note: gps location is santiago, chile

this morning i started off by watching a running race get started on the road next to the river. tbere were (at least) three things that made the race specific to latin america. can you guess?

next, i headed off to a tour of cerro santa lucia, one of the three hills in santiago. the park may not look like much, but it has an interesting history. forinstance, it was designed about 150 years ago…but features a hodge podge of different pieces. because santiago was poor at the time, they got sculptures and pieces of art which were in fact leftovers that were just lying around. some had been destined for other locations, others were donations. it was interesting heaing the unique background of the park.

from there, i took the train over to the franklin metro station, where they had a huge market. kinda like a flea market, only a bit more structured….and with everythng from cool furniture to puppies. why would anybody buy a puppy when there are so many stray dogs around? well, maybe that’s the problem.

finally, i returned back and cooked some dinner. at the supermarket, they had a few selections of olive oil…none were on sale, but the pricing was interesting (stupid). for the same brand, 250cc was 1500 pesos, 500cc was 1900 pesos, and 1000cc was 4200 pesos….see the error? anyway, the three things specific to the race were: 1) it started at 10am (most races in the us start at 8am, or earlier…but people wake up later here); 2) the race started a bit late (…only 30sec, but still); and 3) there were some stray dogs on the road with the runners.