#17

** Thursday, August 11th, 2005 **

Yesterday we passed our half-way mark of our month here in Chile. At lunch yesterday a few of the girls mentioned how they don´t want to leave and 2 weeks is coming way too quickly. It´s been a very busy week with their PowerPoint presentations to the school and two field trips.

Tuesday we went to the coast to visit the home of the famous Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda - the house was amazingly creative and individualized. It is on a hill overlooking the ocean - a beautiful panoramic view. His bedroom had huge wall-sized windows overlooking the shore and he always tilted his bed diagonally in the room so that no matter how he and his wife woke up, they could see the sea. The home was filled with amazing collections, from ship-prow figureheads, bizarre insects, to African sculptures, Asian masks, seashells and a narwhal tusk. We could touch the desks he actually wrote on for a bit of creative inspiration.

Then to another costal town, Valparaiso, where the Congress is located. The countrside between was filled with vineyards everywhere. Valparaiso is built amongst hills, and every tiny bit of space seems filled with layer upon layer of colorful houses, situated precariously on the hillsides. We toured el Congreso building, but neither the Congress nor the Senate were in session. The building itself was beautiful. One aspect is a huge marble relief of the Chilean shield - it is designed to split into twelve separate parts in the case of an earthquake. That way none of it gets damaged! I would love to know the engineering mechanics of that.

Yesterday after classes, we all went to the Feria de los Dominicos. where I went last weekend. It´s a quaint artisan area behind a beautiful church. It´s not so much of a tourist trap, but more for artists and artisans to create and sell their artworks in small studios and shops that altogether resemble a small town. I would love to have a studio there myself!

Tomorrow we´re off to tour the Center of Santiago, to the famous La Moneda (combo Presidential offices and Capitol building with lots of history - especially during the Military Coup of 1973) and other aspects of the city. I HOPE it´s a nice day. Lately it HAS been very nice. Rather warm and sunny (which is great for photos). Maybe about 70 degrees. Some days the smog is worse than others, too, but we are learning to live with that.