Thursday 14th January
L, Mo and me again. L's last day before he heads off to go trekking in the far
south of Patagonia. Mo and I picked up sandwiches in the shop around the corner
which we ate in the park. In the evening Lydia, one of the teachers, organised a
trip to a beer festival some way to the East of the city centre. Took the metro to Francisco Bilbao and then a ten minute bus ride. 5000 pesos to get in to the festival, held in a open field with great view of the mountains in the evening sun.
Dozens of different beers on offer, mostly from local craft breweries. Small
tasting cups were on offer but few of the beers appealed to me. Lots had fruit
flavours added and I like my beer to taste of beer! Eventually settled on a
pale ale. Good opportunity to meet many other students, two young couples, one from
Switzerland and the other from Toronto who are taking a year or so to travel
round the world. Alan from Northern
California who is learning about wine production here, a French woman
from Marseilles who has moved here with her Chilean boyfriend/husband, a
Romanian/Norwegian who has moved here with her husband and a young Norwegian
woman, whose father is Chilean, re-establishing family connections. Had another pale ale and a beef sandwich from one of the food
stalls. At about ten, several of us started making our way back the way we came.
Friday 15th January
My last day! I even received a certificate, not that it means much. If I could absorb it all I would be doing well but I am suffering from information overload. A lot
of the vocabulary is obvious but plenty
that isn't. Very easy to say that I am married instead of I am tired. Possibly some contexts where both would work.
Had lunch with
Alan, Sean and the Norwegian woman, at the cafe next to the school. Said goodbye
to my three fantastic teachers. In the evening went to free show in Yungay Barrio. Apparently it is a part of a festival to celebrate a Chilean victory over the Peruvians. It seems to be a local production celebrating the barrio. Plenty of energetic singing, dancing and comedy, with little children joining in, but most
of it went right over my head. After about an hour slipped out, took the metro
back to Baquedano and walked down to Avenida Italia where someone told me there
were lots of places to eat. I wasn't that impressed, although it is a pleasant enough area of one and two story buildings but I eventually found a cafe where I
had an enormous chicken, tomato and lettuce "sandwich" and a beer.
Then back to my room to pack.
No comments:
Post a Comment