Vina del Mar and Valpairiso(beaches)

The next weekend, I asked Gabriella to take me to see the beaches were were fairly close to us; only about 1 1/2 hours away by bus. She told me to gather up my warm clothes because it might be cold there(seasons are reversed so US summer is SA winter) We boarded a very comfortable bus(reminded me of the sleeper buses in Peru) and headed for the beach! 

Many vineyards on the way

Acres and acres of grapes! Metal object is a wine bottle.

Looking south

Looking north

The beach here reminded me of the beaches in Southern California in the morning before the marine layer burned off. Only problem here was that the marine layer never burned off! Was cloudy and cold all day!

More Pelicans than people out today!

Not too busy with the rentals today!

This was outside what looked like a fancy restaurant. It is the back side of a lamb being roasted which is supposed to entice you to go inside...?!

Popular Chilean sandwich=sliced beef, green beans, tomatoes  LOTS of mayo and HUGE! I had to try it...

From Vina del Mar, we hopped on a local bus and went about 10 miles down the road to Valparaiso, one of the country's most important seaports...

Boat full of Asian tourists at the harbor

Lots of bright colored painted buildings and houses

In the middle of the city

My first outing in Santiago; San Cristobal Cerro(hill)

From the window in our condo, you can see San Cristobal hill with a white statue. It was logical, that my first outing would be to go there! I asked Gabriela to please take me there so my first Saturday at her home, we took a combination of buses and taxis to get there.

Cable car station

Going down

Steep up!

Gabriela and me with statue of Virgin Mary behind. There were 2 men near us here, so I asked them to take our photo. There were 4 of us: a Chilean woman, an American(me), a Philipino man, and a Japanese man. Default language=English!

San Cristobal is the name of a hill which is the 2nd largest in Santiago. It was named by the Spanish conquistadors for St. Christopher, in recognition of its use as a landmark. The statue is of the Virgin Mary donated by France in the 1920s. The spot is a superb location from which to view the city - when the smog permits it (usually in the summer or after it rains). There is a beautiful church on the top as well...

Beautiful light streaming in!

Off to Santiago, Chile for 3rd teaching job

After spending a rejuvenating, comfortable and relaxing 2+ months with my daughter and her family, and being able to spend so much time with my grandson, I was ready(and I'm sure the Self's were ready too!) to go off on my 3rd teaching adventure. I would leave from Nashville again headed for Miami, then Lima, then Santiago. And once again, tears swelled up in my eyes when I had to leave. Even though I was ready to go, I was sad to be leaving...it was such a wonderful past couple of months for me.

I had arranged to stay for the first 2 weeks in Santiago with a "host" family that was arranged by the school I would be employed by. I stayed with an older woman by the name of Carmen in her 2 bdrm condo. I would have a private room and bathroom and it would include 2 meals/day=breakfast and dinner. She was very nice although she spoke very little English! Breakfast was at 9 AM and dinner at 7PM. Breakfast was usually a piece of fruit, some "pan"(bread or roll), margarine(not butter), marmalade, and coffee. 2 times in the 2 weeks she made eggs. Dinner was mostly good; although her idea of a salad was either sliced radishes(only) or sliced celery(only) and about 1 1/2 cups of it on a plate...?! Salad dressing was oil and vinegar(only) And if I didn't eat it, she would bring it the next night...!

The shower was the tiniest thing I have ever seen; I could hardly turn around and it was absolutely impossible to bend over and pick anything up, like dropped soap! So the 1st thing I had to buy in Chile was soap in a dispenser!

Carmen was very helpful to me. She drove me to the nearest grocery store, to the school, to the Metro, etc. and showed me where Starbuck's was since she did not have internet. I stayed with her for 2 weeks but couldn't afford any more since it was expensive: $200/week. I hired the help of a local company by the name of Contact Chile to help me find another accommodation and after looking at numerous apartments and rooms, etc. I made the choice to live with Gabriela(divorcee and my age!) in her 2 bdrm condo. Contact Chile had their inventory of accommodations coded, so I would be living at Gabriela CP1. On 6/7, all the arrangements were made over the phone since there was no internet were I was living. I was told that all was set for me and Gabriela was expecting me before 12PM.  So with my 2 big suitcases, etc. I arrived by taxi to Gabriela's but it was not CP1. It was another Gabriela that I was confirmed with and the Gabriela(whose door I was at) had idea that I was coming! Just imagine her: in her PJs still, with me standing at her door with all my bags, and she had no idea I was coming! And she spoke next to NO english. In my "Spanglish", I managed to communicate that I had paid Contact Chile for 1st month, had decided to live here with her and would be renting for the next 6 months! She told me to come inside and we rushed to her laptop where we brought up "Google translator"! She finally understood what the problem was and in the meantime, the other Gabriela was calling me to find out where I was! Contact Chile must've given her my phone number! What a mess it was! I'm just glad Gabriela was home when I arrived with all my bags...!

Fuego the cat

Living room with sun room

Life in Chile has been a bit more challenging because the cost of living is so much higher than it was in Peru. My 1st pay check did not even cover my rent, and I'm just renting a room! It doesn't help, though, that 20% of my earnings were taken out for taxes. I had to apply for a work visa which took 1 month, so from now on, only 10% will be taken out! This will barely cover my rent now...

So to survive, us teachers have to hustle "private" lessons...

Cusco Sept-Feb

Life in Cusco was so much different for me during my teaching months compared to the months of June and July where I was in school and doing alot of sightseeing. I was settling in to my new profession in teaching and was finding that it was not as easy as I had thought! A 1 1/2 hour lesson actually took some time to prepare so I was busy most of the day! I had 4-5 classes/day and each was 90 minutes long.  And the school required that every other Saturday, teachers would be required to have tutorial hours for the students that needed more help from 11-1. The weather was now entering into the "rainy season" so Sept and Oct were occasionally windy, cold and dreary. I was thinking ahead to the Christmas holiday and was not looking forward to spending it by myself! I would drop hints to my son, Peter, that he should come for a visit then and  never dreamed that he would actually seriously consider it. So I was very shocked and pleasantly surprised when he sent me a few itineraries of scheduled flights to Peru! He would arrive on Dec. 26 and stay for 10 days! I was ecstatic! So I began planning and planning our excursions and trips! It would be a great Christmas!

Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, I was invited to have dinner with my bosses at their home which was so nice of them!

Enny playing with their pet turtle

Enny and daughter Nicole preparing a bird that was 1/2 chicken and 1/2 turkey(?) She's mixing a red marinade in the blue container. By 9PM, the bird was still not cooked through so she had to slice off pieces and fry them in a pan...

Dinner table with Daniel in the middle, Enny on the right and son Netty.

Christmas Eve at the Plaza de Armas there was a festive array of vendors selling all kinds of things from food to pottery.

When the rain came, they would cover their things with a tarp

 Peter's 1st day in Cusco on Dec. 26:

Peter at one of the Pollo vendors at the Mercado Wanchaq.  I often bought chicken breasts here since it was very close to the school.

Cow heads for sale. (I bought beef 3 times here)

A popular Pub

Peter behind the waterfall.

No animal control in Cusco either. Dogs were everywhere including running loose in the streets.

(Most of the pictures of Peter's trip to Peru are on previous posts...)
When the time came to say Aloha to Peter at the airport in Jan., big "turtle tears" swelled up in my eyes. They were a combination of "I wish I was going with you, I miss my family, and I completely enjoyed having his company"!

By the beginning of February, and now having been in Peru since May, I was really ready to get out of the wet, cold, and dreary weather of Cusco, tired of living in the 3rd world, and was also missing my family! I was supposed to stay on at the school until the end of February, but I asked Daniel one day, " If you REALLY don't need me to stay, I'd REALLY like to go home!" He said he would think about it and get back to me which took about a week...he finally agreed that I could leave early so I booked my trip back to the US and couldn't wait to return to the US, visit my daughter and see my grandson who was already 3 months old!

Henry Wakefield Self at 3 months old

Shea on her deck. It was cold but it was beautiful being on the river and so comfortable in their spacious, new home!

Before I left Cusco, I had been deciding where I wanted to go to teach English next. My plan was to see the west side of the continent of South America and then make my way to the east. So the logical place for me to look for work would be Chile(according to my plan). I had set some resumes out and had an interview on Skype in December with a company in Santiago: Bridge Linguatec and was offered a 6 month position teaching Business English that would start at the end of April. I could spend 2+ months in Alabama with my grandson and daughter! And my son, Peter, would come for a visit while I'd be there, in April! 

Peter and Wakefield; they communicated very well together

Peter and Shea at the Rattlesnake Saloon is Tuscumbia, Alabama. Peter forgot to bring his ID so was not allowed to drink alcoholic beverages and was carefully watched the whole time! He managed to sneak in a few sips though when the "saloon police" were not watching him!

Cusco to Puno

Peter and I took a bus tour from Cusco to Puno during his stay in December.  The following pictures are from our stops along the way:

1st stop Andayhuaylillas

Raqchi

The most prominent structure is the Temple of Wiracocha, an enormous rectangular two-story roofed structure.

Prior to its destruction by the Spaniards, the temple had what is believed to be the largest single roof in the Incan Empire, having its peak at the central wall

Circular storehouses

 To the eastern side of the temple are some 100 round qolqas (storehouses) in parallel lines

These storehouses were used to hold grains, such as corn and quinoa, that would have been used for ceremonial purposes. The storehouses are also unique as unlike other structures throughout the empire they are not square cornered.

On another side are farmlots

Highest point at 13,000 ft.1/2 way from Cusco to Puno

Lake Titicaca in background

Sillistani Peninsula in Puno

When my son, Peter came to visit in January, we took at tour to the Sillustani peninsula. We saw the funeral towers "Chullpas"" on a beautiful site overlooking the serene Lago Uymari. 

Remains of funeral towers

Pete on the edge of the peninsula

Peter making friends with this Alpaca that a few minutes later kicked him!

Urubamba River zipline

I wanted to have Peter do something exciting while he was visiting so 1 day we did a Zip line over the Urubamba River. First, we climbed up 400 mt on a rock face through Via Ferrata and from the top, we descended the mountain flying over the Sacred Valley and enjoying the breath taking scenery, using 6 zip lines from 100 mt to 500 mt long. 

At the bottom of the mountain with Peru Rail in the background

Climbing up

3/4 way up

Almost to the top where our 1st zip line is. I was petrified since I had never done anything like this before!

Our 3rd line

Peter on the line called "The Beast" since it is so long and so fast! Peter took a running start so he is moving alot faster than he should've been!