Observations From Dad

These are my observations and comments and in no way reflect anything going on in Brian's head.

TRAVEL

Traveling to Chile is kind of made easy because there is no time change. It is 12:30 here just like at home. This for me was a big deal. I felt pretty good when I got here and had no time adjustment. I have never traveled more than three time zones to California but I would think the adjustment of a 15 hour flight east or west would be gigantic. The flight is on the long side but the Delta flight had enough leg room and the seat seemed to go back a littl further than I anticipated. I was able to sleep 4 or 5 hours. Once the son started coming up I wanted to look out the window. Originally I would have liked to had a view of what we were flying over but I suspect that the Amazon ( which I don't think we flew over) from 35000 feet would like the same as Google Earth. The flight was kind of an old time flight. It had a meal, a movie, free blankets, pillows, eye shades, head phones, and ear plugs. I was also could have checked two bags for free. Ok not free obviously it was included in the cost of the flight.

CITIES

Santiago is the largest city Chile. It probably has half of the country's population. Santiago is the Hub of Chile (as Boston is the Hub of the Universe). Much of the development of Chile spans out from Santiago. I've only really been to 3 towns or cities so far. Santiago, Vina Del Mar and Limache. They kind of represent three different sizes of cities. Santiago the biggest, Vina Del Mar big but much smaller than Santiago and Limache which would be small or smaller at least.
Parks are big in the cities in part I suspect because land with houses is very small. All three towns seem to have many parks of all sizes. There seem to be many people in them most of the time that I have seen so far. Plaza de Armas in Santiago was still pretty busy when we left for Vina.
Security is evidently a big deal. Each house has a fence with serious looking points to keep people out. I would say in Santiago and Vina Del Mar I haven't seen a house without this type of fence. In Limache some of the poorer sections had smaller fences with some barbed wire. In the bigger towns the police have a very prominent presence. They are noticeable, they wear flak jackets ore bullet proof vests. That being said I don't recall seeing them talking or hassling anyone. In Limache I don't recall seeing the police to the same degree. Evidently violent crime is generally not a big problem but stealing, pick pocketing and the such evidently are. I have seen no evidence of any crime.
Graffiti is gigantic here. It seems like everything has something written on it. As I noted in my earlier post graffiti had been carved into plants never mind the trees and walls. It's too bad because it detracts from the cities buildings and architecture. For some reason the only place in which I have seen absolutely no graffiti is the trains and their stations. I have no idea why.
Stray dogs are everywhere. Finding a stray dog at the top of La Campana was a little over the top for me. They are everywhere in the cities. They scavenge for food and there is some thought that Santiago doesn't have a rat problem because of the dogs. They are very laid back dogs. They don't seem to bark or fight. They seem to relieve themselves by the trees which have wells cut into the pavement for the tree to get water and the dogs seem to keep things confined to that area. In Vina del Mar the dogs do seem to make a mess of garbage put out for collection. They tend to rip open the bags to see whats there.

PEOPLE

The people seem to be nice and friendly. They are helpful when they can be. Having Brian around has made my need for finding people to speak a little english not necessary. When I have ventured out by myself I have been able to work through things. They seem to be a very family orientated society. There were many extended families at the park ( at least I think so) and kids generally live at home until they have graduated from college at least. They tend to have a much slower pace than the US. For instance breakfast here at the B&B is 8:30 to 10:30. Since I'm on the basic same schedule, I'm up around 6:30 and have to wait a couple of hours for breakfast. Stores don't even come close to being open before 9am. On Sunday many are closed or don't open until at least noon time. I think those stores would be the ones near some type of tourist situation. Brian and I just had lunch downtown. After we were done eating we just sat there and talked. There was no pressure to turn over the table and we finally had to ask for the bill well after the table had been cleaned. The other thing that is interesting is that there don't seem to be any incredibly overweight or obese people. Brian thinks that is because the cheap food is fruits and vegetables. Al,so the busses are loaded so people are at least walking to and from the bus stop. So in essence poorer people eat healthier than they do in the US. It is evidently an expensive dinner to go to MacDonalds. You also don't see a lot of piercings or tatoos. There may be more tatoo's but people are pretty covered up. Their are some piercings but not as many as the US. You do see a lot of guys with long hair and pony tails. Brian seems to be pretty tall for a Chilean. It seems like a lot of people smoke. They don't smoke in the buildings but you do see a lot of people smoking.
There are tons of tiny little markets similar ot bodegas in the US. There are two just within site of my window. Again, the petty crime thing kind of kicks in here because in many of them you can't go get what you want you tell the clerk what you want they go get it and you pay for it before you get it. Just a little strange. I haven't seen a giant shopping mall although I am told that they have them. They are not all over the place. The downtown area was busy with people and shops.
The food can be interesting. They are very big on avocado's and mayonaise. You would think that Hellman's discovered Chile. They put it on everything. The first thing I had to eat in Chile was a Don Pepe's completo. A completo is basically a hot dog with a bunch of stuff. It has the dog, some type of cole slaw type substance, something similar to salsa, and then its smothered in mayonaise. It is very interesting. Evidently Don Pepe's (a chain...sorry Nance) is the king of completos. For lunch today Brian and I split an El Guarcon. It is a giant sandwich which you need to eat with a knife and fork. It has a 3 piece roll some type of meat, lettuce, tomatos, cheese (which is also big here), avocado and the ever present mayonaise slathered on the top. It was good and messy. They make these lunch type sandwiches called empanada's. They are basically like a turnover with what ever you want in it. I have yet to see one with ever present mayo but who knows. They are really good. Breakfast is usually a small meal. Basically here it is toast with a slice of ham (ham is big here as well), some cereal to eat with some yogurt, and some fruit. Coffee is interesting here. The only coffee I have seen here is instant coffee. I haven't seen one Starbuck's. The coffee served at Brian's family's house was instant as it is here. At Brian's host family we had salmon, rice, and vegetables. We also had a shrimp cocktail in a pitted avocado with the ever present mayonaise. It was very good.

WEATHER

The weather can obviously vary greatly depending upon where you are. The day we went mountain climbing the weather in Vina Del Mar was overcast and misty. At the mountain it was sunny, hot with a nice breeze. The Atacoma desert to the north would tend to be very hot while Patagonia to the south will get snow. From Vina Del Mar to Peru to the north it would be about a 24 hour drive. Brian is going south to Patagonia from Vina and it is a 5 hour flight. Vina Del Mar is actually a little cooler than I thought it would be. People are walking around with scarves and coats. So far I've seen temperature vary between 16 and 25 C. I suspect that at home we're getting up to 5 or so.

I'm sure that leaving something out but maybe I can follow up later.