Santiago: Family and Friends

I managed to catch Claudia's birthday party the weekend before I left Chile. Claudia is the daughter of my cousin Richard's wife Miriam. She lives in the house behind my Aunt Ida's (where I was staying), so I was able to hang out with her a bit, although she was very busy with school.

Richard's youngest daughter Fernanda had a birthday only a couple days later, so we celebrated hers at the same time.

It was rather funny, Claudia spent much of the party (which lasted from 8pm to the next day) on the phone. I'm guessing a lot of family and friends were unable to attend but wanted to wish her well. She's a sweetheart.

Okay, this gets a bit complex... Miriam's son Lucius also lives in the back with his wife Joann and their three kids. This is Joann's mother and younger brother Damian (who has down syndrome).

Claudia, Richard, Fernanda, and Miriam.

The family: Damian, Joann, Joann's mother, Claudia, Miriam, and Andrea (Joann's daughter).

Shortly after we met, Damian decided that we were going to be married. My spanish is quite terrible, and everyone else thought it was funny, so I never managed to dissuade him. He was a very sweet kid and I hope my disappearance didn't bother him too much.

Although Andrea is only 10, she's already bigger than her aunt Claudia. She's a funny kid; very bright but desperately in need of something to do with all her energy.

I noticed that Richard _never_ smiles in pictures, although he does so plenty in life. So he said "whiskey" and that was as close as it got.

I went to bed at 3am, but apparently several guests were up talking until 5am and spent the night. The next day I wandered back to find Daniel playing ping-pong with Lucius. Daniel is one of Claudia's friends from school. I think there is the potential for something romantic between the two of them. I may be imagining things, but they'd be _really_ cute together.

Andrea sat down to some serious homework, which I thought was a bit odd for a Saturday afternoon, but her family is pretty strictly religious, so I guess she doesn't have much time on Sundays.

Claudia and one of her friends also made some headway on their school work.

My lovely Auntie Ida. An impressive woman, still quite self sufficient despite her 84 years and a purse snatching that left her with a very sore (though luckily not broken) hip. Although born in England, she's lived in Chile her entire life, working for various big businesses, lawyers, and the British secret service as a secretary and translator. She runs an efficient highly British household, complete with afternoon tea. :)

Aunt Ida's oldest son Lionel (Richard's brother), his son Javier, and daughter Fernanda. Although they lived on the opposite end of the city, I got to visit and have a couple of lunches with this branch of the family. Unfortunately I usually forgot my camera. (Lionel resembles Sean Connery, doesn't he?)

My flamenco friends! Me, Cony (my teacher), and Maria-Jesus (the other student). After my last class we went to a little costume shop where I bought a flamenco skirt, and then I got a picture when they dropped me off. Cony also hooked me up with her friend in Valparaiso which was a great stroke of luck.