Pomaire e Isla Negra

Hola todos!

Like I mentioned in my last post, I had the oppurtunity to go and visit the towns of Pomaire and Isla Negra. As well as including some pictures I took, I will also tell you a little bit about the two towns.

Pomaire (pronounced pom-ay-ray) is a small dusty village situated roughly 60km west of Santiago. There isn't much to the city except for a few dusty roads dotted with shops and restaurants. However, its shops are overflowing with ceramic pottery such as vases, pots, plates and almost anything you can imagine- at very reasonable prices! Many of the restaurants here in Chile purchase these pots and dishes to serve typical Chilean dishes such as pastel de choclo which you can read about here: http://eatingchile.blogspot.com/2010/07/pastel-de-choclo-corn-pie-mystery.html

Pomaire, in my opinion, is a very ugly and run down town. The people that live there pretty much depend on tourism to make their living and all of the shops sport the same types of pottery and knick-knacks. And if you don't own a shop, you almost inevitably run some type of restaurant. Then, there were the people hired by said restaurants to try and attract tourists to eat there. Every second someone was running up to us trying to get us to eat at their restaurant. But, I must say that the food I had there was super delicious and typical home-made Chilean fare. Not mention, it was cheap! My favorite part of visiting Pomaire was going to the workshop where they make a great deal of the clay pottery that gets shipped out to Santiago and other cities. Here, we were able to see the creative process and even got to participate!











And then there's Isla Negra: a beautiful beach town for tourists. However, it is also the place where Pablo Neruda spent a significant part of his life. Of his many homes (he had four in all- 3 in Chile and 1 in France), he always considered Isla Negra to be his favorite. Since his death, this house has been turned into a museum and is now available for view by the general public. There, you can see his numerous collections from all over the world (including miniature boats, seashells, artwork, bugs, glass vases, etc), his writings, and the absolutely breathtaking view from his house.

I loved Isla Negra and I was very impressed with Pablo Nerudas house. Although we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house (just like in any museum) so those of you who want to know more about it will have to get your bootys down here and see it yourself!







Another funny side note from Isla Negra- a few of my group members were quite the celebrities! There was a group of young (I would guess 13-15 yr old) Chilean students visiting the house at the same time as us and they took a special liking to certain people in our group. At first, they were sneakily taking our pictures and blatantly staring and whispering about us. Eventually they got bolder and started coming up to specific people and asking to take pictures with them. A few of the guys (and a girl or two) got pulled into the chaos and were surrounded by giggling teenagers who were absolutely enthralled to have their picture taken with los gringitos. It was really hilarious and a little weird at the same time. Luckily, I succeeded in hiding from the picture taken posse (at least I hope so). Otherwise my picture is probably posted up somewhere on facebook with a bunch of Chileans I don't even know, haha.

Meanwhile, I've come down with a little cold so I've spent the weekend inside my house just hanging around. Its been a little boring but I'm finally getting out of the apartment this afternoon so that I can go to the market with my friend Ashley. Apparently we will be seeing a lot of typical Chilean arts and crafts, etc. So that is definitely exciting! And, hopefully I will be feeling better by the time Friday rolls around because its gonna be party time! Can't wait to celebrate :)

Thats really all for me today- ta ta for now!