Valpo lindo

Von Zeit zu Zeit muss man einfach raus aus diesem Moloch Santiago - und weil unser halbes Haus einen Ausflug machte und nichts naheliegender ist als Valparaíso, ging es eben da hin. Valparaíso ist 'ne wunderhübsche Stadt am Pazifik mit vielen bunten Häusern, die sich an die steilen Hänge schmiegen, toller Aussicht auf die Bucht von den vielen Hügeln und ratternden Aufzügen, die seit hundert Jahren ihre Dienste verrichten. Das Flair ergibt sich irgendwie aus einer Mischung von Hafenstadt mit Fischgeruch und Bodenständigkeit (auch heute noch ist Valpo ziemlich arm in vielen Ecken), Weltoffenheit und Künstleraffinität, denn überall gibt es kleine Gemälde, Mosaike und sogar nette Cafés.

Strand wär eigentlich auch schön gewesen, hätte auch endlich die Vorurteile über meinen Urlaub bestätigt. War aber leider keine Zeit, um nach Viña, der Badewanne Santiagos, zu fahren. Dafür gab's viele gestiegene Treppenstufen und geschossene Photos, frischen Fisch zum Mittag und eine geschaffte Reisegruppe gen Abend. Und für die Krimi-Freunde (bzw. Valpo-Erfahrenen) unter Euch: Irgendwie sind wir wieder in dieser düsteren Ecke gelandet, die definitiv nicht in den Hochglanzbroschüren des Touri-Büros auftaucht und durch die wir damals nur dank eines netten Chauffeurs heil gekommen sind. Diesmal haben wir aber rechtzeitig den Bus genommen und so keinerlei Habseligkeiten eingebüßt... (Notiz für die Familie: Absatz für Oma und Opa auslassen.)

Oh, und ich hab' mal wieder ein Erdbeben verschlafen. Warum kommen die auch immer in der Nacht, wo ich doch so fest schlafe?!? Das heisst, irgendwas habe ich im halb-dämmerzustand mitbekommen, in meinen traum eingebaut und wieder vergessen. Glaub ich... Naja

Mehr Photos aus Santiago gibt's übrigens hier:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=75985&id=505189150&l=91d6516a5c

¿¿¿Qué pasó con la casa de Bustos?!?

Some time last week I finally went to my old home in Santiago and to surprise my then-landlord (love this name in English...). And getting there was like a time travel, all the little details on the way from the supermarket or from uni were so familiar, the Pizza Hut at the corner, the same little kiosk, the same bumpy street. And still, there were a couple of new buildungs in the neighbourhood I didn't know, the small cinema in Pedro de Valdivia closed down and most of all - there wouldn't be the same people of course in the house... (which is why I didn't chose to stay there in the first place - that really would be different without the intercambio-spirit of three years ago and all the familiar faces!) What I didn't consider though: There wasn't a Casa the Bustos as I knew it either! The new gate already looked suspicious, the garden much too neat, no sign of the good old hamock. And when the door finally opened and a lady with a baby on her arm appeared, telling me she didn't know where the old tenants now live, I was a wee bit speechless...

Thanks to facebook I met my old landlord yesterday and it was nice chatting about this and that and about the old times, having a good chela (aka beer) and enjoying the view on Santiago. He's still living in the same neigbourhood, actually just around the corner in this cosy appartment - definitely different than the old house but with a big terrace for asados! ;) Looking forward to having one, although it really is getting cold now in the evenings. Summer's over, it seems...

inside the ministry

Wow - this is incredible. When I went to the ministry of housing and urbanism here in Santiago I expected bureaucrats and lots of paper-shuffling, but what I found was the contrary. Maybe it's because there are not too many European students visiting them, but they are soooooo friendly!!! The boss invited me for lunch and then I talked to people in charge of the quarters I look at, scrolled through reports and spent the last two days accompanying them through the city to meetings (of which I understood half). It's funny knowing a programme, supposedly designed by an impersonal institution, and then getting to know all those faces that are behind it! And they seem really into it... Plus they can make arrangements for the interviews!!! ;) Yippie...

mi casa

In case you want to know how I live - voilá. Got the same room that I started with last time I was here, in a cosy place in Barrio Brasil. Lots of people from all over, even from Chile! And with a nice garden, a hammock, a creaking wooden floor, sometimes wireless lan and a dog named Santa...

And because there are so many yellow walls here, the house got a fitting (if also not too original) name: Casa Amarilla

Santiago - revisited

(let's get international here...)

Coming back after three years or so, Santiago still seems pretty familar - the same atmosphere on the streets, the same smell in the underground, the same feeling of never going to get across the Alameda, because traffic just won't end... And all of this is nice in its own way, it's how it was supposed to be. ;) In the first days I enjoyed walking through the city, no special aim, soaking in everything that surrounded me (if it didn't smell too badly). Here's some of it:

In the city centre nothing really changed much, the same buzzing life as usual, Cerro Santa Lucia is still crowded with those closely embraced teenage couples, but gives a nice view on the mountains, the city and the smog that's hovering above it... They built a bunch of new high rise buildings in every possible corner, so that's something new. And some new scyscrapers in Vitacura and Las Condes:

These have definitely not been here three years ago. The Eastern part of Santiago is the new business district, and they are building like mad there! Chilean economic miracle in glass and concrete... Not too ugly actually - let's see if there is still need after the crisis... Want some contrast? (Santiago is good for contrasts...)

No, that's not an official garbage dump, doesn't seem to make a difference, though. Except that there's people living there... Thanks to my bike (in case it works) it's quite easy to go around different quarters plus I don't look to touristy, which is rather handy. And I can go up Cerro Santa Lucia to share those pictures with you:

ps: ok, das mit der sprache ist gar nicht so leicht - aber weil die meisten von euch ja eh super englisch können und damit all die leute, die kein deutsch verstehen, auch mal vorbeischauen können, werd ich wohl immer mal die sprache wechseln, je nach gemütslage... ;)

Chile - otra vez

Wieder mal in Santiago gelandet, diesmal aber nur für kurz und mit präzisem auftrag (magisterarbeit!).


Von oben und bei sonnenaufgang über den Anden ist Chile schon mal sehr beeindruckend. Bin gespannt wie bolle, was sich so alles verändert hat in Santiago...

welcome to my blog...

so, von nun an also neues von mir auch im blog - herzlich willkommen und viel spass beim lesen, stöbern, kommentieren...