Cerro Abajo - Urban mountain biking in Valparaíso

Unfortunately we missed this annual mountain bike race this past summer.  The course featured in this video is not far from our house -- it gives you a good feel for the landscape, complete with stray dogs. Makes us glad we left the bikes back in Minnesota.  Full-screen mode recommended!



VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

Vamos Chile! Vamos los EEUU!

While these may look like great 4th of July hats, there actually Chile cheering hats for the Copa America soccer tournament. All the heavy weights soccer teams from Latin America are playing for the next month in Argentina. Chile has high hopes for her team and there is soccer fever everywhere here (think superbowl with the whole country cheering for one team).

So as we cheered Chile to a 2-1 victory over Mexico tonight (lo siento a todos nuestros amigos Mexicanos) we also thought we could cheer for the good ole' USA on her birthday. Happy Fourth everyone (especially to all those at Ottertail Lake, MN - we missed celebrating with you) and Vamos Chile!!!!

p.s. Tomorrow I head to LA for my sister Britt's wedding!!! We're thrilled for Britt and Pat, and just sorry its too far and too expensive for all of us to travel. I return on Sunday and we leave that same day for a two-week winter break trip to Perú. Machu Picchu here we come! Not sure when we'll have a chance to post next (we'll be traveling without our laptops), but we'll have lots of stories to share next time we check in. Until then, our best to all of you.

Love,
Laura

A photo montage of a typical day

Some folks have asked about what I am up to while Dan is working and the kids are at
colegio from 8:30am to 4:30pm. Well, here's a glimpse of what my days often look like.

We get up around 7:15am, just before the sunrise these days. We grab some breakfast and pack lunches and head down the hill to school.



























It's about a 15 minute walk to school. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I drop off the kids off at 8:30am and then continue down to the waterfront for about a 4 kilometers walk/run. I pass by the sea lions, watch the ships in the harbor, and listen to the waves crashing against the shore. One part of this walk takes me by some old shipwrecks. I also pass some cool public art along the way. My favorites are the clothes pins holding up cars and also the highway pillars with famous people painted on them. At least one is Pablo Neruda. I haven't figured out anyone else.

































On Tuesday and Thursdays, Dan drops the kids off at school and I head to English class. I have been teaching for the last month. I have a really nice group of students, some of whom are artists who have a gallery on our hill. Another one of the students is a parent from the kids' school. Everyone would like to improve their English in order to better interact with the thousands of tourists who visit Valparaiso every year. We've had such a fun time, focusing mainly on conversational skills. Language classes are always needed and such a wonderful way to get to know folks at a deeper level.

In addition, through one of the artists from class, I have been connected to another non-profit, TAC, which is doing some great work with community and youth development. We've discussed my doing some audits of their organizational systems and some help with a leadership transition that is going on now. I am hoping I can take a look at things come August.

After class or after my walk, I usually stop by one of the grocery stores around and pick up some items. Sometimes I stop at the sprawling fruit and vegetable market - which is really amazing but I haven't tried pulling my camera out there. Here's JUMBO grocery store which is close to my walk down by the waterfront.




Then I head back to our house (up the long hill usually with a backpack full of groceries - ugh). Sometimes I head out again to have lunch with a friend or sometimes I'll fix some lunch for Dan and me. I usually try to get some laundry or other household errands done too. Today I made a salad like I'd make at home with red butter lettuce, green apples, walnuts, craisins (imported), blue cheese, a little chicken and fresh french bread and grapes on the side. The produce is pretty amazing and pretty cheap here. I bought three heads of this beautiful lettuce for $1 today at the market.


Then in the afternoon I'm off to classes. I have my mosaic class with Monica on Mondays, which I love and wish I could do everyday. And often on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I attend my friend Cecilia's university class at the Universidad Católica of Valparaiso. She teaches advanced language and culture classes for foreign students and invited me to audit the class. I had a great time getting up to speed on recent Chilean history.

We are finishing the semester now, but recently classes have been interrupted due to large scale, national student protests. All public universities across the country have been taken over by students and classes suspended during these national protests. Its hard to know when classes will resume or how some resolution is going to be reached... We'll see.














































In the late afternoon, I pick up the kids. I also stop by Maria Magdalena's newspaper stand, where she always holds a paper for me. Often, I am printing things at ValpoAlegre print shop, whether for the kids school projects or for English class or Dan's work. And then the kids and I usually stop by El Buen Gusto bakery for some hot, fresh out of the oven bread (fresh bread is coming out probably hourly...its awesome unless you're not intending on gaining weight!!!). We often grab some other item from one of the vegetable stands as well before we head up the hill.

Then its usually homework and dinner time and maybe if there's time we'll watch some Chilean soccer! In between these activities I'm am sometimes negotiating things like getting our visas squared away or other bureaucratic and often time consuming errands. I think you have to have at least one person in the family who has the time to take care of such things as they come up when you spend a year abroad.

There's a little glimpse of my typical day. Its been great for me. I walk everywhere and enjoy chatting with folks in all these places. There are some real characters and most folks are very friendly. I feel like we have become part of the community here.

-Laura

San Pedro parade

Last Sunday there was a parade for San Pedro, who is a patron saint for the fisherman people. We knew about it because our friends from NYC were walking in the parade on stilts with their school!

There were tons of groups that did traditional dances and music, including a Bolivian dance, Peruvian dance, etc. It was a really cool parade! It made me think of the May Day parade in Minneapolis. Here are some pictures!

Thanks a lot,
Grace

Sybaritic: The Sandwich of your Imagination

Just try to come up with a better name for a sandwich shop -- I dare you.

It's mid-winter, and we're in a groove here, life just humming along.  Not much new to share on a daily basis, so I thought I'd just start posting some photos that I've snapped with my phone whenever something catches my eye.

Winter solstice, races, GI problems and other quick highlights...

Yikes, where did the week go. I'm going to commit a blog faux pas and wrap-up some updates all at once.

Dan ran a race on Sunday with his intrepid Viña runners' group. We tried to go cheer him on, but the race route is always unknown to at least Dan, if not most runners beforehand, so we didn't find him. When we asked how he did, he said that he thought pretty well, but difficult to know for sure as no one is quite sure the exact distance of the race (somewhere around 8 kilometers in a smoking 36 minutes - a veritable blur!!!).

Theo's soccer team played another team last week. We sent Theo with some teammates in another dad's car to this other school and then Gracie and I went with some other parents and kids by bus. It was a good game 5-6. Theo's team lost by a point, despite Monte Alegre's cheering section having the vuvuzelas, drums, cowbells and whistles in full swing again! The third and fourth graders played well!

Grace and Theo are in the middle of end of semester exams. Every other day they have an exam on a different subject. Today they had lenguaje (Spanish language), so they have been studying about verb conjugations (no easy task in Spanish), parts of speech like sustantivos, verbos, pronombres, adjetivos (nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives), and other grammar in Spanish. Its pretty cool.

Gracie is also going to town on her recorder for her music class. She has got "Ode to Joy" down, started sounding out "Oh, Canada" on her own and now her music teacher gave her the notes to "To Dream the Impossible Dream". The recorder in my opinion is a far cry from the piano, but I'm glad Gracie still gets to play music this year.

As for me, I had a bit of a relapse and came down with Theo's stomach virus right after my cold, which allowed me to continue to be a slacker for a couple more days. By Saturday, I was very glad to be up and about again just in time for "Noches Luminosos" - some fun light shows for the winter solstice here. Theo has asked to blog about that...so I'll leave it to him. Then on Sunday, after failing to find Dan on his race route, the kids and I did happen upon the May Day parade equivalent for Valparaiso - with lots of music, traditional dancing and costumes, stilts, huge puppets, and lots of political slogans. Maybe I can get Grace to write more about the parade! Lots of fun.

Well, there's some quick highlights of the week. Hope you are all well.
Fondly,
Laura

Unexpected gifts

A quick post script. Theo and I are both feeling a lot better today (Tuesday). The nasty tasting syrup from the pharmacy was a huge help. The sun coming out again was also very welcome!

I realized today that while I missed familiar cures and my comfort foods from back home while sick, this was the first time since perhaps my Peace Corps days, when I actually stayed in bed until my body felt better! I can't remember a time in recent years when I wasn't continuing on with work, writing a proposal, or taking care of kids despite being sick. It's a bit startling. I think its interesting in the States there's scarcely time to be sick.

It reminded me of how fortunate we are to have this year and how little stress I have in my life right now. Ironic as one might thing moving abroad for a year would involve a great deal of stress. But I think the toughest part of this year - at least for me - was the transition back home; deciding to travel, quiting my job, figuring out where would be the best place to spend the year, packing up the house, renting the house, etc. The kids might have a different opinion as their first month of school was no piece of cake. But thankfully, we're all in a groove now. Our lives are definitely simpler and slower paced than in the States. We spend more time as a family together and have fewer activities and demands on our time. Its some of the unexpected gifts of this year.

Hoping you are all enjoying some sunny weather as well.
Laura