Algarrobo: A Place of Love and Heineken

Need I say more?

Ok...but only because you insist....

Made it to the beach, the salty air refreshed me once again, in a little nook where things are almost ideal...or at least close enough.

Chile In Headlines: Wal-Mart in Talks with D&S

So just last week D&S and Falabella officially dropped plans to merge their operations after Chile’s anti-trust commission rejected the proposed merger.

I said it would be good for Chile, good for small business, but if Wal-Mart buying D&S and entering Chile is the alternative…then hey bring on the merger!

Citing "industry sources" El Mercurio reported that D&S and Wal-Mart have been in talks since “shortly after the merger ended.” Not that entering the market would be easy. US retailers have failed before trying to get into Chile. (JC Penny and Home Depot for example) But Wal-Mart partnered with a successful local firm? Could get traction.

The news has already caught people's attention: the Santiago stock exchange suspended trade on D&S' stock until they clarify what is going on. D&S was quick to deny the rumors, but it was enough to raise at least a few eyebrows.

Riding with the furious

This week was the monthly ride of "Ciclistas Furiosos," in which a couple hundred bike Fanatics get together and ride down the streets during rush hour. It was a nice ride that went into some of the older parts of Santiago where I wouldn't even think of riding at night alone. It brought out all sorts: hippies, kids, office workers, dogs, and even a rat.

Chile In Headlines: Energy Crunch

Chile's government has been forced to take measures in order to ensure that its electrical grid can supply enough energy to meet demand. Rainfall shortages have meant that its hydro electrical dams haven't been able to produce enough electricity to keep up.

The government has created a special commission to deal with the problem. They have created a list of things people can do to decrease their own consumption: use energy saving light bulbs, shut off the computer when you aren't using it, don't defrost food in the microwave, among others. The congress has also passed a law requiring electrical companies to invest and use renewable energies as well.

The crunch has also meant several controversial dams projects will also get the green light from the government. Despite the measures taken, authorities still won't rule out that mandatory blackouts could become necessary in the not so distant future.

Late Night Liquor Store

In the Headlines: Bond comes to Chile

Soy Bond, James Bond....

James Bond will be coming to Chile to shoot the latest flick "The Quantum of Solace." 007 starts shooting on Monday, March 10 and will spend most of his time in the north near Antofagasta.

According to an article in El Mercurio they will shoot a couple of fight scenes that involve two Land Rovers and also film at the Paranal Observatory.

Beach Dogs

Living the hard life of a beach dog.

In the Headlines: Retailers drop merger

Today two of Chile’s largest retailers Falabella and D&S dropped plans to merge their operations into Latin America’s second largest retailer after it was rejected earlier this year by the country’s anti-trust commission.

The merger would have created a Chilean Walmart with a whole lot of power to influence the price of everything from food to domestic electronics to clothes and furniture. Falabella is a department store, something like Sears, and D&S owns one of the country's largest supermarket chains: Lider.

Critics argued it would destroy small businesses and give the company too much power over its providers, while others said it was necessary for the consolidated firm to compete internationally.

I think it is a good sign since it gives more opportunity for small business, there are so many ma and pa stores that would suffer from the conglomerate coming together.

Born to Ride

Nothing could stop this little guy.

Santiago places: La Feria

So over the weekend I made it to this place: Club La Feria. Located in Bellavista it has been described to me as the best place for electronic music in Santiago, and a really good club. Add to that the 6000 peso entry (the mid tier places usually charge around 3000 pesos and give you a crappy rum and coke) that comes without a free drink and I got my expectations up for something really nice.

The pluses of the place: The DJ knew how to DJ, how to do a transition (no trance followed by AC/DC which can happen in a place with a “typical” Chilean DJ, no 80s music..etc). The place had a fairly interesting look to it as well. The bar tenders could make a drink and take money. (Many places have two separate lines, one to pay one to get your drink), and they also were more like bar tenders, if they saw you needed something they came to you.

But the negatives: Needed something more visual, I think they have a TV, but for a place where the DJ is center stage and all he is doing is pushing play on the laptop, video is important. The drinks were a bit expensive 3500 for rum or vodka, 4000 for whiskey, 2000 for a bottle of beer, and it was very small.

So if you really want to dance to some electronic music it is worth it, but just make sure to bring enough cash.

In the Headlines: Bachelet calls on Colombia to explain itself after weekend attack on the FARC in Ecuador

So the political drama unfolding between Colombia and its neighbors has been at the center of attention in Chile, where the country’s President Michelle Bachelet called on the Colombian government to explain its actions following an attack on FARC rebels that spilled over into Ecuadorian territory.

According to a report on El Mercurio’s site, Bachelet spoke with other leaders in South America and is ready in intervene as an intermediary to resolve the conflict. She called it “worrisome” and said that Colombia owes Ecuador an explanation as to how and why it crossed into its territory.

If you missed it, Colombia bombed a FARC camp located about 2km into Ecuadorian territory on Saturday, killing the FARC’s #2 man: Luis Edgar Devia, aka "Raúl Reyes." The FARC have long been suspected of hiding out in Ecuador and Venezuela to escape the Colombia military.

The attack generated strong reactions from Hugo Chavez, who has recently clashed with Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe over negotiations to free FARC held hostages. Chavez warned Uribe that it would be war if he did the same in Venezuela started amassing troops at the border. He also accused the US as having backed the attack as well.

Colombia had a shot at one of its enemy’s at it took it despite the potential fall out that we are seeing today. Authorities in the US have accused Venezuela of providing shelter to the FARC to conduct their kidnappings and use as a corridor for drug trafficking, something Chavez has denied. Granted I wouldn’t expect Colombia to take any aggressive action. Let’s hope cooler heads prevail at this point.

Center of the Community

Heading towards the mountains in Chillan there are a surprising number of Evangelical churches. Many are like this one in the photo, small little shacks that draw the local huasos to worship. There are hardly any real towns in this area, just roads with houses, farms and shacks on the side. The nearest town is basically an intersection with a couple stores and a restaurant. So this little church is the closest thing to community for miles and miles.

The only other establishment is, of course, a liquor store across the street.

Linares Chile by Night

Night time hits in Linares, Chile where Carolina and I were stranded due to what we now (almost a week alter the fact) know was probably due to a bad batch of oil. So part of the engine nearly caught on fire and the whole car shut down while we were going about 120 Km/hr.

Luckily Carolina has one of these roadside assistance insurance plans. They came to the rescue and put us up in a (crappy) hotel with a view of the center of town, La plaza de armas de Linares…imagínate!

It’s a lot like many small Chilean towns that I’ve had the chance to see. For some reason I thought of Salamanca, where I stayed over the course of 20 weeks while teaching English at a copper mine a little less than three years ago. For some reason though the place was pretty lively, not in a New York sort of way, but rather in a lets get ice cream or pizza or beer kind of way. Plus every single teenager was in one side of the plaza, while the older youth of Linares gathered around the perimeter of the place listening to music in their cars. But no one was doing the time honored activity of “crusin the loop,” despite the fact that this plaza, well actually any of them for that matter, seems built to do circles round.

So we saw it for a second, and then returned to the fourth floor of the crappy hotel (where I should say the clerk had a porn movie going on in a small TV below the counter. We couldn’t see it, but we could hear it, real classy place, but free) and I watched the flow of people and cars pass by the strange wolf or dog statues they had in each corner of the plaza. Why they were there?...A mystery.

a midnight scene under the moon

Facing the Andes under a full moon as the generator hits the bottom of the fuel tank the pool took on an almost mystic quality. The moon was bright enough to draw shadows beneath the trees and light my way.

Best friend for five minutes

One of the things I enjoy about wandering around in Chile is that you meet lots of random street dogs. Some of them are in a sad state, some of them are as free and as happy as doggedly possible. This guy was somewhere in between.

Fresh Fruit

Along the highway are tons of these small fruit stands where you can walk away with boxes of fresh and extremely cheap fruit. We came across this one en route to a mountain cabin in Chillan.

Movistar's 3G

So I went out today to sign up for Movistar Chile's 3G offer. They are still marketing it for laptops, I think they may have one or two handsets offered through their store that can use the HSDPA network.

So among the things they say:

600kbps downlink
Same coverage as GSM voice signal
It will be activated today

It is a bit pricey at this point..about 30,000 pesos a month. Hopefully that will come down soon, but I imagine it could take a little while.

Why did I get it? I wanted to be able to work from wherever I please and not depend on some Cafe's crappy WiFi signal. I want to also be able to use it on my phone...I won a Nokia N95 last year when they launched it here and haven't really been able to take advantage of some of its advanced features..save the 5megapixel camera...which took the photo in the header, and the MP3 player.

So we'll see how the service goes.

How do you know you are not much of a "mountaineer"

When you have to be rescued by a helicopter from Cerro Manquehue. Granted its a bit steep in some parts, and if you get off course you could get into some pretty nasty areas. But it is one of the easiest climbs around Santiago and at around 1600 meters it is pretty small for Chile. It isn't really part of the Andes. Several of the taller peaks surrounding Santiago stretch past 5,000 meters, to put it in perspective.

Having said that though it is a fun hill to "summit". Unfortunately it has no sort of protection or caretakers, so in many places people have written on rocks, littered or worse. More its known to be a bit dangerous thanks to thieves that pray on lone hikers. Best to go in a group. But despite some of its down points its definitely worth a try, it has a great view of the city and the mountains around it. Just download the route from Andeshandbook.cl first and don't end up like these four who were rescued. What's next? Aerial rescue from Cerro Santa Lucia?

Santiago in February

I always have associated February as a time of cold, thanks to the homeland of Iowa. It was always the coldest month, the month when winter becomes a bit too much to deal with and thoughts turn to the upcoming springtime, even if it is still several months off.

In Santiago though, with the seasons upside down, it is the peak of summer. Hot scorching days (though it’s a dry heat) mark the second month of the year. Its also prime time for vacations and traveling. As such the city feels almost deserted at times. I went outside this morning to find a newspaper and every single kiosk within three blocks of my apartment (about four of them) were closed.

When I first arrived in Chile February was the off season, since I was teaching English. It was part of the three month period that lasts from late December into mid March where there is no work. So I traveled. I rambled through the north of Chile, then onward to Peru and Bolivia one year. The next year Carolina and I went to Torres Del Paine for a 12 day trek. Two years straight of great travel and new experiences.

Not the last two years though, full time work has meant that I spend most of the month in the city, save a quick jaunt for the weekend to the beach or the mountains. This year was much better than last. I enjoy my work more, I got to travel back to Iowa and to Boston for work, and we escaped to Pucon between Christmas and New Years and had a great time. I even got to see an erupting volcano on the bus ride back.

But about this time of year I start to feel a bit anxious. I want to sit at the beach. All the “llegó Verano” (Summer’s arrived) commercials on TV seem to make it worse. The city seems a bit more boring and harder to deal with. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to complain here. When I traveled I would return broke and stay that way until about May. Plus if you end up traveling these months you pay a whole lot more for everything, especially bus tickets and lodging.

But still, there is a part of me who just wants to be on a bus without worrying about when I will get back and how long it will take me to get caught up or deal with that back to work blues that always hits after a vacation.

Can we give this another shot?

Its been a very long time since I wrote in this blog. I was actually thinking of laying it to rest. I still think maybe I should. The whole thing started when I came to Chile in October 2004. I think maybe I started it in November. It was a travel blog at that point. It was my contact with the world I used to know as home, it was a log of the places I went. Entries about basic food items like Empanadas and completos, places like the plaza de armas. The things you think to write about only when they are so new.

How things have changed. I can't say I'm a traveler anymore, I've put some roots down. I've lived in the same apartment now for over two years. I don't have three month periods to roam around the continent. I work at least eight hours a day. I'm getting married. I have to ask for vacation.

But I don't want to really just pitch this one aside. I need to some how reinvent it. I'm sure no one that might've checked it before still does. I haven't been a good updater. Just look at the archives, single digits for the entries in 2007.

So, I could write one of those "things are going to change" entries, but I don't want to waste your time today. Check back tomorrow, if there is something here than maybe there is a chance I could bring it back.

We'll just have to wait and see.....