Sorry for the radio silence, I have been pretty busy last week or so. I will tell you Chilean hospitality is off the charts. Jorge and Patricia Machicao (the couple I spoke about before) were nice enough to have me over to their home for dinner on Sunday evening. They have a beautiful house in the hills on the outskirts of Santiago. I found out that Jorge is an engineer and an
entrepreneur of sorts as he is a share holder in several different companies over here. It was really nice to sit down and get to know them better and to talk more closely about ALS and the research I did on it a few summers back. I was glad to hear that Jorge is still able to attend to his businesses and I will say that his ability to speak is tremendous compared to my fathers. They have a beautiful family and I wich them all the best during this trying time. The following day I was graciously invited to spend the night at Sebastian and Carolina Delanoe Garces (the coulpe that met in Aspen) place in Rinaca, a town right next to Vina del Mar and Valporaiso. They two run their own business, seliing the Westerville Sweaters that Carolina´s father manufacturers in Argentina. They are great looking extrememly well made sweaters, I highly recommend them! We had a great evenning drinking Escudos (Chilean) and Quilmes (Argentine) beers with their friend Roberto and their cat Cucho. I made it to Rinaca right as the sun was setting over the Pacific and I couldn´t help but get in for a little, a really nice beach I will tell you. The next day Sebastian and Carolina were awesome tour guides of Valporaiso and the brightly painted houses over there. Valpo and neighboring towns were built on a thin strip of land between the see and the mountains, eventually extending into the mountians, giving the streets a feel of a combination of Europe and San Francisco. The houses along with the elevators was a sight to be seen! I am now in San Pedro de Atacama in northenr Chile (the desert) and will be posting some incredicle pictures once I can gett all of this stuff working again. Tonight I will be on a bus overnight to the northern border town of Arica, to cross into Peru tomorrow. I hope this finds you all well and I look forward to seeing you soon!