Fumando

It’s been hard getting used to all the smokers here. While one daughter detests the smell of cigarette smoke, the other has asked numerous times when she gets to try it. I’ll let you guess which chiquitita (little sweetheart) is which.

Chile is just a smokin’ country. We traveled about 10 hours south of Santiago last week to the 10th region, known as the Lake District, to the small town of Villarica outside of the popular tourist town of Pucon. Towering over the area is Volcan Villarica, an active volcano that smokes during the day and glows red at night. In the morning, the fog over the lake looks like smoke rolling in from Argentina, only to be blown away by mid-morning.

We then ventured further south on Ruta 5, braving the smoky exhaust from the semi-trucks and the “that-can’t-possibly-be-legal-to-drive” local fruit and veggie trucks. Highway driving is quite safe, but challenging by the frequent tractors and horse-drawn buggy’s traveling with the 120 km/hr traffic.

We arrived in Valdivia, a major southern port town with a strong German influence famous because it is the site of the largest earthquake ever recorded in the world (9.0 on the Richter) in 1960. It destroyed most of the town, but they were quick to rebuild the most important buildings: the brewery and chocolate factory.

We’re still having a smokin’ good time. Keith quite literally as he plans to break the no fumando rule and imbibe with his friend this evening on their recently purchased Cuban cigars. I hope he enjoys it, because he may be smokin’ mad when he finds out I’m gonna make him sleep outside because of it.

Sisma