Alberto what were you thinking?

So have you heard of Alberto Fujimori? The ex-President of Peru, he stands accused of several human rights violations in the land that he once ruled, excesses of power during his 10-year rule that ended in 2000 with him fleeing to his ancestral land of Japan.

BUT HE CAME BACK!

Despite the risk of falling in the hands of Peruvian authorities he showed up in Chile in November 2005 and was detained by authorities here in Santiago. An expedition process was started soon after, and he now awaits the final word of a judge who has already received a report recommending his extradition.

The question remains, what did he have up his sleeve? He is not stupid, Fujimori had to have known that he could and would fall into the hands of Chilean authorities. So there is plenty of speculation and rumors surrounding this.

But just when it couldn’t get much stranger, a Japanese political party announces that he will be there candidate for the Japanese senate in an election to be held on July 29! Now, they are claiming “political persecution” against Fujimori from his political enemies in Lima.

What still is not clear however, is exactly what was on this guy’s mind when he thought leaving a sheltered exile in Japan to make another run for Peru! In the meantime, he is under house arrest in his country home, which is far nicer than my apartment.

Races, rides, and other madness....

One has their skills and their faults

I have an announcement to make to the world: I'm no skier. This past weekend I tried out my skill on the slopes of Cerro Colorado, located just outside of Santiago, it didn't go so well. Sort of like riding a bike with no breaks.

The place itself is very beautiful, and really feels like a different country. Some "fashionable" people up there, much cooler than I could ever be. It attracts a very elite crowd, which I think have, on average, spent more on their ski parka than I have spent in total on clothes in the last six months.
The view is one of the main attractions, you can see the smog of Santiago below, surrounded by snow capped peaks.

lunch

I stumbled upon this in one of Mexico City's largest park. It had a sort of pickled cactus, cilantro, onion, this cheese (is it goat cheese, I'm not sure) a bean paste as a base on a sort of grainy hard shell. Of course there was some of the salsa roja y salsa verde. I couldn't even finish the thing.

Drunken Dog Nap

Just a week ago I was in Mexico

28

So my 28th birthday has now passed, it was well celebrated with good food and better company, on a beautiful day at the base of Los Andes, well actually technically it wasn't the Andes yet, but at the base of a mountain.

To me 28 now means that it has been 10 years since I gained the right to smoke and be arrested. It has flown by, but then again I think about some of the places I have seen or done in those last ten years and it feels aweful long.

I suppose though, the bigger landmark is that it is only 2 years away (now a day less) from turning 30, and that makes me feel like an old man.

Long Time passed by

So its been a while now hasn't it....lots of days passed by unrecorded...hate to say that I haven't managed my daily ritual of updating and recording the events that pass me by so well...

El Pochoco

The vastness of the paved reallity

Urban life...opening doors worldwide.....coming soon to a forest near you

In the Mean Time

Just a sliver...

The sunset over the Pacific is always a spectacular sight. When it gets almost all the way down, until nothing but a sliver is left, you can watch it slowly slip away, you can see the earth move slowly, turning day into night.

Sunrise at the port

The trip from my apartment to my class room takes around 2 and a half to three hours. Going both directions twice a week can be a drag. I have to find things about it that make it all worth it, and in Valparaiso there are many. From eating fresh fish to arriving to a fresh sunrise early on a cold morning.

Justa Doggone Nap (Sola Unasiesta Cachorrondo)

While on a walk through the center of Santiago

I took a walk on Sunday through the city. Usually there are a lot of different things going on. On this occasion, the Catholic Church was putting together this display featuring sand, sawdust, leaves, flower pedals and other odd materials. It went on for several blocks, and each part was done by different high schools.

Relief

a good place to sit....

Sometimes we all need a quite place to sit back and contemplate the finer things in life...

Hungry?

Nothing like an old school RV selling some goodies on a Sunday afternoon...

Demanding change...

The momentum continues to increase for the high school students demanding changes to some of Chile's educational policies.

Mmmmm..