Although the local Chileans didn’t even notice, it was a big night for earthquakes. We had four of them on Thursday night ranging from 4.1 to 5.2. Vinamarinos (the local term for people from Vina) don’t notice or mention earthquakes…
All Locked Up!
At first, they look like child locks—cabinet locks designed to keep children from playing with (breaking?) cups, glasses, and dishes. But then you notice they are on all the cabinets even the ones that are five feet off the ground…where…
Cruisin’ Santa Cruz!
One of our favorite quick weekends away took place in the lush wine growing area of Colchagua, Chile and the town of Santa Cruz. The adventure began as we drove through the strawberry growing area. (Of course, we had to…
Watch Your Step!
Be thankful the next time you walk down a sidewalk and don’t find a gaping hole for you to fall into. Or that you don’t stub your toe on a piece of the sidewalk that has buckled up. Dodging broken…
Invertebrates, Crustaceans, & More Easy 2nd Grade Spelling Words!
Have you ever wondered what would be on a Second Grade spelling test if you had to learn English as a second language? I’m not sure if “miscellaneous”,”molluscs”, or “vertebrates” would have been at the top of your list. But…
Feliz Fiestas Patrias!
September 18th is Fiestas Patrias, the national Chilean holiday to celebrate Chile’s independence from Spain in 1810. In good Chilean fashion, the holiday is celebrated for weeks! With lots of dancing, pisco sour, and yummy empanadas . . . Both…
Chocolate, Manjar, & Coke! Oh, my!
So, we can’t figure out if it is the most amazing marketing ever or if Chileans just have an insatiable sweet tooth, but we have never seen Coca Cola penetrate a market like it has in Chile. Everyone, everywhere serves…
Spectacular Sunsets!
One of the unexpected pleasures of our apartment in Vina del Mar is watching the amazing sunsets from our balcony. Enormous container ships, suspended on the horizon, float between the buildings. Here are a few of our favorite pix of…
Waterfalls & Chocolate in the Cloudforest!
We could have spent days exploring the wonderful area near Mindo, Ecuador! But we only had a day to hike the waterfalls and learn all about the process of making chocolate. From growing the cacao pods, to drying and sorting…
The Center of the World!
Here we are at the Center of the World: 0 Latitude! Where we did experiments with water to see the Coriolis Effect: water whirled clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere, counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, and just went straight down on…