Adventures in Chile - Part 6

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Greetings,
Its starting to get really cold here now. Last night it dipped below 0 for the first time.
For those I haven´t told, i was in my first earthquake about a month ago. It was a small one, but still kind of neat.
A few weekends ago was a long weekend. I went with a group of teachers from one of the schools to a cottage near Lago Vichuquen - about 4 hours south of Santiago. It was a nice relaxing weekend. We had a kick-ass BBQ as you saw from the photos I send a few weeks ago.

One night last week I was watching TV and I heard a ton of sirens and a lot of people yelling. I looked out my window to see a riot. The protesters had lit the garbage cans on fire, were barricading off the main street and throwing bottles at the police and smashing lamp posts and car windows. About 10 mins later a ton of cops showed up, as did a giant water tank. This tank shot water at all the protesters until they dispersed.

Last weekend a bunch of us went to see Chile play Brazil in World Cup qualifying soccer. It was very cool. We arrived 3 hours early to find the stadium packed and going crazy. This lasted until the game started. The game was very good - Brazil is one of the top ranked teams in the world. Brazil scored early, but Chile tied it up with 5 mins left and the stadium erupted. Partying lasted long into the night. A tie with Brazil is like a win to the Chileans. When I arrived home the plaza in front of my house was a giant party - this is normal - plaza italia is a normal victory or demonstration point.

On Wednesday it rained all day. For some reason most of Santiago doesn´t have sewers so everything was flooded. It was a real mess. To get back from the school, the bus I was on had to drive along a road that had turned into a river. It had a real strong current too. When I got home I watched TV for a while, and it showed people up to there knees in water and people houses were flooded in too. I think its time to invest in some sewers!

A Mc Donalds was burned down here last week. Some protesters threw Molotov Cocktails at it, in protest against someone being held in prison.

I'm going to book a trip to Arica in Northern Chile, and Bolivia in a few hours. It should be a great trip. I know several people who have done it and the landscape is supposed to be awesome.

And in final news I have decided I need to come home. Its impossible to save enough $$$ to pay back those people at the Royal Bank. I'm coming home July 16th? (its a Saturday) and should be in B-town or at the cottage till the end of August. I´m looking at a few jobs in Hong Kong right now - its time to make some serious money. SO hopefully Ill be in Asia come September.

Later kids, and sorry to hear about the Calgary Flames.

JIM

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Photos

Chilean Soccer Victory Celebration
view from my apartment - Plaza Italia