It is March 1, 2009. We are now actually back in Buenos Aires, getting ready for our flight home Tuesday night, March 3. We arrive in Philadelphia on Wednesday morning, March 4th. I realize that I am way overdue on my posting. But we have not recently had good access to wi-fi. And I haven’t had the energy to write posts when we did have access. Some time ago I promised you a post about Santiago, Chile and our Chilean friends, the Guzmans. I am finally sending that post.
We arrived in Santiago on February 1 after a long bus ride that was made even longer by delays at the Chilean border. I wrote about that bus ride earlier. We were met by Carolina and Luis Edwardo Guzman who we had met some days before in Mendoza, Argentina where they were on vacation.
Luis had suggested an hotel apartment, reasonably priced and near to where they live. We decided to follow his recommendation and found ourselves in a newer area of the city, very modern and very much like the USA. During the days, Steve and I ventured into the “old” city and did some sight seeing, even checking out neighborhoods that caused the Guzman’s to be a little worried about us. We had no problems anywhere and found the neighborhoods interesting. We did not get to know the city as much as we might have if we’d been there under different circumstances. But the trade off — city or friendship — was well worth it.
In the evenings we got together with the Guzmans, meeting at a cafe or at their apartment, and stayed up into the wee hours talking. The conversations took place in a combination of Spanish, English and even some French since Vivian (Mrs. Guzman) spoke French. The dtrs, Carolina and Maria Ignacia spoke English. M.I and I hit it off well, and she – having been initially shy about speaking English – took advantage of the opportunity to practice with me. And I practiced my Spanish with her. So we had a sort of “intercambio.”
It was like a new love with all of them, in that we always had a hard time saying good-bye and the relationship was intense. We and they acknowledged that it was not usual for us to “click” with people to that extent.
One day, Carolina took us on a car tour of their part of the city, up into the hills, past their schools and other sights, and to an interesting artisan mall. Maria Ignacia came along, too. One of the things we did was stop in to visit their aunt, also named Carolina, the sister of Vivian. We had a great visit with her, and an immediate connection, due in large part to her interest and profession in art history and curatorial work. I got teary at the idea that we had met these wonderful people who we might never see again. Aunt Carolina was more optimistic, saying that we just have to make it happen somehow.
I will leave it to you do do your research elsewhere on the history of Chile and of Santiago. In this post, instead of writing more, I am sending 36 pictures with descriptions. I figure 36 is only a roll of film – not too many.
I hope the descriptions print in such a way that you can follow them. If not, I hope you can figure them out. Many of the pictures have gotten automatically cropped, so click on them to get the complete photo. I think you’ll get the idea. Mainly, I hope you enjoy them.
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- Guzman family, including Vivian’s father and mother who invited us to their lovely apartment for an aperitif.
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- Luis Edwardo Guzman
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- Vivian
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- Carolina (19 yrs) and Maria Ignacia (15 yrs).
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- At home with the Guzman family.
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- Maria Carolina Abell Soffia is one of Vivian’s sisters. She gave me several books. She has written 7. She is well known and travels widely, curating exhibits. Her current project is in Berlin, curating an exhibit of the work of German artist, Waldemar Otto.
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- The living room of Aunt Carolina. You can see from the room why we hit it off.
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- Maria Ignacia at Aunt Carolina’s house. Is this for real, or is it a painting by David Hockney?
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- We toured Pablo Neruda’s ship-like, eccentric Santiago home in the Barrio Bellavista. A lovely, albeit touristy part of the city, near the Metropolitan Park. We had a great fish (Steve) and seafood (me) lunch. More fish and seafood in Chile than in Argentina, where fish costs a lot and meat is plentiful. By the way, Neruda also had two other homes, on the Chilean coast.
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- Mural near the home of Pablo Neruda.
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- Another mural near the Neruda home.
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- The main Plaza de Armas, downtown Santiago.
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- Chess in the Plaza de Armas.
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- Sculpture in the Plaza de Armas.
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- Breathtaking collection at the Museo Chileano de Arte Precolombiano. I happened to get this photo before the guard caught up with me and informed me that, even with no flash (I wasn’t using one), photos are not allowed.
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- A contemporary piece in the courtyard of the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombiano where there was also a fascinating exhibit about the fishing practices of the first peoples who lived in southern Patagonia.
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- Had to visit the central market, of course.
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- A popular and refreshing Chilean beverage with peaches and corn. It is sold in the supermarkets, prepackaged and ready to take home to drink, as well as by street vendors.
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- View of Santiago from Vivian’s parent’s balcony. Some people say it is a lot like the San Fernando Valley in California. Note the Andes in the distance.
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- View of the city from the 2000m long teleferic in the Parque Metropolitano. Sort of like Twin Peaks in San Francisco, only higher.
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- A beautiful boulevard. Most of these mansions are now part of the University of Chile, or occupied by other enterprises. They are no longer the private homes of former barons of wine, coal and silver. Someone told us that, in fact, the owners of vineyards don’t actually live in Chile anymore.
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- Concurrent Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibits at the Museo del Palacio de la Moneda. This presidential palace was the site of the bloody coup in 1973 that put Pinochet into power. The palace was closed to the public until 2000. I think you need to request a pass a month in advance if you want to visit. Needless to say, we did not actually tour the palace. The museum was in the lower level of the building and was very impressive. I’d not seen much of Rivera’s work before, and enjoyed seeing it. Steve was there too, and this photo proves it!
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- View of Santiago from the upscale neighborhood we were staying in. The landscape and climate reminded us of California.
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- Steve at 870m high Cerro San Cristobal, part of the beautiful (and big) Parque Metropolitano. We spent a whole morning exploring the park.
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- Not all Chilean produce gets exported. Remember this picture next time you buy your Chilean grapes or avocados. We found Chilean food to be very good. They like to use seasonings, including hot sauce which Steve really appreciated. It also seemed that their cuisine had incorporated more Mapuche traditions than that of Argentina. Argentian food is, for the most part, pretty bland.
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- Supermarket in Santiago. Just like home. I can certainly understand why people want the comfortable life-style (keeping in mind that there is a great discrepancy in Chile between rich and poor), but we felt at times like, “We came all the way to Chile for this???”
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- Politics as usual. Some in the US may feel this way too. “Don’t vote. Unmask the electoral farce” (or something along those lines.)
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- Beautiful, modern subways celebrate art. I wish that Philadelphia had half as good a subway system.
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- This subway installation is for my sister Susan. Is this a tile reproduction of a work by Matta? (click on picture to get full image)
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- The Museo de la Solidaridad Salvadore Allende was founded to celebrate Chile’s socialist experiment. Many artists from around the world donated works. During the Pinochet era, the collection spent 17 years underground. The Guzmans (and others) describe how the Allende experiment was a miserable failure and credit Pinochet for creating an environment that led to Chile’s economic recovery and success. (Refer to Milton Freedman and the Chicago economists’ influence on Chile.) We could not deny that of the three countries we have visited, Chile is by far the most “1st world,” though the Guzmans are extremely worried about the impending economic crisis there. Allende bad? Pinochet bad? It is all very sad and complicated.
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- Interior of the Museo de la Solidaridad, beautifully installed in a former mansion.
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- Click on picture to reveal full photo. Do you agree? To experience art is more important than to understand it. (On the wall in the Museo de la Solidaridad.)
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- Speaking of graffiti… Click on picture to get a full view of this sculpture at the Museo de la Solidaridad.
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- This piece in the Museo de la Solidaridad made me think of our son Jake.
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- One of the works that I liked in the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende. Click on picture for full image.
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- A detail of the big mall near where we stayed in one of the newer, outlying neighborhood of Santiago. People there, like Americans, love their malls and the 1st world way of life.
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I enjoyed this post immensely. Actually I’ve enjoyed them all. I appreciate knowing about the interesting people you have met and your ability to make real friends where ever you travel. So much travel skirts around and over the real lives of people living there. Your experience is so rich. Thanks for sharing.