Some bad news, some good ¨:-)

We´ve had a few exciting developments since our last post. The first unfortunate of which was Sandy taking a bad fall in her hotel room- she tripped over her suitcase and came down on her wrist fairly hard. A doctor came to the hotel and checked her out and said it was fine, but when we arrived in Punta Arenas it was considerably swollen and some fingers were numb. She had xrays taken at the clinic here and discovered it was broken and needed an operation. The operation was only 30 minutes and went very well. She spent last night in the hospital (after several visits from her team) and is expected to leave today. She was in amazing spìrits and has impressed us all with her braveness and ability to speak Spanish in various drugged states!

While our fearless leader was in the hospital, the rest of the team had a city tour of Punta Arenas. The weather was fairly horrible and I´m surpised there was no hypothermia in the group. However, we saw some amazing sights. This place has a rich and storied history! Today the excitement really begins- we have our first vocational visits and tonight our first presentation to a Rotary club.

Michelle and a statue of a man (and dog) herding Sheep.

And no it´s not cold at all (insert sarcasm here)

Amy and Libby taking photos of the Straights of Magellen from a beautiful vista overlooking the city of Punta Arenas.

Thanks for reading and we promise to update as often as possible!

-Michelle

Pisco Sour tasting - Yum!

Working at the airport - last chance in Atlant to read up and contact friends and family!

We have landed!

Hola todos!
We arrived in Santiago this morning - stiff from our overnight flight on a crowded plane from Atlanta. Thank goodness for the eye masks and my SmartWool socks that were not too smelly as I put them near the head of the passengers in front of me!

We are staying at the Holiday Inn that is within a few steps of the airport complete with fountains in front, a lovely business center in the bar with free WiFi. (Which goes so well with a glass of Chilean red wine)

We ventured out to the City center today and walked at least 10 miles viewing architecture, people, and tasting a bit of the cuisine. As a team I think we are going to do very well - we have established some nicknames for each other...for instance, Libby is "La Guia" - the guide, Joyanne is "La Profesora" - the teacher, Amy is "El Arco Iris" - the rainbow because of her flexible personality, and Michelle is "La Ninita" - the Kid because she is youngest that that's her last name (Kidd). And, of coursed, I am "La Reina" - the Queen, dubbed by a taxi driver - so you know it's gonna stick!

Our experience today had us tasting a Pisco Sour, the official drink of Chile, which was delicious! Don't ask me what's in it, but it tasted sort of like a vodka gimlet with a bit more flavor to it. We also had to sample a little gelato and had a wonderful salsa with bread for our lunch.

The best statue that I saw today was two angels - one of whom is dying while the other stand over it. This was in front of the fine arts museum and was entitled "Unidos en la muerte y la gloria." - United in death and glory.

We will hit the sack early tonight to be prepared for our early flight to Punta Arenas (6:30 a.m.). That is where we will meet our Rotarian hosts for the first time and I am really looking forward to the experiences we will have there!

Hasta luego,
Sandy

Everyone is getting excited!! We leave tomorrow (Friday) for a LONG trip. The group will meet in Denver and fly to Atlanta and on to Santiago together. Then a quick overnight there and an early morning flight to Punta Arenas (where the forecast is 10 days straight of rain!)
We received our itinerary today so we now have more of an idea of what each day will hold. We are excited that a visit to Torres del Paine is included. (picture at left!) as well as many other exciting excursions! The next post will be from Chile! :) Hasta pronto!