Chile: Day 1

The first city I visited was Santiago. The city has a population of 6 million. I spent my time in Santiago in a small one level house with a farmer, Pablo and his wife, Andrea. I woke up in the morning at 4:00 a.m. to walk to work with Pablo. We walked through cobble streets through the relatively flat terrain, and on the way, Pablo explained to me that most people were mestizos (people of European and native descent). On the way to work, I noticed the many Catholic churches. Pablo told me that most people he knew were Catholic, again due to Spanish influence in this country. We labored all day long, and at the end of the day we were paid and allowed to take home a few leftover ginger seeds. We then went downtown to buy a fish, which we cooked when we returned home. We divided the fish in thirds for dinner. Then we planted the seeds in the backyard garden. At the end of the day, we traveled as a group to go to church. The meaning for the celebration was the Assumption of Mary, which is a religious holiday. After mass we walked back home to sleep. Lastly, we planted the seeds in the backyard garden.

Santiago