Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile

 Chile, Argentina, & Brazil

Jan. 7, 2009-Pre-Trip Glitches

For those of you who have not gotten my journal/emails before, welcome. They tend to get wordy, opinionated, and sometimes downright cantankerous. I have not always put spouses or partners on the mailing list (it gets too cumbersome), but feel free to forward these emails to any and all. Also feel free to delete or not read them. I'll never know.

We were originally going with an entourage of four others but illness felled two and a third canceled because her sister-in-law was one of the sickies. We were so disappointed that we wouldn't be with them and we moped for days after we found out. Laura Lee Garfinkel hung in there and is with us. She’s from Akron and we've been a part of each other's lives since we moved there in 1983. And David, well, he's one of only four men in the entire shrunken tour group of twelve. You'll get to know the others as I do. Our group leader, Fernando Etchart, was so anxious about our diminishing numbers that he emailed us and phoned each person before we left. That's never happened before.

My back went out a week ago and I was panicking about being able to go on this trip.  But it healed and I could get my stuff in the suitcase. I was barred from lifting even my roll aboard until we got to Sout America. Then it won't matter if my back goes out again. Laying on a heating pad and doping up on muscle relaxants is the same here or there.

We booked our flight on Air Tran to Miami before they started charging for luggage but we refused to pay to select our seats in advance. Next they'll charge for using the rest rooms. Our flights to Miami through Atlanta were uneventful until we landed in Miami. The plane seemed to land on the left front wheel and tilt precariously. The pilot throttled the engine and we started to go up again but then we landed with a huge thud. We were too stunned to be scared. People started joking about going straight to the bar when we got to the gate. The pilot thought we needed an explanation and announced that they ran into a wind shear. He explained that they tried to lift off to get out of it but decided just to get on the ground. Whatever he did we all debarked in one piece but I wouldn't want to be flying out on that plane anytime soon unless it got a full inspection.

Jan. 9, 2009

We met old friends for lunch and dinner on the 7th and 8th then went to the cemetery to visit the graves of David's grandma and parents. It’s Jewish tradition to place a rock on the grave marker and finding a rock in Florida's sandy soil is a trick. Our motel co-operated by having decorative white stones in their planters. We appropriated three.

Our flight left at 8 PM and went smoothly. Those huge planes set down with authority. We arrived in Santiago at 6 AM. There's a two hour time difference. South America is so far East of the U.S. that it's actually later here. We both took an Ambien on the plane. I think I slept three hours and David got a one hour snooze.

Coming in at dawn still afforded us a good view of what looked like desert terrain surrounded by mountains. That's exactly what our guide explained as we drove to the hotel. There are two rivers coming out of the Andes that provide water to irrigate the many parks in the city. Smog is inevitable but they’re proud of "going green" with new buses.

We're waiting for our room and will grab some breakfast with the group. We're small but mighty and I look forward to being able to go places a larger group wouldn't have been able to. Fernando told us there were more cancellations earlier on and that all the other groups have numbered twenty-four people.

We traveled frequently while Bush was in office and leave now holding our heads higher. It may take the U.S. a long time to "get it" but when we do we get it right. We’ll come back to an Obama administration and hopefully a new America.

Toby