July 4th A Winter Holiday!

We had the pleasure of celebrating the 4th of July in a foreign country. We Norte Americanos gathered for sloppy joes and potato salad and swapped patriotic stories. Our group leader, Elder Benson dressed for the occasion.

We are not so self centered that we don't appreciate the fact that not everyone celebrates the 4th. Our Canadian brothers and sisters came dressed for the occasion. Vecinos is Spanish for neighbors.

President Ted Lyon, is the president of the Santiago Temple. He is a retired Spanish literature professor. He recited from memory Patrick Henry's famous "give me liberty or give me death" speech. It impressed and touched us all.

Our fair city is putting on its winter finery. It is cold at night and our apartments are very uncomfortable. I now wear long underwear and am thinking about getting a night cap.

This picture of the Andes was taken from our bedroom window. I will miss this when I leave but sometimes our bedroom feels like the Andes look. BRRRRRR

We spent the actual 4th of July at the US Embassy enjoying a celebration. We needed our passports to get in and had to go through a security check like at the airport.

There was a flag raising ceremony. The thing I loved about this experience was that it was all in my beloved English. I have been longed to hear my own language in public settings. It was a treat.

And of course, we were thrilled to meet the Obamas and enjoy the day with them. I will never forget the 4th of July in Santiago, Chile.

Real Estate in Chile

I have been interested in the unique homes in Chile. So I want to share a few of the more interesting ones. In every town in Chile, you will find huge mouldering mansions that are literally turning to dust. This one was on the coast south of Santiago in San Antonio. These old houses don't appear to be apartments now. They sort of look like maybe ghosts have moved in.

This next series of homes are all within walking distance of my apartment. I am convinced that the Latin mind is much more tuned to color and design. I don't think this blue would make it in our neighborhood in Boise.

One of the amazing things about Santiago is that in the year I have lived here, the power only has gone out once. Now in Boise that is a common event. Perhaps, we need to bring some of the Idaho Power crews down here so that they can learn how to run power lines.

All properties in Chile are gated and there is no getting to the door without ringing a little buzzer and talking to the people inside. Most fences and gates have sharp things on the top.

This apartment is not in my neighborhood but in Los Andes about 1 hour north of Santiago. I show this as a contrast to my neighborhood which is upper class. Some of our missionaries live in this apartment so it isn't considered too terrible.

Many of the upper class live in apartments like this lovely Mediterranean style building which was constructed in 1948. Santiago has many of these older buildings which give the city a distinctive European look. This building is one block from my apartment. There are always bird cages hanging out the upper left hand window. The canaries and parakeets compete with the traffic noise.

Another neighborhood gem. Thankfully there are no paint covenants in our part of town.

Isn't this fabulous! It is actually a duplex which is common in the city. Maybe you would call them townhouses. We watched this one get renovated and it is now for sale. The place looks like it came right out of the art deco era of a Hercule Poirot movie.

Another amazing house marred by amazing wiring!

Now if I could choose a sweet little house for me in Santiago, it would be this one. It is right across the street from a neighborhood park and is neat as a pin. The arches that you see are actually vines that have been carefully pruned. Charming. But........I bet it doesn't have central heat or air conditioning. The windows are all single pane and the garage is only big enough for a Volkswagen bug. There is no yard to speak of and the neighbor next door has 9 stories with windows all looking down into what little yard you have. Welcome to life in a city of 7 million people with an economy that keeps most people so poor that a home like this is only for the very few. Chile is one of the best governed countries in South America. Unfortunately, its public education is of such poor quality that only the children of the rich can get ahead because their parents can afford private school. There are about 1000 families in Chile who control all the wealth. As a result the price of everything is fixed and there are no good deals anywhere.

As an American, I always knew I had it good. It isn't until you get to live out of the United States that you come to understand just how good you have had it. That is one of the blessings our young missionaries are getting as they learn to live in South America.

Santiago Saturday - A Perfect Day

After a week of hard work, we are happy to have a day of recreation and learning. On May 3oth, we decided to go find some culture and enjoy a day away from the office. But first, it is always a good idea to check with a local citizen, Jose, to get the lay of the land. He speaks un poco de ingles and I speak un poco de espanol. That leaves a lot of room for error, but we are brave souls and venture forth.

Fall has come to our fair (smoggy) city and it is actually a delight since this is our first fall in Chile and this is more a city of trees than Boise, Idaho will ever be. Every street is lined with huge Sycamore trees that protect us from the burning southern hemisphere sun.

This is the very street where we live. It offers beauty that I will miss when I leave here.

These street scenes are our neighborhood. We often walk to the metro or we can take a bus. This was a great day for walking. The yellow building with the red roof is actually the Uruguay Embassy. It is lovely and always neat as a pin. Not a leaf out of place ever.

Our destination today is the Presidential Palace at La Moneda. We get the subway and hop on for a speedy trip. We are dumped out into another world all together. It is now overcast and raining a little.

We head down the stairs past a fountain and wall of water to enter the cultural center. We are delighted to see a giant display of ribbons. It was enough to delight an old girl's heart.

They also had a great museum shop that reminded me of my other life long ago in another galaxy when I was a museum store buyer. Oh! Life was simple then.

Now we are walking in search of the Pre-Columbian Museum. That has been our goal from the beginning. But then, it is always important to enjoy the journey. That is a good lesson to apply to life as well.

Santiago has flowers all year round. It also has flocks of pigeons everywhere. This little darling was just taking a break and enjoying the weather. The primroses are the winter blooms most often seen here.

The doors in Santiago are very European. This is an especially beautiful one with an especially beautiful man in front of it.

I bet they didn't get this door at Home Depot. You probably can't special order one either.

We have arrived at last to see a group of embarrassed Pre-Columbian statues. They all look like they got caught without their undies. Oh dear! I guess even the ancient ones sometimes had nightmares about being in public naked.

The pottery collection of Mayan, Olmec and other cultures was awe inspiring. I think these pots inspire modern day potters.

I put this picture in for all the cat lovers in the family. This is probably a jaguar since they are revered in these ancient cultures. Oddly, it said there were not any living around the area. I wonder how they knew about them. Word of mouth I guess. Notice her four little kittens!

One final pot and it is time to leave the quiet and peace of the museum and enter the noisy plaza and thread our way though the hoards to the subway. Little did we know that even more artistic surprises awaited us.....in the subway.

Isn't she grand in a gross sort of way? I think that is a cow floating on a cloud. Actually, all the subway stations have permanent art displays. This one makes me want to laugh out loud. What a great way to end a day in the city of Santiago.

Now we have a walk home from the subway or we might catch a bus. This is our part of town and it strangely feels a little like home to us.

While we were enjoying the museum, it was snowing in the Andes. We are snug in our apartment and enjoying the view from our patio. Another day in paradise, we feel blessed to have this experience.

Mendoza Argentina Mission Experiences

On May 11th we took a one hour flight to Mendoza, Argentina. It was a stormy night and the flight is straight up and over the Andes to the east side of the mountain. It was bumpy all the way and Sister Davis hardly looked up from her reading. Now that is progress. Meet President and Sister Lindahl of the Mendoza Argentina Mission.

This is a picture of the apartment which will be the Lindahl's home for three years while they serve in Argentina.

This is a view of the east side of the Andes. Funny they look just like the west side! It was a special feeling for us to see the other side of the mountain. Our home in Santiago is just over the hill.

This beautiful fountain is in Mendoza. Two senior couples took us out for a tour of the city and a wonderful lunch and visit to an olive oil factory.

It was very cold in Mendoza which usually has a very mild climate. But then winter is coming. This country is filled with vineyards and olive groves.

This company makes olive oil for specialty markets. They buy their olives from local farmers who bring in a mixture of green, black and purple olives to be processed for oil.

First they grind up the olives, pit and all. Then they spead the paste on large round screen like platters. They appear to be made of basket material.

Next, they press it so that the oil and water drip out. If you eat an olive straight from a tree it will taste terrible because the water in an olive is very, very bitter. In fact, to prepare an olive to eat it has to be soaked in brine to draw out the bitter water, leaving behind the salt. In South America if you say, "I need to go change the water on the olives", it refers to needing to find a bathroom. Kind of like "I need to talk to a man about a horse". Where do these sayings come from?!

Once the water and oil are drained off they go into these tanks where the oil rises to the top.

The oil is put through filters and is then drained off into bottles. This woman was filling bottles with olive oil. This process is not mechanized as you can see.

This is the finished product. She told us that you should only buy virgin or extra virgin oil. If you buy a cheaper product your oil will be made from the stuff that falls on the floor or is left over after all the pressing is done. Ugh.

Of course, we stopped in the gift shop and tasted the oil and bought some hand cream. These are our new friends in Mendoza. Seniors like us, serving in South America.

These murals decorated the grounds of the olive factory and some of them are award winning.

Now it is time to go to lunch. In South America the presentation of food is always lovely.

Here is the group of us enjoying a lovely lunch on a cold day in Mendoza. Least you think that all we ever do is play in South America, now we will share some work pictures.

Please meet Elder and Sister Arce. They are in their 80's and are sad that this will be their last mission because of age and poor health. They are very dear friends of Elder Scott of the quorum of apostles. Elder Arce is one of the key builders of the church in South America and is considered a modern day pioneer in church history in Argtentina. We were honored to meet them.

Elder Arce is a singer and entertained us during our lunch break. He was dressed in a goucho outfit.

Elder Riggs who has competed in the Weiser, Idaho fiddle contests teamed up with Elder Arce. It was a rare treat. Elder Riggs is completing his mission in a few weeks.

Here is one zone of the three zones we visited. Pictures are important to these missionaries so we always sat for a group photo at the end of every conference. We loved these zone conferences. It was a very spiritual experience as we listened to the young missionaries share their experiences and feelings about their mission.