September Weather

Hi all.

August was a very busy month.  Lots of work.  All of a sudden it’s September now and there’s not as much work, but Paula has secured a private class! Spring is around the corner and thank god, we’ve been a long a time without a summer and now it’s almost here.

We’ve been exploring the mountains close to the city.  Last weekend we went deep into Parque Mahuida  along the pre-cordilla mountains.  We hiked up and over them for some really great views of the Andes.  We had a picnic and met a old ranger patrolling the area on horseback who told us to come back in a couple of weeks and he’d give us a tour further into the mountains.

With all the free time on our hands, we’ve been doing a lot of homemade cooking!  (yum!)  As I write, Sean is frying up fresh naan to eat with some chickpea concoction I made up....  We’ll let you know how that works out!  It’s hard to find ethnic food out here, unless it’s Japanese.  Sushi is huge and any blue-blooded Chilean will tell you that raw fish is at the top of their favorites list along with Peruvian food.  We’re not too sure how to distinguish between Chilean and Peruvian yet, but the Chileans are astute in pointing out the differences, sure it will come with time!

We’ve bought our tickets to the south for February!  We will fly from Santiago to Punta Arenas on the 4th and then head to Torres del Paine National Park for 8 or 9 days.  We’re planning on doing the circuit.  Then we have tickets for P.A. to Balmaceda.  Will will spend a couple of weeks exploring the carretera austral(southern highway) between Peurto Montt and Cohaique, Chiloe Island, Orsorno Volcano, and then head into the Lakes District where we’ll hopefully visit with some friends in their summer home.  

Big plans that require a lot of preparation.  We really need to buckle down and save as much money as we can during the time between so there will be plenty of home-cooked meals and walks in the parks.

Around town; there was a violent protest last week with molotov cocktail’s and full riot police(don’t worry folks we stayed away), the city is getting ready for Chile Independence day on September 18, and we’ve increased our Spanish lessons to 3 times a week!