Yesterday I walked to Plaza de Armas, the main plaza in Santiago, Chile. It was such a homecoming in so many ways. It is sad to think the walking part of the trip is over. But I talked to the dean of students at UTEM (the Technical University) and she set me up to talk with students and with a high school that is focused on the environment. I’m staying with an amazing woman, Judy Ress, who is a theologian, journalist, ecofeminist, and started an environmental center called Conspirando. She has arranged for me to talk with several major environmentalists here.

After the Plaza de Armas, I walked to La Moneda, which is the presidential palace, and there was a statue of Salvador Allende. It brought tears to my eyes to remember the horror we all felt when they started the coup against a democratically elected president and the pictures on TV of the shooting. His last words were that he had faith in Chile and its destiny.

Santiago is a beautiful, well planned city with a great metro and dedicated bus lanes that make traffic move well. The downtown area has several blocks of pedestrian streets and lots of parks. I walked through the “forestal” which is a park with trees from all over the world. Today I went with Judy down to Vilches, about 4 hours south, for thanksgiving dinner with Ted and Maruja and their 3 daughters, and a bunch of other Maryknoll workers. The jacarandas are in bloom and there are California poppies everywhere. The central valley of Chile looks very much like the central valley of California, except the mountains are closer and steeper. There is still lots of snow on them, since this is mid spring for them.

Most poignant for me is that my father was born about 100 miles southeast of here, and my great grandparents homesteaded on Chiloe, an island about 8 hours south. It has been so interesting thinking what my grandmother must have thought as a young girl about this “big” city, and remembering what my dad said about loving to go to Rancagua, because there were so many trees. It’s true, there are lots of trees. After months of desert in Peru and northern Chile, it’s like manna from heaven. I stopped at the natural history museum to find out what I could about the mining town, Sewell, my dad grew up in. Next stop is the National Library.

It’s hard being away from my family for the holidays, but Walk With Earth is planning a conference of appropriate technology for February in southern Peru, and it doesn’t make sense to go home in between. I miss you, my family and friends, and hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

David Kroodsma bicycled to Chile from Palo Alto a year before we started the walk. check out his attempt to go as a representative at the conference in Copenhagen. http://bit.ly/4sfoCg

Rolene