SANTIAGO, ME ENCANTA

I am sitting on the roof top terrace of my Santiago hotel watching the lights from skyscrapers and apartment buildings wink at each other. It is like being in a cityscape from a movie.
I love this city. Me Encanta as the Spanish would say, it charms me.
 Last night I followed sounds of music floating through the streets, like a child in the Pied Piper and was treated to a free outdoor classical concert in front of the exquisite Museo de Bellas Artes! It's funky and full of character, antique architecture reflects the influence of Europe and the Spanish colonisers from hundreds of years ago, yet at the same time modern buildings of glass and class clearly show that this city has not been left behind in the fast paced world.  The street art and graffiti, particularly prominent in the bohemian part of the city Bella Vista where I am staying give it a character all of its own.  Negotiating such a massive city is easy with the infrastructure of the modern day Metro system, which is again decorated with art, distinct style for each station.  This beauty and attention to detail takes the edge of the sardine like treatment as we all cram into the the already filled carriages.  For me this is the perfect combination for a capital city.
I have come here to Santiago (a three our flight from Arica) to meet with the NZ ambassador tomorrow, on behalf of AFS and to promote the scholarship, what a privilege! It should at least be interesting and I hope that I can find an iron!
Meanwhile, I am taking this opportunity to expand my understanding and knowledge of this country and culture by touring the city!  This morning started with the Santiago Marathon, with 30,000 participants in 10-42km races it was quite an event.  What a fantastic setting, I watched with utter respect and some disappointment that I wasn't participating myself.  I was envious of those endorphined pumped athletes. "Vamos! Vamos!" I cheered along with the other spectators. Then I saw a runner face down vomitting in the gutter and I had flashbacks of myself in Rotoru, needless to say my disappointment quickly disappeared, and I set off to explore the city happy that I was not crippled by the event.
I ascended the 500 metres to the top of the Cerro San Cristobel in a cable car, where an enormous statue of the Virgin Mary stands, arms protectively stretching out over the city, a tribute to the country's Catholic allegiance. What an incredible view! The city, home to 7 million people stretching upwards toward the sky and sprawling outwards to fill the entire valley, yet completely dwarfed by the surrounding foothills of the Andean mountains!
Its a humbling perspective.