11-18-09
I slept in today until 8:30AM. We had breakfast.

Then we went to the Monasterio Benedictino de la Santisima Trinidad. They have a 200 year old monastery that is very modernistic. The main lighting for the sanctuary comes from natural light. The building was designed in such a way to allow natural light into the building without being obvious.

Front of building

Inside with no lights on

Then we went to the grocery store at a mall. There was a Dunkin Donuts and Dale got a coffee and two donuts. I think the donuts taste the same. Dale didn’t think so. The coffee was different though.

At Dunkin Donuts

We dropped off the groceries and went to Marisol’s work at the senior living center. She showed us around. It is a very nice place. They have about 150 residents and there is a waiting list to get in.

We drove west to Pomaire. This is the area where ceramics are made. There is a main street in town where there are many shops that sell ceramics and other artisan goods.

Typical building of shops. These were closed


Inside one of the shops

We ate lunch around 3PM at San Antonio Restaurant. We started off with chicha a sweet, fruity alcoholic drink and a huge piece of empanada. I was full after this but still had my main course yet. I had Pastel de Choclo but it wasn’t as good as Adriana’s. Dale had pig’s leg and rice. Dario had pork chops and French fries, Nacho had the same as me and Marisol had pork ribs. We were too full after that for dessert.

Enjoying chicha

Our entree

I guess I should say that Marisol’s mom was away at Easter Island for work this week. She will be home on Saturday night.

There are a lot of stray dogs that just wander around the streets.

We are just chilling at home tonight.

11-19-09
We were able to sleep in today but I still got up around 7:30 and I think Dale did too. Since Nacho and Marisol both have single beds and the rooms are smaller, we had to sleep in separate rooms.

Dario made eggs for us today for breakfast. They were pretty good.

He had to take his Rotary minutes to someone who works at the airport where the Carabineros keep their helicopters. The Carabineros provide police and air medical assistance. They also have some planes. There are ten crews available to be ready at all times. The air medical helicopter seems very sparse compared to Hershey’s helicopter. We had a pilot give us a tour of the helicopters. We were able to look at their helicopters. One of the helicopters was shot at recently and he showed us where the bullet hit the rotor. Afterwards, we went inside to talk to the doctor in charge of the air medical. He was very interested in how Hershey air medical worked.

Dale and the pilot looking at the helicopter

After that, we went to Starbucks. The clerk there spoke very good English. He said he learned it at school.

Then we had lunch at home. Adriana made spaghetti with a vegetable sauce made of zucchini, onions, tomato, mushrooms. It was very good.

After lunch, we left for the beach house in Costa Quilen. It’s a two hour drive toward the northwest. We finally got some sun. It was sunny for the whole drive.

They have a single family, four bedroom, three bath house near the beach on the Pacific coast. We took a walk around the property. There are two condominium complexes and a single housing area. There is a forest and beaches. The property has three pools, a gym, and a café. It is a closed community. The beach is nice but has lots of rocks that reminded us of Iceland.

This is a view from the woods. Their house is on top of the hill....last one on the left beside the green netting.

It's a pretty good walk from the house to the beach. This view is from the pool. It took about 5 minutes to walk to this pool. There are 3 pools in the complex.


Walking to the beach. They said all these rocks on the beach are unusual

After our walk, we came back to the house where Nacho was preparing dinner. We had chitimoya (a fruit) wine punch, chips, peanuts, olives and pickles. Then Nacho prepared a barbecue. We started off with sausage (which I tried). Then we had chicken, beef and potatoes from the grill. The grill is steel surrounded by ceramic and was heated with wood. There was also green beans and cucumbers and a lettuce and tomato salad. We had a really nice bottle of chardonnay. Nacho is also a pretty good cook.

Nacho cooking on the grill


Serving up dinner

After dinner, Dale and Dario had a rum & coke and I had a pisco and coke.

We went to bed around 11:00