McDaniel Family Visit: Museums

 My Mom, sister, and brother-in-law came to visit for 10 days over Thanksgiving. Can't tell you how lovely it was to see them after an entire year. 

Saturday, which was the day they arrived, was filled with rest and relaxation. They got to experience the joys of a $40 massage for 90-min, as well as a $150 hair highlight. Prices too good to beat. I was trying to convince Leah she should travel down here every 6-months, and all of the money she'd save on the services she could get here would pay for her trip. Jajaja

On Sunday, we went to Los Dominicos, which is a cute village filled with artisan workshops selling arts and crafts. The fam tried their first round of empanadas as well as mote con huesillo, which is the peach and wheat grain drink popular here. I took Mom to Mass at the actual Dominican Church. Then that afternoon we had an asado with the Rodiños, the Argentinian family who lives in our building. Everyone liked the choripan and the proveleta. 

On Monday, we started our day by visiting the National Library, which is something the boys and Drew had visited in the past, but I had never gotten to see. The building itself is really beautiful, and there is a super cute coffee shop inside. It definitely is on my "must see" list for Santiago.

There is also a private library collection inside, which is housed in a room that looks like it was taken from the library at Hogwarts. All dark wood, huge volumes, spiral staircases to upper levels, the works. Very cool to see. 

After the library, we hopped across the street to Santa Lucia Hill. This is the spot where the city was founded back in 1541. The fountain in front is lovely, like something you'd see in Rome. Has a nice view of the city from the top as well. 

By this time, we were ready for lunch, so we went to Oda's, a yummy spot in Lastarria, which is a cute neighborhood right by Santa Lucia Hill. We had never tried Oda's before, but it was great. Would definitely go back. 

Last stop of the day was the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center, which is half art display space, half gathering/workspace. 

On Tuesday, we started at La Moneda, which is the Presidential Palace in Chile, the equivalent of the White House. This was the place we went to with the boys a few months ago because Emerson needed to do a project on a landmark in Santiago. Underneath La Moneda is the Cultural Center, which had totally different art displays this time, so I'm glad we went. At the moment, there is a display showing a collection of art owned by the National Bank of Chile, which is called the Banco Central de Chile (BCC). Why would a bank own art you'd ask? Apparently there was an emphasis at the Bank to preserve Chilean art history as a public service, as they see it as their "duty to safeguard national value." There was also alot of art that was paid to the bank as collateral for defaulted loans, many by private banks that went under during the financial crisis in the 1980s and the BCC took over. This piece in particular was unbelievable, because it's a painting of the Cajon de Maipo, which is the first valley we camped at in the van, and the painting is spot on. I knew exactly where it was the moment I saw it. Below the painting is my own photo of the valley from our visit. Amazing, huh. 

There was also a picture of La Campana, which was the National Park with the large palm trees that we just visited. Pretty cool. 

After La Moneda, we went to La Plaza de Armas, mainly to check out the Cathedral there. It is very impressive. 

Tucked around the corner from the Plaza de Armas is the Museum of Pre-Colombian Art. I had never been to this museum before, but it was a highlight for sure. It was filled with art from before Columbus, which means art from Indigenous cultures. But the art is not just from Chile, but from all of South and Central America and up to Mexico. It was very extensive. But the most impressive part to me was how well preserved the art was. These pieces are 2,000-4,000 years old, but they look like they were made yesterday. And many of the pieces were very detailed and fiddly ceramic things that should have broken to bits through the ages, but they hadn't! They must have been buried in tombs to be that well preserved. 

Right outside the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art is the Supreme Court building and the Old Congress building, both of which are very beautiful gems tucked away. 

On Tuesday night, we went out for our fancy dinner celebration to a place called Yumcha. It was a 10-course pescatarian, Asian inspired meal, and it was fantastic. It wasn't cheap, to be sure, but each dish was incredibly delicious, the portions were generous, and it was paired with some very unusual wines/sakes/teas that were very interesting.

The last museum we saw was the Museum of Fine Art, which we went to on Wednesday. The building itself is gorgeous, with a lovely glass ceiling.  Half of the art is older pieces, half more modern. I liked seeing the building more than the art, but it's free, so why not. 

Parque Nacional La Campana

Last weekend, we went on a short camping trip to Parque Nacional La Campana, which is about an hour and a half outside of Santiago. We went up Friday night and stayed through Sunday afternoon. We mainly wanted to test out some of the fixes and alterations made by Drew and his Dad in the van over the last few weeks. We were also meeting a Dad friend and his two kids, who joined us on Saturday and camped in a tent Saturday night. We went for a nice hike on Saturday, which was decently long, about 8 miles, a new record for the boys. It had very moderate elevation gain and ended in a waterfall. 

The National Park is known for having enormous palm trees in it, the biggest I had ever seen for sure. Below is the AI explanation about why the trees are special. 

The palm trees in Parque Nacional La Campana are particularly special because they constitute one of the last and largest natural forests (palmares) of the Chilean Wine Palm (Jubaea chilensis) left in the world.

This species has several unique characteristics and ecological significance:

1. The Chilean Wine Palm (Jubaea chilensis)

• Endemic and Vulnerable: The palm is endemic to the Mediterranean zone of central Chile, meaning it grows nowhere else naturally. It is currently classified as Vulnerable due to threats like forest fires, herbivory in its early stages, and the historical commercial exploitation of its sap and fruits (known as coquitos).

• A "Living Fossil" and Megafauna Survivor: The Chilean Palm is considered a "living fossil" that has survived for over 10,000 years, dating back to a time when mastodons roamed the area. It is believed that the seeds were once dispersed by these giant animals.

• Impressive Size and Longevity: It is one of the largest palm species in the world, capable of reaching heights of up to 30 meters. It also has a remarkably long lifespan, with some individuals estimated to live for over 500 years.

• The Most Austral Continental Palm: It holds the distinction of being the most southern continental palm species in the world.

The waterfall at the end of the hike wasn't super spectacular, but the rocks that formed the cliff that it went over were very interesting. Very jagged and stair-steppy. 

View of the valley with the large palm tree grove. The terrain felt very similar to Colorado except with these giant palm trees!

Because our friends were sleeping in a tent, we actually camped at a private campground just outside the park. These private campgrounds are very common throughout Chile, more common than official government run ones. Imagine a mom and pop KOA campground. This one actually had three pools of various depths, a playground, a soccer field, lots of tables and grills for cookouts, bathrooms with showers, and a few cabañas available for rent. Very family friendly space, and the boys and their friends had a blast. And the view was lovely. The largest mountain in the picture below is why the National Park is called "La Campana," aka The Bell!

5 stars. Would camp here again. 

Kermesse and Halloween

Back at the end of October, the boys' school held their annual Kermesse, which means a charity fair. They were raising money to put into a scholarship fund for families who experience unexpected changes in circumstance and need assistance with tuition. The fair was a ton of fun. It had alot of the same games as the Fonda we went to for Fiestas de Patrias, except it was much cheaper. Each game was like $0.50, compared to $2/game at the Fonda. The boys had a blast. Drew's Dad was also visiting during this, so he got to experience the fun too.  Brian came down for two weeks to work with Drew on Don Diego and Poquito Tito. He and Karen will be back in a month, and then we're off on our big adventure!

Some of the games were quite hard, like throwing the dart to pop a balloon, but you had to get two out of three! Not a high probability of winning, but the boys loved it anyways. 

Knocking over the duckies with a water gun, in contrast, was absurdly easy. Prizes for everyone!

They also had jumpy houses, and this inflated ring with a rotating high and low bar that the kids had to clear. They loved it, despite getting thumped a few times.

Local vendors were selling food as well, so we had to partake in a mote con huesillo, which is a stewed peach with husked wheat at the bottom. It's better than it sounds. But a bit awkward to eat/drink. A drinkable edible. An edible drink. 

The following week was Halloween, so we got to see how they celebrate down in Chile. The honest truth is Halloween is a US tradition that is only just starting to take off here, probably due to larger grocery stores like Lider (Walmart) marketing to it. We did find pumpkins, although we were the only people I know who carved them.  Our neighborhood had a block party on that Wednesday, which was fun, and mostly involved treats and costumes. The boys actually had the Halloween Friday off from school because it's technically All Saints Day, and is a Holiday in Chile. The boy's school did not celebrate Halloween whatsoever. No class party, no costumes to school, nada. 

We did go trick-or-treating with some of Emerson's classmates, or as they say here "Dulce o Truco!" Avery was a police officer, and Emerson was a ninja. The most popular Halloween costume by far was some character from K-Pop Demon Hunters. If you haven't heard the songs or watched the movie, just wait; the catchy tunes will find you. Damn you, addictive K-Pop. 

My favorite costume of the night was the inflatable Capybara! 

Trick-or-treating is strange here for a couple reasons. 1. Most home have fences. And not like dainty picket fences, but industrial fences you can't see through. So it's hard to know who is participating. Some people hung Halloween decor on their fence, which was immensely helpful. If you're trying to trick-or-treat in an apartment building, you're going up and down stairs all night?? 

2. It's springtime time here. Flowers are in bloom, butterflies are flying, and sunset is at 8:30pm. So we're trick-or-treating in the daylight (which I don't mind, but definitely doesn't have the same vibes), with beautiful things all around us. No death and darkness here. Drew and I dressed up like stereotypical gringo explorers, which is not at all far from the truth. 

Before and after trick-or-treating, we had an asado (BBQ) at the house of one of Emerson's classmates. This dad has a proper Quincho (grill setup) in his backyard, making it a fun time. This is what every asado looks like. The guys stand around the parilla (grill), and grill meat, and shoot the shit. The women sit somewhere else, in this case on some outdoor patio furniture, and drink wine, and gossip, and eat cheese and crackers. A handful of times they mix up, but not a lot.  When the meat is pulled off the grill, it's sliced into thin, bite-sized strips on a cutting board, and one man passes it around like a cater waiter, with everyone grabbing one little bite at a time. There is no giant steak for each person. There is no sitting down at a formal table. There are no plates! "Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little, Cheep! Cheep! Cheep! Talk a lot, pick a little more....."

I'd give Halloween here a C+. Until next year, little skeleton puppy and black cat. 

Bahai Temple and Quebrada de Macul

Last Thursday, the boys were off of school as it was "Teacher's Day." We decided to use the day off to explore a side of town called Peñalolén, which is about 30 min southeast of us with no traffic. The first place we explored was called the Bahá'í Temple. The temple is a house of worship for the Bahá'í Faith, which "teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people." The temple is open to all faiths and backgrounds and was inaugurated in 2016 as the continental temple for the Bahá'í Faith in South America. There are many other temples around the world. 

When you're visiting the temple, inside you're supposed to be completely silent. Of course, that's not the case when they have their pray services, which I think they hold every Sunday. But, apparently musical instruments are never allowed. No idea why. 

All Bahá'í Temples are circular and nine-sided. This one has nine entrances as well as nine spiraling paths outwards into nature. It's almost like a lotus flower and evokes this really lovely, nature filled feeling. The founder of this faith wrote "O people of the world! Build ye houses of worship throughout the lands in the name of Him Who is the Lord of all religions. Make them as perfect as is possible in the world of being, and adorn them with that which befitteth them, not with images and effigies. Then, with radiance and joy, celebrate therein the praise of your Lord, the Most Compassionate." Nice. The writing at the apex of the building says "O Thou Glory of the Most Glorious" in Arabic and is the only iconography in the whole place.

View of the temple from above with the lovely spiral paths and gardens. 

After the Bahá'í Temple, we went to the Parque Natural Quebrada de Macul. A quebrada is like a ravine, and the Macul is the name of a creek. It was a nice nature area where you can hike to a few nice creek access points. It is also the trailhead for a few other much longer hikes. Our main goal was to find bugs for Rosie to eat, so we were going slow, turning over rocks. We met another dad and son with a similar mission, bug finding, and the boys quickly became fast friends. The dad was super knowledgeable as well, which was useful as some of the bugs we found we had never seen before and looked prehistoric. 

Itty bitty scorpion! No, we did not take this home.

Can't say I have ever seen a bug like this before. Doesn't bite, just looks bizarre.

The boys had a great time playing around in the river. We also saw a fox right in this same area. Super cool.

They blend in pretty well, but look right in the middle of the photo below, and you'll see 5 friends totally submerged except for their heads in a little pool in the river. The water is pretty cold though, no thermal pools here! 

On a side bar, Drew has decided to grow out his hair into a man bun, since he has no corporate obligations at the moment. He still needs to use bobby pins but he's close. No time like the present!

Just a cute picture of Avery at a recent asado we hosted.