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). 

My Time in Chile pt. 2

Trip to Vina Del Mar.
This was a long bus ride through the desert. I don’t really know how to explain 30 hours on a bus with nothing to see but sand and occasionally the ocean, but I can tell you it’s not as exciting as it sounds…
On the other hand, I would really like to spend a week or two in Iquique and Antofagasta. They are on the coast and they look like they have some interesting things to see. If nothing else, the largest Duty Free zone in South America is in Iquique, and you can stock up on booze and cologne for cheap. I suppose that this would be a huge draw for any Frenchies that happen into the Atacama. In any event, I made it to Santiago clinging to my sanity by a fingernail and bent nearly double underneath my absurdly heavy backpack. (I had my huge laptop in it; if you ever have a chance to buy a 17 inch laptop that weighs 7 pounds, think carefully about future travels.)
In Santiago, I was received by my good friend and former mission companion, Luis Cabanillas. He graciously agreed to meet me at the Santiago terminal at 5 am and keep me company until the first bus to VIna left at 8 am. Good guy, and he had plenty of interesting gossip to share.
I then got on the 2 hour last stretch to Vina. My Aunt lives on Calle Valparaiso in Vina Del Mar, which is the same street that the terminal is located on, about 8 blocks towards the ocean. Upon arrival, I was tired and so got in a taxi which ripped me off, but I didn’t mind much because I was ready to get there already. In a later post I am going to put up a lengthy description of all the foods I have tried in the last few months, with pictures, so I won’t get into lunch and all of that now.
My Tia Elba was the person who I saw most while I was in Chile, and with her I was able to see most of my cousins and uncles. With my Tia Elba, I went to Valparaiso the day after I arrived. There we had lunch and walked around doing some errands. It would seem like Chileans love their demonstrations, and while we were eating, a lot of students came running by being chased by riot police. I snapped a picture, but missed a truly photogenic moment when a cop in riot armor came past the window where I was seated dragging a guy in a headlock. I was too busy enjoying asado molido (*There will be an all food blog post soon, so never fear) to have my camera at the ready. Curse You Cuisine!, alas, I was able to snap this picture of the hubub after the fact:


After a few days of meandering around Vina, I had the interesting experience of leaving one afternoon and walking aimlessly until, without intending, I arrived at my dead Aunt Eliana's house. It was strange to fall into flashback mode as I rounded the corner. This was the house that I stayed in when I came to Chile for the first time. I felt like I could see a ghost of myself at 8 years old running around the corner in the sandals that my mother bought for my brother Jonathan and I. I remembered in the moment that I recognized the key cutting place on the corner so many bizarre little details. For instance, I recalled that the sandals that my mom bought left white triangle tan lines on my ankles due to the fasteners. Weird. In any event, this is what the place looks like:


Santiago

The first weekend in Chile, I went to Santiago to visit my friend from the mission Luis Cabanillas and also my Tio Chalo. Cabanillas (who I met in Tacna, and who hails from Trujillo) picked me up from the bus terminal and we immediately went to the center of Santiago to see the "tourist" stuff. I found it interesting, but in all honesty, I am coming to realize that I am not a big city guy. It was expensive getting around and took forever because the city is so large. More on that in a second. The things to see in the center are the Palacio de la Moneda, Plaza de Armas, and the Calle Ahumada:




I liked seeing the sights, but I was burdened by my 7 pound laptop and 2 days worth of clothes in my backpack. It was a beast to heave around. I also started to resent my beloved DSL's weight after several blocks. But oh well, that's the price of good pictures I suppose. Anywho, I had a swell time with Cabanillas and his family, and it happened to be his birthday. Oddly enough, I ate almost exclusively Peruvian food my entire 2 day stint in Santiago. The Saturday that we went to the center, we also went out to a dance club. Let me just say, this place was kind of ghetto. The ratio of guys to gals was way off (more dudes), and it was HOT!. Not good hot, no ventilation and I felt like I was breathing everyone else's sweat hot. It was still an ok time, but about 3am, I called it and we started the long trip back to Cabanillas's home. Along the way, I saw a drunken fight on the bus that ended with a guy getting stabbed several times by what looked like a box cutter. The stabber and his friend did quite a number on the other drunken fool before they jumped off the bus. Later, while awaiting the second bus that we had to take to get to where Cabanillas lived, he was propositioned by a hooker. I couldn't stop laughing, and his discomfort reached a apex (poor word choice?) when she made a grad at his family jewels. After his power block, she got miffed and left. I cannot express how funny this experience was, but it still makes me chuckle. For those readers who are perhaps thinking that Santiago is a crime ridden sty, I would like to point out that any big city at 4 am would probably not have it's best face on, and also that Cabanillas doesn't exactly live in the poshest part of town. In any event, we managed to drag ourselves out of bed after only a few short hours sleep in order to make church. I was impressed by the number of members, and surprised that in Cabanillas's ward, it would seem that 3 out of every four members are Peruvian. I believe that this is the part of Santiago where a lot of Peruvians live, so maybe in other areas, the ratio is less. Later that afternoon I went to visit my Tio Chalo and my Tia Consuelo (and for clarification, Tia Consuelo is actually my great aunt, so she is also Tio Chalo's aunt). We had a delightful chat and I was able to see his wife and youngest daughter.


And that was the second part of my Chile Trip, soon to come (hopefully in the next two days) will be the next part.