Dieciocho Approaches

At a hip-hop show, not the red-light district

Tried to climb this, park entrance closed because of too
much snow.  BS!  Wish I knew this before hitchhiking
5 hours to get here.  The red chopper is for the mines.

Hey, everybody; Matt here.  What's up?  So we've been here for almost 1 full year, and this time we'll catch the Dieciocho (18) celebrations.  The Chilean independence day is a 3 day holiday called Fiestas Patrias.  The flags have been going up and we're seeing many people dressed in traditional costume and dancing the cueca.  These things mean we're all one step closer to the big celebrations; here comes the asado (BBQ).

Santiago "winter."  Flowers blooming behind Sara on
the path up Cerro San Cristobal

Damn.

   It's been warming up rapidly here even though winter doesn't officially end until later this month.  With it warming up, we've been trying to get outside a bit more.  We took a visit to the Concha y Toro winery just outside of Santiago the other weekend. It was a perfect day to go tour a large Chilean estate, take in a cheesy video about the Casillero del Diablo (Devil's Cellar), and drink wine in the sun.  It's also recently been perfect weather to head to Bellavista, summit Cerro San Cristobal, and end with a nice meal.  We saw wealthy Santiago on parade last weekend at the Chile Lindo (Pretty Chile) festival in Parque Bicentenario, the city's newest/nicest park.  It's in a luxe part of town - Vitacura - so all the beautiful people were out enjoying the weather, culture, and overpaying for concessions.  Sara saw a lot of cute puppies, natch.

Massive asado in Parque Bicentenario.

   Many thanks to the Boyoraks for sending Sara a new camera.  It's been getting plenty of use as the winter hibernation ends.  I especially enjoy the "fisheye" function; it reminds me of that fun period in the late 90's when rappers used it. 

Concha y Toro vineyard.  Cool Araucaria pine
tree in the background.

   In other news, that Quilmes commercial is now online.  You can see it here (it's the "Quilmes for Export" clip).  Now to get paid!  The brief piece I'm in provided me with a free, all-expenses paid trip to Buenos Aires and (soon) a sweet paycheck.  Glory to International Male Modeling.
   We changed our plans for the coming holidays; instead of San Pedro de Atacama (hella expensive now) we're heading to Pichilemu, a surf town a little south of Santiago, with some friends.  It should be a nice vacation and a good escape from the city.
   That's about it for news from us.  We hope that you had a great Labor Day; wish we could have been there with you.  Good luck to all our teacher friends as the new school year begins.  Please send us email, regular mail, skype, photos, etc., we want to know how you are doing.

BYE-BYE!