The Equinox is here and what better time to celebrate with a Mayan Solar dance!
I am in Chile this week, checking out possible places to live here. It is much different from other South American countries - organized, affluent, clean. More like England or France than South America it seems to me. Not sure why Chile is so different - perhaps being separated by the Andes from other countries helped, perhaps there is a German influence here for organizing, perhaps the length of the country - over 2000 km with a narrow width (150km) means they had to be more in control. I am not sure. But everything runs on time and efficiently. Prices are like Europe too though. And the police are mild and dress, well like police in England or Germany - no machine guns, bullet proof vest and combat boots like in Bolivia or other countries I have been in recently.
Perhaps it is just the national energy or enneagram that is the reason why Chile is different...
Anyway Sunday is Chiles 201st birth - Independence Day from Spain. The same age as Paraguay. These republics are pretty old by world standards. Thought Chile has had some bad patches - I was at the Allende museum today - had his final radio speech from 1973 when the military attacked the presidential palace and took him off to be killed. He knew he would die if he stay be he decided to stay on the radio until the end as a symbol of protest. Fortunately that dictatorship ended in about 1989 and things are democratic here now. In fact there are regular student protests here which I am told the police treat with care to avoid seriously hurting the demonstrators.
"I am off to the far north of Chile next - for some sun and beach time - before returning to La Paz"
