Friday, April 2
Fortunately no strong earthquakes in the night so I didn’t have to try out my evacuation strategy. First access to internet in three days – but only if I sit out in the driveway near the manager’s building where the router is located. Amazing how quickly an inbox fills up in three days. We had a late morning – breakfast served on the porch in front of our rooms. The sky is clear and the community expectant of a large crowd of visitors for the three day weekend. It’s Good Friday, a national holiday, and many people from Santiago and other inland cities head to coastal towns. The towns from Pichelemu and north were not hard hit from the tsunami and are only a couple of hours drive from Santiago. The mood here is much different than in the towns further south, no one seems much interested in the earthquake or tsunami and there is an insistence that everything is normal. There’s an interesting video posted on Youtube from this area of a young man joking about the tsunami as it comes in. You can see how modest the waves are, but still enough to pull him under the water and struggle with the surges. Afterwards, he is still hamming for the camera. You can see it Here.

We arrive back in Santiago early afternoon and spend the rest of the day pouring through our notes. We have an exit briefing scheduled with UNESCO tomorrow afternoon. It’s good to have the deadline and get a preliminary report pulled together before we leave. I’m already thinking of the stack of work in my office I’ll face on Monday and know that the time to write up a summary report. Sebastian wanted us to experience the “gran lomito tomate palta completo” sandwich, a Santiago classic consisting of a bun the size of a plate stuffed with avocado, pork, sauerkraut, and about a ¼ cup of mayonnaise. His favorite restaurant was closed because of Good Friday, but we found a reasonable substitute. I can’t think of the right words to describe them. We made it through about half and boxed the rest for dinner.