Pucon-Day 1

As I stated in the last post, the girls and I arrived in Santiago on Saturday, January 9.   It has taken Jason a few days to adjust to the busyness and noise of two excited little girls. 

 Our apartment is on the 7th floor. We've had to train the girls how NOT to get on the elevator without an adult or you may end up somewhere in this big building without us.  Our patio overlooks the pool, which is a constant temptation.  I expect it to be highly motivational when we do homework next week.

 These are the foothills of the Andes mountains. There is always a constant haze of smog around the city of nearly 6 million.   I have never lived anywhere with significant air pollution.  I didn't realize how dirty it was. Our floors in the apartment are always dusty and dirty from the settling of the smog.  I'm sure it's great for our lungs.  It has also made keeping feet clean an interesting task. 

 This is the girls' sleeping arrangement for the 3 weeks we are here.  It is a 2 room apartment with the girls sleeping in the main room. I'm not sure how it will work when Jason goes back to work on Monday.  We're hoping they are tired enough to sleep through the breakfast noise.

 We went for a long walk on Sunday to get acclimated to Santiago and get our bearings for when Jason is at work and we are on our own to explore. Callie got her first lesson in city living.  You walk...everywhere.  Traffic is slow and parking impossible.  We walked to the park and the grocery store...and it's hot.  Think mid-west August heat, minus the humidity plus the intensity of mountain sun. 

 Two of Callie's favorite books right now is "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" and "Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog."  She was delighted to find real pigeons and chased them perpetually as we walked around town.

 One of the big central parks.  Lots climbing.  We are noticing that most parks are ropes, not plastic equipment due to the heat.

 More pigeon chasing.

 We had dinner at a great restaurant by another park.  We met Carla (Chilean) and Mark (from Johnston, IA), two of Jason's co-workers at Pioneer.  There were many water birds and the girls enjoyed the flamingos the most.  Chileans take great pride in their parks and natural spaces.   Jason said you can tell a person's wealth by how green their property is.  The greener the property, the more resources they have.  Despite the air pollution, the area of Santiago we are in is very clean, free of trash, and well taken care of...despite the constant construction.

Trying empanadas con queso  (Cheese empanadas)