Day 25 - un día más en Santiago...

Well, I don't know how they knew, but the Sisters knew I was out late last night (Seriously, Guaton! That's the last time I trust a white dog with lopsided ears to keep a secret!)

Anyway, I woke up to a beautiful, sunny day. I packed my bags for the big trip down south with Sr. Justin, and went to the kitchen for breakfast, and learned that we weren't leaving today, we were leaving tomorrow. I am sure Sr. Justin told me this several times, but for whatever reason, I thought we were leaving today.







So after breakfast, I headed out with Solange, Sr. Anni and Sr. Justin to la ferria. As we walked through the neighborhood towards the bus stop, I found the view of the Andes to be even more beautiful and brighter than the day before. I made everyone stop to take a photo.












I was excited about this little trip, because it was my first time taking the city bus in Santiago (called Transantiago). Sr. Anni gave me her extra bus pass, which I learned you can buy in just about any grocery store in the city (the buses don't take change).















The Ferria was about 4 blocks long (maybe longer) and has everything from fresh local vegetables to used clothes. I purchased a (new) hat and gloves set for the big trip. The sisters shopped for deals on pantyhose and shirts. In the middle of all this excitement, I made plans with Francisca to go to Cajon De Maipu about 1 hour west of Santiago in the afternoon.















We got back just in time for Sr. Teresa's delicious lunch. Today's menu was Beef with mushrooms, followed by a coffee bread pudding, plus an assortment of chocolates and a store brought cake. (You should know that the sisters are now art directing these photos. This one had to be taken twice, because the first one I took didn't include Chilean wine...I wish they would have noticed my dirty fork next to the plate.)
















At 2:30pm Francisca picked me up and we headed out for Cajon De Maipu. I didn't know much about it, but Sr. Marie Isabella and the rest of the sisters said that I would be able to see Los Andes even better. Sr. Luz Irene asked (with a smile) if it would be another late night.

Francisca was great, stopping to let me get out to take pictures. After a while I realized that this was going to be just like the Great Wall of China. I was going to end up with 300 pictures, one more beautiful then the other. Today we talked for about 1.5 hours in Spanish (a record for me).






The road to Cajon De Maipu was lined with hotels and restaurants and had a very European (mostly German) feel to it. We stopped at a tourist center to ask for directions do a little hiking and get good photos and get a bite to eat. The guide, Pablo, told us that there was a place about 10 kilometers ahead, that was "super economico" and very good. We drove and drove, turned around, asked people, but never found the place. It sure was super economico, Pablo! We didn't spend a peso! There were a lot of stray dogs in this area (more than what I've seen elsewhere) Francisca explained to me that this is where people sometimes abandon their older dogs. In the town, we saw signs encouraging people not to do that.

We ended up stopping for a bite at Cafe Vienes, a place that Francisca knew for "Once" which is what they call "tea time" in Chile. It is time of day to have a light meal (almuerzo, lunch, is the biggest meal of the day here) and it actually happens around 5pm not at 11, as the name would suggest. We split a Chilean Churrasco sandwich, which is made of beef, tomato, stringbeans and mayo and each had a coffee. It was delicious. After, we headed back to Santiago. Long day...but a very good one. (I was in the house by 8pm!)



Tomorrow...I head south (for real this time with Sr. Justin.) We leave the house around 12:30.