This unexpected trip is completely different from the others that Al and I had taken
for the past years... we had no intention of doing any traveling after all
the cruises and long trips we have had in the past years, and wanted
to do some traveling, if any, locally, or within the wonderful good ole US of A ......but

I hadn't heard from dear friend Alba for a long time --- remember Alba is
the lovely person we met on our trip to South America couple years ago...
She had visited us last year and always asked that I return the favor
and visit her lovely city Santiago, and country Chile...
Finally I called Alba at her home, and found out that she had been
ill with an unexpected problem, and was just feeling better, and suddenly I decided to
...yes, visit her,,,, and to go by myself!

What to do with Al??? Well, David had this lovely new house, plenty of
room to not be in David's way, a comfortable porch to relax in, a nice
man next door to talk with, and David being very anxious and happy to
bond with his father, was very agreeable and eager to have Al with him.

So......

I immediately made the plans for me to go to Chile, and Al
to go to Greenville, and as close in dates as could be done,
and one, two three,,, it was decided and done...

Now here I am on Thursday, October 7, 2004 waiting for the ride to pick
me up and take me to the airport for a 6pm flight out of Boston,
to Miami, then on to Santiago, arriving there on the 8th Friday at 7 am...
Al scheduled to leave on Saturday, the 9th for Greenville, and to return to
Boston on the 30th, also a Saturday, and I to return on again a Thursday, the 28th,
all of October, 2004..

THE STORY

Somehow, when things start out fine and so right, something makes a change and like
Murphy's law, where if anything wrong can happen, probably does, ---it did...
Started out fine, ride on time, early to airport, easy check-in, through the security,
of course I "dinged", and had to be practically strip searched---
(god, what on earth does a little old lady like me have that is
going to threaten this country)--- o.k. that done, I am waiting for the plane to
leave at 6 to board at 5:30, and boom,,, here it comes.
The plane does not leave......

Something seems to be wrong, they can't find the problem, they look and look
and look, and time goes by--- I finally ask, what happens if I don't
meet my connecting flight... Well, says the desk clerk,,, if we don't leave here,
you can go home, or we will put you up in a hotel for
the night, if we do leave and you don't meet the other flight in Miami,
then we can put you up in Miami, or divert you to another spot, and you will
leave the next day... JUST FiNE!!!!
And, I say, continuing this fable,,, what happens to the people waiting for me, how
do they know what is happening, and what about my husband wondering where on
earth I am???  Well, she says, we will notify them, or you can call from Miami,,,,,
ooookkkaaayyyy----
good idea...
So, I ask someone to borrow a cell fone, and call Al, and tell him
that we might have problems, and if I can and if we do run into a wait,
I will call him from Miami....

Well, after this fiasco, we finally do get to take off at quarter past
8, and I tell you, we just flew, and I mean flew, we made Miami in 2½
hours, arriving there at quarter to 11, plane leaving at 11....
Near the end of this trip, the stewardess came on telling us that they
have called ahead to Miami, telling them that we are on our way, and the
time of our arrival.... There were other people going other places and also
had to meet another flight...

Good enuf, I think, we have just made it and since they know we are on
our way, they will hold the plane for a few minutes and let us get on.....
Of course, of course, we came in at a gate in one area--- did I say that
Miami airport is just HUGE--- and our flight to Santiago was at the very
other end of the airport...

I was being picked up with a wheelchair and carted to the other end, the
other 6 or so passengers needed to run as fast as they could to meet
this plane--- my poor helper who was pushing me,,, he had a bummer of a
wheelchair, one wheel stuck, he was running up and down and pushing and pushing,
and panting and panting, and when we finally reached the gate,
he just collapsed in a chair.... poor man...
But, but, this is not the happy ending.....

We got to the gate at 11:01,,,, the plane had left at 11 ----
couldn't understand it, why on earth when they knew we had landed,
and on our way, would they not wait for us......
Lots of times planes we were in had to wait a few minutes for more passengers...
But no-- this plane left without us...
The gate area was stark empty...
Oh, oh, oh, what a bummer,,,, The agent told us we would go to Lima,
on to Santiago in the morning, all kinds of other plans, when ---
Lo and behold, the plane had not left the runway, and had come back for us... WHEW!!!!!
We all ran onto the plane, and even before we practically were seated
in our seats, it had taken off again, and we were on our way to Santiago...
No way of letting anyone know that we had made it....

But, still don't understand, the plane was half empty----
They could have waited easily for the few minutes...
There were empty seats all around me, and I had the whole row to myself,
people laid out on two and three seats and slept all night it was so
empty... I couldn't do that, because in the bulkhead seat the seat arm
does not go up and I had to get into lots of interesting positions
to catch a few hours sleep...  But we were on the plane and on our way,
and after all the agonizing, all was well....

Or so at least I thought.

We arrived at Santiago on time, at 7am, and I get the wheelchair and proceed
to go to the baggage and meet Alba,, but, wait, Murphy and his law, seems to
be here in Santiago also. I cannot enter the country until I pay (in cash mind you) 100$---
Why?????

Well, it seems that the United States started this,,, we charge certain
countries who do not need a visa an entrance fee, so the countries retaliate
and charge us... They charge other countries, but of course, the United States
is charged the most... Of course, why not, all Americans are filthy rich
and should spread the money around to poorer countries.

And this is the kicker..... We were in Santiago two years ago, and I am
sure the passport was stamped as entering Chile, it had to be, and if I
could have shown that, I would have been home free, because the fee
lasts as long as the passport does ---10 years--- But, but, this was a
new passport book, the other having expired last year, so I had no
stamp and could not prove that I had been here before...
100 dollars, please....

OK, I am stuck, I will pay with a credit card,,,
Sorry, the machine is not working...
Well, for heavens sake, do the darn thing by hand, like we do here
in the States if the machine is not working---
Oh, no, we cannot do that.. But you can use your card to get
cash at the next window... WHAT I screech, I will never get cash on a credit card,
that is instant interest,,, and I am furious that I
have to give out my meager cash to get into the country....
Y'know what, I am talking to a brick wall,,, in the first place,
conveniently no one speaks my language, there is no boss to complain to,
and people in line near me are doing the translating and helping
me make myself clear... But, guess what, I had to give out
the money, and I am sure they all thought there is a typical American,
screeching like a banshee, and acting up about a few dollars...

So finally it is done, and I go out to the luggage,
and my bags are with a lovely lady who has a message
for me, that Alba is waiting for me and points and I wave,
and I take the luggage and go, and we hug and kiss,
and finally I am here.

Friday, 8 October 2004.......
Alba and I take the luggage to the car, and we are off and
she tells me that she scarcely slept worrying that she wouldn't be here on time,
or may get lost, and so happy to be with me, and I tell her of the
almost disaster, in which I would not be and wonder what would have
happened in that scenario,,, and we take a slow ride, it is such a
long way back to Providencia, her area of Santiago, and we have to
go through the heart of town, and Alba takes what she thinks is a
short cut, but a sort of city tour, and it is hours
before we get to her house...  Santiago is huge, the traffic is incredible, there are
about 5 lanes all being used, and people darting in and out and everyone in a hurry,
and Alba doesn't care if the horns are honking all around her
to move, or get in another lane, or whatever, and I am
so anxious to get to her home and just bathe and relax
and it is just interminable---

But, little by little, we get away from the city, and come into
a lovely quiet, tree lined area, with lovely apartment buildings, and
every apartment with a balcony, and lovely flowers, hanging down from each balcony,
and calm and green and peaceful, and we have arrived.

We go through a mechanized gate, that Alba activates with her key,
and down under her building, and park, and the doorman helps
us with the luggage into the elevator, and we go to
the 6th floor, in this case the top floor and
we are finally in Alba's apartment, or department as she calls it...

Please Click The Photos For A full-Sized image

it is lovely and calm and cool and pleasant and tastefully
furnished, and more about that later, with a bathroom for each
room, and I am in the computer room, in which she
has put a very comfortable day bed, I leave my stuff,
have some tea, have a shower, have a nap, change into something
more comfortable,,, take a short walk around the corner to the
supermarket, drop a note to the kids that I have arrived safely and
explain the confusion at the airports, have some dinner,
rest and talk some more, and I need my sleep and bed
and glad that I have arrived and ready to start a nice vacation.

Saturday 9 October, 2004
First full day here, and Alba walked my feet off showing
HER area and what there is to see around here.  We first went around
the corner to the local supermarket, called express, because presumably it is
smaller than the others, and quicker to get in and out...
I see no difference with any other super market...
But,,,,  the method of weight is of course different from ours, and it is
a thinking process to break it down into our pounds... from their kilograms,
and I can't seem to do that... however, the fruits the wonderful
fruits we had in Chile when we were here two years or so ago,
are not yet in season, and so there is really nothing to buy
as far as fruit is concerned, other than the oranges which are wonderful
and juicy... Many people in this store, and it seems that there
are NANNIES galore,,,, they are so distinguishable by their  ---dress---
they may be dressed the same, but over all there is a sort of dress
costume, in pink, or blue, or whatever, that just screeches---
NANNY---- sometimes the nannies are alone, sometimes they are
accompanied by a well dressed woman, who is the employer, who follows the nanny while
she decides what to buy, and just sort of looks around, and picks out
things, that the nanny says are not necessary and then has to
put them back... it is a sort of reverse --- who is boss here--- that is both
funny and different, and gets my back up for some foolish reason.
The nannies are boss, and yet I have mixed feelings about who is actually
the boss. The INTELLIGENT people work at their jobs, both husband and wife,
the NANNY runs the home and children, and has her own room with
her own bath, and gets paid and has free food, and it seems that sometimes
makes out much better than the poor INTELLIGENCIA who have to work
to support the NANNY.

The area is lovely, there are trees everywhere, palm, pine, weeping
willow, there are flowers everywhere, and lots and lots of roses...
Each apartment building has its own grounds keeper, who keeps the area
spotless, and the foliage perfect and who is always on call near or in
the building to open the door should you forget your key or to be of
help in any way.... There are shifts around the clock, so the building is
never left unattended.

The architecture of the buildings are magnificent, each one different
from the other, and the architect's name is on each building, each
apartment has a balcony, each balcony has myriad of flowers that live all year
round in this climate, and that hang from the balcony, so that
in some cases the whole building is a cascade of beauty.
There is construction, as in every place in the world, but even
that is done with a minimum of mess.

Across from the supermarket the canal or river flows thru the city
in a narrow gauge, with surrounding trees and flowers and a path and we
walked and walked to the next area where there is another
supermarket, and enjoyed the magnificent day and scenery.

Please Click The Photos For A full-Sized image

We came back for lunch at 2pm, which is a normal time for
lunch here, this was our big meal, and then out again.
This time to a mall, and a very large one...  There is a
Showcase Cinema, a Ruby Tuesday, a Fridays, expensive stores in the mall as usual,
and at end of mall, an opening, like Quincy Market, with a band
playing, mostly drums, kids milling around, people just sitting and talking
and enjoying the day, and eating from the food court. There is an antique mart,
but things were junky and expensive..
Some were kinda nice, but really too expensive, but there was a
booth with some tiny Coke bottles from different countries, and
I bought some of them for souvenirs---  Every place you look
are the mountains, and they are magnificent,,, if you could swivel
your head like an owl, you would see mountains every place
you looked-- one one side with snow at the top,
and these are very far away, the other side bare,
but beautiful nonetheless. The sun sets here about 8pm, and since we left
late afternoon, we were still here as the sun started to set.
Pictures here were incredible...

On the top floor of this mall, was a discount home store,
with everything marked at a lesser price... There was everything
here, from kitchen stuff to furniture to rugs, whatever, and everything
was laid out so neat and colorful and pretty you would want
to buy everything...  The exchange here is about 600 Pesos to
one US dollar, and I am trying to get it in my head in an
easy way to figure quickly the exchange.

Back home finally, it was not about 9 or more, and we had a
light supper, the sweet fresh oranges, some fresh bread (Alba
calls it bread, I call it rolls) she buys each day in the
supermarket, some fresh cheese and ham she bought that afternoon...
The bread toasted on a contraption Alba uses on the gas on
top of the stove to toast, or to burn...

We talked all thru dinner, Alba was a teacher for 22 years
after all, and she is always telling me things in a lecturing tone of
voice, so I have to remind her that I am not a student, and no
need to be lectured about the same thing over and over again.
I read my book for a bit, she watched the news on TV,
and then we had a drop of delicious apricot sherry, changed the clock
for the spring ahead for tomorrow, and then to bed.
She however, continued to watch TV and when I woke several hours later,
she was still watching in her room, it was 2:30 but she
had gotten involved in Godfather 2, and was enjoying it,,,
but we talked a bit for a while, with a heart to heart, and I
realize that Alba is a very brave person... She has had many
difficult and unhappy things occur in her young life, but she takes
each day at a time, and lives for the moment...

Sunday, 10 October 2004
Last nite we changed the clock for here we are going
into spring, and so it is forward, and for now we are one hour
different from the states.. One hour later... So somehow, we woke
up later, and by time we fooled around and checked mail,
and had breakfast and showers and whatever, it was late already,
but here everything is done later..

So we went for our .... walk... and saw another portion of this
area which is absolutely gorgeous... With fantastic foliage everywhere you
look and wonderful buildings each one different from the other but
all with balconies, and incredible flowers and plants hanging from the porches...
On several corners are parks, called squares for people to relax
with beautiful trees, and playground for kids and very pleasing benches,
and we went to several of those, since they are not far,
and the walk is great..  While we were walking we passed a lovely building,
Alba explaining that it is the town club house, and that there are
several of them in different areas of the city... They are free
to all who live in the area, and you can use the
facilities,,, it was a lovely building, and inside a big lunch room,
we almost stopped for lunch there, Alba asked did I want
to do lunch there, and I had not been with her long enuf
to make a decision, I waited for her to offer, since she was paying,
so I said that whatever she wanted was o.k. with me..
As it is, we didn't have lunch, there, but did go down to
the bar where there was a piano, that Alba had to sit and play along
with a child who was playing with the keys... The bar was empty
at that time of day, but when she rang the bell, someone
came and she ordered the country drink,, pisco sour, which was made
from scratch with squeezed lemons, and a very strong alcoholic grape whiskey...
Really blended together in a froth, and cold, and it was very
delicious, probably like a daiquiri, which was my very first drink
when I was first married...  since I didn't know if I would like it
I just ordered a wine, and tasted hers...

We wandered around this club house, and she promised that someday we
would come for lunch and explore more.. There is a pool
and exercise rooms and other available amenities, but for a fee,
and it was a delightful restful time since we had been
walking for a long time..  I decided that I would try that pisco
sour another time, since it left a wonderful clean taste in your mouth.
Since we did not have lunch there, and Alba was anxious for
me to taste Chilean food, we stopped at a street vendor and checked
out their sandwiches which they bring freshly made and sell to
offices or to whoever stops them in their way to different places...
They were very inexpensive, but, I didn't see anything that I
liked, it was all meat sandwiches, I wanted fish if I could or
chicken, or salad, and their salad isn't really salad as I know it..
So we didn't get, Alba was insistent, and we stopped in a
corner store, and did get a pastry that is a specialty of
Chile, every country has this specialty they just call it something
different... it is like the perogan, a meat filled pastry, you can
eat while you walk, it comes with chicken or cheese, I think
I got chicken and we took it home to have for our
lunch with salad and tea and a small dessert.

Back we came for lunch at 2:30 and out again to the hills,,,,
in the car... The hills are all around, and the mountains
still with snow on top are in the near distance and surround
the city... So they are everywhere... Going up the hills are
incredible huge houses and estates hidden sometimes with fences and
the view is magnificent from the tops... Was going to a flea market
but they were closing up, it was about 6pm..... Back down again
to a home depot store, called home center... So much bigger than
ours, and with of course everything one would want for a home...
We had to get the plunger for the tank of my bathroom
which came off the flusher part... Everywhere people are so polite...
So back to the afternoon jaunt.. After the home center,
we came home, but on the way back, the sun was setting
and the mountains were golden and the sunset was so
incredible that I must have taken a whole roll of film
of the mountains and the sunset... Hopefully it will reflect what
I saw... Ate our supper at 8:30 normal for this country,
kibbitzed around our tea for an hour, and now I am
going to read for a bit, and go to bed, it is almost 10:30....
Alba is reading her Sunday paper... So all is well, and happy,
and we will see what tomorrow brings... it is
Columbus Day here also, and celebrated as a holiday.

Monday 11 October, 2004
Today's news...  Still on jet lag or time schedule, always get up late,
and by time I finished exercises, and looked at computer, it was late
and then breakfast, a maintenance man came to look at Albas broken
tank toilet, fixed it, just lazed around for more hours, and finally
after lunch (which was almost 3) decided to go out...
By then it was raining,,, but this is when people get started in this land.
Went to an antique market, huge warehouse with lots of junk and lots of
nice things and lots of furniture and lots of other things, there was nothing
there I wanted of course, but nice to see.... Finally made myself clear to
Alba that I wanted to go to a place where artisans show their stuff that I
can buy whatever I might want with a good price... And getting that finally
out of the way, we went up the mountain, and there was a lovely
sort of village with lots of stores all filled with crafts and jewelry and
paintings and sculpture and everything one would want in the giftware department
looked and looked, and finally bought a few little things for a few people, still not finished,
and will never find something I want, because what do I need anyway???
And finally by 8pm we returned to this apartment. Had some pisco, which is
a sort of liquor, grape liquor with lemon in it, so it is called pisco sour,
and it is good, and then Alba made our supper while I checked the
internet and then ate, and at 10pm, I am done with internet and dinner
or supper and eyes are closing and will go to bed.
Another nice pleasant carefree day, doing nothing special but enjoying nonetheless...
And tomorrow people go back to work, Alba has to do some things
for people, work related, and has invited me to go with her.
So hopefully we will get started earlier, and it will be a good day..
Oh yes, finally I needed to ask Alba to put a space heater in my
room and while we ate dinner before I freeze to death. It is
colder in here than outside. And there is no central heat in these
old houses, just space heaters to heat a room when cold. Alba says it
never gets real cold even in the winter..
And so goodnite...

ALBA'S DEPARTMENT
Yes, Alba lives in a department in a 6 storied old building---- She calls it
a department, to us it is an apartment.... She does not own it..
She rents it, meaning that she cannot change the rugs, the wall paint or
paper or do any additions of deletions without permission of her landlord...
Each of these apartments are individually owned, the building does not own them,,
so everyone in these buildings, either own the apartment they live in,
or rent it from a person who does own it...
This is an old building, and all the buildings in this area, Providencia,
are old, and just lovely, they are mostly not more than 8 stories
high, all have permanent around the clock grounds keepers and keepers of the building,
they are wonderfully landscaped with lots of roses and various flowers, the street
is tree lined with all sorts of trees, and each building has a gate
for privacy---- to park your car, you need to drive into the driveway,
use your key to activate the gate there and go down under the building
to park your car in the garage....

All the apartments have balconies, and all the balconies have lots of lovely flowers
and some small trees and greenery, and in most cases this cascades down the
side of the building blending with the next floor... Since it never gets real cold here,
and is not damp, these plants last all year round and never need to
come indoors...... It is just wonderfully lovely and very clean...
All the windows in the department slide open, and some are floor length---
Each apartment has a private FULL bathroom with each bedroom,,, each apartment has
a NANNY room, with a full bathroom, so in Alba's place, she has three bathrooms,
for a two bedroom apartment...  Her nanny room is a store room for her paintings
since she no longer has a live in nanny...   Norfa, her nanny,
comes once a week, she had hired Norfa when Norfa was 15,(she is now
almost 50 and owns her own house, and is a beautiful tall woman)
and her mother had told Alba that she was 18, and lived with Alba
when she was married and had the children,,, now however, Norfa comes once
a week, to clean, to cook, to wash Alba's clothes by hand in the
bathroom, and hang them on a rack also in the bathroom to dry..
Alba doesn't let her iron any more, since she ruined the iron by
using it too hot on a garment that it stuck to... (I showed
Alba how to clean the iron, so that now it is o.k.)...

These old buildings in this area, however, do not have central heat, and
Alba has little electric room heaters for each room, she says this is
sufficient since it doesn't get really cold in the winter,,  and they do
heat up the room very quickly... She also puts a heated stone in her bed
before she goes to sleep and that keeps her nice and cozy also.
She pays 500/month..  but additional for water, heat, gas, telephone...
And that is dirt cheap considering what she has in her flat..
On the wall to wall, Alba has laid her own small rugs, and put
up her wonderful paintings on the wall, (every place I had
been to has incredible paintings on the walls, they are just filled with
them on each wall)--- She has originals made by two brothers of her
children when they were young, an incredible painting by an old woman
(like a Gramma Moses) of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden---
with all the animals, and Eve reaching for the apple in the tree,
and the serpent, and Adam in the background,,, it is very colorful and
amazing and lifelike... this artist, just puts up a canvas, and starts to
paint from the left hand corner and works her way along and down,
and it is just incredible--- I took pictures of each of her paintings...
She has her two favorite, marble busts, one in the living room and one in
her bedroom, that she will never part with..

Her kitchen is small and long with high windows, but when you look out
these windows, the snow capped mountains are just right there as if you
could touch them... She has just the working kitchen, and it is necessary
to light the pilot to get the hot water... There are two pilots
in this apartment, one in the kitchen for the water there,
and one in one of the balconies to make hot water for the bathrooms...
This one however keeps getting blown out by the winds and needs
to be set up again very often.

From the front door you walk right into the dining/living area...
The round dining table is in the corner and covered with a wonderful tablecloth,
hand crocheted,,, the living room faces you, with the lovely paintings and
a Queen Anne sofa in white under the windows and another fancy chair
opposite it,,, nice small tables with lamps and tasteful artifacts, a huge pot of
dry flowers, that Alba said was used to bathe her in when she was
a baby,,,, ---to the right at the end of this room, is Alba's room
with her huge bed and closets, and bathroom, and TV and desk, and whatever
she needs and her airy windows that she looks out of every AM,
to breathe in the fresh morning air and greet the day.
Straight ahead from the living room, is the computer room, which became my room,
a small day bed was put in here, very comfortable,,,
lots of pillows, a night table, closet, bathroom, and the computer, which I had
great pleasure using... And of course, the sliding windows with lots
of sun and air. A lovely apartment...
Alba made sure to show me immediately where to go should there be
an earthquake, which does happen here in Santiago, I never felt any,
and I was sort of disappointed, because I wondered what I would do in that
case... There were tremors, Alba felt them, and her body is attuned to
these..  She said where I was sleeping was a very safe wall, and that is
why she put me there.

In learning more about Alba, and why she doesn't own the apartment,
I find that she does own an apartment similar to this one but
it is downtown in the heart of Santiago, and much too noisy with the
traffic and goings on all day long and into the night, and she needs
the peace and quiet of this lovely area...  She charges the same as she
pays here--- so it is a wash, and she lives where she likes....
She told me that "her house was my house" and I had no
problem feeling that way at all...

Please Click The Photos For A full-Sized image

Tuesday 12 October, 2004
Well, today, I was up earlier than Alba, and cleaned room,and checked computer,
and did exercises, and wanted to shower, but no hot water, so went
on balcony and tried to light the pilot, but didn't do it right,
so had to wait until Alba got up to clean up... Meanwhile, had breakfast,
and finally when up, shared coffee, and then showered and got ready to
go out,,,,, clothes all in my WGBH bag, we were bringing them next
door to wash them, since there is no machine here, and Alba doesn't
wash her clothes, her nanny does when she comes... Alba knows the maintenance man
next door, she used to live there, and he was nice enuf to let
us use the machine, for 1000 pesos, about $1.75,, but just for washing,
we would need to take home to dry on the rack Alba has in
her pantry.... o.k. at least they are washed.  Then off to leave her
car with her garage, she wants to be sure it is in top shape
for when we go out of Santiago, and she already has over 100,000
miles on it.. Left the car, and took a bus back to heart of
town where she had to see some tax place that was charging her
wrongly since she had already paid those taxes... It is a big avenue that
stretches for miles and you can walk forever, and never finish,,,
many stores, and squares where people sit to have lunch or just to rest,,
a million stores and restaurants, and drug stores and whatever you want, like
any big city... Gorgeous unusual buildings, here they experience earthquakes,
so the tall buildings are made to angle at the top to be safe during a quake,,, 
and Alba says nothing bad ever happens,, especially since they are only allowed
to be so many floors high... They sure are unusual and beautiful...
We shopped around and I bought a couple things, and bought myself one gift,,,
a wonderful red button sweater, it gets cold here at nite and I
really need something warmer.. So that is one gift someone can pay for...
It was on sale for 10$ US.... take your pick whoever wants to pay for
this.  Two more to go...  Then we stopped in and had lunch,
at 2pm like usual, only it is the heavy meal of the day, and in
a small hole in the wall, where lunch is 2000 pesos,
which is about 3 bucks, and comes complete, drink, orange juice, salad, bread, soup,
and meat like ground beef only not in a hamburg, with rice and
french fries... boy you can't beat that... and very tasty except the soup
which was mainly water...  no matter it was good...  Walked some more,
checked out more stores, went to an art museum, free, that had a
special exhibit, of religious stuff many years old, and also an art deco
display,,, it was real cool, and enjoyable... Then on to get the bus to
go back to get the car... And when we were almost there, Alba
realized that she had taken the wrong bus, and we had to get
off, and walk the rest of the way.  My legs wouldn't go anymore,
so near a bakery, and another park, I sat and rested and read my book,
and Alba went to get the car and come back for me...
I bought a pastry for 15 cents in the bakery to try their cakes,
it was too heavy for my liking, like a heavy donut, so I just
wanted to try it,,, but some kids were playing on the slide and
other playground things, and I took some pictures, and the mountains were
right there and so gorgeous, that even tho they were mixed in with all the
wires and poles, I had to take a few pics of the snow and
the beauty of the mountains.  At that time of day they are
especially wonderful.  So finally back home, got my wet clothes, put them on
the dryer, and checked the internet, and read a bit, and had a nap, and
then dinner, just sandwich and tea, at 9pm, and I did the dishes
and Alba checked the news...  and that ended this day.

Tomorrow she has to go back with the car, it does need a repair,
and she has the stuff to repair it with, struts or something she
isn't sure what it was, and she will leave the car for 3 hours,
and come home and at nite we are going to a party for
an 83 year old lady...  Her husband is a painter, and Alba and other
friends of theirs, are making a party and bringing all the food...
I may make my roast potatoes, and I have a gift for the lady..
I will meet some of Alba's other friends and that will be nice...
Planning on the weekend if no rain, to go to Vina,
the beach for an overnite... Hope it works out that way.
Going to read a bit, and bed...

Wednesday 13 October, 2004
Well, this day, we were home all day, except for quick jaunt to
supermarket, I don't know where the days fly here, I get up
and done by exercises and computer by 9:30 or so, and Alba sometimes
sleeps on... She decided this day not to bring in her car
but to let it go until tomorrow... decided to color her hair instead...
 I was feeling kinda lousy, sure that I was going to be
sick with a cold instead of this foolish allergy, so we lazed
away the day, sometime early afternoon a friend of Alba's brought a painting
that he wants her to sell for him with her chosen commission and
it was put in the extra room with the others to be done when
I leave..  then off to supermarket...  of course we MUST have lunch,
no matter what time and it is getting on to 3pm, so just a
sandwich with some fresh ham and cheese bought at the supermarket, and tea...
And Alba started her offerings for the party, which were bought apple sauce
in a can, which she heated and sort of made thicker, and some frozen
round potato puffs, that she didn't want to make either,,, she just fried
them in a pan on the stove and filled the house with awful smell
of burned oil... That was enuf to kill anyone... Spoke to a friend
of hers who has offered her place at Vina the beach this weekend...
So nice to have friends, and she has 4 people who offered a place,,
she has picked the most spacious one, and we will take off on
Saturday sometime and spend Sunday and Monday at the beach, this is
the plan, hopefully all will be as indicated.  Since Alba had burned the
potatoes, she needed to run to the supermarket to get more...

Then dressed for party, and got gift and food ready and by 8:30
an ungodly hour, I am ready for bed, took off... Not far away in
Las Condas, another town within Santiago, where there are many single houses...
This is an old couple, he is a painter, and paints away from home and
already in his 80's... He is Ramon...
His wife Edith was the birthday girl...
A big house behind a gate that you ring the bell outside and the
butler comes to the door to open it for you... not a butler...
the nanny (of course)didn't feel well, so she sent her son to
do the waiting and whatever... a young boy, probably about 18 or so...

We sat in this huge room, which is combination of living room and dining
room, on lovely comfortable chairs all around the room, the dining table
and the chairs were like in a castle.  Chairs narrow with high
pointed backs like you were sitting around a medieval table,,,
it was so strange... The walls were stucco, and he had designed each
wall differently with patterns in lovely orange color, geometric patterns.. On a large
round table was served, pisco, made with grapefruit juice instead
of lemon, like Alba likes, and wonderful olives, black and brown, goat
cheese, other cheese, assorted nuts, that the guests kept serving around with the drink....
It was just my fare..  We were 8 at that time, Domingo,
another artist who lives across the street and has incredible roses in
his yard, brought Edith some of his roses,,, his wife died last year,
and he is a doll.. I just love him, wonderful twinkling eyes, and such
a sunny personality... He was professor of art like Ramon was,
they are wonderful..  Two more widows, one from Uruguay visiting, Sonia another widow
and friend of Alba's, and another lady never married who so reminded me
of Jeanette in every way possible... her looks her ways, incredible
and never married either.  We all have our twins no matter where.....
Finally about 10 in came the other couple Mildred and her husband
from Bolivia, who own an art cinema, they only show art pictures
and are dirt poor because that is what they like to show,
so they don't have many customers.  Mildred and Sonia speak a bit
of English, and did their best to talk to me, while the others
spoke around me, and Alba explained, but I was always, always included in
the conversation...  They were just wonderful and had been friends for many
many years, and they said that their house is my house and I should
come again....  Mildred invited us to a free showing of what she is
showing at the cinema this time and we will go next week, finally,
finally, we sat at the table,,, and were served,,,, Alba's warm sauce,
slices of delicious smoked turkey, the potatoes and a salad with artichokes and
palmettos, that I liked, it was like eating a pickle, but soft, the taste
was good...  Of course, wine white or red, and then the cake that
Sonia bought, it was layered in sort of biscuits and the top was
chocolate mousse and pieces of chocolate mixed in... it was lovely..
coffee or tea in demitasse cups, and then the liquor came out...
mint, whiskey, compari,,, whatever, and couldn't understand why I wouldn't even
take a sip of something else...  they were so funny...
and talked and talked about Bush and Kerry and were so happy I
was a Kerry person.. They all hate Bush, it is incredible,
the amount of interest the world has in our election...
Bush has made it so that every country is afraid he will find a
reason to come after them, and he cant see it at all.
Well, no matter, that is another topic.

Finally someone thought it was time to go, it was after all after
12, and we started to leave,,,  I took a picture of the
people sitting at the table, and a couple other pictures, of the wall,
and a lovely floor display I thought was unusual, and hopefully they
will come out..  We all embraced, like I was a long lost friend,
and promise to come or to stay in Chile, and they were just
wonderful... They were such delightful older people, 3 of them anyway, my age,
and they were magnificent...  what a lovely evening..
And so we finally came home, checked the computer, and bed...

Thursday 14 October, 2004
So, today, we really did nothing all day, really , other than Alba going
to the garage to leave her car, I read and just fooled around,
by time she got back, of course, it was lunch again, 1:30,
and one must eat... so..... while she was gone, she met a friend
whom she invited to lunch, but the friend couldn't come, because she had
told the NANNY that she would be back for lunch and of
course she had to go home... but Alba asked her to visit after
and we would go together to see the other friend with the
kids after their NANNY brought them back from school at 4:30------
Well, the friend never showed, and by about 4:30 we left to go
visit Alexandra (pronounced Allessandra) who is 43, and has two lovely girls
12 years old Maria de las Angeles (Maria of the angels),
and you must use the whole name, and 9 years old Antonia...
who sweet girl just has one name,,,,, strange... lovely girls who go
to a private school around the corner, but need their nanny to take them
and pick them up...  They go from 8:45 to 4:15, a long day,
and have lunch for 45 minutes which they buy at school.
Alessandra is separated from her husband,,, the story Alba tells me is this,,,
she was 30 and not yet married, so she decided it was time,
and picked a man whom she did not love to marry and have
children and take care of her in the manner a nice middle class girl needs
to be taken care of..... She had a very nice marriage, with a
big house or apartment, and a nanny of course, and she didn't work
and her husband took care of the expenses...  Well, she decided a bit
ago, that she really didn't love him and didn't want him anymore,
so they are separated, but in Chile there is no divorce per se,
the law is changing and will be here soon, and so both parties
have to agree to a split or they are still married...
This does not stop them from living with another person at
any rate, it is very strange, and hard for me to understand.
So they are not together, and the kids would see their father every
weekend, but he stopped paying for their private schooling, so she stopped their
seeing him, for three months, then he had to go to court,
she took him for nonpayment, and the judge told him to see
a psychiatrist, because how dare he say he couldn't afford to pay for
the private school, when he is working and has enuf money, and wanted
to send the kids to public school (god forbid) and live in town....
Well, to make the story short,,, of course he now pays for the
private school, and the apartment and the NANNY of course, and she has
a little shop with her mother and sister and they sell wool...
So now she has met a new man, who also has not divorced his
wife, and she is thinking that maybe she will marry again when the
divorce law comes thru... and is looking for a better apartment in
this area...  REALLY----  hard for me to understand..
Well, she is very sweet, Alessandra, and is pretty and slim and long hair,
and very talkative, and the girls are darlings, and speak english very well,
I had forgotten my camera, but Alba picked it up when she went
back to get her car and come back for me...  Alessandra took
her to the garage, while I stayed and enjoyed the girls, and we
talked and I gave them somethings, and told them about New England and
they told me about their lives, and showed me their rooms and pictures,
and Maria de las Angeles talked incessantly on the fone to her "boy friend"
and Antonia teased her and listened on the extension.... what fun...

Finally Alba came back at 7pm with the camera, and I took pix,
and some of the living room, and what a huge apartment, but she
pays rent, and doesn't own it and that is a nono...
The nanny stays in her little room, and I mean little and she
was knitting, and it is right off the kitchen, where she presides...
The apartment house is very lovely, but her apartment is dark and a
very long hall, and other than the master bedroom and living room and
dining room, the furniture is just very simple....  They all have porches or
balconies that can be accessed from each room, and so much foliage
all around, and a lovely garden, took more pix,,,, and finally we went
home...  The other friend, who never showed up wanted to come to us
for tea, but we were going to Alessandra's so Alba told her no...
We had cookies, and tea, and some sort of pastry, and sat around
a large round table in the living room,,, that is everyone sat
on the floor, I sat on the low couch...

We came back to house, and did a couple things, and then we
walked around to the parks, it was lovely, and the sunset was magnificent
but sort of in between the trees, so took some pix but may not
come out with the dusk... ended up near a church which is gorgeous
and the bell was ringing for 8 o'clock mass, and we went in
and sat for a few moments, and then came back for dinner of
course, at 9pm... light, but not light enuf...  And then called it a day..
Finished my 4 stories in readers digest, they were wonderful, and left book
for Alba, she checked internet and played some cards on it, and
then I did my turn, and after another glass of wine in which
Alba put some special fruit,, went to bed...

Planned to make plans for going to Vina for a few days
on Saturday, so we will pack on Friday and decide what to do..
Alba says, if we like where we are going to stay at the
friends, o.k. we will stay for a few days, if not, we go
to a motel, and stay just for a couple because it will cost...
So we will see..  While away, will find an internet, or just not
write for a few days..  Oh yes, called Al and David at
night and they are fine, so that was nice..  End another day...