Random thoughts from a Gringo (US) Santiaguero on what makes Santiago so special to me:
Seeing the lights of the city from the carretera turisitica when returning home from POP on Sunday night;
El Monumento at night all lit up with families and children in fascination smiling and walking around hand in hand;
Aguacate as big as a football during season;
Coming home to find 14 people in my house eating at the dinner table and spending the rest of the day/night talking and eating and sharing (for this I am very thankful);
Mi morena cooking for all of us and never stopping, only to make sure everyone has enough and to give me a smile and a kiss;
Shouts of "llego la luz" like a celebration, and not constantly complaining (what did people do before electricity?);
Enjoying the cool mountain breezes at night and not missing air conditioning;
Waking up to find a new baby in my room from another cousin I never met;
Sharing, when there is little AND when there is a lot;
No tourists to remind us that all the above is meaningless to them and so very important to us (of this I am reminded everytime someone complains of all the wrong things in this country. So why are they here?)
Seeing the lights of the city from the carretera turisitica when returning home from POP on Sunday night;
El Monumento at night all lit up with families and children in fascination smiling and walking around hand in hand;
Aguacate as big as a football during season;
Coming home to find 14 people in my house eating at the dinner table and spending the rest of the day/night talking and eating and sharing (for this I am very thankful);
Mi morena cooking for all of us and never stopping, only to make sure everyone has enough and to give me a smile and a kiss;
Shouts of "llego la luz" like a celebration, and not constantly complaining (what did people do before electricity?);
Enjoying the cool mountain breezes at night and not missing air conditioning;
Waking up to find a new baby in my room from another cousin I never met;
Sharing, when there is little AND when there is a lot;
No tourists to remind us that all the above is meaningless to them and so very important to us (of this I am reminded everytime someone complains of all the wrong things in this country. So why are they here?)