The Ghost of Christmas Past

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo!

Christmas and New Years have come and gone, and I hope they were great for everyone reading this. Sorry I haven't posted recently; it has been a busy time in Santiago. There have been dinners, events, fireworks, concerts, and much more. For starters:

There was a really nice concert at Jen's school (Side note: Jen works at a school for mentally handicapped children in a poorer part of Santiago. It's a really upbeat and fun institution and I had a lot of fun there. Other side note: while there are not many educational and job opportunities for the mentally handicapped in Chile, I would argue that the families and government do a good job caring for those with disabilities. Mentally handicapped people do not make up the majority of the homeless here, nor have I witnessed them being badly treated by anyone)

 Some Santas killing it...They all sang songs or played instruments or something cool.

Jens kids getting set up...they made and wore their little reindeer hats and then sang (kinda) Jingle Bells/Casca Belles/Jingle Bell Rock, switching between English and Spanish...It was very well done

Then Jen and Bushra (who are also roommates) handed out certificates for completing their English lessons.

Next, as I've been saying for weeks, Larissa is here. We've been doing a lot of tourist-y stuff, and recently we climbed Cerro San Cristobal, which is a hill near where we live that has a giant statue of the Virgin Mary (sound familiar? I think its a beat up copy of the Jesus in Rio):

JESUS CRISTO as we say here...I don't know how to say it in Portuguese...but this is the Rio one.

 Here is the Virgin Mary, Santiago Version. Below her is a sign that says "I AM THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION."

The view from the top. If you look closely you can see my building! (The one with the red sign on top)

Santiago got kind of decorated for Christmas, there were some lights near where I live and downtown, but nothing like in the States. Its probably a good thing, it didn't feel like the holidays here with the weather.

Here is the tree they had downtown, complete with Coca-Cola corporate sponsorship:

Also got some of the older buildings in town in the background, the one on the left was one of the first homes in Santiago, but is now the Main Post office (there is a sweet museum inside; I have some pictures but thats for a different post), and the one on the left is a museum to which I have not yet been.

That's it for now, I'll post more in a couple days I gots lots more.

Happy 2011.