Today was the kind of day that I´ve been waiting for since I first started dreaming about this trip almost 4 years ago. We got up late-ish, enjoyed the free breakfast at the hotel (with peanut butter and real milk!!), and headed out. Our first stop was el Museo de La Memoria- the museum made to remember the atrocities of the dictatorship under Pinochet from 1973-1990. It was very well done and I learned a lot. I´ve studied Chile and its dictatorship so much in college and during my masters degree that it was really fascinating to see it all come to life in a much different way. It´s hard to believe that everyone here who is at least ten years my senior lived through the dictatorship. My parents, having entered college in 1973, would have been at the heart of it. Also, interesting tidbit: Which country do you most associate with disappeared people during its dictatorship; Argentina, Chile, or Peru? Probably Argentina, right? The mothers of the plaza 2 de mayo? Well, in Argetina 8,600 people were disappeared. In Chile over 28,000. In Peru- 70,000. Crazy.

After that we went to the seafood market downtown for lunch. We shared cazuela (a typical Chilean dish that was like caldo de gallina (chicken soup) but with a giant piece of chicken, a pumpkin, a potato, corn, green beans, and rice) and each had an empanada de queso y camaron (cheese and shrimp). I was fooled by this new Chilean world of Spanish and though I would get giant sea shrimp in the empanada (camaron in Peruvian Spanish), but instead got mini little ones (langostinos in Peru). Still, it was tasty.

In the afternoon we went to see one of Pablo Neruda´s three houses: La Chascona. It was a wonderfully whimsical place made to resemble a ship (like all of Neruda´s houses) and filled with amazing knick-nacks that he acquired from around the world. It was by far my favourite thing we´ve done so far. We even saw his Nobel Prize!

After that lovely tour we came back to the hostel and I went on a run through Santiago´s shady, leafy Parque Forestal (a nice park). As I ran I kicked soccer balls back to kids playing in the grass (stepping on the grass in a no-no in Peru), watched families pasear-ing, and saw lovers cuddling in the shade of the large and frequent trees.

For dinner Douglas and I went to the grocery store and made spaghetti with zucchini, onion, and green bell pepper (I think these might be the first vegetables I´ve had since COS- neither Chile nor Peru is known for its inclusion of vegetables in the diet), which we ate, on our hostel terrace as the sun set, with a $4 bottle of Chilean wine (way better than Gato I tell you!). To finish off the night I soundly trounced Douglas in scrabble (don´t you worry, I´m sure I´ll get my comeuppance soon). A truly wonderful day.

Yesterday we went on a 4-hour walking tour of Santiago, which was highly informative. My favorite part was seeing Palacio La Moneda, which is where the Chilean president conducts his business, and where Salvador Allende was bombed and committed suicide during the coup of 1973.

Also, my impressions of Santiago thus far: This is definitely a night city. Being summer, the sun doesn´t set until at least 8:30pm, and nothing seems to open before 10am. People go to dinner around 9pm. Santiago is definitely more modern and safer feeling than Lima. There are plently of public trash cans, and public eco-bathrooms that are handicap accessable and include both mother and child restrooms and father and child restrooms! The street food of choice seems to be hotdogs- much to my delight. Every time you sit down in a restaurant you are immediately served bread with some kind of salsa (usually tomato based). The pisco is mediocre and the wine is good. It is hot, but it gets cool at night and is not nearly as humid as Lima. The accent is strange, but if I pay close attention I understand, and if I speak slowly people seem to understand me. All in all, I like the city and what I´ve seen of Chile.