Blogs from Las Condes, Santiago Region, Chile, South America

My arrival in Chile for my latest trip was tiring, as usual. I don’t sleep well on airplanes and this time was no different but I was grateful that the flights were free of stressful delays and fairly easy. I arrived late morning, and was met at the airport by my friend and hostess extraordinaire once again. The lines through immigration and customs were long but they moved quickly with the usual efficiency. Being a Saturday, the traffic was not as congested as it can get in Santiago. The City grows constantly, putting a tremendous strain on the current streets and Metro lines. There seemed to be more congestion, even though a new Metro line opened last year. Some street construction had been finished since the last time I was there and also, I understand, two ... read more

Everyone probably remembers when they were a kid, they would play that game Marco Polo in the pool, and the one kid would shut their eyes (hey, no peaking!) and try to catch the other kids by locating their voices. And every once in a while they would yell “fish out of water” and if you were out of the pool, you would automatically become “it”…well, this was my first week at work and I can say that I pretty much felt like the kid running around on the pooldeck, hoping no one would yell “fish out of water” while I was out of the pool…except that in this case I wasn’t allowed to get back in the pool at any time, and had maybe lost my bathing suit, and the whole ordeal was kinda terrifying ... read more

This week, we became even more Chilean. And by that, I mean we attended our first Jane Chilean Fonda. "What is that" you say? Well it's basically a giant festival party filled with meat, meat, more meat, and Terremotos (yes, that means earthquake, but it also means way-too-sweet-cocktail-topped-with-ice-cream...weird yet amazing?). The girls had a great time at the Fonda, which also included endless amounts of bouncy castles, pony rides, carnival games, one-man-bands and Maelle's personal favourite: popcorn dipped in sand. To further our education about Chile, we also attended the girls' Fiestas Patrias school party and BBQ. Adorable choreographed dance numbers were witnessed (I didn't know "Baby Shark" is Chilean!?) and we also learned from Zoe that the national flower of Chile is the copihue (how does she remember this stuff?) It was really nice meeting ... read more

Today was spent getting reacquainted with the wonderful neighborhood that Patricia and Laine live in. My flight landed early, which was a good thing because going through immigration and customs was a nightmare. Thousands of people from every nationality were being processed, and long lines seemed to be never ending. But nothing could dampen my enthusiasm. Did you know that Chile has very strict restrictions about what comes into the country in the manner of any products that could pose harm to the fauna or flora here? They are very vigilant. Fruit products, seeds, honey, cheese, wood. Anything that could contain contaminants is subject to fines if they discover you bringing them in. Even legal action could incur. It took so long to get through, that by the time I found the luggage carrousel my suitcase ... read more