La virgin

Atop the tallest hill in Santiago sits a huge statue of the Virgin Mary. She was put there to look over and protect Santiago from harm. Whenever something happens in the city, thousands climb the hill/mini-mountain and pray. There is also a huge amphitheater so that mass can be held.

On Friday, my group took a tour of Santiago and part of it included riding up the first half of the hill and climbing the second. The sight was amazing. Santiago is a HUGE city. It stretches out from all sides of the hill to the Andes on one side and to a smaller set of foothills on the other. However, because Santiago is in a valley, there is a large pollution problem. Smog gathers and just rests there. When walking around the city it feels as though your eyes aren't focusing because you can see things near to you, but if there is any distance at all things become clouded. Santiago has been trying to clean this up and it has apparently improved greatly over the last decade.

At the top of the hill we were above the smog. We could see it cover parts of the city, but also where it stopped we could see how clear everything was. Although most of us live in Las Condes (which is a neighborhood that is nestled into the Andes) we had a better view of them atop the hill because we were finally above the smog. Here are some of the pictures:

Here you can see the layer of smog:

The city disappears as it stretches to the mountains because of the smog:

Another picture of the city:

A picture of the city from the other side of the hill:

The virgin:

The view of Santiago from the Virgin's feet:

My group having conquered the hill:

Signs spring is almost here:

Yesterday my group also went to a soccer game at national stadium (where some executions took place during the Pinochet regime). It was strange watching the game and realizing what had happened there only 30 years before. We saw Colo Colo and Universidad Catholica. These are 2 of the 3 big teams in Santiago (the third is Universidad de Chile). It was a blast! I wish sports in the US were that intense. The fans sang cheers the entire game. We chimed in when we could. Our team (Colo Colo) lost, but it was still an amazing afternoon. I don't have any pictures because as a safety precaution none of us brought our cameras.

Bueno Bye!