One week on in Chile

Well, today it's been a week already! Boy does time go fast! It seems like I arrived here just yesterday! Paola and I are exploring Santiago together - there are so many places that she's never been to before - and I'm enjoying practising my Spanish...only problem is that people don't only speak with a very difficult to understand accent, but they also have a whole extra dictionary of coloquial words! It's incredible...

Yesterday, I went up the - I think - the tallest "cerro" (hill) in Santiago to go see the view...well, there was no view...there was so much smog haning over the city, you could hardly see the immense city of 5 million people! I didn't really relish the idea of going down the hill into that lovely cloud of smog...YUM YUM!

What else have I been doing? Well, visiting lots of museums and learning a lot about the different indigenous people that live here in Chile...especially about their customs and their handicraft. Also trying hundreds of different foods...there are SSSOOOOOOOO MANY to choose from! Today, I{m helping Paola translate her CV...she needs an english one to apply for a post docterate position in England....it has reminded me taht my CV is hopelessly out of date:-( Oops!!!!

Tomorrow we're leaving town and going north....

Here are the rest of the photos I meant to upload the other day! ENJOY!

Nevada Falls from below...You could hardly see the waterfall because there was so much water!

Nevada Falls from above, with Half Dome in the background...you can actually climb up it, but it's a long 10 to 12hr hike! I'd like to do it some day!

"El Capitain"...a granite rock which rises more than 3000ft from the valley floor!

The view as seen from Glacier Point. On the left is Half Dome and on the right you see Nevada Falls again where I stood the day before this trip to Glacier Point.

Well, I tried...four more photos...will upload more when I have more time!