El primer dia del resto de mi vida o Un Estadounidense en Santiago

I promised folks that I would blog once I got to Chile, and I find myself making good on that promise.  It's not hard when you have the experience of traveling to a new place (which this essentially is despite my ten-day sojourn in 2011) and when you have the marvelous good fortune of crossing the street from your hotel and entering the most vertically inclined urban park I've ever encountered.

This is el Torre Mirador ("Lookout Tower"?) atop Cerro Santa Lucia, which Charles Darwin said "certainly [had] the most striking view" of the city and the towering Andean mountains in the background (thank goodness for Lonely Planet travel books!). 

Today was a "feria" or national holiday for a saint, so there were families and youngens of all types mounting an array of incredibly uneven, slippery, ill-placed and wonderfully non-code steps.  As happens every time I leave the States, I'm struck by the thought places like this that simply would not be allowed for liability reasons back home.  While the staircases at Cerro Santa Lucia aren't as ridiculously unsafe as the completely unimpeded waters of the Nile as they crash down Murchison Falls in Uganda, I could not help but cringe in fear as a leashed dog pulled its owner down a precipice. Still, what a wonderful, organic, civic space for people to enjoy.

It was peaceful in the park despite the topography, and everybody was genuinely enjoying themselves. Little kiosks were on the different levels selling mostly ice cream-like confections.  People strolled with dogs, many off leash and well behaved--the dogs and the people.  One couple hung out by a fountain; the young man noodled around on his guitar as his novia drew in sketch book.

Honestly, this was the best possible way for my entry into Chile for what's going to be a five and a half month adventure.   Despite the fact that the famous Santiago smog clouded the Andes Mountains from Torre Mirador,  it was great to be able to wander without worrying what street I was on or where I needed to turn.  And I didn't feel the pressure to "accomplish" anything today because I'm not here for a only week, so I don't feel the need to make sure I make it to this museum or that plaza.

All in all, a very good day. And it ain't over.