bakán!

Right now I am sitting in an internet cafe in one of the most northern cities of Chile: Iquique. The next post I will delve into my travels but first I owe readers a wrap of my parents visit.

I probably don´t have to say this, but we had a fabulous fabulous time together in Chile. It was often tiring translating and of course traveling is always a lot of work, but really it went so much better than i could have ever dreamed.The rest of the time in Chiloe was very relaxing and beautiful. The island life seems tranquil yet harsh, given the icey cold winter weather. We saw a number of small towns, all with their cute central plaza marked with a historic wooden church. Most of the towns sit slightly raised on hills above the water so the streets run down to the ocean where you can see a host of colorful boats and smell the fishyness. The small towns seemed to have their town dogs that loitered on the same corners every day, like the old fishermen of the town. Everynight, we went and ate delicious seafood on the water and then stayed in a cozy hospedaje (a hotel that is basically run out of a person´s house) that may or may not have hot water. It was fun.

Back in Viña and Valpo I made sure mom and dad truly got to experience the culture in my house. They met everyone who lives in my lively household and got a good sense of my daily life there. Sitting at the table with the family and friends of the house during almuerzo all that week, I continued to feel in awe that my parents were among the faces at the table.

We also did some of the classic sightseeing of Valpo: the open air museum, the piers and sea lions, the port, plaza sotomayor and the armada building and much more. One of the best days was when I took them to visit the elemenentary school i´d been working at!

Most importantly, I was so glad that this trip inspired my parents to want to travel more.I hope everyone checks out the pictures...