Back from the Heights of Machu Picchu

Hello William,

I assume that you are back from Peru, and the wonders of Cuzco and Machu Pichu. I hope that it was an interesting and exciting trip, although I bet you are exhausted. We will be looking for the photos. How did you make out with the altitude? One of Chris's friends were there recently and told him that Cuzco was higher than Machu Picchu and that he had problems with the altitude in Cuzco but not Machu Picchu. Did they give you any of the magic leaves to chew?

Not too much new here, things are pretty routine, not much new. Everybody is well. The only thing new is that it seems that Gracie is going to India for her semester abroad – that is if she ever tells her parents. She told her parents that she was making arrangements to go abroad but she wasn'€™t going to tell them where; at least not for now. They think it is India because they got a check back for the deposit with India written in the memo field. So, if you run across her online do not let on that you know about it, and who know it may not be correct anyways.

I am at work so this is just a short note to welcome you back to Santiago. I better get back to work.

Love you, miss you, and take care down there,

Dad

Dictators, Scoundrels and the People Who Love Them

Saludos William,

Greeting from the northern hemisphere; I guess your adventure to the Lake District has begun or is about to begins. Pucon, the destination of the elite the Chilean smart set, the locale of a hell of a party. Sounds like fun; I know you'll have a ball � muy divertido. Are you going for the entire week? From what I can gather, semena patrias lasts the entire week with the 18^th and 19^th as the principal days of the celebration. Take lots of photos. Have a great time, enjoy the fiestas, the beauty of the countryside, and be safe. I won't go into the evils of drinking, but… Be careful.

And now for the news of the Shields clam; your mother is recovering nicely; it's really only a matter of taking the antibiotics. All and all she seems to be doing very well. She hired a new employee today; she was so happy she came home and made herself a margarita. The computer has been repaired, they came to my office within 24 hours of my call; spent about 40 minutes replacing the mother board and they were off. Andrew did not get a part in the play, so sound crew it is for him; probably all for the best, he has his Eagle project, SAT prep, school selection, etc to deal with, not to mention all the excitement of senior year. Jamie Jester will be visiting town for a few days in a week or so.

Mike, the dog with attitude, is insisting more than ever to be treated as a human. Mom continues the battle, but Mike refuses to relinquish his right to use the furniture in the same manner as any other member of the family. He states his case pretty clearly, being the only dog linguist in the family; I serve as interpreter; that is, when I can get a word in edgewise with all the 'Go, go, go!' and 'Bad dog!' Nevertheless, Mike rests his legal case on the American Disabilities Act � the discrimination and intolerance he is subjected to are blatant violations of his basic right to equal treatment. His inability to speak English; and his lack of opposable thumbs in no way vitiates his expectation of equal justice under the law. Whenever the argument gets particularly tense, Mike throws Haley in Mom's face, 'How can you be so hard on me when I am such a model dog compared to Haley?' He has even gone so far as to threaten to bring Jeannie into the argument. I'm not sure where it will end; stay tuned the saga continues.

Since reading your letter, I've been thinking about Pinoche and Allende. I remember the time; I was about your age. It was an exciting time; from a continent away Allende appear to represent hope � he was democratically elected; he represented a breath of refresh air. He promised dramatic change within the confines and the law and constitution, yet that wasn't the whole story, from either side. South America was all dictatorships and oligarchies. Allende represent hope to many, fear to others. He represented a major redistribution of wealth. Pinoche was the defender of the status quo � the true believer in the system of privilege. It was part of the cold war. It happened at the time of Castro's and Che's attempts to turn South America into a revolutionary battleground. The United States feared Soviet advances in the southern hemisphere. Castro wasn't the joke he is today. He was young fresh, and still captured the hope and imagination of the oppressed.

I wish I knew more, I wish I was comfortable with my understanding of the local, national, and international context. What I do know is that it was a manifestation of evil. I don't think that Pinoche viewed himself as an oppressor or monster � yet he was a manifestation of fear � in much the same way that Lou Dobbs represents and speaks for fear. Nonetheless Pinoche was a monster, and evil. You are lucky, you have an opportunity to explore the roots of that evil, gently I hope. It should be an eye opening exploration. Remember that evil by itself is impotent, yet mixed with fear it can be the powerful, it can destroy civilizations and shame an entire people.

Pues nada, hasta el próximo vez.

Love you, miss you, and take care down there.

Dad

Volver

Hello William,

So what’s new? Have you recovered from you trip to the desert? So how is the internship gong?

Not too much new on the home front. I’ve been home sick the last couple of days with a stomach bug, and a nasty Skype virus. I’ve recovered from the stomach bug, but it is still unclear if the Skype virus has been cured. If you get a strange chat messages in Skype do not open a file to which the chat message refers, or click on the path that is mentioned in the chat message. The Skype virus does not do much damage except in Skype but it is a bear to remove. It also seems to interfere with my McAfee antivirus program. In fact, it even kept me from opening a Washington Post article on the virus. I could open any other article but when I tried to open the Washington Post article on the virus it shut Forfire down.

I got the virus from a woman outside of Barcelona, an intercambio friend; it spread like a wildfire, just about everyone I know has it. A man I know in London has had forty incidents of it. It is a worm virus. Anyway, I hope that you don’t get it.

Andrew is still plugging away at school. He has to go to English Plus this semester but is cleared for extra curricular activity; which reminds me I have to call Monte to set up an appointment to make sure that Andrew is all straight for graduation. He has tried out for the school play. I think he’ll get a part. He got a call back. He was originally going to just work sound crew but the lure of the footlights were too much. I hope he does get a part; he’s been in no-extra-curricular hell for most of his high school career, the excitement will be good for him.

He also has SAT prep class. He said that it is helping. Now that he has his cast off, he can start work again. He’s excited about his senior year.

Troop 463 is cranking up for another year, I can’t say that I am very enthusiastic – in fact I missed the parent meeting and the picnic, first time since you joined. Andrew has submitted his Eagle project to James. James replied but I haven’t seen his comments.

I finally gave up on getting Andrew to get his computer fixed. I called and they will come and put a new mother board in it later this week. Anyway they will come to my office to make the repair. The next thing we have to get him on-track with is driving. Once he renews his license, he can start to practice again. Who know if he agrees to get up early on the weekend, maybe he’ll even have it by the time you get back.

I watched Volver, Almodóvar’s film with Penelope Cruz, yesterday. It was brilliant; I’ll always remember it. Penelope Cruz was a delight, the entire cast was remarkable. The storytelling was the highlight of the film. Almodóvar does a brilliant job weaving the different story threads together at the last minute. It’s only close to the end that you realize what is going on. It makes the intertwining of the story lines in Crash seem crude. I loved the way he plays off the superstitions of the village against the modernity of lower-class Madrid. On the face of it is a sad story, but that’s not how I reacted, it was a delight. If you haven’t seen it, see it, if you have let me know what you thought about it. I have to see more of Pedro Almodóvar.

Well, once again it is time to say.

Love you, miss you, and take care down there.

Dad

Mom

William,

Thanks for the note. She is fine, up and cleaning the house today – one day in bed is about all her nerves will tolerate. Her leg is looking much better. She has an appointment in the morning. She switched internist – she has the same doctor as you and I.

Not much else new. Andrew has developed an interest in Gilford Collage. It is a Quaker school in Greensboro, NC. I think he is still interested in Johnson & Wales but is reluctant to committing to cooking – I think he sees it as a life-time commitment, if not intellectually, emotionally. We will probably arrange a visit to Greensboro in the next six weeks or so, it’ll be an excuse for Mom to visit Neil and Robin.

Now on to the news – Levi Leipheimer won the US Road Cycling Championship in Greenville SC. George Hincapie, last years champion came in second - one and two for the dissolving Discovery Channel team. Hincapie is moving to the T-Mobil team. The Steelers stomped Cleveland today; the Skins beat Miami, and at the moment Dallas is beating the Giants.

Got to go, more later.

Love you, miss you and take care down there.

Dad

Update on Mom

William,

Just a quick update on Mom, I took her to Kaiser yesterday evening. She is back on the antibiotics, so the saga continues. She has a follow up appointment on Monday. She is a bit bummed out about the recurrence, but other wise fine. The good news is no hospital, no IV drip, and it is beginning to look better after a few doses of antibiotics.

Not much else new. The car is giving me problems – something to do with the heat. I always have problems in the middle of a hot afternoon. I got stuck in the parking lot in the Randolph Hill Shopping Center on Boiling Brook Parkway. To top it off, in my frustration I locked the keys in the car. AAA came to tow the car, but forgot the kit to break into the car. They sent another truck with the kit, so it wasn’t too bad. The kit was interesting. First they tape the hinge of the door to protect the paint from the wedge. They pyre the door a little, then feed an air bag into the crack. They pump up the air bag, and presto the door opens enough to feed in a hook to pull open the lock.

OK, that’s it for now; I just wanted to fill you in on Mom.

Love you, miss you, and take care down there.

Dad

A Joke

Hello William,

Greetings from the center of the universe, or rather the fantasy land of the Bushies, although my mother holds firmly to the belief that the sun revolves around Pittsburgh.

So, how is your adventure going?

I have a joke for you.

Two women meet at the pearly gates waiting to be admitted to heaven. The first one asks the second, ‘How did you die?’ The second woman responds, “I froze to death, and how about you?’

The first woman answers, ‘I came home early from work because I suspected that my husband was having an affair. I found my husband on the couch calmly watching TV. Still suspicious I ran around the house like a mad woman; I checked the closet, the basement, and under the beds, and finally I ran up to check the attic. While running up the steps I had a heart attack and died.’

The second woman responds, ‘That’s a shame, if you had check the freezer we’d both be alive.’

It’s early Saturday morning, Andrew has SAT practice in a few hours, I am planning on a bike ride to Capitol Hill. I rode down last week, but this week I want to explore. I want to ride all the way back to RFK Stadium. It’s a fairly large area. But with my trusty Bianchi Volpe distance is not an obstacle.

Einstein had it first football game last night – they beat Wheaton – 20 zip. In fact, Wheaton conceded with five minutes left in the game. Sounds strange, doesn’t it? Twenty to nothing is a thumping, but conceding with five minutes to go?

We think Mom’s infection is back. The spots are back and her leg is swollen. She started the antibiotics again – what a pain, but hopefully she caught it in time. We are waiting to hear from the doctor. No need to worry, the doctor had given her a prescription for the antibiotics with instructions to begin them immediately if the infection raises its ugly head.

Thanks for giving me permission for Facebook. It was actually a mistaken request. I joined Facebook because one of my Spanish practice groups just set up a Facebook page; and in the setup process I accidentally sent out invites or requests to friends in my address book. Andrew has ignored me, but I’m actually glad you didn’t ignore me, because Mom and I were able to see the photographs your fellow students posted on your page from Chile. Nice shots! Mom was thrilled. The photos give us a real sense of what you are up to and the environment in which you are studying. The desert is impressive; we topped it off last night by watch Motorcycle Diaries, with scenes shot in the Atacama.

Chris and Raven have accepted our invitation for Thanksgiving; so the Shields’ Shire will morph into MaraNation. I’m sure that Rob and Jeannie will come; Vickie usually goes to visit her relatives in Ashville for holidays. I’m sure the Bill, Jennifer and Nora will be here, if we’re in town and Mom is cooking; they will be here. Neil and Robin will probably be in Charlotte. Robin’s Mom is on death door. She has returned from the hospital, and they have arranged hospice care at the house. It is especially difficult on Neil and Robin since her mother has advanced Alzheimer’s so she doesn’t know where she is – I’m not sure whether or not she recognizes Neil and Robin. As difficult as it is for everyone concerned it is better the hospital, and when she understands where she is, Robin’s mother is happy.

So, that’s about it for today. Write soon, and with my usual adieu…

Love you, miss you, and take care down there.

Dad

Welcome Back from the Desert

Welcome back from the desert. I can imagine the stars, once I was out on a boat and the sky just happened to be filled with stars that night; but still, probably not like what you saw. Was there shooting stars?

Anyways, glad to hear you had a good trip. It gets quiet in the middle of nowhere, doesn’t it? Thanks for the Cameron help; it never came to me.

I have never heard the expression ‘Que fome’ can you translate. It is either a unique Spanish expression or I just missed it somewhere along the way.

Andrew got his cast off.

Everything is quiet here, oh, by the way, James has a web site on the wedding. It is www.jamesandjulie.org. Not much else new, just was saying hi. I’ll write later.

Love you, miss you, and take care down there.

Dad

Skype Is Working!

William,

Skypes should be working, your account is open and you have $10.00 of credit let me know when you need more. You also have a Paypal account.

Love you, Miss you, and take care down there.

Dad

AmEx

Hi William,

I hope all is well, and that you are having a great time in Atacama.

I can’t find the copy I made of your Am Ex card. I need the info to finish setting up your Skype account. Please send me the #, the expiration date and the security code. The security code is on the front in the upper right hand corner – it is a four digit number in white. For security purpose please send the information in three separate emails; i.e., the number in one email, the date in another, and the code in a third.

Thanks, I will write more soon. Love you, miss you, and take care down there.

Dad

By the way, check out www.williamjohnshields.blogspot.com for the sights and sounds of the Kensington Labor Day Parade.

Labor Day & The State Fair

Hi William,

Just a quick note to let you know we are thinking of you on Labor Day.

Mom went to the State Fair in Timonium yesterday with Rob and Vickie, spent the night, and dined at the Owl Bar in the Belvedere Hotel on Charles Street. From Moms description it reminds me of a shabby version of the Algonquin Hotel in New York City. She got back in time to meet me at the Labor Day Parade in Kensington. The parade was the usual and fun. We went with the Ivories, and meet the Doherty there. Nora just returned from a visit to Marquette University in Milwaukee. It’s Catholic, Jesuit and in the Midwest. It also has an excellent program in speech therapy.

Andrew spent last night at Daniels, so he sort of met us at the festival after the parade; actually, he meet his friends and said hello to us in passing. He is doing well. He is in the throws of the SAT course. He is finally getting serious about driving. He is now in a hurray to get his license. Of course, he has to renew his learners permit first. On Thursday he will have his cast removed.

I spoke to Chris today. He is having a tough time of it, Raven, lack of work, exhaustion. He sends his greeting. He may come to Washington for Thanksgiving. It looks like this year will be a Mara Thanksgiving. The Maybe the entire clan will descend on Wheaton for the Holiday. It will be a strange Thanksgiving for you. Chile does not celebrate Thanksgiving, at least not our Thanksgiving. But I imagine your group will have some sort of celebration.

The only thing else going on today, the grass cutting – in the back yard it was more of a dust storm; it’s been so dry.

Anyway, as I said, just a short note. And remember…

Love you, miss you, and take care down there.

Dad

Atacama, and El Norte

Hi William,

Good morning. I assume you are viewing the wonders of the Atacama today. Viewing the salt mountains; the flamencos; feeling the driest place on earth suck the moisture out of you, what is the agenda of these trips? Do you have any free time to explore? Do you have classes? Tell us about a typical day of your adventure.

Not much new here. Labor Day weekend, I have an intercambio in about an hour with a Spanish professor of electrical engineering; he is currently doing research at a university in England. I jokingly call him the ‘spanish nazi,’ a la the ‘soup nazi.’ I like him but he is very intense – very anxious about learning English. Actually he is doing great. It is his second stint in England. This time for six months, the first time he only stayed three months. My intercambios with him are not very relaxed – he corrects every mistake, and he types as we talk, but he is great. The intercambios are helping my Spanish enormously. Speaking of which, I have one intercambios that may be of interest to you. This connection just started in the last few days. Isabel Saavedra Trijillo is a professor of English at - you guessed it, Diego Portales – rather the English institute at Diego Portales. She is not a regular faculty – an adjunct of some sort. She is from Colombia and married to a Chilean gentleman, which is her reason for living in Santiago. She lives in Las Condes very near the Parque Arauco – not actually a park, but rather a big mall. Anyways, she said that if you need anything please get in touch with her and she means it. I’m sure you won’t but it was nice of her to offer. I spoke to her yesterday; she told me that this winter has been the coldest in Santiago in forty years, but that Saturday was ‘magnifico’. She said that the pollution is bad in Santiago in the winter.

Everyone is well, Andrew had a SAT class yesterday, Mom washed and waxed both cars, and I went on a bike ride to Capitol Hill. Did you know that there was a fire at Eastern Market? They have to rebuild, the vegetables stands have moved outside. I’m not sure where the meat stands have gone. They will rebuild, it wasn’t burnt to the ground, but the roof is gone. Rob and Vickie came to dinner for Andrew’s birthday. Andrew also invited Matt and Owen for dinner; as they say, a good time was had by all. Matt and Owen are beginning to grow on me. Matt reminds me of Mathew Broderick’s sidekick in… Now I can’t remember the name of the movie, The one Jennifer Gray played his sister. You know the one Broderick plays the coolest kid in school. It is very good, a classic example of kids role parents drool movie. Anyway, it will come to me, probably five minutes after I sent this letter.

Today, Mom is going to Baltimore to go to the Maryland State Fair with Rob – they want to see the animals – Rob said something about a pig race. Something tells me that Vickie will take a pass on the excursion to the Fair. I think I’ll pass; although it would present a good photo opportunity. Mike expects his weekly trek through the wilds of Wheaton Regional, the grass needs cut, and Andrew has no interest in the State Fair. Monday - it’s the Kensington Labor Day Parade.

Otherwise all is normal, quiet, the end of summer, the heat has broken, the birds are singing, and the windows are open. So until next time…

Love you, miss you, and take care of yourself down there.

Dad

Wolf Trap & West Side Story

8-29-2007

Hi William,

Unfortunately, the checks didn’t get deposited yesterday - late again; they definitely will be deposited today. Sorry you were sick, but glad to hear you are feeling better. Whenever you are in a new environment you are always susceptible to little bugs that your body hasn’t encountered before.

We are sharing the emails, so no need to repeat. Just one other note, please always send a copy of your emails to bill.shields@verizon.net. My work email is so jammed that I’m afraid that I will miss something. I get about sixty emails a day to the work address. I rarely look at my work email on weekends. Thanks I appreciate it.

Glad to hear you are going to make it to Pucon for the holiday – anyone else from your group going? I’ve been reading about San Pedro and the Atacama. I wish I was there with you. The lake district should be beautiful – that hundreds of photos. I look forward to hearing all about it. How long will you be gone this weekend? And what are the dates of your trip to Pucon? If you have hotel reservation, send us the contact info. If not, email us from there if possible.

I saw that you asked Mom for the DVD, we will send them. Need anything else? I’ll try and get them into the mail tomorrow. That a good way to learn Spanish – listen to things you know in Spanish. It should be very helpful. How is your language going?

What are they protesting? I’ll have to find a Chilean newspaper online. Not much else new. Its Andrew’s first week at school. Mom is going to Wolf Trap on Friday with her gang. To See! What else! West Side Story!!!!

That’s about it for now. I better get back to work. I’ll write more later.

Love you, miss you, and take care down there.

Dad

Paypal Account

William,

This is very complicated but here goes. I cannot pay two Skypes accounts from one bank account. So the money that I put in my Paypal account to pay for your Skypes account will not work. So I have created a new Paypal account in your name. I have attached your saving account to the new Paypal account (as with Skypes I can not have two Paypal accounts on the same bank account).

The new Paypal account has to be verified. It is verified in the following manner. Paypal makes a small deposit into your account - a few cents. I check in two to three days to see if the transfer has been made; then I verify the account. In order to get through this process smoothly I have used my yahoo email address as the primary address on your Paypal account. I will change it once the account is setup and working properly.

Once the account is confirmed I will transfer money from my Paypal account to your new Paypal account. After the money has been transferred I will buy Skype credits with the money I transferred into your new Paypal account (is your head spinning yet?).

Once this is completed I will turn over control of the Paypal account to you. I am not going to take any money out of your saving account so do not be concerned that I’m draining your account. If you need to buy more Skype credits in the future let me know and I will transfer money into your Paypal account.

That’s it on my end.

Love you, miss you, and take care down there.

Dad

The Adventure Continues! Day Thirteen

Hi William,

Ok, it’s Monday and Alberto Gonzales resigned – life is a little better. As to your checks, I have attached scanned copies of the check for your review. I am about to leave the office so I will deposit them - the total is $667.10. It will probably take a few days to register in your account. By the way, how is the banking going? Any problems?

As to the wi-fi situation; would it help if I sent you an ethernet cable? I have a few at home. It might help you hook up to the router/modem on the Leyton’s network access, or help you use your computer at an internet café.

Glad to hear you made it to the top of Cerro San Cristobal. It’s quite a view, if the pollution doesn’t ruin it. Did you get a chance to ride the cable cars? The cable cars were being repaired when I was there.

And now it is Tuesday. Unfortunately I got to the bank at 3:06 PM – too late to deposit your checks. I will today. Thanks for the cross streets; I’ll have you pinpointed shortly. Andrew’s birthday is on Thursday – drop him a note if you have a chance. Speaking of dropping a note, if you haven’t yet, please send Rob and Vickie a note thanking them for the iPod.

Let’s see, what else is new? Mom got a raise, so congratulate her the next time you write her.

I have started doing ‘intercambios.’ I’ve arranged it through Dickerson Collage (www.language-exchanges.org); they have an online service to arrange practice sessions with people from all over the world in many different languages. It’s free and easy. I’ve started intercambios with four people – some will work out and some probably will not for one reason or another. Of course you are living an intercambio so I doubt if you would be interested, but you might want to use it when you get back to keep up and improve your Spanish. The service is simple, efficient and straight forward.

Hopefully it will help propel French into my brain, but first I have to get better with verbs and pronouns in Spanish.

Andrew seems to have finally gotten it with school. While it is only the first day, he came home yesterday and worked for hours on school work – on work that wasn’t due within the next ten minutes no less. It’s too early to raise the cheers, I realize, but it’s great if it sticks. I didn’t click academically until my junior year in high school.

Think of anything else you want or need? We have all the usual questions, but you know them, answer them as time and inclination permits.

For your sake, and not for us, keep a journal, short but consistent. After a couple of weeks it will become second nature. You will regret if you don’t. For me the easiest time to write is in the morning – the hardest is at night. Don’t inhibit yourself – write for you and only you. When you write don’t worry about portraying yourself in the best light, or saying something in writing that is not fair or well thought out just write. Remember it is only for your eyes. Use your camera as a notebook – use photographs as memory reminders. Photograph the mundane – you will find them to be the most interesting photographs over time.

For the sake of logistics and file security set up a yahoo space that you can send and store your files so that if anything happens to your stick or computer you won’t lose them. It is a little more impractical for the photos - for I recommend that you copy them to disk occasionally and mail them to yourself at home.

Ok, I’ve thrown enough at you, I realize how busy you are, just suggestions, use or reject them at your convenience.

Let us know if you need anything, and finally, love you, miss you, and take care.

Dad

Sushi, Saki, & Vickie

Greetings William,

Before I forget, you received two checks yesterday from The Hatcher Group. I haven’t opened them yet – after I do I will tell you the amount. I plan on taking them to the bank tomorrow at lunch.

As I told you earlier we went to dinner last night with Vickie and Rob. She has reached her last birthday – 39. She may celebrate but she will cease aging. The dinner party included Rob, Vickie, Andrew, Mom and I. You were missed, of course, but not forgotten; the tales of your adventures dominated a respectable portion of the dinner conversation. We went to a Japanese restaurant in Columbia, Maryland – Sushi Sono. The ride up route 29 was into a storm at dusk; the storm never quite broke, just a sprinkle; but we drove into the black clouds with lighting flashing in the sky. The lighting was too far to hear any blooms – it was all a bit surreal, beautiful in a horror film kind of way. I think Rob and Vickie came through the center of the storm.

Rob’s real estate agent recommended the restaurant. This was Vickie’s last fling with fish – she is crossing the next line into the cult of veganism. I asked her if she was planning on becoming a full fledge vegan, she said that dairy would be too hard to eliminate. She did make an interesting comment. She said that one of the things that influenced her was the kid’s page on the PETA web site. She said that the adult pages were too aggressive for her tastes; however the kid’s pages did get to her.

By the way, how is your re-introduction to the world of meat going? Good, bad, will you go back to a non-red meat diet after you return? Are you feeling different? Sometime when you have a chance why don’t you write a note about food and family meals in Chile? I’m sure everyone would find that interesting, I know I would.

As it turns out Sushi Sono was worth the trip to Columbia. I don’t think it is a chain, but who knows. The restaurant was located on one of the artificial lakes – Wilde I think; along with the Tomato Palace, Clyde’s and Copelands, and others – all very beautiful, calm and artificial. In Columbia they even refer to the mall as the Town Center. Columbia is planned a bit too ‘Fahrenheit 451’ for me; maybe the town needs another 150 years to develop. After all Washington DC is a planned city and I like the way it turned out.

The food was great everything was extraordinarily fresh. We all ordered individually but everyone ate from everyone else’s plate, as I am sure you would appreciate. We had sushi sashimi, various tunas, BBQ squid, tempura, and green tea and plum ice cream. Rob had a Asahi beer and Vickie a warm saki. I tried both; Mom wasn’t impressed with the warm saki. I think warm saki is right up there with tequila – you don’t know what hit you until you are flat of your back contemplating all the stupid things you did before you arrived in the prone position. The price was right, dinner for five came to a little over a hundred dollars, I was expecting much more. The after-dinner mint is this case was a small individual box of fruit bubble gum, plum, orange, strawberry, grape – we all got one but I think Andrew was the only one that tried it.

The service was flawless, we arrived with five for dinner but with a reservation for only four (Andrew’s presence was required). A new table had to be arranged, which delayed dinner for about twenty minutes. The waitress and hostess apologized many times, even as we were leaving the restaurant. However, they also reminded us almost as often as they apologized, that the next time we should call before we arrive to inform them that we had changed the number attending. In some ways, the excessive detail to the apology may have been a polite Japanese way of reminding us that we had screwed up – which we did. It worked, we were happy not offended and they made their point. The difference is that at an American restaurant it would not be mentioned, of course, neither would the apology. As we left we couldn’t help but notice the attention to detail. In the foyer was a beautifully designed stand of bags to place your umbrella. No slippery wet floors in Sushi Sono.

My only complaint was the noise, we were seated opposite the open kitchen and between the customers and the kitchen it was noisy - not so noisy as to be unable to understand one another, but we had one hell of a time understanding the soft spoken, Japanese waitress. Rob dutifully asked questions and took notes on the menu, but admitted he didn’t understand.

After dinner we walked off the dinner by taking a stroll by the lake. It was a manicured walk, among the tended shrubs, statures, docks and sculptures, but again, a little too ‘Fahrenheit 451’ for a boy from Pittsburgh.

And so our night ended. Went we got home I watched the Redskin/Raven preseason game, Mom read, and Andrew entered the world of virtual reality – either the movies or the computer I’m not sure which. The game was called in the 3^rd quarter on account of a front of lighting storms.

I just saw your letter. I’ve written enough for tonight so I’ll respond tomorrow.

Love you, miss you, and take care.

Dad

Week Two

Hi William,

I hope all is well. Anything on Skypes – you probably haven’t had a chance to look. I understand how tired you are at the end of the day. And I’m sure that adjusting to the temperature doesn’t help. Moving around in a new environment and concentrating on speaking and understanding a new language all day is exhausting. For me it is frustrating, I keep plugging away at Spanish and I don’t seem to be making any progress and then POW! All of a sudden I’ve made a big leap. I know you are doing great, but if you get frustrated – remind yourself how long it took you to learn English.

Sorry to hear that you can not go to the Lake District. Why don’t you take a bus to the coast; go for the day or overnight – it’s only about 60 miles and the bus is cheap. Your internship teaching English sounds great, I couldn’t find a neighborhood named La Pinta, but I did find a comuna called La Pintura. It is directly south, it is a poor district. It should be a great experience where ever you are teaching.

When you have a chance can you send me the cross streets of where the apartment on Gen. Jofré is between. On the map I have General Jofré is about six blocks long – but a little confusing.

Ok, the question for today. How are the other students?

Oh and how did you find Pablo Neruda’s home? Was it interesting? I guess you are winding up your orientation today, and next week you begin your regular schedule. Let us know what your week is like. Do you have classes a couple times a week – is it like at AU. How much time do you spend teaching?

Have you had a chance to go over to Bellevista yet?

Moving on to news at Home!!!!

Vickie’s birthday is this weekend. I believe that she is turning forty – rumor has it that she is in complete denial. She doesn’t want a party, etc. She may even be claiming that she is only 39 (and I think she is serious about it). Rob was a little like that for his birthday. I guess it is pretty common but I haven’t run into many people that are sensitive about their age. Well, wait a minute; Jennifer was sensitive about her age for years. I think we knew her for six or seven years before we had any idea how old she was.

Andrew starts school on Monday – he’s a senior hard to believe. He starts SAT class tomorrow.

Not much else new, Mom came home from work sick yesterday – she went to work today. I think she was just very tired. I think she is going up to Rob and Vickie’s this weekend. I think they plan on going to the State Fair on Sunday.

Not much new with me. I was scheduled to have today off, but I forgot – just as well, Rowan has been out sick for a few days. If I’m lucky I’ll work in a bike ride this weekend.

The weather changed this week. It has been rainy and much cooler, but still humid. I think the forecast calls for warmer and sunnier this weekend.

Everyone seems to be well. On a final note, don’t feel any pressure to write exhaustive replies. Write often, short is fine – I’m sure you have a computer full of emails to answer. For your own sake keep the emails you write – you will want them later.

How about we call you this weekend? Is it alright to call you at the Leyton’s? Let me know a time that will work. It’s cheap to call you on Skypes.

Take care, we love you, miss you and look forward to hearing from you.

Dad

Letter One - En Español

Hola William,

¿Cómo estás? Espero bien.

Espero que bien que escribo en español. Pienso está mejor leer y escribir tan mucho como puedes, pero no deseas escribir en español está bien. Como puedes ver hay muchas faltas en mis cartas españoles, pero como los dicen, “practicar hace perfecto.”

Por supuesto, tenemos millones de preguntas, contéstelos cuando tienes el tiempo. Pero tan mucho como puedes escribe sus impresiones primeras, antes de las olvidas.

Pero primero, las cosas practicos; ¿necesitas algunas cosas? ¿Puedes encontrar el adaptador de poder para su ordenador? Pienso es una idea bueno si por la siguiente semana preparas una lista de las cosas que necesitas, y nos lo manda la próxima semana.

¿Hay mucha gente que habla ingles? Espero que estas hablando español casi todo de tiempo. Algunos tiempos cuando empiezas hablando una nueva lengua todo el tiempo alguna gente hace dolor de la cabeza por pocos días. Cuando suenas en español sabrás que has aprendido verdaderamente una segunda lengua.

Tenga cuidado con los otros estudiantes, algunos estudiantes que estudian a bordo solamente hablan y salen con los otros estudiantes de la programa y otro gente que habla ingles, y solamente hablan español con sus profesores y la familia que están viviendo. Por los primeros días es mejor que escuchar, hablar a y escribir tan mucho como posible. Es mejor y más fácil aprender si sales con estudiantes chilenos. Otra casa que ayudarás aprender español rápidamente - arregla intercambios con estudiantes chilenos quien desean aprender ingles. Intercambios son muy populares afuera de los Estados Unidos.

Intercambios son típicamente una hora cada semana; ustedes hablan una media hora por ingles y la otra media hora por español por lo tanto ambos ayudar y aprender. Ustedes hablan de cualquier cosa que ustedes desean – libros, música, cine, cualquier ustedes desean. Puedes buscar intercambios en los centros de mensajes de la Universidad. Si no los encuentras ahí, vas a departamento de ingles y los contesta si ellos conocen una chica guapa que desea aprender ingles desde un hombre muy inteligente, y por supuesto macho, de los Estados Unidos. Pero en serios, intercambios son una buen vía aprender. Y quien sabe, quizás harás un amigo. Otro sitio que puedes buscar intercambios es las escuelas de lenguas. Ellos tendrán siempre estudiantes que deseará practicar ingles; y estas escuelas tienen clases por el noche y por el fin de semana. Una cosa mas, intercambios son libres; es un intercambio de enseñar y aprender.

Pues vale, no tengo más tiempo. Escriba tan pronto como posible. Nosotros esperamos su repuesta. Te diga ‘hola y gracias’ a los Leytones.

Y finalmente, no olvida que te extrañamos.

Dad