And here we are back in Pittsburgh! Besides me having a fight with a cactus* our last day was pretty uneventful. We got packed up, cleaned the apartment and passed inspection for our deposit, had lunch at J's favorite sushi place, and headed for the airport.
The girls both tried to watch as many movies as possible on the flight home--rather than sleeping--so they were both exhausted for the first day or so we were back. Oh, I guess one other weird thing happened on our flight: on the approach into Atlanta we were just a few feet from touching down when the plane just took off again and started ascending again. After a minute or two the captain came on with a lengthy explanation about how we had gotten some strange turbulence due to the aircraft that had landed just before us, and-- having safety in mind first--they were going to return to the pattern and make another go of it, etc. etc. After the 2 or 3 minute debriefing in English, the Spanish-speaking flight attendant came on and said (in Spanish), "We are now flying over Atlanta and will be on the ground in 10 minutes." Ummm, apparently if you speak Spanish you don't deserve a proper explanation? WTH?
At any rate, it feels like we've hit the ground here at home at about 80 mph and haven't slowed down. In other words: we're back to our normal life of school, rehearsals, playdates, teaching, doctor appts, concerts, homework, practicing, jigsaw puzzling, etc. I did get a little thrill this morning walking up to the local Giant Eagle and packing my groceries home in my nifty little red pull-cart.
J, on the other hand, left again today and will be in Greece for a week. Maybe he'll grace the blog with some pictures when he returns. Aside from that, I'm signing off until our next adventure: a gargantuan US roadtrip this summer. The goal is to hit as many National Parks as possible while on a grand loop to see family in California and the NW. Yeah! I'm already getting excited!
*I slipped on my hike and got a bit too intimate with one of those beauties lining the trail, gashing the palm of my hand in about five places. It looked pretty gnarly, but now after four days it's mostly healed up.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
Sent packing
Wow, is it really over? I feel like we just arrived! And with all warm fuzzies I got this week hanging out with really spectacular people, I feel like this is a place I could stay for much, much longer. But time marches on.
On Saturday I realized I wouldn't be practicing any more on THE BEAST so I put it in the box, ready to go.
On Saturday I realized I wouldn't be practicing any more on THE BEAST so I put it in the box, ready to go.
In fact, even by Friday I had about half of our stuff already packed, and we've been chipping away at the cleaning over the last few days.... wiping scuff marks off the walls, cleaning under beds, etc.
After bidding farewell to San Cristobal later this morning, I'm going to also say good-bye to some pretty awesome companions... my Keens.
I bought these suckers in 2002 and since then have worn them--well, ok, I can't realistically say every day--but I'm going to say every other day all winter, every winter. In addition I've worn them for nearly every hike, and also as my rain galoshes in any season. I've replaced the laces, had them glued back together several times, scrubbed them down when I got stuck ankle deep in mud.... basically they've been put through their paces and have been trusty workhorses. However, they've reached the point of no return. They are no longer water proof, and the seams are coming undone everywhere. I'm actually hoping that they don't self destruct on this last hike.
Between losing the shoes and various other items that have given out in one way or another since we arrived, we're hoping that we'll create enough space in the luggage to bring back a few souvenirs that we picked up. Fingers crossed!
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Social butterflies
This last week in Santiago we've been quite the socialites, with dinner invitations every single night!
Paulina, one of the piano professors at the University of Chile invited us to her home on Wednesday night. She and Carina cooked an amazing meal for us, and we also got to meet Carina's sister. They all speak English, so it made for a fun evening for J and the girls. Added bonus, I got to play on a real piano for a few minutes!
On Thursday we went to the home of Mauricio and his family (his daughter Anto was the girls' babysitter in the summer.) We didn't manage to get any pics of the people, but we did photograph the Chilean wine we were drinking.
On Friday we went to the home of J's sabbatical host--the same friends who we went to the beach with over Easter. The kids had a blast playing together one last time. The little guy in the foreground was a neighbor over for playtime.
There was also a spectacular sunset which we could see right from their living room window.
Saturday afternoon we hung out with the friends that we met in Torres del Paine on the boat tour to Glacier Grey. They came up to Santiago this weekend to run the marathon. We met them in a cute little park in the El Golf neighborhood and then went briefly to their in-law's apartment before we headed home.
Saturday evening we were invited to Orion and Paulina's place and they had invited several other musician friends so that we would have a chance to meet them. It was such a fun little party, and they even got me a birthday cake!!!
Today, Sunday, we met one last time with Paulina and Carina at Galindo's, right in our neighborhood, for some typical Chilean food that we hadn't had a chance to try yet.
Paulina and Carina even surprised me with a beautiful handmade Chilean sweater for my birthday! I could hardly believe it!
Now we have a low-key evening planned, which will be good since all our adventures this week kept us out until 11pm or later every single night. The girls are DONE and need to rest before we spend our full night on the plane tomorrow night.
Paulina, one of the piano professors at the University of Chile invited us to her home on Wednesday night. She and Carina cooked an amazing meal for us, and we also got to meet Carina's sister. They all speak English, so it made for a fun evening for J and the girls. Added bonus, I got to play on a real piano for a few minutes!
On Thursday we went to the home of Mauricio and his family (his daughter Anto was the girls' babysitter in the summer.) We didn't manage to get any pics of the people, but we did photograph the Chilean wine we were drinking.
On Friday we went to the home of J's sabbatical host--the same friends who we went to the beach with over Easter. The kids had a blast playing together one last time. The little guy in the foreground was a neighbor over for playtime.
There was also a spectacular sunset which we could see right from their living room window.
Saturday afternoon we hung out with the friends that we met in Torres del Paine on the boat tour to Glacier Grey. They came up to Santiago this weekend to run the marathon. We met them in a cute little park in the El Golf neighborhood and then went briefly to their in-law's apartment before we headed home.
Saturday evening we were invited to Orion and Paulina's place and they had invited several other musician friends so that we would have a chance to meet them. It was such a fun little party, and they even got me a birthday cake!!!
Today, Sunday, we met one last time with Paulina and Carina at Galindo's, right in our neighborhood, for some typical Chilean food that we hadn't had a chance to try yet.
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| Porotos (actually I did find this combination of ingredients at the feria one time and cooked them myself, but I didn't have the right seasonings to make them in the authentic Chilean fashion). These were mmm mmm good! |
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| Humitas--these are a little like tamales, but rather than having a filling, the flavoring is mixed in with the actual corn. They don't use sweet corn here, but apparently in the south of Chile everyone puts sugar on their humitas. We tried that, and it came out tasting a little bit closer to sweet corn tamales. Super delicious! |
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| I also put pebre on mine, which is kind of like pico de gallo. It's slightly different everywhere you go, but the pebre at this place was quite delicious. |
Paulina and Carina even surprised me with a beautiful handmade Chilean sweater for my birthday! I could hardly believe it!
Now we have a low-key evening planned, which will be good since all our adventures this week kept us out until 11pm or later every single night. The girls are DONE and need to rest before we spend our full night on the plane tomorrow night.
GAM
The Centro Gabriela Mistral, known as GAM, is a huge complex dedicated art galleries and halls for performance art. I had noticed it across from the music shop where we rented Bear's cello, so when we went on Friday to return the instrument, we took advantage and made a visit.
In the courtyard of the building there are artisans with table selling their work.
We saw several different galleries, one of Maori art (as in, native New Zealanders). Part of the exhibition was a video projected on the wall of a Maori warrior demonstrating some of the typical fighting moves. It was so mesmerizing that we must have sat there watching it for half an hour! We also saw a gallery of native South American artifacts and textiles (colorful, of course!) and there was also an exhibit of American pop culture which was pretty interesting as well. One of the items was a string art piece in which the word "IRREGULAR" was pounded in with nails, and the "string" was dental floss, the package of which was still attached, and dangling below the string art.
We had fun looking at all of it, but perhaps even a bigger highlight of the excursion was the art that was outside the building on the street. It's a collection of random artifacts that anyone can add to, alter, or take away. There were lots of fun little trinkets that I hadn't seen since I was a child. A very interesting thing to look at, although admittedly not "beautiful" in the traditional sense of the word.
The sculptures in the courtyard were also very hands-on. There were body-shaped indentations in the concrete pieces that just begged for someone to crawl in.
The entire street behind GAM leading back to Parque Forestal was peppered with all kinds of street art.
By accident we stumbled across an ice cream place that claimed to be "one of the top 25 ice cream shops in the world." Naturally, we had to try it out. Let's just say it did not disappoint!
Then more fun with the sculptures in Parque Forestal on the way home.
In the courtyard of the building there are artisans with table selling their work.
We saw several different galleries, one of Maori art (as in, native New Zealanders). Part of the exhibition was a video projected on the wall of a Maori warrior demonstrating some of the typical fighting moves. It was so mesmerizing that we must have sat there watching it for half an hour! We also saw a gallery of native South American artifacts and textiles (colorful, of course!) and there was also an exhibit of American pop culture which was pretty interesting as well. One of the items was a string art piece in which the word "IRREGULAR" was pounded in with nails, and the "string" was dental floss, the package of which was still attached, and dangling below the string art.
We had fun looking at all of it, but perhaps even a bigger highlight of the excursion was the art that was outside the building on the street. It's a collection of random artifacts that anyone can add to, alter, or take away. There were lots of fun little trinkets that I hadn't seen since I was a child. A very interesting thing to look at, although admittedly not "beautiful" in the traditional sense of the word.
The sculptures in the courtyard were also very hands-on. There were body-shaped indentations in the concrete pieces that just begged for someone to crawl in.
The entire street behind GAM leading back to Parque Forestal was peppered with all kinds of street art.
By accident we stumbled across an ice cream place that claimed to be "one of the top 25 ice cream shops in the world." Naturally, we had to try it out. Let's just say it did not disappoint!
Then more fun with the sculptures in Parque Forestal on the way home.
Santiago Marathon
J ran the Santiago half-marathon this morning.... unofficially! :-) By the time we learned about the event-- from our friend Joanna, who was signed up to run it as well as her husband--there were already no available spots to sign up. However, he jumped in and ran anyway, carrying his own water, etc.
The route comes very near our apartment so Tulip and I went out to cheer this morning. Here was a guy trailing a giant balloon.
There were even some dogs running the marathon. On the other hand, this should be relatively unsurprising here in Santiago. Apparently the stray dog problem is enough of a concern for the marathon organizers that if dogs are spotted during the race, they are taken to special contained areas (sponsored by dog food companies). J reported that the dogs in these areas looked pretty pleased with themselves.... This guy, however, was still crushing it, slated for a half-marathon time of 1:30. :-)
Of the three runners we were cheering for, Joanna was slated to be the first to pass so we were ready with our sign.
And here she is, here she is!!!!! Before she came by, we had several false alarms by folks also wearing a pink Nike "Run" hat.... Congratulations, Joanna!!
After Joanna came by the runners started to really pour through and it was hard to watch for a particular person.
However, since J didn't have on a green shirt, he was somewhat easier to pick out of the crowd. Here he comes!!
And behind us, the morning sunshine was really spectacular on the aviation fountain.
The route comes very near our apartment so Tulip and I went out to cheer this morning. Here was a guy trailing a giant balloon.
Of the three runners we were cheering for, Joanna was slated to be the first to pass so we were ready with our sign.
And here she is, here she is!!!!! Before she came by, we had several false alarms by folks also wearing a pink Nike "Run" hat.... Congratulations, Joanna!!
After Joanna came by the runners started to really pour through and it was hard to watch for a particular person.
However, since J didn't have on a green shirt, he was somewhat easier to pick out of the crowd. Here he comes!!
After J went by, we watched for Joanna's husband, but weren't able to pick him out of the crowd, as we didn't know what he'd be wearing.
Right at the corner where we were camped out there was a band playing U2 covers. It was like reliving my college years in a time capsule! They were pretty darn good, too!
And behind us, the morning sunshine was really spectacular on the aviation fountain.
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