Santiago
Well maybe I was a little too hard on Santiago in my last post. It IS true that all the buildings are concrete and everyone wears black though. But on a sunny day like today it is much more inviting. I got a whole 13 hours of sleep last night, which made a difference too.
This morning we went to the Museo Chileno Pre-Colombino, which was pretty neat. An architect who collected pre-columbian artifacts donated them along with his house to the state, who then turned it into a museum. We had a tour guide for the first hour we were there. She explained the most important pieces. Here are some of the ones I found most interesting:
-the "Quipu," an Incan method for counting. We saw one that looked like an enormous woven, beaded necklace. Certain boys were brought up from infancy and trained especially to use this intricate counter that contained information on crops, population, trade, taxation, etc.
-A musical instrument designed to sound exactly like a bird singing. It was made from two pots that were connected by a thin tube. You then put different temperatures/amounts of water in and moved the pots from side to side, and it made a beautiful sound.
-Statues from the Macchu Picchu of stocky little clay people. Each person had one puffy cheek, and the guide explained that this represented the wad of coca they were chewing. Chewing the coca leaves (something like the equivalent of drinking very strong coffee) is one of the only ways they can survive at such a high altitude.
We also went briefly (too briefly!) into an exhibit on Colombian gold. The lights were dimmed and the walls painted black, so that when you went in all you saw was glowing, huge, intricate carved gold. My favorite was a nearly foot-long carved gold crocodile...it was beautiful.
We went to a vegetarian restaurant for lunch today that had slightly boring--but at least edible!-- food. After lunch I went wandering with three other people. We ventured into the metro system and after looking pathetically lost and touristy eventually made our way to Cerro Santa Lucia. Its a big hill with terraced walkways and gardens that leads to a view of the enormous mountains that surround Santiago and the city itself, in all of its smoggy glory.
This morning we went to the Museo Chileno Pre-Colombino, which was pretty neat. An architect who collected pre-columbian artifacts donated them along with his house to the state, who then turned it into a museum. We had a tour guide for the first hour we were there. She explained the most important pieces. Here are some of the ones I found most interesting:
-the "Quipu," an Incan method for counting. We saw one that looked like an enormous woven, beaded necklace. Certain boys were brought up from infancy and trained especially to use this intricate counter that contained information on crops, population, trade, taxation, etc.
-A musical instrument designed to sound exactly like a bird singing. It was made from two pots that were connected by a thin tube. You then put different temperatures/amounts of water in and moved the pots from side to side, and it made a beautiful sound.
-Statues from the Macchu Picchu of stocky little clay people. Each person had one puffy cheek, and the guide explained that this represented the wad of coca they were chewing. Chewing the coca leaves (something like the equivalent of drinking very strong coffee) is one of the only ways they can survive at such a high altitude.
We also went briefly (too briefly!) into an exhibit on Colombian gold. The lights were dimmed and the walls painted black, so that when you went in all you saw was glowing, huge, intricate carved gold. My favorite was a nearly foot-long carved gold crocodile...it was beautiful.
We went to a vegetarian restaurant for lunch today that had slightly boring--but at least edible!-- food. After lunch I went wandering with three other people. We ventured into the metro system and after looking pathetically lost and touristy eventually made our way to Cerro Santa Lucia. Its a big hill with terraced walkways and gardens that leads to a view of the enormous mountains that surround Santiago and the city itself, in all of its smoggy glory.
posted by Julia | 3:54 PM
1 Comments:
107F in Lovelock today! Mom says 117F in Yuma. Ouch. Kris & Mark stopped by for a short visit. We went to the post office (work) and walked the dogs around the courthouse (playing hooky from work). I'm gonna like this blog. Got your letter today. Thanks. Yup, it's a MAC laptop (G4 w/OS X Tiger).
A. Margie
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