Nori and Anya Go to Chile.

Nori y Anya Van a Chile.

Nori and Anyas uncle and aunt, Tio Dan and Tia Lolo, invited them to their wedding. Tio means uncle in Spanish, and tia means aunt. They live in Punta Arenas, Chile. Dan is the brother of Anya and Noris dad.

Norwich, Vermont

Chile Punta Arenas Chile is far away from Vermont. Vermont is on the northern half of the world. Chile is on the southern half. Punta Arenas is at the far southern tip of Chile. In Chile, people speak Spanish instead of English.

First we went on the bus for 2 hours from Lebanon, New Hampshire, to Boston, Massachusetts.

Then we flew on an airplane for 1 hour from Boston, Massachusetts to New York City. Then we flew for 11 hours from New York to Santiago, Chile. Santiago is the biggest city in Chile.

At the airport in Santiago, we met up with Anya and Noris grandparents, Nini and Poppi, and our dear family friend Abuelita Lucia. Abuelita means little grandma in Spanish. She grew up in Chile.

Then we all flew on another airplane for 3 hours from Santiago to Punta Arenas.

Dan
Lolo (making a funny face!)

Tio Dan and Tia Lolo came to the airport to meet us.

It is always windy in Punta Arenas. It is so windy, many of the trees grow in a way called flagging, because the wind pushes them to have a shape kind of like a flag.

Tio Dan and Tia Lolo run a bed-and-breakfast hotel called Tragaluz. Tragaluz means skylight in Spanish. This is where we stayed when we were in Punta Arenas.

We were all very happy to be in Punta Arenas and to see Dan and Lolos beautiful hotel.

This was our bedroom at Tragaluz.

The next day, Nori and Anyas other uncle, Andy, arrived. He lives in Alaska and had to travel even farther than us. He took 5 airplanes to get to Punta Arenas!

Here we are at a park in Punta Arenas.

One day we went to a restaurant. We all had a seafood soup called Paile Marina. It was delicious. Anya and Nori tried lots of new foods in Chile. Some they liked, some they didnt.

These birds look like penguins but they are actually cormorants. Unlike penguins, they can fly. There are penguins that live near Punta Arenas, but they werent there at this time of year.

Here we are on a beach at the Strait of Magellan. This is a path of water where the Atlantic Ocean connects to the Pacific Ocean. Punta Arenas is on the shore of the Strait.

Pacific Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

Punta Arenas

This line shows the path of the Strait of Magellan

This way to Antarctica!

Nori and Anya met some of Lolos cousins, Sergito (sare-heeto) and Juanjo (huan-ho). Here they are playing pick-up-sticks.

Sergito and Juanjo live on a farm near Punta Arenas.

Back at Tragaluz, we ate dinner. In Chile, it is normal to have dinner very late. This dinner was at 10 oclock at night!

Before Dan and Lolo opened Tragaluz, Dan worked on a big ship that scientists use to learn about the Antarctic Ocean. Here we are visiting the ship.

We all needed to wear visitor passes when we went on the ship.

Here is the captain leading us onto the ship.

The first thing we did was eat lunch. Do you see how the windows have metal covers that can be closed during bad storms?

Next we went to the control room where the captain and crew drive the ship.

The ship has been built to be strong enough to break through sea ice. It has to do this so that it can bring food and supplies to scientists living in Antarctica, even in the winter.

There was a funny part of the ship that was too short for grownups, but just right for two little kids!

This was the bedroom Tio Dan shared with another crew member when he worked on the ship.

The ship has a small library. Notice how there are wooden bars that stop the books from falling off the shelves when the ship is going up and down big waves.

The stairs on the ship are very steep.

We also visited the engine room. It was VERY loud. The ship has two engines. Here we are with one of them. It is bigger than a regular car!

With an engine that big, you need big tools to fix it.

Many of the foods in Chile are the same as in Vermont, but some things are different. They dont sell whole pig heads at the grocery store in Vermont.

Uncle Andy plays guitar. Anya and Nori enjoyed playing along with him.

Tio Dan has made a lot of the furniture for Tragaluz. These benches are shaped to fit together like a zipper.

Near Tragaluz was a playground.

Time to get ready for the wedding!

Tio Dan dressed up in the traditional style of a Chilean gaucho. Gaucho is Spanish for cowboy.

Tio Dan and Tia Lolo asked Nori to play violin at the beginning of the wedding ceremony. At the back-left of this picture, you can see cousin Sergito. He is also dressed like a gaucho.

Tia Lolo puts the wedding ring on Tio Dans finger. Behind them are Sergito and Juanjos mother and father. They officiated the wedding ceremony.

Lolos family is Catholic and Dans is Jewish. The wedding included aspects from both traditions. One tradition from Jewish weddings is to finish the ceremony by stepping on and breaking a glass.

While the ceremony was going on, dinner was being cooked. The main course was lamb. These lambs came from the estancia of Lolos mother. Estancia is Spanish for ranch. Nori and Anya both said it was the most delicious meat they have ever eaten.

After the ceremony, everyone sat down for dinner.

There were four cakes, each from a different recipe. As you can see, Anya does not like cake.

Then it was time for dancing. Anya and Nori danced until the middle of the night. Some of the grownups kept dancing until the next morning!

Heres another difference between the United States and Chile: in the U.S., some parking spaces are set aside for people with handicaps. In Chile, spaces are also set aside for old people and pregnant women.

Finally, our time in Punta Arenas was done. Nori and Anya were exhausted. Here we are at the airport, ready to leave.

While flying from Punta Arenas to Santiago, we could see some of the amazing mountains of the Andes. The Andes are a huge, long, group of mountains in South America.

Anya and Noris mom had to continue home to Vermont for work, but Anya, Nori and their dad stayed in Chile with Abuelita for one more week to visit Abuelitas family in the town of Concon. Concon is about 2 hours north of Santiago by car. Here we are at Abuelitas brother Tonios house. At the far end of the table is Mama Julia, Abuelitas mother. In Concon, we stayed at her house.

Concon is next to the Pacific Ocean. Here we are taking a walk in Concon.

We drove on the road by the ocean to see the sights.

Pelicans!

Seals!

The grownups thought the water was too cold. Nori and Anya thought it was just fine!

In Punta Arenas it is always windy and it rains a lot. In Concon, the climate is drier, almost like a desert. The plants looked very different from the ones we have in Vermont. In the right-hand photo, Nori and her dad are standing under a huge flower.

There was a funny poster stand at the grocery store in Concon. Did you know that Anya and Nori are little German boys?

One day while we were at Mama Julias house, there was an earthquake. It was strong enough to shake the houses and scare people, but not strong enough to hurt anything. This picture is of the news report about the earthquake. The Spanish words say, strong earthquake in the central zone.

One day we took the bus to some sand dunes. We went with some of Abuelitas family, but Abuelita did not go. The people we went with did not speak English, and we did not speak Spanish. But we still understood how to be friends and have a good time.

The dunes were hard to climb, and lots of fun to slide down.

Nori and Anya with their new friend, Daniela.

<Click movie to play>

Anya and Nori took time each day to keep up with some school work.

One day we went to a really cool playground in the nearby town of Valparaiso. The next page has a movie of an amazing swing.

<Click movie to play>

At last it was time to come home. Nori sang Anya a lullaby on the drive from Concon to the airport in Santiago. They are sisters AND best friends.

A real tear!

Nori and Anyas mom cried tears of joy to be back together with her kids.