Just a short one...

Buenas Dias....

Nate arrived shortly after I did, this past week, and we're having a great time. The little village that I called home, Los Andes, has turned into a big town...dirty, noisy, traffic and congestion. When I first went there, Lompoc and Los Andes were about the same size...20,000 people each. Now, there are 80,000 in Los Andes, and they've all bought a car or a taxi since I left. We even got in trouble for taking pictures at something that looked, smelled and felt a lot like a WalMart....most shopping happens in little tiny stores where people pick up specialty items. Meat in one place, bread another, fruit and veggies another. This one had lots of sale signs and far too many items in one place. The highlight of the visit was the little museum, where they had one of those mummified Inca's from long ago, that someone had found in the Andes nearby. I thought that was just for History Channel. oh, and we get that here, too, but it is all in Spanish.

The weather is wonderful. High seventies to eighty, gorgeous blue sky...aside from the smog in Santiago things would be perfect. We've figured out transportation, e.g. it is nearly $25 to ride a taxi into town, while we can ride a bus for less than $3. Combining a bus and a taxi, we get to our hotel by spending about $5. We've also arranged a week in an apart..hotel, basically a college dorm room, rather than a hotel room. But there is still maid service and computer access if we really want it. Even ESPN Deportes to watch Monday night Football. We think we may even get the world series, though it is on really late and we didn't come here to watch TV.

Trying to work out our wine tours, that's next. We've found the shopping areas that will excite Judy, arranged to meet with my host sisters this weekend, and will fly to Puerto Montt two weeks from today. We are definitely living the dream down here. I even have two Christmas presents already, that's great fun, too.

My Spanish is decent, though trying to flip back and forth from English with Nate to Spanish with everyone else...and yes, my hearing is not as good as it was in 1970...for those who love to tease me, not only do I need to ask people to slow down a bit, but I don't have my mind set for Spanish when I start listening. The next time you see a Hispanic kid taking orders at McDonald's and flipping between languages, please be impressed. That's a really tall order.

We're off to work on some transportation details and find a winery tour or three for the next few days. Even Nate experienced some jet lag when he arrived, so it isn't all about the pisco sours....but we have made friends with those guys, too. I expect Judy will need most of Thursday to catch up, leaving us with just four days to show off the capital. Action packed...!