Hallo allemaal, wat een week! We zijn maandag begonnen met school. Iedere week 5 dagen en 3 uur Spaans en daarnaast wordt er bijna iedere middag wel iets georganiseerd waardoor je vaak pas rondom 5-6uur thuiskomt. Vervolgens boodschappen doen en eten koken en……huiswerk. Ja het is druk maar hartstikke leuk, de mensen zijn hier ontzettend warm en aardig en altijd bereid de tijd te nemen om iets voor je uit te zoeken of gewoon te helpen. Ja we hebben inderdaad een minder leuk moment meegemaakt afgelopen dinsdag toen ze Darren’s portefeuille hebben stolen. Natuurlijk heel vervelend maar geen geweld alleen ordinair jatwerk. Voor ons was het een heel geregel. Geld hebben ze niet uit de bank rekeningen kunnen halen, we hebben alles meteen geblokkeerd. Het enige echte vervelende is eigenlijk dat ze ook Darrens rijbewijs hebben gestolen. Inmiddels vandaag geregeld voor een tijdelijk rijbewijs bij de Ontario regering, maar het is maar de vraag of dat zo snel zal worden geregeld. Conclusie: ik zal in het noorden moeten rijden wanneer we een huurauto hebben. Niet dat ik het niet kan…..maar had toch liever een gedeelde taak gehad. Verder hebben ze ongeveer $50,00 gejat. We laten het niet onze vakantie bepalen er zijn zoveel leuke momenten iedere dag en het geregel ligt nu achter ons en we kijken lekker vooruit. We zijn natuurlijk volledig alert met onze spullen maar dat hadden we misschien al van dag 1 moeten doen. We lopen iedere dag een half uur heen en terug naar school en dat is in de ochtend heerlijk maar s’middags wel erg warm. Ik begin nu een beetje Spaans op te pakken zonder totale chaos in me hoofd van Nederlandse en Engelse en daar tussendoor Spaanse woorden. Dit weekend ga ik toch maar studeren want maandag hebben we een test. Ik stuur een paar foto’s mee. Het blauwe gebouw is onze school het bonnetje is een geschreven carbon kopietje voor een stokbrood. 1000 peso’s. Ik vond het nogal grappig om een geschreven bonnetje te krijgen voor 1 banquette. De andere foto is van de achterkant van ons appartement. Weekend. Ik ga vanavond lekker genieten en alleen maar lezen en relaxen. Jullie allemaal een geweldig weekend en wij hebben het erg naar de zin hier. Kusje Truus

Morgen schrijf ik een stukje in het Nederland van wat we de afgelopen dagen hebben meegemaakt. Welterusten, Truus

As the saying goes,

, “no good deed goes unpunished.” On Tuesday, after school, Truus and I decided to avoid the big, shiny supermarket  in our tony neighbourhood (with the helpful assistants and security guards), and go to the “Mercado Centrale” –  the big central market area in a poorer area of Santiago

Mercado Central has a main hall where most tourists go to visit. There are also large covered market buildings further on where only the local people go. The produce there is fresh and slightly less expensive. Wanting the authentic experience (and, being Dutch, the cheaper prices), we ventured on into the broad environs of this place, awash with the smells, sounds, and latino rhythms that one associates with South America. The people who work here and frequent the market are the working poor, the socio-economic underbelly of Chile.

We spent 90 minutes walking through the market, buying stuff, and interacting with the vendors. This is a practice that I’ve done in many, many countries that I’ve visited – helps to give you a sense of the place. Also reminds you of the economic realities for people living in a country where the chasm between haves-and-havenots is yawning.

Somewhere between leaving the market and our commute on the Metro subway system to get home, I noticed that my wallet was gone. I had been pickpocketed. My button-down khaki pocket was undone and my wallet taken from my pocket without me noticing. Quite an amazing bit of latin-lightfingery. The thief could have grown up to be great surgeon, based on his/her dexterity. Truth is that I have no idea who did it – gone in 7 seconds or less. 

Won’t get into the details (not fun) of trying to cancel cards, etc. It’s all more or less arranged now and is fading in our rear-view mirror. I will say that the Chilean people showed us great kindness after the fact. Strangers were volunteering their cell phones so we could call. The empathy was universal, and we got many tips on how to avoid problems in the future. My teacher at school apologized on behalf of the country for our loss.

I had a premonition of this event on our morning walk to school. At a crosswalk that we pass there was a young guy juggling 4 soccer balls at once, tossing them all in the air in a high arc without moving his feet, whilst balancing a fifth ball on his forehead. Then he switched to 3 balls and controlling another ball with his feet, flipping it over his head and kicking it back the opposite way with. a scorpion heel-kick to bring it back to his toe, where he cradled it.

The juggler was thin and smallish. He did his tricks during morning traffic to earn money for himself or his family.  If this kid was in Canada, he could have been a national team soccer player. I thought of the injustice and waste where someone’s potential could be summarily limited. Welcome to Chile. Some info for the pics: a couple of pics were from the Mercado, inside outside. We crossed the road and heard loud singing and people throwing flowers on a car. First we thought it was a wedding but soon we realized it was a funeral. Last Darren eating his first empanada and alcoholic drink: pisco sour. Empanada soso drink great!

Today was our first day using the Metro system in Santiago. Interesting to compare Santiago to Toronto. The two Greater Municipal Areas are about the same size and have a comparable number of inhabitants. Santiago’s system is about 3 times bigger, but the cost to ride it is less than half what we pay in The Big Smoke. The price is even lower if you ride in off-peak hours. It’s also clean and very efficient – and they offer cooling misters blowing down on patrons waiting for trains, in case you find the ambient temperature too warm. 

There’s also different forms of engagement on the Metro. People are actively selling cold water, beverages, band-aids, and more. Like in NYC, there are “spontaneous” performances by those looking to practice their art form and do some personal crowd funding.

The most noteworthy aspect of the Metro, and Santiago in general, is the level of openness of the citizens. Without fail, people came up to us (okay, they only talked to Truus) to ask if we needed help and if we were okay. On our way to the Museum this morning, a woman sitting next to Truus struck up a conversation (in Spanish) with Truus. She advised us where to get off, and to be careful of pickpockets. She then gifted Truus with an armband for protection, “Wear this, it will keep you safe.” No mention of this being a multi-soul armband, so my only hope, I guess, is to stick close to Truus. Sounds like a plan.

Hallo allemaal, vanavond een samenvatting van de eerste 3 dagen in Santiago. We zijn vrijdag middag aangekomen na een paar uur vertraging in Toronto. Alles is snel gegaan en we zijn redelijk op tijd in ons kleine appartement aangekomen. Het is een eenvoudig op de 10de verdieping maar in een hele leuke buurt. We zitten op korte loopafstand, 5 min, van de metro en de supermarkten. Om ons heen allemaal klein winkeltjes en restaurants. De buurt is dan ook heel erg levendig.

vrijdag maar meteen een lading boodschappen naar boven gebracht, we hebben een lift, en met 30 graden en vier volle tassen viel dat toch niet mee. Zaterdag zijn we dichtbij huis gebleven omdat we beiden toch wat moe waren en geen puf hadden om veel te doen. Naar een grote mall geweest alsof we Noord Amerika niet hadden verlaten. Maar er was ook een hele grote supermarkt in die mall zo groot heb ik het in Canada no giet gezien, de naam:Jumbo!! Verder nog wat door de buurt gelopen om onszelf een beetje te oriënteren. Vandaag zijn we naar het museum van Memory and Human Rights geweest. Dat was heel erg indrukwekkend. Ik had bij bepaalde video clips heel veel moeite om niet te emotioneel te worden. Het is het verslag van de dag dat president Allende is afgezet tot aan de dag dat Pinochet moest aftreden nadat hij de verkiezing had verloren. Het is een sober museum waar alle feiten aan de bezoeker worden gepresenteerd zodat deze afschuwelijke tijd in de geschiedenis van Chile nooit zal worden vergeten. Foto’s, film materiaal en de getuigenis van slachtoffers die deze periode van moord en martelingen hebben overleefd laten op mij en Darren diepe indruk achter. We mochten geen foto’s maken in het museum. Daarna zijn we nog naar het centrale plein in Santiago geweest waar ik nog wat foto’s heb gemaakt. We gaan daar zeker terug om de Kathedraal en het historisch museum van Chile te bezoeken.

1/13/20

Today we went exploring in our neighbourhood. Santiago is divided into barrios or districts. There are many to explore. Most travel sites suggest starting in Providencia – which is where our condo is located.

Today we got a late start because our jetlag and general exhaustion kept us in bed until 8:30. So we decided to focus on getting oriented in Providencia and organizing some practical things (like public transit cards, shopping, etc.). Providencia caters to upper middle-class Chileans and to South Amercian, North American, and European tourists. Tons of restos, bars, and shops. And it’s also home to the largest mall in South America – 5 or 6 levels of retail heaven or hell (depending on your orientation). 

We walked to the mall intending to check out the Jumbo supermarket on the ground floor of the mall. But, the first thing that I saw when we walked in was a Dunkin’ Donuts kiosk in front of the Jumbo. One man’s junky, sugar saturated Frankenfood, is another man’s “exotic” North American taste adventure. Kind of surreal to see how, as high street retail is imploding in North America, corporations (Forever 21, Banana Republic, Bata, Merrell, Patagonia, McDs, Burger King, Pizza Hut, etc.) have looked to places like Chile to find growth.

The Jumbo Supermarket was bigger than a US Walmart Superstore. Jumbo must be a universal word – in Holland, it’s pronounced Yu-mbo. The corporate symbol is an elephant, just so everyone understands the scale. In the Santiago Jumbo, every aisle, at least one sales assistant is standing there (paid by the makers of the products) to inform and support the consumer. Truus was looking to buy some skin cream, and there were three young women around her to provide assistance – all very helpful, polite, and sympatico. The other thing that catches your eye here is security. Security guards are everywhere in upscale stores. In the Jumbo alone, there were probably 6-8 security agents watching the entrances, the cash registers, and protecting against shoplifting. 

So far, the vibe in Santiago seems to be very chill. Though, not far away from where we’re staying, there are still protests going on after dark. During the day, there are lots of people walking around and in the cafes, and everyone we’ve asked for help or directions has been very welcoming. All except the guy on the street today wearing a Halloween Rogie Vachon hockey mask, bloody apron, and carrying 3 machetes. Truus quickly turned the corner away from Frederico the Slasher, as he jumped in front of a stopped vehicle and raised one of the knives towards the driver. Turns out that Chilean street performance art – he was a knife juggler – is a bit edgier than the busker with his dog who hangs out in front of the LCBO outlet at Yonge and Davis playing folk tunes for Boomers.

Hola Santiago! After a two hour delay in Toronto – unrelated to weather or general Air Canada indifference (of which there was no shortage) – we saw our first glimpses of Chile. As the plane descended from the clouds on approach, Truus slid open her window shade and pointed to this wondrous sight. Snow-capped enormous peaks at the horizon, and rolling red foothills leading to the ocean. Here and there a narrow ribbon of green and a small village neatly tucked into a fold of rock, with just enough earth to support a human existence. I admire the Chileans already!

One of the longest flights of my life. We didn’t get much rest, other than sleeping through the lovely and timely 1am chicken surprise dinner. Tough to complain, though, when the woman sitting next to me was a 95 year old woman with rheumatoid arthritis who was stopping off in Santiago on her way to Easter Island. She was a fearless soul – couldn’t open up the plastic wrapping on her in-flight snack without assistance, but unbowed and undeterred in life.

I mentioned our plan to study Spanish in Santiago. She was not impressed. “My husband always said, ‘The only way to learn a language is to sleep with someone who speaks it fluently.’ “Well”, I said, “that is how I learned Dutch”. My seat ate then spent the next hour trying to convince us to continue south and visit Antarctica. “Maybe next time “, I replied. She was not impressed with my absence of The Right Stuff.