Perros locos

One of the things that really stood out to me when I got to Chile was all the stray dogs in the streets and elsewhere. Dogs aren't treated here the same as we treat them in the US and it's sad, but I've become immune to it. I no longer have the urge to pet every dog I see because they are all dirty and potentially diseased from living on the streets. They don't have other animals here that live in the city besides birds, so I guess the dogs are kind of like squirrels to them. I've been collecting some pictures of dogs whenever it calls my attention...sometimes in very strange places...and here are a few of the gems.

...sleeping in the middle of the street in Santiago

wearing little sweaters that people make for them because they feel bad

on the top of a castle with like a billion stairs in the middle of Santiago

came up next to me and fell asleep in a hole on the beach in Iquique

in the middle of the road in La Tirana

 off the highway on the way to Pica...a puppy in the dinosaur park

we gave him an alfajor because he was probably hungry...

on the roof?

running around the campus of the U of Concepcion

drinking from the fountain outside the judicial building in Conce

chillin by the fish market

ready to jump?

and the worst one...how did he get like that?

Las ramadaaaaas!

The fiestas patrias in Chile are a reason to celebrate during all of September apparently. They eat traditional food like empanadas, pastel de choclo, choripan, anticucho, asados, etc, and they drink typical drinks like terremotos, chicha, borgona, punch, etc. They also have things called ramadas which are usually in parks where people go to buy all those tasty things, play games, buy artisan goods, and just hang out. The ramadas last all week long, even after the 18th and it's a fun way to celebrate. I went one ramada in Concepcion where I drank chicha (which is wine made from grapes or apples or corn after the first distillation, so it's still really sweet like grape juice but has a little bit of alcohol) from a bull horn (typical), watched the boys play a shooting game and win me a little stuffed animal, and drank some terremotos. Then when I went back to Santiago before heading back to Iquique, I experienced a different type of ramada that was a lot bigger, dirtier, more expensive, and with a lot more rambunctious people. That one had bands playing in different tents that you could pay a couple bucks to go in and watch, but instead we just walked around with our terremotos and people watched. Definitely an experience.

Julius Fonda

 On the 17th, the night before the official Fiestas Patrias day, we went to a "fonda" which was basically a concert with a little Cueca and lots of different bands. The main act was a band called Julius Popper and they rocked. We had a great time dancing and listening to awesome music!

Cerro Caracol

On the edge of the city of Concepcion is the Cerro Caracol. It's an awesome hill that would be a great place to run, bike, hike, etc, but apparently it's dangerous for a woman to go by herself because there aren't park rangers. So instead of doing that, we drove up. It was a beautiful forest (which I totally miss in Iquique) and at the top there was an old tomb but we couldn't see anything from the top because the trees were too tall, but it was awesome breathing in that fresh forest air.

The little lizards that were on the wall...some without tails...?