Blogs from Valparaíso Region, Chile, South America - page 72

My winter vacation...in the desert South America » Chile » Vina del Mar » Viña del Mar By Bowmen16August 22nd 2006Tori Lynn ScottFinally I am writing again. A long absence but I am back. Don´t worry, you can wipe your tears now!!! jijijiji (that is how you write hahahaha in spanish) Here will be a load of photos from traveling. Enjoy! ... read more

Seuraavat kaksi kappaletta eivat kerro sitten yhtikas mitaan Valparaisosta, joten jos halusit kuulla jotain fisuista tai Valparaisosta, niin siirry kaksi kappaletta etiapain...Kiitos! Kuten aiemmista teksteistamme olette voineet lukea metsastimme kuumeisesti lisalentoja RTW-lippuhimme, joiden OneWorldin mainoslehdykkaisten mukaan pitaisi olla niiiin helppoja jarjestaa...ei ilmeisesti pade Chilessa, koska jouduimme kaymaan LanChilen toimistossa yhteensa neljana eri paivana viisi kertaa, jotta saimme lisaliput jarjestymaan... ja jokaisella kerralla asia MENI askeleen - pienen sellaisen - eteenpain! - Lopulta saimme kuitenkin lisalennot jarjestymaan, joten kohta olemme Perussa... :) Kun lennot sitten lopulta jarjestyivat, niin ne tulivat halvemmiksi kuin bussi samalle valille...tama kuitenkin ajoi Hannan - joka siis on meista se enemman "organisoitumistarpeinen" - puolisekavaan olotil... read more

This fall I led a yoga course in Villa Hermosa, one of the shanty-towns circling Viña. Although ¨yoga¨ is sort of a mis-nomer, because what I lead is a blend of yoga, stretching, and ab work, with the breathing and mental discipline of yoga. I also couldn´t call it ´yoga´ because the señoras of V Hermosa only wanted something that would help them lose their bellies and they thought that yoga was just breathing and meditating. So I called the course ¨Pilates¨- even though I´ve never done pilates - and since the abdominal exercises are designed for the CU Triathlon team (ie kind of hard), we ended up doing mostly ... yoga. And I was never found out, either, despite the 10-min long meditation at the end of every course. ¨We love Pilates,¨ they´d say. I´d ... read more

The night I got mugged was probably one of the best nights I’ve spent here. Met some really cool people… How did this all start? Mmm… I was doing an architecture project at a friend’s house, up in Jardin del Mar. It’s the really nice suburb of Viña del Mar: his dad is a retired Marine, and even though “El Caballero” (Pinochet) got booted a few years ago, the system didn’t. They live pretty well, shall we say. I spent all afternoon at their house working with Pierre, getting served a bunch of really nice spick n’ span Aunt Jemima-type dishes (Tía Ximena?) by his mama. Unfortunately at 5 I had to take off for my yoga lesson in Villa Hermosa, and so left the comfortable little gated house and got on a micro (bus) up ... read more

The majority of my time here has been spent volunteering in the shany-towns round here. The next few entries will be about that... VILLA LA CRUZ On saturday mornings I go up to VIlla la Cruz, a campamento an hour or so´s micro ride away. ´Campamento´is a squatter´s shanty-town, a campment, a collection of about 1.000 people living in tin, wood, plastic, cardboard, or old-political-billboard shacks on the outskirts of Viña and Valparaiso. Villa la Cruz is up in ´Reñaca Alto,´ which is a politely-termed euphemism: Reñaca is the swank, rich summer beach resort of the Chilean wealthy. The ´alto´of Reñaca Alto is several planets away from that. Where I teach is at the very end of the settlements - after that it´s pure open country-side. The view is spectacular: behind the green hills are mountains, ... read more