So yeah, I'm done writing this in 2 languages.. Takes too long to do (and have it make sense at the same time). From here on out, English! I apologize in advance if the English sounds broken at times, it's actually hard after a while to write/speak English when you talk nothing but Spanish pretty much day in and day out.
Sorry for not updating for a couple of days, been kind of hectic with the lack of internet/problems with the internet and the amount of excursions we've been doing here lately.
On Friday, 5/15/09, we had another day filled with tours in Chile. We had a meeting at 9 in the morning to talk about school / culture / etc., then we went to the Palacio de La Moneda. It used to be the Presidential Palace in Chile, but now it is a government office that focuses mostly on the financial aspect (making money, etc). It was built between 1786-1812. It is a beautiful, historical building with aspects of every type of architecture. Afterwords, we went to lunch, then had meetings for the rest of the day - still busy day of walking, but a little bit more chill then the day before.
Hoy, llegué a Chile a las 8 de la mañana. El vuelo fue muy interesante, porque había un poco de turbulencia, y cuando tratamos de aterrizar el capitán dijo que teníamos que tratar otra vez para aterrizar porque había animales en la runway. Después, tuve que ir por aduanas. Finalmente, los 50 estudiantes y yo reuníamos en el aeropuerto para esperar los buses. Después llegamos al Hotel Rent-A-Home, (y el paseo al hotel era muy interesante, porque hay mucho ghettos y personas pobres. Es una lástima para ver estas cosas...especialmente en un país tan hermosa. La ciudad de Santiago es muy grande, con 6milliones de personas, con muchos edificios. Santiago es en un valle, y está rodeado por los Montañas Andes. Por eso, como cada ciudad grande, hay mucha polución (smog). Durante el día, el smog es horrible, es muy difícil para respirar.
Después de sentar en el hotel por dos horas, fuimos al almorzar a un restaurante. Comimos mucho, y fuimos al centro de la ciudad para visitar el Cerro San Cristóbal. Encima de esta montaña hay una estatura muy grande de la Virgen María. Es hermosa. De la altitud de la montaña, podíamos ver toda la ciudad y menos la smog, un poco de las montañas. Finalmente, viajamos por el Teleférico (hay un foto), para ver los dos lados de Santiago.
Un Poco de Historia sobre Cerro San Cristóbal Conocido originalmente por los indígenas bajo el nombre de "Cerro Tepahue" los españoles decidieron que debía llamarse "San Cristóbal" el honor al santo que lleva ese nombre y que en la antique tradición católico-cristiana, era el protector de los viajeros.Durante siglos, el cerro fue utilizado como cantera para extraer las piedras que serían utilizadas para construir los diversios puentes y edificios de la ciudad. En la cima del cerro durante todos esos años se mantuvo una cruz que reemplazaba un antiguo altar indígena. Hacia fines del siglo diecinueve, dentro de los planes para hermosear la ciudad se plantea la idea de crear un Santuario para la misma, en el cual se incluye la idea de una estatua monumental de la Virgen María. Este es inaugurado cuando se trae la imagen de la virgen en 1908, la cual tiene catorce metros de altura y pesa un poco más de trienta y ses toneladas. A partir de 1916 el área se convertió en un Pargue Público por lo cual hacia 1921 se comienza un proyecto de forestación de la zona. En 1925 se inauguraron el funicular y el zoológico; hacia 1931 se realizan una serie de mejors en el Santuario y finalmente, hacia los años sesentas, se relaiza una seria de mejoras que benefician a la comunidad que llevan a la creación, en 1966, de la ley que declara el área como "El Parque Metropolitano de Santiago." En Abril de 1980 se inaugura el teleférico, a través del cual se puede acceder a la cumbre del cerro. El recorrido tiene una longitud de casi unos cinco mil metros, y alcanza las mayores alturas a los trienta y ocho metros.
Regresamos al hotel, me duché, y unos de mis amigos y yo fuimos por la ciudad para buscar unas cosas y explorar la ciudad. Divertíamos mucho, y vimos cosas muy extrañas – por ejemplo una policías en los supermercados, un McDonald’s que está abierta 24 horas al día.
Today, I got to Chile at 8 in the morning. The flight was very interesting, because there was a bit of turbulence, and when we tried to land the captain told us that we had to try to land again because there were animals on the runway. After we landed, we had to go through customs. Finally, the 50 students and I reunited in the airport to wait for the buses. Afterwards we got to the Hotel Rent-A-Home. The ride to the hotel was very interesting because there are many ghettos and poor people. It’s a shame to see these things – especially in a country so beautiful. The city of Santiago is very big, with 6 million people with many buildings. Santiago is in a valley and is surrounded by the Andes Mountains. Because of this, because of every big city, there is a lot of pollution and smog. During the day the smog is horrible, and it’s very difficult to breathe.
After sitting in the hotel for a couple of hours, we went to eat at a restaurant. We ate a lot, and afterwards we went to the center of the city to visit the Cerro San Cristóbal. On top of this mountain there is a large statue of the Virgin Mary. It’s beautiful. From the altitude of the mountain, we can see the entire city and even with the smog, we could see the city and some of the mountains. Finally, we traveled by cable car (see picture), to see both sides of Santiago.
A Bit of History of Cerro San Cristóbal
Originally known by the indigenous groups as "Cerro Tepahue", the Spaniards decided they should name it "San Cristóbal" in honor of the saint that in Catholic-Christian tradition was protector of the travelers. Over the centuries, the hill was used as a quarry to extract stones that would be used to build diverse bridges and buildings in the city. At the top of the hill during these years was a cross that replaced an old indigenous altar. Toward the end of the 19th century, while modernizing and beautifying the city, they created a sanctuary on the hill, with the idea of hanging a monumental statue of the Virgin Mary as well. It was inaugurated when the statue of the virgin was brought in 1908, which is 14 meters high and weights a little more than 36 tons. In 1916, the area was converted into a public park, and in 1921 became a reforestation project. In 1925 the funicular and the zoo were inaugurated and in 1931 they remodeled the sanctuary. Finally, in the 1960's they made updates that benefited the entire community, and in 1966 a law declared the area as the "Metropolitan Park of Santiago." In April of 1980, the teleferico (cable car) was inaugurated, from which one can access the top of the hill. The teleferico is almost 5,000 meters long and reaches heights of 38 meters.
We returned to the hotel, I showered, and some of my friends and I (Jessica, Sarah, John, Nicole, Lexi) went through the city to look for some things and explore. We had a lot of fun and saw some pretty strange things – i.e. the police in the supermarkets, and a McDonald’s that is open 24 hours a day.
