Last day in Santiago...

Santiago
Con con
Viña del Mar
Valparaiso
Quintay
Tunquen
Isla Negra
Santo Domingo
Santiago

I hope this finds you all well, somewhat rested or still drunk maybe, definitely happy and alive :)

I have been functioning in 3 languages for the past month now, i will add one more for a 2009 cheer to all of you, thanks to my Aymara friend Alvaro: Jallalla.

Santiago reminds me a lot of L.A. but in a much better way, it s a beautiful city, spread out and huge, but surrounded by gorgeous hills and boiling of energy.

We just came back yesterday from a little roadtrip on the coast, which was lovely and refreshing, as Santiago is rather hot and stuffy. Visited Valparaiso, a very interesting city, with great little neighborhoods lodged all over the foothills overlooking the pacific ocean, narrow streets and graffiti covered walls, cafes and street artists... beautiful city, lovely people. We reached Quintay just in time to find a place to sleep and dinner, in the only restaurant open in this rather ghost like little fishing village. The location was perfect, overlooking the small beach where fishermen were coming and going, from and to the ocean with their catch or their hope for a good outing... different pace, different world, a wonderful evening in a wonderfully peculiar place.
Our ¨host¨at the cabañas where we were sleeping was rather peculiar himself, we called him Jose, and he was finding the ¨hotel¨process rather complicated... and it was indeed with him... But we got some decent sleep after some outrageous laughter, and were quickly on our way the next day to cruise down the coast some more....
Reached Isla Negra by noon, visited one of Pablo Neruda s house, in this artists community that he created in the 50s out there... stunning beach, interesting house, sweet location to write for sure... made it to Santo Domingo for a late lunch with Karla s sister and family on the beach, before heading back to Santiago for the new year s festivities... a long but wonderful day.
Spent new years eve barbequing on a terrasse in the city with a bunch of Karlas friends, it was brilliant and so kind, a great way to step into this new year.... i am usually not big on celebrating new year s more than anything else but this was really sweet and fun :) we dropped Karlita at some outrageous party full of awkward and nervous teenagers at 2.30am (awesome sight!), before heading back home.

today will be a pool and sunbathing day, tomorrow we hit the road, for Part III of this trip, heading South to Patagonia... i am oh so eager to be there... and yet also a little jealous of Christian who is on a boat in Antartica right now, argh!!! ;)

Chile has been wonderful to us. It is sometimes difficult to get people to talk about what s happening in the world, their politics, their society, their history... but we are getting a stronger feel for it the longer we hang here. This is definitely one sweet place to live in, wether you think of the northern territories, bare deserts and their oasis, rugged mountains and volcanos, or the more gentle coasts... i bet parts of the southern regions are pretty excellent too.

I think of you all and miss you too.

Cheers