Tag Archives: Chile

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A weekend in Santiago and Lollapalooza Chile

Friday morning my husband, daughters, their cousin, and myself flew to Santiago for a long weekend.

Actually, this weekend really began over six months ago when my oldest daughter started asking if she could go to a rock festival in Santiago.  Of course she could not go alone, so she described all the wonderful things that would be available for a family during this two day concert.

“Music for everyone, even you Dad, and a play area for my little sister!”

She worked on us slowly but steadily, until we decided we would go.  But only for one day.

“Choose which band you want to see and what day they are playing”.

“Foster the People!! Sunday!!”

We bought tickets, booked flights and hotels, and waited for the end of March to arrive.  I am not very good at doing things that are outside my daily routine because it is guaranteed that I will get a migraine.  Of course, the stress of knowing I will probably be sick and ruin everything for my family, gives me a migraine.  And sadly, my whole family knows it, and was not surprised that I had a headache the day before we left.

It is not easy visiting a city, (which is still in full summer heat) with a migraine sufferer, a father with a recently injured knee and children of different ages.  My youngest wanted to buy toys and play, my oldest wanted look at clothes she can’t get in La Serena.  Luckily we managed to satisfy both girls with not too much disappointment, dolls and clothes were bought, and we had a nice walk around the museum at the Presidential Palace.

In front of the Moneda

Saturday morning yoga at the musuem

We also went out to the very posh mall where all the big names are, but when I had a severe attack of nausea we had to leave early.  (I wasn’t very popular for a while).  However later chatting with the girls we weren’t sure which was worse, the snotty kids at the mall or the screaming, rampaging drunk around our hotel.

Finally Sunday arrived and it was off to Lollapalooza, nice and early because Foster the People were playing at 1.30pm.  My husband and I have never been to a big festival concert and we were amazed by the size and organisation.  There were six stages, eating areas, a kids area, environmental stands, free water, and constant recycling and garbage control.  A lot of space for everyone, clean and a very nice atmosphere.

Coca-cola stage and Perry's stage behind, (the dome)

My oldest and her cousin ran off to watch Foster the People while we sat in the shade eating and exploring some of the other bands.

Foster the people at Lollapalooza Chile

I got my picture taken by a fashion web page that finds different “street looks”, (they didn’t use my photo, but still great for my ego!)  Later my youngest coloured and made a fairy in the children’s section.

Lollapalooza for the kids

Colouring in the kids section

It was very hot, and a long day for us, so we left around 6pm, which caused some major complaints from my oldest and her cousin who wanted to stay and see MGMT and the Foo Fighters.  But we were tired, (although looking back, we probably should have sat on the grass and listened to more).

Monday morning we packed up our bags and headed out to the airport.  Most of the grumbling of leaving early had been forgotten, and the girls were focusing on the good things they had done in Santiago.  And we still had Santiago airport.

It is a bit of a joke with my oldest daughter because we always see people from the TV at the airport, (it isn’t very big so it is easy to spot people).  This time was no exception.  In the line in front of us at check-in was a large group of well known Chilean actors.

But that wasn’t the best part.  In the line next to us, were Foster the People, which made the weekend finish perfectly for my daughter.  She said hello and asked if she could have her picture taken with them.

Foster the People at the airport

This was her weekend, part of her Christmas present, and even though not everything went her way, she came back with a lot more than she hoped for.

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Solar oven meeting

Last week I participated in a reunion of the Mujeres de Comunidades Rurales para el Uso de la Energía Solar, (Women from rural communities and their use of solar energy), and an exposition by the same group.

This was the second reunion, and it was nice to see some familiar faces and a lot of new ones.  Most of the women were from rural areas and had already participated in government granted projects and owned a solar oven, (like me), or they were hoping to be awarded a grant to build their own.  After listening to speakers we divided into groups by area and introduced ourselves.  Then with the help of professionals, we discussed and presented ideas to develop future projects.

Two days after the meeting we displayed our solar ovens in the Plaza de Armas in La Serena.  We showed how the solar ovens work and the different products that we make with our ovens.  There were jams and preserves, breads and cakes, and I showed my oven dyed wool.  There was a lot of interest by people passing by, as well as the local paper and TV.

Spinning in The Plaza de Armas

I had fun making new friends and sharing ideas with other women who enjoy creating.  I was also nicely surprised by the amount of people interested in hand spinning and wool dyed with natural materials.

Solar dyed wool

For more information, (in Spanish) this is the link of the organisation that builds and teaches solar ovens here in La Serena.

Hornos Solares Chile

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Into the New Year

Well I know it is a bit late, and I have missed the New Year boat; to analyse last year and write about my goals for this year.  But that is okay, because all the posts are there for last year in case I forget, and I am not very good at setting (or completing) goals anyway.

So what have I been doing in these early weeks of the year?

I have renewed my Chilean ID card, which even though I have done before, I always forget the paper work and the visit to the International Police that I have to do first.  And I renewed my drivers licence.  So a lot of back and forth with pieces of paper and waiting in lines, (good thing I always have knitting with me).

Most of the time however I have spent with my in-laws, eating a lot and talking.  We even had a trip to a beach called Totoralillo.  We are close to some great beaches, but we don’t visit them very often.

One of the beaches south of La Serena

And most exciting is that my mom is coming to visit us for two months!  My girls are so happy, especially my youngest, who after counting down the days to Christmas, (starting in June) she has been counting the days till her Nana arrives.

So rather a short post, but it is a start for the year 2012.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Hidden

The past weekend was a four day holiday here because of el Dia de Todos los Santos falling on a Tuesday.  My family and I went camping in the garden of the house where my mother-in-law grew up.  The town is very small and peaceful, with recent electricity, and very little mobile phone coverage; you have to go up a hill outside of town.

About fifteen minuets drive outside of town, in the middle of no where is the cemetery where my husband’s grandfather is buried.

Hidden.

The cemetery is on hill overlooking the hacienda that was there before the town.

The cemetery is old and we found graves from the 1920’s as well as many small graves that no longer showed their names.

Cementerio de Carrizalillo

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Once de Septiembre

Today is the 11th of September, and it has been a long week.

Here in Chile most of the country has been in mourning after a plane crash killed a well loved celebrity along with 20 other people.  The plane was lost at sea near the island of Juan Fernandez, where it was trying to land.  We have had a week of almost 24 hour news coverage as they find parts of the plane and parts of the people.  The accident was even sadder because all the people were going to the island to help with the rebuilding that has been going on since the earthquake last year.

Then comes the weekend, and programs of the Twin Towers have been on the TV.  The whole world remembers this date because of the attack, sadly Chile has been remembering this date for almost 40 years.  The 11th of September 1973, the Presidential Palace was bombed with president Allende inside.  This began the 17 year dictatorship of Pinochet.  Like the Twin Towers, my husband remembers watching on TV as planes bombed the palace and fear became the common feeling across the country.  Should I mention the irony of the United States’s involvement in Chile during the 70’s, and the date of the Twin Tower’s attack?

And, most painful for my family this week has been my youngest feeling sick again.  She has been suffering with severe stomach pain and nausea, which has meant more visits to the doctors, abdominal scans, and blood tests.  The general opinion was that it was colic, because she is eating a more varied diet a month after the operation.  But we were also told that she may have problems with her intestines “sticking” at any time in her life.

She is feeling better now, and we have had a restful weekend, trying not to watch the TV, or think about all the sad things that have happened on this date.  We have to take a moment to remember these things that are so terrible; to remember how we were effected…so that we don’t repeat them.

Unfortunately, you would think after “witnessing” so many atrocities we would have learned.

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It is getting cold

The cold weather has meant that I have brought my spinning wheel into the house so I can spin in the warmth.  Most Chilean’s homes do not have central heating, especially here where it is generally mild…except in the winter, when it is cold!  And Chileans like to air their houses in the morning when cleaning, open all the windows and let the cold air in. (I must admit I do this in the bedrooms every morning.)  But in the living room and kitchen we have a wood burning stove, so it stays warm.  At night hot water bottles keep us warm in the bedrooms.

Hot water bottle. That is a phrase that I learned doesn’t translate exactly.  When I first met my husband, before we were married I stayed with his family, (very understanding soon to be in laws), and caught a bad cold.  My Spanish wasn’t very good so I tried to describe a hot water bottle.  “Botela de agua caliente”, (bottle of hot water).  I thought I was pretty smart until I saw what they brought me; a glass beer bottle full of hot water!  Well it worked, but I later learned that I should have asked for a “guatero”.

So I have been spinning and trying to think what to knit with the wool.  Maybe some covers for our “guateros”!

Green and purple sheep's wool

Mixed hand spun

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Rain rain rain

Today it is raining.  We do not get much rain here in La Serena, so when we do it is a bit of an event; sometimes good, sometimes not.  The rain during the night was crashing on the roof, waking us all, but now it is gentle drizzle.  The girls stayed home from school and are playing board games and watching TV.  I am remembering rains from years before.

Rainy day

My father designed our house as a guest house; open style kitchen/dining/living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom.  He wanted it to have a “Mediterranean” feel, big windows and a flat roof.  This is lovely when it is done properly, but for some reason our first winter in the house the rain entered everywhere!  We had buckets everywhere except our bed, where we were all snuggled up, trying to ignore the damp that was creeping towards us.

During the following week the parquet floor popped up all through the house and mould started to creep down the walls!  More rain was coming so it was a rush to cover the roof with a plastic sheet.  It worked, less rain entered the house, but that night the sound of rain covered the sounds of a dog killing the rabbits outside.  When the rain stopped, I rushed outside to the screams of rabbits and a horrible sight.  And it wouldn’t be the first.  Something about the rain brought dogs out killing; rabbits, chickens, ducks.

For a long time I dreaded the sound of rain at night, and something that can be so beautiful I hated.  However over the years we have changed our roof, added some extra rooms, and made the areas for the animals more secure.  Now when it rains we are all dry and I can listen to the sound of rain without fear.

After a day of rain, La Serena is beautiful.  The rain cleans the sky and countryside, and turns the mountains in the valley green.

 

Clear sky after the rain