Thus ends another trip

So once again a long planned, long anticipated trip has come to an end. I spent the last three and a half weeks in Europe, visting family of my maternal grandfather and grandmother in two separate, amazing and large family reunions.

Some of these people I met on my first two trips to Germany, one 13 years ago the other 17 years ago. Things have obviously changed. My generation is quickly moving into the middle position, although there is only now one cousin expecting the next generation.

Some of the things that stand out from the trip:

Randomly running into my 86 year old grandfather in one of Germany's oldest breweries in Munich, the Hofbrauhaus. I had no idea he had arrived in Germany yet when on a trip to the bathroom between the liter sized steins, I almost bumped into him. We were both surprised. He had just finished his second liter with a group of random high school students from Illinois

The places themselves where the reunions were held were incredible. Kinsegg, located near Fussen and the Rosshof, south of Frankfurtwere picturesque settings for these gatherings. The sheer quantity of people was also impressive. Some 130-140 at the first and 40 at the second. Its nice to go to a country one hardly knows and have that sort of network already there.

I think about half my time I spent admiring the food. Both the renions had an excellent spread of Kuchens, sausages, salads, breads, sauces…makes me hungry just thinking of it. No better way to share time with those closest than over a plate of top grade grub.

And most of all the atitude of hospitality from our German hosts. I wish I spoke some German and it wasn't easy for all to communicate at all times, but there was a mutual, communal willingness among the group to welcome and share our lives and stories. Couldn't ask for better.

More photos to come!

Andergraun

Chile's punks are hard core. The documentary "Andergraun" (a jarbaled version of "Underground" in Chilean) follows three punk bands in Valdivia. These bands are real Do-It-Yourself, no frills, lets go out and tag the walls and put up flyers for our next show that we drew type bands. While I'm not the biggest punk fan, I enjoyed the movie. It's the dream of starting a band in its purest form, or maybe rawest would be a better way to describe it.

Check out what I wrote about it on Revolver.

San Carlos de Apoquindo

Last Saturday was a rarity. The weather was perfect: clear, warm with a good strong sun. Something that one learns to relish during a dreary Santiago winter. So we loaded up and headed to San Carlos de Apoquindo. The area is owned by the Universidad Catolica and serves as a sports/activities complex. They have everything from a football stadium to a polo field. But for me the best part is the network of trails that you can hike or bike. The main route leads you up to Alto Naranjo, one of the hills that make the route up to Cerro Provincia. But there are a number of other trails at San Carlos that will take you to some great look outs over the city.

Discovering the Plaza Ñuñoa.

I like where I live. Ñuñoa is a community in Santiago located just south of Providencia. It is mostly residential, lots of trees, only recently have taller buildings made there way to the community, unfortunately taking away some of the great views of the San Ramon group of mountains towards the east.

As a muncipality Ñuñoa also has a lot going for it. Its the only community in Santiago that has a recyclng pick up service. It also has a free bus in the mornings (though it doesn't get quite far enough). There are a lot of free music shows in several of the plazas, including the Plaza Ñuñoa, near where I live.

The Plaza Ñuñoa also offers some great night entertainment: breweries, theater, live music, good happy hour specials all make it an attractive destination at night.

Revista Revolver just published a short guide I wrote to the night scene in Ñuñoa. I didn't go too far in depth into the places, and I probably left out a few goodies (La Isla, Butapest, to name a couple), but it gives you an idea of what is possible if you're looking to get to know the Plaza a bit more.

Republika 550 - After four years they've gotten run out

Several weeks ago I wrote an article about Republika 550, an abandoned house that had been taken over by a cooperative of artists and used to over a whole bunch of art and performance related workshops. Check out the orginal article here.

Well today I saw in a couple of papers that the house had been "retaken," ie raided by police and the cooperative that has been using it, Akí, booted out. It's too bad but to me not that surprising. There was a lot of good that was being done there. There were a whole lot of activities going on and all for free. From clowns, painting, theater, urban graffiti to dance and more. For a moment, after all the legal steps were taken to kick the group out, there was some hope that maybe there would be some sort of arrangement. But it seemed at best a long shot. A stuttering bureaucratic state agency in charge of administrating this state owned, but abandoned houses; and a revolutionary/anarchist blend of artist activists who denounced regularly "the system" all coming together didn't seem too realistic.

The house its self needs a lot of work, and although Akí found a lot of creative ways to use the space, as well as cleaned up a decent amount of trash and done some redecorating, a much larger restoration effort is needed for that place. It's a beautiful house, but has been sitting there for too long without much upkeep. I wonder if had they been a bit more active in not just using it but improving it, things might be different.

But in any case I hope some of the creative energy invested into the place over the last four years will convince whoever is in charge of it now that a cultural center open to the public is the way to go forward.

We'll see.

Revolver Night tonight in Centro Arte Alameda

Tonight is the one year anniversary and "official" launch of Revista Revolver, an online mag that covers music & culture here in Santiago (and Chile in general). It starts at 9.30pm at the Centro Arte Alameda. I'll be there at the door and pouring some wine (while it lasts). Then we got a couple live bands and a DJ. Come check it out, the CAA is a pretty cool place, has a bar upstairs and is only a block or so from Metro Baquedano.

4th of July at Santiago Radio

In search of a more festive 4th of July atmosphere than Ñuñoa on a dreary saturday I headed to Santiago Radio's new studio, located in Barrio Suecia on Bucacrest 118. I visited Nick aka Nico Jah, and Jimmy Jam, probably Santiago's only english language reggae DJs, while they played some music over the internet broadcast.

The new studio is a huge step up from their garage styled operation in the back yard of Steve Anderson's Santiago Times in Bellavista. DirecTV is even providing sponsorship (big flat screen) in order to reach more gringos with a "English Spoken here" campaign. The place still is in the works, but should be open around August 1st. Check out their link above.

The new studio will also serve as a Café with a small setup of tables and couches for snacks and conversationl.

Back to the Basketball

Today I played basketball for the first time in about 15 months. The last time I fell badly and dislocated my ankle from my leg. It was ugly, painful and put me in crutches for a month, physical therapy for weeks and off the court, bike, trails, even the sidewalk! But I've recoved. There is of course a need to be careful. I can't go for every rebound like Dennis Rodman used to do. But I can once again play. Feels great.