saturday to go there our first taste of seafood dishes. After five months of almost total abstinence from seafood (such as Bolivia does not have access to the sea, they eat very little fish, or only freshwater fish, most of the time trout), in Chile we retaliated. In fact, he would not eat so much fish that Chileans. Among my best memories: albacore, halibut, trout, mussels (much fatter than our mussels) and crab. Among the less good, hedgehogs, but needless to say that when we have served them, and had swallowed three plates of fish marinated in lemon juice and my stomach threatened to explode.
In Arica, also visited the museum Azapa, an archaeological museum of the most beautiful of Chile, famous for its impressive Inca mummies. Then we move on Sunday in the company of Don Guillermo, the chief work of Juan Luis, whom we met in a city park filled with free use grills and tables for picnics. We ate and took all afternoon, and finally I could taste the corn pie with whom I dreamed ... delicious (it's a meat pie of ground beef with eggs and olives, all covered with sweet corn, really delicious.
After Arica, Iquique went to. There, that was our surprise, we waited for Charlotte more than 12 hours in the bus station without a penny in his pocket and hungry. He had arrived at night but had failed to contact the friend who was hosting ... In Iquique we stayed with Manuel, a friend of Macarena (Chilean friend known in Spain), who besides offering a roof, gave us his guide services during these three days. He took us first to the port to see the arrival of the fishing boats and fish for sale at auction, then a gazebo built in memory of the Battle of Iquique, lost to Chile in the early years of the Pacific War. The viewpoint is located on the heights of the sea, opposite the site of the remains of the Esmeralda, the Chilean ship sunk by a Peruvian armored May 21 1879. Is at the end of this war (1879-1884) won by Chile, Bolivia lost its access to the sea ... This explains the cold that persists between Bolivians and Chileans who also live in two countries whose social models are completely different, still fighting because of the maritime dispute. Bolivians resent them for having the private Chilean coast, and the latter do not like not much of Bolivians who are accused of coming to steal their jobs.
Then we went to school Santa Maria, which was the scene of a slaughter in 1904. At the time, Chile took out much of its resources in the exploitation of salt mines in the north. But Chilean workers were exploited by their employers, often foreigners from the "New World to make a fortune. One day some 20 000 workers went to Iquique to demand better living conditions, a local general made them wait at the school before sending the military to massacre. In total 3000 workers died. The murals on the facade of the school keep alive the memory of the slaughter for such horror not play anymore.
The next day, ie Thursday, we visited Humberstone, a city built around the salt mines and abandoned in the 60's, when it finished its operation to be profitable. Sodium nitrate fertilizer from Chile provided a natural worldwide for more than a century, until you replace an industrial fertilizer and less expensive to produce equivalent performance. Humberstone
seems stopped in time, the dry climate of the north (which also contains the driest desert in the world) helps preserve the buildings in this city abandoned in the desert. You can visit your pool, guest house, market, theater, houses of the workers, and, of course, the factory where he transformed the nitrate in sodium nitrate, but the living conditions of the workers were inhumane, and social control over them, total. Evidenced by the bonds they received as a salary and that allowed them to buy food at the village shops, whose prices went up and down to please the "Mr. Humberstone" master builder and the city (and their workers) ...
Back from Humberstone, said goodbye to Manuel and his family and went to Santiago. After 23 hours almost non-stop bus, we find Cristian in the bus terminal. After having installed in a hostel, I reached the house of Carlos, a friend of his birthday was. We had a good trip but I was tired and after a few glasses of piscola (pisco + coca cola) I went to sleep.
The next day, we spent the morning at the French consulate in order to start the paperwork Charlotte provisional passport. Then we went to Bellavista, Santiago's student neighborhood, full of old buildings with bright colors and all kinds of bars. This time, we went to visit the Chascona, one of the three houses of Pablo Neruda, who divided his time between Santiago, Valparaiso and Isla Negra.
famous poet in the world, makes Neruda's life dream. From his 24 years, was entrusted consular posts in various parts of the world and spent several decades of years abroad. Love objects, his travels brought dozens of works of art and unusual objects, or divided among their three houses ... In each of their homes are made to feel his passion for the sea, women and red wine. Prows of ships, ships in bottles, shaped windows portholes facing the ocean bed, pebbles embedded in the ground, collections of shells from around the world ... mostly objects that remind us of the ocean. Also found in each bar and dozens of objects that testify to his love for Matilda, his third wife and the love of his life.
At night, after a return to the Piojera, a popular coffee among the oldest in Santiago, we went to Rancagua, where Christian and his mother live. For three days, she spoiled us. Good cook, she pulled the boat out and spent much of his time sitting at the table ... Among the best of Rancagua : He "made bread, a homemade bread, the pebre, lemon-based sauce, tomato, onion and cilantro, rich with a little bread appetizer, ceviche, Peru's typical dish is also widely consumed in Chile (this is raw fish marinated in lime juice, onions and cilantro), and artichokes.
THE weekend, we went to visit the area of Ranchi. Rancagua although not very pretty, the towns that surround it are worth visiting. Lost in the mountains, you can still see huasos, the Chilean equivalent of the Argentine gauchos. The latter carry a chamanto, a kind of poncho made at the beginning with silk thread, and now almost exclusively in wool. Along the way, we stopped at Doñihue, a small town known for its community of weavers and their "chacolí" local wine originating in the Basque country. There, a polite "Doñihuense" invited us to her house to teach her weaving room. When you leave your house, across the street was enough to land on the home of a producer who quickly chacolí serve a generous shot of chacolí each, followed by a glass of chicha raw and cooked after chicha, ending by spirits, the other specialty of the area ... the strategy worked because everyone went with several bottles in their hands ...
Monday, we spent the day in Santiago. There, we visited the Plaza de Armas, where Marie and I did read the letters (the tarot). It was my first time and I must confess that I found it quite gifted seer (I'm skeptical but I must admit that his words reassuring put in a good mood). Then we went to "La Moneda, the presidential palace where Allende committed suicide on September 11, 1973, hours after the Pinochet coup. Exciting time for a nostalgic ideals of the time like me ...
then spent several hours in the "Flower Market", robbing from their vendors of stones, pearls, seeds and wires of all colors, Marie to make wire jewelry and I to the macramé. I started doing outstanding during the trip and I hurried to her ears pierced me on my return to Sucre. Now I have to wait for my ears heal to get my first creations.
next day ie on Tuesday, we said goodbye and returned to Santiago Rancagua, where we took the bus to Valparaiso at the end of the afternoon. There, we settled into the house of Caroline, who had visited me in Sucre few weeks earlier, while Antoine, his cousin and a childhood friend of my brother. Caroline finished her one year stay in Valparaiso. Their shared apartment, located on the heights of Valparaiso (Valpo " to intimates) was a true house of hippies. Dubbed "The Big Family" by its inhabitants, all the time was full of people or passengers with whom we sympathize.
is my crush Valparaiso, Chile. That city, with its many hills, the bay giant fishing port, its colorful houses and graffiti by the hundreds, deserves its reputation as "most beautiful city in Chile." The visit to the prison, a former prison converted into open-air museum, I left a lasting memory. Although self-proclaimed our guide, an alleged "former prisoner who had managed to escape" left us with grave doubts about the veracity of personal testimony, offered a visit to the places that are so significant. The most impressive were the graffiti covering the walls of the prison. Here are some of the most beautiful.
The next day, we visit "La Sebastiana (Neruda's second home) and walked around the bay on board a passenger ship and went for a walk in the hills on which is built Valparaiso ...
On Friday night, while Marie was going to join with "Charlottes" in Santiago, I stayed one night at Caroline's house to go the next day at Isla Negra, a small town located an hour and a half from home to Valparaiso the third (and last) house of Neruda. This house is super romantic. Built by the sea, its structure resembles that of a ship, and as in the other houses, interior decoration is largely inspired by the sea. Outside the house, Paul and Matilda are buried facing the ocean.
After my visit to Isla Negra, I took the bus to Santiago, where I expected, "Charlotte-glasses." Marie and "Charlotte-risada" had gone in the morning to Argentina, where they had decided to travel together for a few days. After a last night in Santiago, Charlotte and I took the plane Sunday morning to Arica. There, for our last holiday afternoon, Juan Luis took us to the beach. The next day morning, we took the bus to La Paz, where we arrived just in time to board a bus to Sucre.
When we arrived at Ayni office on Tuesday morning, not rid my backpack, on the contrary, I gathered all my things to settle into a new apartment where I'll stay a month and a half. Philly, an Englishwoman who lives in Sucre, looking for someone to take care of your home address and Puki Mogi, their two cats. As I began to feel tight in Ayni and I was a little boring to live in my workplace, I hastened to seize the moment! It's my first apartment "just for me" and I feel so well there you almost changed my opinion on the shared apartments. But the thing is I'm not really alone: Zéro and Don, the first report, Australian second, they share a large yard with me. Many years older than me, have this peace of mind that I'm missing a lot. Zero Web site administrator and manages its customers British Blog from Bolivia. Don is the "long trip" and decided to stay a while in Sucre to take your peace of mind to live. Don does not speak English well, which forced me to practice English for the first time. I develop as I can but sometimes I have shame when I hear.
Puki and Mogi are two affectionate cats I know. Thanks to them, they almost never sleep alone and I do not make fun of people who collect the clichés of their animals. I always keep my camera at hand and put your photos online soon.
Sucre this weekend welcomes the entry of Virgin, the Virgin of Guadalupe. For several days preparing the festivities. The Bolivians are very fond of parades and anyone can join a fraternity and participate at the entrance. A priori, the endless column will turn the entire city, dancing and drinking ... promises to be fun.
This week I have not encouraged many workshops because one of the two libraries on which course I have to go is closed. As the mayor refuses to appoint a librarian, the only way we found to pressure the city to realize the usefulness of the site was closed. To me it is wrong: me time to prepare my speeches.
workshop this week my mother was catastrophic, even though he had checked all my recipes for tortillas last week, to almost an overdose of eggs, unfortunately, came two unexpected ruin my efforts: the water cut and pans aluminum.
currently water shortages are common in Sucre, especially in the suburbs where people are forced to get up early in the morning to fill water bottles of water to enable them to hold out until night. During the weekend in the department of Ayni, often need to be patient to shower or cook (or use mineral water ... but it is a very economical solution). Luckily at the center never happens.
Then, on Monday there was no water in Mesa Verde and had to take my workshop "tortillas" in deplorable hygienic conditions. We had to leave all the dirty dishes in the library, which I served as an excuse to organize a workshop on "cleanup" next week. Then, the aluminum pans of the library, but sticky gum, finished transforming my workshop on mission "Rescue tortillas." I think I'll have to go back to see all of my recipes call "scrambled eggs."
The next day the same thing happened to me in Villa Harmony: I had to take my workshop pancakes without water in the faucet. To forgive me for the state in which leave the kitchen, the children did write a nice letter to the library and will leave a good dozen pancakes instead of washing dishes ... The same day
improvised a workshop drew the Virgin "with the children, who are still teaching good biblical principles in school. During the afternoon devoted to learning support is not not uncommon to have to help a child find that hair color was Jesus Christ, or what were the seven plagues of Egypt ... for us who come from a country where secularism was elevated to state religion, is a permanent shock.
There, I'll stop here. As the young English teacher who helped me correct my message has gone to France on Tuesday (he was admitted as a language assistant in Strasbourg!), The translation of this ticket will take a few days, the time to find another teacher willing to help me.
And you all are?
The blog takes me so long I left the email, but do not hesitate to send me noticias, estos días tranquilidad the mid departamento más tiempo para me already contestar!
Un beso a todos great.
cuidense. Marion
