Return to Chile

On Sunday afternoon we headed back to LAX and dropped off our rental car.

Lunch on LAN Chile airlines as we headed south over the Pacific.

Crossing the Baja California peninsula.

Supper over the equator.
A stop in Lima, Peru, and the gaudy gift shop with live entertainment outside.





We got back Monday morning about 6:30 a.m., and Simon, the taxi driver patronized by many Embassy folks, was there to meet us and take us home. We took quick showers and ate breakfast, and then walked to work in the Embassy.

Our neighbor Joyce had surprised us with a home-made dinner that evening, with the most amazing peach cobbler. Peaches are in season here now.

On Wednesday I took a couple of colleagues on a visit to our favorite American in prison in Chile. After a little delay which took 3 drivers and the motor pool supervisor to get the vehicle to start, we were on our way.
On Thursday, our section went on a tour I organized of certain neighborhoods of Santiago to get to know where out visa applicants are coming from. We stopped for lunch at an Italian restaurant, owned by a recent emigre from Naples.

On the weekend we joined our friends from church for a youth retreat outside of Santiago.

On Sunday, my wife decided to try eating healthier. We got the juicer off the shelf and she made an array of vegetable & fruit cocktails. They were really delicious. We gained a lot of weight back in the U.S. and we are determined to get back in shape again. With a lighter diet and walking 2.5 miles every day to and from work, we are getting our health and weight under control again.