Mateo in Santiago!: Mom and Pop come to visit

Chile Part 8

My parent’s visit was a huge amount of fun, and a turning point in the trip for me. I was just starting to get into a rhythm in Santiago, and all of a sudden there was a 2 week break where I didn’t have to think about classes, internships, anything! I just focused instead on how lucky I was to have them visit me here, and how much fun it was to travel with them. My perspective on Santiago changed completely once they arrived, in that what we did was so different from my routine. I didn’t have to cook anymore, go to class, wash the dishes, clean the bathroom – rather, I had to change my mind completely from living as a Santiaguino and think from a tourist’s perspective. And it was hard! We had to figure out where to eat, what to do, how we were getting from place to place…it reminded me a little of the Patagonia trip with my friends, but different in that it was my parents. All in all, it was wonderful. I really changed my priorities in that I realized that here in Chile school is important, but spending time with family and friends is what I am going to remember when I look back on my 6 months here. I’ll think back on the laughs and the adventures, not on what my grade was for one of my classes. This process of transformation is unique in that when I was in Santa Cruz, I was always working hard, trying to do my best, volunteering in class and always participating. I’m not saying that I’m not going to do that when I get back, because I do understand the importance of school, and how the education I am receiving is a privilege thanks to my parent’s hard work, and how I want it to be worth it. But when I go back to UCSC in the fall, I want to keep in mind that getting a 4.0 is not worth missing out on life. Everything will work out, in some way or another. It probably won’t be the way that you expect, but if you’re okay with that, then you know what’s up.

I think of what Mark Twain once said, how he maintained perspective throughout his life:

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

When I first heard that quote, I thought I understood it. But now I know that I do.

And without further ado, here’s a recap of all the fun me and my parents had! Cheers!

After climbing up Cerro San Cristóbal, I had to show my parents one of my favorite Chilean dishes - the magnificent Chorrillana. Resting on a bed of French fries lie fried onions, grilled beef and sausage chunks, topped by two fried eggs. Deelicious! It was also somewhat strange to drink with my parents, because it was the first time we had done it in public. It's one thing to have a beer with a family dinner, but it was fun to order a pitcher of Escudo for all of us and talk about life.

Nice sunset over the Andes

After spending a day or two in Santiago, we took a bus up to La Serena, a small city filled with history and beautiful beaches. Here are my parents, backpacks prepared, ready to explore!

Nice wide open streets, lined with trees...

Fun little plaza where we went the first night, looking for a place to eat. La Serena was filled with this beautifully painted tiles, creating a nice atmosphere to the walk.

How many times do you see German flags in South America? A lot, actually! Due to Chile's abundance of natural beauty, many Germans immigrated to Chile around the turn of the 20th century, settling mostly in the south of the country. It was amusing to have sausage and potatoes as our first grub in La Serena. I felt like I had gone to Western Europe.

Poor, poor skull man. I forget the significance of this statue, but we found it in La Serena's Cathedral, in their museum. The weirdest part of that museum was the Belgian flag tucked away in the corner! The religious missionaries had been Belgian, and brought these religious artifacts along with them.

Gabriela Mistral's Nobel Prize! She was the first Latin American to win the worldly honor, receiving it for her spectacular poetry in 1945.

Hooray for outdoor crafts markets! We went to La Serena's Mercado La Recova, a thriving hub of buying and selling of everything from brightly colored hand-knitted gloves to artisan manjar (Chile's version of dulce de leche). I was particularly proud of how I honed my bargaining skills and bought a Spanish conquistadores vs. Indigenous community chess set for $6 cheaper than it should have been! I can tell you guys how to do it - the key is patience, showing interest but indecision, and conversing with the seller. Very fun for someone with an acting background like myself.

The lighthouse, our gateway to the beach!

Beautiful swirly mix of cloud, water and sky

There were surfers there too, searching for the perfect wave

Chilling in South America

Okay, switching gears...here we are on our way to the Isla Damas, driving through the dusty countryside. We spotted some cool Chilean deer grazing and staring in wonder at the funny tourists bouncing along the road.

Surprise picture!

Gnarly cactus! We literally went from misty beaches to dry desert in less than 24 hours...and there was more to come!

Posing at the beach before our boat excursion to Isla Damas

My dad, the caracol enthusiast. Look how big that seashell is!

Good old rugged coastline

On the boat! Dad did remarkably well. Here, behind his smile he's saying "Get me out of here!!!" Just kidding.

Ahoy there Señor Pinguino! These Magellanic penguins live on Isla Damas year round, catching fish in the water and waddling around the rocky slopes. So cute!

Sea birds unique to the island!

Rich with faunal diversity

Well hello there Mr. Sea Lion! Just catching some rays, eh?

The existentialist penguin, looking out into the distance...

It's so great that they've protected these islands so that the animals can live in peace.

Finally we reach the Isla Damas! We spent about an hour walking around the cove and cactus fields.

A photo worthy of Lonely Planet's page, if I do say so myself

Not your ordinary looking cactus, am I right? It looks nice and smooth from this angle, but those thorns were long and sharp!

Pristine shores

That's more like it!

On the road again! Here we are in Pisco Elqui, 2 hours inland from La Serena. As you can see from this sunscreen application, we had arrived in the desert! And it was hot! Such a contrast to La Serena. Chile, the country with every climate.

Matt "Che" Boitano

Pisco Elqui, tucked away in the dry desert valley.

The landscapes were astonishing!

More cactus!

Some people don't like the desert, but how can you not appreciate this kind of beauty? Granted, it's not exactly the Sahara in terms of desolate landscapes..and if you want that in Chile, just go to the Atacama Desert, the driest in the world!

Pisco Elqui is so named because it is the main producer of Pisco, Chile's national drink! Pisco can best be described as a grape brandy, and a great alcohol to mix with soda or sip in lemon juice as a pisco sour.

Artsy photo! The lone tree on the shrub mountain.

My dad, the refined gentleman traveler relaxing a bit on our way to a pisco distillery.

And so the road goes...

Hard to believe, but these are huge grape bushels! We found them in a little family store along the way back from the distillery.

Mmm! Guayacán, one of the best beers I've ever had. Every single Chilean town has its own artisan beer, and it's always delicious.

The mountain ridges brimming with red-hot energy from the sun's reflection

A typical Chilean lunch. The main course is cazuela, a hearty stew with corn, potato, chicken and veggies. Great comfort food!

Relaxing after the meal

Mom being her usual self

Change of scenery! We left the rugged beauty of Pisco Elqui to appreciate the wonders of Valparaíso, the picturesque coastal city not unlike San Francisco. When the smog and congestion gets to the Santiaguinos, they come to relax in Valpo.

Our quirky Valpo apartment! We rented it from Bart, an easy-going Dutchman with flaming orange hair. Tucked away on one of Valpo's many hills, it was a great place to hang out in a city rich with character.

The city's buildings are a veritable rainbow of color, defying the ordinary and breathing life into each curvy street.

La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's house

The man knew how to live - imagine having this kind of a view from your living room!

Typical Valpo

Great sociology photo - tradition and modernity, cruising along the road that is the future.

Even Tito's in Valparaíso!

Dad pondering the colorful buildings

Mom dancing along the colorful buildings

Hare Hare Hare Hare

It's always a good time for an artsy photo

One unofficial symbol of the city ("Turn off the TV, Live your Life")

Inside the apartment!

The stairs we walked up everyday to get to the main road - it didn't seem like much at first, but once we got to the top we were practically panting!

Hey look, it's Mr. Gas Man! This guy drives down the street, banging a stick on the gas cans so people know he's driving by. It was hilarious to see!

Cool artistic rendering in a local art gallery

Dad relaxing on the trolley! Yes, Valpo has trollies, just like SF! So cool.

Nice picture inside the ascensor, a funicular that offers travelers a brief respite from walking up and down the hills.

Valpo is a port city through and through, and it shows

The city by the sea

To give Dad a dose of history, we went to the Naval museum. Here we have the magnificent sword of Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile's liberator from Spanish rule. That guy is famous here. Practically every Chilean city's main street is named calle O'Higgins! Craziness.

Cannons! Mom was loving this museum visit.

Look! It's a rocket ship! No, in reality it's the capsule that was used to rescue the Chilean miners. But very awesome nonetheless

The funicular!

Finally, we retreat back to Santiago. Here we are in the Pre-Columbian art museum, a great collection of indigenous art and artifacts.

Exquisite gold earring from the Aztec empire

Unusual but awesome sculptures

Mummies! No, we're not in Egypt, this is an actual Chilean mummy, using a preservation technique 2000 years older than that of the Egyptians. To preserve the body, they replaced the soft parts with branches, plants and mud. Very "green."

One of the most impressionable pictures of the this vacation. This is a timeline of all the indigenous groups who lived in Chile at one point or another before the arrival of the Spaniards. See that little name at the bottom-right of the photo? That's the Incan empire. Look at how small it is in the picture. A testament to the cultural richness of the land and how history only remembers fragments of what actually happened.