My Life is Not My Own: Family in Santiago!

Well, sorry it has been a while since I have posted a blog, but I have a good excuse....my family came to visit me in Santiago!!! YAY! They all arrived (my mom, dad, and sister) on May 24 at the Santiago airport. I met them at the airport and right when I saw them I starting running--I could not wait to hug them all! Of course, my mom started tearing up so then I started crying too! It was such a wonderful moment--to embrace them and know that I would get to spend precious time with them the next couple of days.

After they got settled in to their hotel, showered, and rested, we were off to see the city! On Saturday we went to La Chascona (Pablo Neruda's house in Santiago) and then we went to Cerro San Cristobal to see the view of the whole city.

Elizabeth, Me, Dad, and Mom at Cerro San Cristobal

After that, they were pretty exhausted and so we took a nap. That night, we went to dinner with my Chilean family. This was probably one of my favorite moments. How sweet it was to have my two families together and for them to get to know one another. We went to a Peruvian restaurant because it is my Chilean mom's favorite. My whole Chilean family (mom, grandmother, and 2 sisters) came including my two sisters' boyfriends! There were 10 of us total! My older sister's boyfriend can speak English really well and so he was a great help translating! We had such a good time together and it was really not that hard for everyone to talk and laugh, despite the fact that we had two languages going on at one time. The food was delicious too! It was a special treat for my Chilean family to eat out also because they do not go out very often. It was a great time of fellowship and at one point I just looked around at everyone smiling and talking and thanked the Lord for that moment--to bring them all together and to unite my two worlds. God is so good!

My families at dinner!

The next morning we went to Concho y Toro, the most famous vineyard in Chile. Concho y Toro wine is known worldwide. We took a tour of the vineyard and the wine cellars--including the famous Cellar of the Devil with the owner's best wine collection. We got to sample some of the wines during the tour also. It was a fun trip and a beautiful vineyard. After that, we headed to Los Dominicos for lunch and to shop at the artisan stores there. By this point, my family was really worn out so we just hung out in the hotel the rest of the night and had some family bonding.

The next day we went to Santa Lucia to shop at the artisan fair and then we went to lunch and my family got to try Chilean hot dogs (avocado, tomatoes, mayo). After that I took them to IES so that they could see where I have classes and they got to meet the staff and some of the other students. They went to Starbucks (where I frequent a lot) while I was in class. After class I picked them up at Starbucks and we went to dinner at a Crepe restaurant.

The next morning we went to Palacio Cousiño--a palace once owned by the owner of the Lota coal mines, silver mines, and vineyards in Chile in the 1800s. It contains one of the country's first elevators and it is regally decorated with lots of furniture and paintings imported from France. It is not as big as the Biltmore Estate, but it is more decorative and regal. After that we went to the Parque Arauco mall (biggest mall in Santiago) to eat lunch and then do some shopping. That night we went to a gelato (ice cream) restaurant and enjoyed some sweet treats.

Elizabeth and Me playing in the rain at the Palacio Cousiño

The next day we went to La Moneda (the presidential building) and toured a Violeta Parra art exhibit below La Moneda afterwards. Then we headed to Plaza de Armas and walked through the Santiago Cathedral (really beautiful inside). After that my Chilean family invited us all back to the apartment to have lunch there. It was a feast! My Chilean grandmother cooked all typical chilean dishes--Soup, Pastel de Choclo, Chilean Salad, Pebre, bread, Mote con Huesillos, Apple tart, coffee...so delicious! It was exciting for my family to try authentic Chilean food and they discovered that they are not huge fans of some things, but other things they really liked--especially the bread here! After lunch, we just headed back to the hotel to hang out before my Dad and sister had to leave to go back to South Carolina. It was sad for them to leave, but they had to get back to work. We had a wonderful time together as a whole family, but I think that I wore them out so they were probably ready to get home and sleep!

Elizabeth, Mom, Dad, and Me in front of La Moneda

My families at lunch at my apartment

Romina and Angelina modeling their new Wofford t-shirts--Go Terriers!

My Mom stayed until June 2 because this past weekend we went to San Pedro de Atacama in the north of Chile. It is located in the Atacama desert--the driest desert in the world! It was a great adventure with my Mom and I am so glad that we got to share that time together. While we were there, we went to Salt Flats and saw flamingos and other beautiful birds; went to two archaeological sites with ancient ruins; went to see geysers at sunrise (in 10 degree weather--we were freezing!); and saw sunset in the Valle of the Moon. Every place that we went was so beautiful and one of those "How Great Thou Art" moments as my grandma likes to say! The town was cute and there were lots of artisan stores that sell scarfs, hats, gloves, ponchos, etc made out of Alpaca wool. It was fun to shop and just walk around the small town. We also got to eat at lots of cute restaurants and see a beautiful white church that is there. We were the only people in our hotel and we had all private tours so that was awesome! Oh, and we got to see Vicuñas, Llamas, and other wildlife in the desert. It was a wonderful trip and precious time to spend with my mom. She left on Monday after my classes and it was really hard to say goodbye. But, I will be home in exactly four weeks from today! Having my family here was such a blessing and I am so thankful that they were able to come and experience Chile too!