Vina Del Mar - Wendy update

Feb. 2nd, 2011

We are really enjoying ourselves in Vina Del Mar.  We are on the ocean.  This is a very large city.  Yesterday and today we did a lot of walking.  We are getting better at communicating with the locals.  When we are in a store and can't find something, I find a nice looking man and in Spanish tell him we do not speak much Spanish can he help us find, say for instance, water.  That works!  Last night the man I talked to asked where we were from, I said California.  I showed him a balloon T shirt a friend was wearing and said we  were with the Chile Balloon Tour.  He was amazed.  People here have never seen balloons.
 
The European pilots arrived today.  We are all going out to dinner tonight with the organizer of the Balloon Tour. 
I am getting in the habit of saving some of my food for the dogs.  After eating we walk a block or two until we find a dog and feed him the scraps.  The guys kind of roll their eyes and know there is no way to talk me out of feeding them.
 
We talk about how different things are from at home.  It's funny..........things you think used to be important aren't anymore.  A good example was this morning we walked a few blocks down the street to the Starbucks.  (the first one we've seen)  I think I enjoyed the coffee at the hotel just as well.  But at the beginning of the trip I was craving good coffee. Now it doesn't matter. 

Yesterday Alfredo (the organizer) took a group of us to lunch.  The restaurant was Peruvian and Japanese.  He did the ordering.  As we were chewing on what we thought was some kind of fish, he said it was Octopus.  That one piece was all for me.   But the rest of the fish was raw salmon and scallops in a marinade, which was really pretty good.  (yes Danny ate it too) 

Tomorrow we go to Los Andes, which is a little north of Santiago.  Then it's back to work with the balloons. The organizer told us the President of Chile is going to be at one of our events we're doing.  This is all pretty incredible.

More later amigos,
Danny and Wendy

P.S.  keep the emails coming.  We love hearing from everyone.