Usa la (bici)cleta

As a casual biker, I feel safer riding in the street alongside traffic regardless of whether there is a bike lane or whether the street is wide or not. I know where drivers tend to look, and where they are most likely to see a cyclist. This does not apply to Viña or Valpo. 

Use the bike

Biking in Valparaíso is an adventure. The streets are narrow, the sidewalks are mostly in good repair (negotiating them as a pedestrian is one thing, another thing as a cyclist), and the hills are incredibly steep. I have been watching cyclists attempt to share the road with drivers, then attempt to share the sidewalks with pedestrians, and wondering if biking is at all pleasurable in such crowded spaces.

I could not NOT try!

It's not. And yet, it is.

The brakes only mostly worked.

I went in search of a bike path along the ocean instead of exploring the city. Luckily, I found one. (Well, sort of. It was mostly a bike path).

It was a lovely ride. 

Is the entire Chilean coast lined wih cannons?

Monument to Long Beach, California. Sister City.

Which way should I go in the event of a tsunami?

Ride done. Haul the bike up the stairs.
Investigate the possibility of renting a
folding bike next time.

Enjoy a burger.

Cambio de hora

The Internet was wrong! About something in Chile!

xkcd

I had come across a few sites that said Chile follows the same Daylight Savings Time change schedule as the US (with opposite seasons), but when I arrived I learned that the practice had changed a few years ago. (Timeanddate.com is accurate, now at least). Some of the current devices Alicia and I brought with us adjusted automatically to local time, but others that were a bit older (my fitbit, her iPod) were operating on the outdated information as well, and have been an hour off since March 8th (when the US and Canada changed the clocks).  

It turns out that today, 26 de abril, at midnight, is when we set the clocks back an hour for the upcoming winter season. (Thank you, CNN Chile, for leading your news hour with a story about disrupting sleep patterns with changing of the clocks this morning!) What doesn't change is that throughout the calendar year, the time difference between Chile and Minnesota is either one, two, or three hours off. 

Feliz día de los carabineros

Chile celebrates its "uniformed" police force every April 27. The carabineros are a national police force (cities tend not to have individual police departments), and are considered to be part of the armed forces in Chile.  (The other police force, the Policia de Investigaciones is the "plain clothes" detectives agency, more closely resembles the FBI or Scotland Yard). 

The preschool celebrated last Friday by inviting the carabineros and their dog to the school for a short presentation. The teachers dedicated a significant amount of time throughout the week to making hats for the kids to wear during the time the officers were there, and some of the classes spent some time talking about the officers and learning their anthem.

The hats turned out great, but
I want to give Chilean preschools the gift of
Oriental Trading Company

The Officer Buckle and Gloria routine was most impressive.
No need for the clown next time!

Día del libro: a field trip to the library

Am I reading this right? With more than 80 activities, all of
Chile celebrates the Month of the Book?
"My" class was one of them.

We took a field trip to the library yesterday for día del libro. 30 kids walked three blocks to the library, escorted by 5 teachers, 2 parents, and (true to Chilean form), 3 stray dogs. Given my one (odd at best) experience with the public library, I couldn't imagine that children would be welcome, but I was pleasantly surprised. 

I was very happy to discover that there is more library to be had inside the cultural center building - the only "hey! there's a library here" signage is on the shack outside the building. 

Cultural Center building
The front doors are obviously the emergency exit

There's the library ahead.
How is this going to work?

The side door to the cultural center
is obviously the main entrance

I'm not certain what roles the library staff play (but I am almost positive that there is not a designated youth services librarian position) but four staff members took care of us. The photographer did not seem to be connected to the cultural center - I suspected she was with the press somehow. Kids! Reading! Let's put that in the paper!

Library staff distributed
pins to the kids before
taking us into one of the library rooms

A woman (dressed as a clown, I think)
came in, told a very good story, and left.

There were books spread out on the rug before our arrival, and after the story the kids were invited to grab a a book and look through it on their own or read it with one of their teachers.

Storytime with the teachers

Storytime with a librarian

The selection consisted primarily of picture books published in the US (Anthony Browne isn't a favorite among chiquititos in Chile either), and board books from Spain. (I get the sense that there isn't a huge market for Chilean writers to write for children. I had asked about Chilean picture books at the bookstore awhile ago, and the clerk handed me four titles). 

Most popular book of the day.

I was happy to discover that the public library has books for children available for check out. I didn't see any evidence that any had been checked out, and as far as I can tell they are kept in boxes, but at least it appears to be an option. 

Remember this?

Alicia and I wondered what kind of presentation the library staff would do for the kids. How to find books you like? Why to use the library? How to take care of books? Before the group departed, the staff handed out chocolate suckers and told the kids not to get candy on the books as they walked on the scattered books to make their way to the exit. So...yes...they did mention how to take care of books...

Chocolate caramel suckers.
Delicious.

I know that there's more to public libraries in Chile than what I have observed and experienced this one library. I did leave the event feeling a bit sad that it was the first time I have really seen reading being promoted (books and shared reading with adults are not part of the routine in the preschool at all). And I couldn't help but wonder what, if anything, looks "random" to the newcomer to library programs in the US, especially knowing how intentional we are about what we do behind the scenes. I could go on.

At any rate, the dogs should have escorted us back to the school. They might have gotten a sucker from one of the kids. 

Cementerios de Chile: Cementerio Municipal de Punta Arenas

The Municipal Cemetery of Punta Arenas, Chile (one of the southernmost towns in the world) was beautiful. The landscaping is lovely, the mausoleums are gorgeous, and it might represent one of the more diverse areas of Chile (with names of English, German, Spanish, and Croatian origin). The headstones have built-in enclosed cases that are perfect for sharing pictures or trinkets to remember the lives of the dearly departed. (I hope this practice catches on in more places around the world. I would love to be able to do that!)

View of the Kusanovic mausoleum

A splash of color

Family plot

I take it he liked bees?

Bullets, shell casings,
and red, gold, and black streamers.
Think he was German?

If you find yourself at the bottom of the world, save an hour or two to make your way to this cemetery. Just beware the ghost of Sara Braun. And the angels.

Cementerios de Chile: No 1 Of Valparaíso

The numbered cemeteries are where the good Catholics of Valparaíso come to rest.  

Cemetery Number One is a lot like the city itself. It features tight "living" quarters for the number of people the space accommodates, narrow walkways, is mostly in good repair, and really beautiful when you get down to it.

Built into a hill, naturally

Mostly good repair

I love cemeteries, but the sites
with missing bricks were a little creepy
even to me

Narrow passages

When "up" is the only
way to go

Earthquake damage?

A medio camino

In honor of today being the halfway point of this sabbatical, I'd like to share (and remember) a few of the things I really like about Chile. 

In no particular order, I really like...

...that fresh, quality vegetables are the most affordable foods, followed by meat. This is how it should be everywhere.
...that clothes are hung to dry. I usually like my "problem box" to be filled with awesome problems. Other days I really want my biggest problem to be figuring out how to hang the clothes in the most efficient way possible. It's relaxing.

...that Chileans eat mayo the way Canadians eat ketchup. This suits me. Ají crema sauce has a wonderful smoky flavor to it, with a hint of spicy heat. 

Chilean condiments
suit my taste buds

...that the price listed includes the tax. I appreciate that the US wants to be transparent about the sales tax by adding it separately, but it's really nice to know that what you see is what you pay at the register.

..the landscape is incredible (particularly in the south), and the Pacific Ocean coastline is perfectly rocky.

...that there exists such a delightful treat as Papas duquesas, which are little balls of mashed potatoes. They are better than Tator Tots. 

...that Chileans (the woman we stayed with for the first few weeks, for one) believe that when you travel it takes awhile for your spirit to catch up to you. I like this image much more than "jet lag" to explain why it took more than one day for me to feel like myself when we first arrived. 

...that people invite you to your house in order to get to know you. Contrast that with Minnesota, where people invite you to their house only after they have gotten to know you. (For the record, I am very Minnesotan in this way). 

...the street art of Valparaíso. 

...the colors and street art of Chiloé. 

Colors in Castro, Chile

Street art in Castro, Chile

...that Chileans know how to engineer buildings and houses to withstand major earthquakes. Earthquakes can deal some high damage, but for the most part the buildings and infrastructure can absorb it. 

...that wine is good and inexpensive. 

...Pablo Neruda's houses are here.

...that the people are kind and generous with their energy, and that they are easy to be kind and generous with.

Cementerios de Chile: Cementerio de Disidentes

If you're looking for your British or German ancestors who lived and/or died in Chile, you may find them in the Cemetery of Dissidents in Valparaiso. If you're looking for the Cemetery of Dissidents (or Protestant Pantheon) be prepared to be looking for awhile. The only clue that we were even on the right track was this sidewalk mural along the way, and the fact that we were going up hill. I suspect that maps (including Google Maps) are not exactly to scale when it comes to los cerros in Chile.

Cementerio de Disidentes
This is where Protestant immigrants are buried. Prior to the establishment if this cemetery, non-Catholics of Valparaíso were buried in other cities or tossed out to sea, as they were not allowed to be buried in the Catholic cemeteries. (So many restrictions!). The burial grounds for dissidents was established in 1823. More narratives are included in these headstones (how they died, what they were doing when they died) which is always a favorite.

Efficiency
This cemetery (and in general) uses its available resources well, including water and space.  Unlike cemeteries in the United States, which look like grassy parks from a distance and require a lot of water to maintain the grounds, cemeteries in Chile tend to be entirely concrete. Space is limited, so to accommodate the growing population (ha!), several people share one plot.

The cemetery was renovated in 2011 after the damage of the 2010 earthquake. 

Concrete Cemetery

View from the entrance

Several names on each headstone
with death dates spanning decades

Several folks
share this plot as well

It is not uncommon to see company plots
or single graves for groups of firemen, policemen, etc

He fell asleep

German

English