Markets & Mishaps

Kathryn >> Conceding to sleep deprivation, we slept past the middle of the day before venturing out to the 'La Vega' market. Touted to be bustling with locals, our late start showed us the slower afternoon trade. Filled with familiar, temperate climate fruit and vegetables, everything seemed to be bought by the kilo, or in the case of pumpkin, small hunks, cut from giant specimens that would surely win prizes back home. Large displays of pepinos left me questioning why they haven't gained commercial success at home, along with cape gooseberries and chilean guava (well that's what I call them). The overflowing displays of tomatoes, avocado, chillies and potatoes eventually gave way to enormous vats of pickles, dried fruits, nuts

and beans. Sprinkles and 100s & 1000s could even be bought in bulk! Settling on some deep purple figs and white nectarines I continued my infamous habit of holiday fruit hoarding, 2kg costing a little over $4. Furry friends, mostly tame accompanied many stalls, a cat seemed to sell potatoes while another lunched with it's owner. We settled on a spot for lunch, based almost entirely upon the purple tartan apron of it's smiling hostess, and were saved with a near-by customer who had lived in Australia, translating the 10 or so items on the menu. We were rewarded with giant bowels of chicken and osso bucco soup after an entertaining dance from the hostess regarding thighs or breast.
We walked back to our flat over the fast flowing, yet grimey, Mopocho river. Through a few blocks of dirtier streets and then into the tidy, well dressed city blocks. Arriving home James managed to break the key off in the 4th of the door locks that decorate our 5th floor apartment door. Fortunately the pieces could be retrieved and after huddling against the door, to stay in range of the WiFi and retrieve a map, we headed out to a locksmith for a replacement.
After we sampled the fruit we settled down and with the power of google translate acquired ourselves some 'chip' sim cards. Identifying a near-by park, we headed out for our first South American Exercise

Session, aka: a run. The park turned out to be an impressive hill, which, as the rest of the city appears to be incredibly flat, had to be decorated with it's own fort/castle/monument Unfortunately this required protection from late night joggers with massive iron gates, instead we skirted its edges, enjoying the rush of traffic and gentle wafts of Marijuana smoke from the clusters of teens along the lawns. Interestingly it is de criminalised, legal to consume in your own home and is used most widely here in Chile of any Latin American country.
Interesting thoughts about Chileans so far: they have incredible hair - few, if no, balding men. They give freely to, and look at (with interest) beggars on the street. Smoking is still cool, reportedly 40% of the adult population do; most surprising is the number of young adults who do. Smoking in high schools was only banned in 2006, and until recently has ranked as one of the top 5 tobacco consumers in the world - perhaps the hair lines relate to their life expectancy?