Artisan fairs of Los Domincos and Santa Lucia (Ferias de Artisaniea), Parque Arauco,

Saturday out on the town, and I went looking through 2 large artisan fairs. The first is located close to where I am staying, in the region of town known as Las Condes. If you get on the metro, it is the very last stop of Linea Uno (Line 1) heading west. It is by a pretty well known convent/church called San Vicente Ferrer which  I took a picture of outside, and in the garden inside:

Quite nice actually. There were avocados laying on the ground, and a small hedge maze. That was free, and worth the 5 minutes I took to step in and out. Then I went next door to the Artisan Fair of Los Dominicos:

Of all of the Artisan places I have seen (and I have seen a few), this is one of the nicer. There is the typical gamut of Chilean touristy stuff:

Lapiz Lazuli: A kind of stone that is unique to Chile, it is blue and pretty. It is used to make lots of jewelry and is also carved into all manner of figurines. 

Stone figurines: Pretty nifty little carvings of animals in a variety of semi-precious or pretty stones. I can remember once I took  a bunch of elephants my mom had to show and tell and broke some in transit when i must have been in kindergarten. I felt sooo bad, I remember still today. 

Indio Picaro: It is a little wooden carved indian, and when you try to pick him up, his phallus pops out. They are not classy, but it is definitely something that Chileans world wide recognize as their own creation. 

Wood Cuttings/carvings/sculptures: There is no shortage of artisans in Los Dominicos, where you can see the people actually making their stuff. I got these pictures of a few people working and their wares-

Fun story about the mermaid. First, there is a legend in Southern Chile, a place called Chiloe, where they say that the fisherman who don't return are entranced by mermaids. This is probably common to lots of sea towns, but still interesting. Also, the lady who told me about her mermaid works, also does replicas of the bow ornaments that Pablo Neruda used to have in his house (or I guess that are still in his house, since it is a museum now). 

Alpaca and Wool Products (although I would imagine that most of these come from Peru or Bolivia): These are ubiquitous in any artisan market anywhere. I have seen so much that it hardly elicits a second glance anymore. But everyone eventually drops some money for some nifty scarf or something, as I did. I might spend some money on this guy's scarves though, since they are, as I said, pretty nifty.- 

COPPER Stuff: Plates, jewelry, cups, key-chains. All kinds of stuff. Chile is famous all around the world for its copper. I bought a plate this time, and I have seen some copper etched plates of the LDS Temples in random corners if you can believe it. I guess the merchants have realized that the missionaries are suckers for that kind of stuff. (As am I).

Clay stuff: This stuff is everywhere. When I was 19 and came with my mom, she made me carry back about 30 pounds of it I believe. You can make pasterl de choclo in the earthen bowls and it is nifty. Traditional stuff. 

Instruments: I dig instruments. I would love to buy a bombo (big wooden drum with leather hide on both top and bottom) right now. Alas, I cannot carry such a thing back with me. Here are some interesting instruments that my new friend Diego showed me- 

 This is called a Trutruka. It can be wound in a circle and is often sold like this> but these were not. It can be blown into and is an Mapuche instrument.

This is a Chilean guitarron, and it it looks like it might be crazy hard to play. 

Oh, and there were animals everywhere in Los Dominicos. Some for sale as pets such as parrots and such, and some dogs and cats just hanging out. -

After all of this fun, I went to a large park and a mall next to it, both called Arauco (name of indigenous tribe). 

Santiago: Work

I wish I had some exciting details to report, but sadly, I do not. I have been stuck working most of the time, and when I did venture out, I neglected to take my camera. First of all, my work:

As you can see,  I have a nice view. What you can't see, is that I am isolated and alone, which is an honor, but also lame. There is a lot of smog in Santiago.

I could tell you all about work in a Chilean Law Firm... but it is not going to be exciting for you. I will just say that I am useless, except for translation, and even then... useless. It is a hard fact to accept.

In more exciting news, I tried Congrio Frito. Sadly, I did not have a camera, so here is a picture online. Congrio, is Conger Eel. It was delicious, even if they look unappealing in real life. I also recently ate Machas a la Parmesana, which were also delicious. (Parmesan on mussels).

Sea food delights a plenty.

I wish there was more to say, but in reality, nothing overly interesting has happened. Perhaps tomorrow I will sally forth and find something interesting.

If you go to Chile...

Well, here I am in Chile. I think that this blog will be a bit long, but I will try to drag it out. In quick succession:

Malu and I arrived.

We met Ricardo and his family, who got as at the airport, and was an all around excellent guy. He was very welcoming and helpful, and he and is wife Pabla play guitar and sing great. Observe:

*Side note, you will notice mention of Las Condes in the song, and in the post song conversation. Keep this in mind for subsequent posts when I will be posting pictures of Las Condes today. 

Malu and I familiarize ourselves with the Metro and Bus system of Santiago. 

I am still tired because I pulled an all-nighter for a horrible post exam Law Review write-on that was due the day we flew out. 

Malu and I went to Viña del Mar/Valparaiso. There was nothing that we did that I haven´t discussed at length in previous posts here, here, here, and here, but it was good times since Malu had never seen the place. 

We saw Iron Man 2 in the Viña del Mar Mall, which was fun. 

We went to Limache, and barely caught up with my mother´s cousin before we left. He arrived in the nick of time to visit.

We went to Villa Alemana to visit my cousin Roberto. It was also good times. 

We went with Roberto to the Zoo in Quillpue, which I believe that I visited when I was 8. It was trippy, back then, it seemed like a really long trip by train, but it only is a little ways inland in actuality. 

Malu left Sunday morning to Peru :(

I buy groceries. 

I perform a massive cleaning of my filthy hovel. 

I started my externship. The building is upscale, and I will post a picture of my office view. (More on the work in subsequent posts).

That brings you up to date. There are a few things that may warrant a bit more comment. While in Chile, Malu and I found a random guy on the street that cooked chorizo (sausages) and stuck them on bread. This cost a dollar, and we scooped on lots of pebre and it was delicious.

*The second one isn't a completo, she just looks funny so I thought I would share. 

Malu tried her "completo" which is Chilean for "nasty foot-long hot dog slathered with grotesque amounts of avocado and mayo." Also known as "vianessa", you can learn all there is to know about an completo at this dudes blog.

Did I mention that I hate avocado? I do. Chileans love it. Malu hates avocado as well, so... she also feels as I do about the completo, which is to say: detest. (that is a lie, she actually didn´t mind hers, but that was only after she scraped off the majority of what makes it nasty in the first place and essentially ate a normal hotdog.)

The bus and metro system in Santiago is pretty nifty I must say. It isn´t perfect, but it sure beats paying for cabs or walking. While it is expensive (as are many things here in Chile), it is worth it. 

Chileans love their centers of commerce, and they are all out buying. There are people buying everything everywhere. I am glad to see that the US has succeeded so completely in exporting materialism, because frankly, the Chinese need more money. 

My room. This could merit a post all of its own, but I will decline to go into such detail. Basically, I found it online, it is tiny, it is in a house, and the landlords are a French girl (maybe a year or two older than me) and her live in Chile boyfriend. I have a soft bed. The shower is functional and has hot water. The place is close to my work, and ideally situated very close to a super market. That is about it for pluses. Now the minuses. As I mentioned, the room is small. How small? Lets just say that Malu looks large in it. I live on the 2nd floor, and share a bathroom with the two other renters, who each have a larger room than I (and I suspect that they pay less rent aswell). They are slobs. Nice enough types, but the place was disgusting when I arrived. The kitchen, the bathroom, and the living area (which, consequently, are all also tiny). They all smoke (except frenchie, she is 4 months pregnant. She may smoke, but I haven´t seen her much), and so I smoke too. Supposedly, they aren´t supposed to smoke indoors, but its winter and they must, apparently, smoke. So it sucks for me. My room is situated above the theatre (projector and many speakers), area of the landlords. The live in watches movies/TV untill 1 am or later every day, and loudly. Come to find out, sound passes just as easily as smoke through ill fitted boards. 

It is only a month.

That is my mantra these days. 

I also suspect that my room floor is not 100% flat. This is because my chair has wheels, as does my desk, and if I sit there long enough, I move backwards to the door. Also, it is noticeable when laying upon my bed. I digress. The room is sufficient, and I have decided, post super cleaning performed by yours truly, that I most care about the shower and bed in a living area. Everything else can (and in this case, does) suck and it does not matter.

And now you have seen the entirety of my living space.