Before I start on Santiago, I have to back track and discuss a bit of geography. You may have noticed that we went via New York City to get from Vancouver to Chile. When we were first trying to book that, we scratched our heads a bit wondering why in the world we would go all the way back east to New York City in order to go from the west coast of North America to the west coast of South America. However in taking a closer look at the globe, we realized that Chile is actually further east then New York City. If that is news to you as it was to us, consider it your geography lesson for the day! On to Santiago!
We loved Santiago as we did Valparaiso, just in different ways. While Valparaiso was smaller and very unique, Santiago was simply a much bigger city and it felt like it. In some ways it would have been like being in parts of Toronto with office buildings and apartments except it was surrounded by mountains. However, what made Santiago super special to us was one of Julia’s World Vision Youth Ambassador friends was there and we got to spend a lot of time with him and his family. It was such a blessing to share food and laughter together and to get to know each other better. And what better way to learn about life in Chile than from the people that live there.
Renewing and Creating Friendships
Friends, twenty five years later!
A common scene of the week! We enjoyed a wonderful Chilean BBQ (asado) which we loved and on another night we made and introduced them to chili, which they loved!
It was also an honour to join them at their church and to start to experience some of the body of Christ around the world. I have found that there is a true sense of brotherhood and sisterhood as I’ve visited other churches in the past, and this experience was no different. Even though much of the service we couldn’t understand since it was in Spanish, we felt welcomed and enriched by being there.
Another common theme of the week was playing games. Much fun was had learning new games and but also playing some of the games we have at home.
The two youngest ones where like two peas in a pod and both had that sparkle of adventure in their eyes. Walks often involved walking on little border path walls, exploring little side trails, and when possible finding swings that they could “high-five” each other with their feet.
Hikes and Hills (Cerros)
Our friends took us on a hike around Cerro Calan and Cerro San Cristóbal which provide good views of the city, hills, and mountains of the area. On San Cristóbal we walked part way up the hill and then took a gondola back down.
At the bottom of the gondola, it was funny to see a huge red chair, just like you find at some Canadian Parks. However, we have yet to find what Annika calls “the pineapple tree” in any Canadian Parks like we had here in Santiago.
Around Town
A woman from their church used to be a tour guide before the pandemic so she took us one morning on a walking tour of Santiago. It was a very informative tour and we learned a lot about both the history of Santiago but also some of the current history and history in the making. In 2019 there were large protests and riots in Santiago (which spread to other parts of Chile as well) and there was a contrast in the city between the areas not effected by riots, and the areas that were. The unrest led to a national referendum to vote on whether to keep the existing constitution. Almost 80% of the Chileans voted for a new constitution. However, wanting a new constitution and what the new one should be are two different things. A new one has be proposed and they are set to vote on accepting or rejecting it in early September. It seems like this decision will be much more closely contested.
The Plaza Baquedano, renamed Plaza de la Dignidad (Dignity Square) by the protestors, is where the protest/riots first started. The statue was removed by authorities because it was being damaged and is still down today. Many of the buildings around this plaza still have their lower levels boarded up.
In contrast, many areas not affected by the riots had really interesting contrasts between old and new architecture, which is a consequence of various buildings coming down due to earthquakes over the years (we felt two while we were there!)
In a valley surrounded by mountains, a really small hill (which is now a park) was the original surveying/starting point for the city of Santiago. A map on the streets shows the original city plan (with the hill in the upper left of the map).
We saw a lot and tried to absorb things and if I’m remembering correctly, the building above was the original house/office/official building of the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia who founded Santiago in 1541. When he died, the building was split into three distinct parts, one for each son and now the one on the left is the national post office from which we mailed a few post cards.
This is Palacio de La Moneda which is the main executive building of Chile. Our guide was excited to see that they were handing out copies of the new proposed constitution and she quick hopped in line to get her copy. History in the making!
We saw a lot of other buildings, but two others that were interesting was the Catedral Metropolitana which was right by the post office. The inside was beautiful. The second building was an interesting rust cladded building that is a cultural center, but during the military dictatorship of Pinochet, it was used as the administration offices.
We had to use the metro to get around and we were impressed with how efficient, clean, and easy to use the system was. We liked it way better than the New York subway!
Los Dominicos
At the end of one of the metro lines was the Los Dominicos station which was the closest station to our friends house and our AirBnB. That station exited onto a super large park and plaza, with a church and monastery of the Dominican order. Part of the monastery is now converted into a little “village” of shops and cafes, that had an old village feel.
The view of the plaza and church and mountains in the background, and then the view back the other direction toward the city. On our first day there, as we headed to the subway station on our way to our friend’s church, there was a performance of traditional Chilean dancing going on in this square. We couldn’t stay long to watch since we need to catch the train, but it was cool to see, even for only a few moments.
The two towers on the church are in honour of the two sons of the founding family of the church, both who passed away young. In the center courtyard was a massive avocado tree that was 250 years old and still producing avocados.
The girls got some nice pendants in the “village”.
Food…and all the rest
One of the things I’ve enjoyed is experiencing the food of the different area. In addition to their own meals, our friends gave us some good restaurant recommendations.
Hotdogs are a thing here! Super fancy ones with lots of interesting toppings. They were delicious!
This is a mote con huesillo which is a dried peach, peach juice and wheat berries which we all really enjoyed!
Our AirBnB had a shared kitchen and terrace, however it wasn’t until the last morning that it was finally warm enough to enjoy it! It was also fun to watch the flocks of wild parakeets flying around. Lastly, on one of our grocery runs with our friends, their youngest smiled at Annika and grabbed this really small cart which were probably meant for kids half their age, but Annika of course pushed one around as well.