Camping at the Zoo
Adios Chile, Bienvenidos Paraguay!

Indeed, I have said goodbye to Chile. I continued exploring around Santiago, allowing myself to grow more and more civilized daily. This should stand me in good stead when I return to the States, which is not so long now. No doubt I will start haggling over the price of bananas in Star Market, just out of sheer habit.

Santiago continued to be wonderful, and the Chileans continued to be wonderful, although the edges of incivility crept in. This is when I discovered that I have learned enough Spanish to survive, as measured by the fact that I now know enough Spanish to throw a hissy fit. In fact, I threw a few wobblies, as and when needed. I threw one in Isla Negra when we got three different answers as to where the bus stop was and consequently missed our bus, and I threw two in Santiago. One was when a taxi driver tried to rip me off, but I caught on to what he was doing and started to shout that I was a lawyer, that I knew lawyers here in Santiago, that I knew what he was doing and then started to flag down a about to be passing caribinero. No rip off, and I didn´t even have to pay my fare in the end. The next day, having discovered that if I wore something other than a T shirt with English on it, people stopped speaking to me in English, I also discovered that I knew enough Spanish to understand that the construction workers were saying things that you would expect of construction workers in the States, and I threw a wobbly about that too, although I strongly suspect that the accompanying hand gestures conveyed more than my remarks. Life was conducted with almost no English, and I found myself having to explain over and over and over again that I was not maltreated at home, and in the United States it was not considered unusual for a woman to travel without the company of a boyfriend or husband. In Chile, it seems, this is NOT the case, and although no one questioned me when I was travelling with Emma, travelling alone just seemed to provoke an odd, if caring response in people. They kept trying to pair me off. My landlady in particular took great pains to keep sending other guests of the hotel, who for some reason were all Dutch men, knocking on my door asking if I would like to go to dinner, or whatever. I tried to stay out a lot so this wouldn´t happen, so I didn´t have dinner with any of these guys, but Peer and I did go out to the Concha y Torro vineyard, which was good fun. Particularly the sampling bit at the end. Chilean reds have always been a favorite of mine, and I dare say they are even more so now. I used to prefer Underraga, but Concho y Torro gives it a good run for the money.

I also took the opportunity to go to another of Neruda´s houses, which is in Santiago known as "La Chascona", which means either "Tangle haired woman" or "woman with the messy hair" depending on who you ask. Another place he bought small, and added onto with a ship motif. Initially, he bought it to hide Matilde from his second wife in the years before Matilde became his third wife. Poets, you know. It was an interesting house, again with the art, and the collections of things that made Isla Negra interesting, but it also had for me an unexpected prize - the original manuscripts to "The Captain´s Verses". As I said before, this is the first of Neruda´s works that I read, and my favorite. This amazed the guide, as she said that most people haven´t read it and it is the least popular of his works. But it is (and again, I didn´t know this story) a collection of poems he wrote for Matilde while she was still his mistress, and then as a wedding present he had a box made and engraved for her and gave them to her with the entire collection of originals inside. Not all the poems remain in the box, as some are on display in the library, and some are on display at the Universidade de Chile, but this was an only greater prize for me, as it meant that my favorite one of the poems was on the top of the box, even though it is towards the middle of the book. Right there, written in Spanish, but I knew it enough to translate it immediately. "My struggle is harsh and I return at times with eyes hard from having seen the unchanging earth........" It was, for me, quite an extraordinary moment, made all the more so as it was so unexpected.

I also took the day out to take the funicular railway to the top of what is about the only hill in Santiago, which is an exceptionally flat city. This seems to be a happy day out thing to do for Chilean families. It was quite a beautiful view, and at the top is a huge statute of the virgin, similar to the Corcovado in Rio, only smaller, as befits a smaller hill. There is a huge shrine at the top, with total silence as people come to pray, and the smell of candle wax from lighting candles next to it. A beautiful view. And a good way to say good bye to Chile, as the next day I climed on the bus to Paraguay.

The bus trip was pretty uneventful, even crossing Argentina. We experienced no trouble on the trip, although we were warned that we might expect some. Nothing happened, and the view was mostly of vineyards, sunflower fields and some other crops, but travelling through some towns there was evidence of lots of smashed windows and some burning, which I will assume is riot related. Mostly, it was just reading and after the sun went down, the watching of movies, which were conveniently subtitled for my understanding, with the exception of Barney the Purple Dinosaur in Space, which I was more than happy to skip.

And now I´m here in Asuncion, Paraguay, which is a nice town on the Rio Paraguay. I am camping at the zoo. Why? Because that is where the campground is. You can hear the lions grunt at night, and I was jolted awake this morning by the sound of the elephant trumpeting, but all in all its an exciting place to be. Plus, there is lots of tropical fruit and spicy food, both of which were conspicuously missing throughout Chile. I am eating bananas, mangos and empanadas by the handful. Asuncion still has a pretty military presence, which I take seriously, although I wish I could have taken a photo of siesta time today. Armed guards in front of the Palacio del Gobierno, sleeping on their riot shields, billy clubs next to their heads, flak helmets still on. It was the presence of the awake armed guards giving me the evil eye which stopped me. Its only recently, since the overthrow of Stroessner a few years back that you can even take a picture of the Palacio, so I didnt want to risk anything. Its been annoying that I have been unable to take pictures of things I really wanted to get on this trip - inside La Chascona, these guards, the Tornados flying over Stanley Harbor. Great images I would like to share, but haven´t been able to get.

Anyway, Brasil in a couple days. Looking forward to that.

Love,

Anne