Sunday, July 31, 2011

A Sunday stroll



This morning, we, as Dad would say, woke up when we woke up! It was glorious! Walking out into the living room with all of the windows is still such a surprise. I hope it never becomes routine. It is too fabulous. We got ready and went to Mass at San Luis de Gonzaga. Apparently, the buildings here have neither heat nor air conditioning. The church was beautiful but very cold. We were all wrestling for Julia Grace's blankets.

Then we went for a walk or dimos una vuelta. The hills here are a challenge but there is so much to see that I barely notice the effort.



All of the walls here are covered in a mixture of beautifully crafted murals and grafitti.



Claire is modeling her new Andean hat.



Walking around here is so enjoyable. Around every corner is something new to see. Lots of little restaurants, art shops, and small hotels.

Starting tomorrow, we will be walking down the hill to the kid's language school. The Chileans have figured out a way to deal with all of the hills. They have these things called ascensores. For about 10 cents per person, you can get in one and it will take you half way up or down the hill. It is a cross between an escalator and a skiing gondola. The one we take, "el Peral", was built in 1900. So we will walk half way down the hill, take an ascensor and then walk around the corner for their school.



Sean appreciates the local art scene.



Up we go, up we go to the top of the hill.

Valparaíso pictures



This is our view from the apartment! It is simply beautiful! By day the hillsides are awash in color and by night everything dances with light.



Here are Sean, Claire, and Claudia on a supervised visit to the balcony. We are seven floors up!



We have glass doors that overlook the port and a huge window that opens up to the hills or cerros. We live on Cerro Alegre or Happy Hill!



Another fabulous view!



Our view, at night!



The sun slowly setting on Cerro Barron. That will be Eric's barrio once we leave.



Julia Grace and I are in this picture but things here are so dazzlingly colorful that it becomes a search to find the gringos.



Here is Eric on the walk up Cerro Alegre. It is quite a hike!



The tall building in this picture is our building. We are on the left side.

Friday, July 29, 2011

At the edge of the map

Wow. This place is truly like nothing I have ever seen. I feel somehow that I am hanging onto the edge. As we wandered around today, I looked around and saw that no one seemed to share this feeling. This place is of such a different and enchanting beauty. l'll try to post pictures tomorrow.

Our apartment is on the 7th floor facing a wide port. All of these HUGE ships are out in the middle and now that it is night they are all lit up as is the whole city. Mom used to say that when Brian was a baby she would be up walking or rocking with him and watching the ships roll in. That always sounded so cool and I have found that it is just as cool as I had imagined it to be!

I also have to report that it was 58 degrees today. Almost 50 degrees cooler than when we left El Paso.

¡Viva Valpo!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

¡Bienvenidos a Chile!

Due to a mechanical failure last night, our entire flight won an overnight stay in beautiful Bedford, Texas! They bought us dinner and breakfast and our undying gratitude for working, available airplanes. We departed DFW a mere 12 hours late and landed in a new country, continent, and hemisphere!! We made it!!!! Of course, landing 12 hours late does wreak havoc on carefully choreographed travel plans but we battle on!

I am typing this from a hotel in Valparaíso as our apartment landlord was unavailable at midnight. But already we are amazed at this place! People told us they love families here and they are right! We got bumped to the front of a long line at customs when one of the workers saw Julia Grace. He said she had waited long enough!

Then, our shuttle service was miraculously waiting for us outside of customs! Here I was at the Far End of the World, half expecting a penguin to slide by, and I leave the airport only to encounter a large sign that read, "Juliet MacDonald"! What a sight for exhausted eyes!

We hope everyone is doing well, especially our newest member, Madeline Claire! Love you guys!