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Mar. 23, 2010 Chileans say: When God created Earth, on the sixth day, he found himself with a lot of wonders he did not know what to do with. He dug a long furrow and deposited these wonders in it. No one knows who called God’s Furrow Chile. Rising a thousand feet above its base, San Cristobal Mountain is Santiago’s most dominant feature. Like Rio de Janeiro’s Corcovado, it also has a statue at the top, this one being of the Virgin Mary. Like a teardrop escaping from the Andes, San Cristobal reaches the center of Santiago. It would be more correct to say that the city wrapped itself around this bold geographic feature. Less than a mile away, across the Mapocho River, a smaller teardrop, Santa Lucia Hill, rules over the commercial sector of the Chilean Capital. A funicular takes you to the top of San Cristobal for a spectacular view of the Andes, the Central Valley, the Coastal Range and the city one thousand feet below. The inspiring view is only a hint of the beauty of the rest of Chile and explains why this land produces so many poets. Nobel laureates. Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda come immediately to mind. In the city below, the nearly 500 year old Plaza de Armas is a place were painters sell their works, again depicting the splendor of this land. In the phone book, the news, and book covers, you will frequently run into names like O’Higgins, Prat, Cochrane, Von Baer, Imshenetski, Foxley, Hunneus, Wong . . . testimony of foreigners who discovered Chile and stayed to become part of it, creating a society rich in diversity. When on February 27 2010 one of the greatest earthquakes in world history hit Chile, it devastated an area about the size of California.. To get a perspective of how it affected the whole country, if you would superimpose a map of Chile over the North American West Coast, Chile would extend from Cabo San Lucas in Baja California to Alaska. In geographic terms only 10% of the country was seriously damaged. However, this is also the most productive and densely populated area. Industry, agriculture, fisheries have suffered serious damage. Thirty five hospitals and hundred and fifty schools were destroyed. On the bright side, only five hundred people were killed and only one foreign tourist died, a Swede, who came here every year. Most were victims of the Tsunami. If you were to arrive in Santiago today, you would see a terminal surrounded by scaffolding. A bus would take you to a large tent where you’d get your passport stamped and go through customs a lot faster than in JFK or Miami. Twenty days after the earthquake, Santiago is the elegant old self, bustling with activity. Downtown, the pedestrian streets are crowded with shoppers, the coffee bars are as busy as ever. Here and there, you will see areas taped off where some light damage is being fixed. On the chic Avenida Providencia people sit on sidewalk cafes. You would rightfully ask, “Where are the ruins, where is the mess?” Three million tons of rubble line the streets in the north and west of the city where old houses built of adobe suffered mainly internal damage. On the circular road, hundreds of trucks jam the highway hauling debris to old quarries, which will be converted into parks once they are full. The government does not yet have a recovery plan in place yet, nor the way it will be financed. In a desperate race against the approaching winter, emergency shelters are arriving to house the homeless. Insurance companies have already begun to pay off claims. The hardest hit cities have cleared the streets so that something close to normal traffic may transit. From makeshift jetties, or from beaches, fishermen are pooling resources and are out to sea again, surprised at an unexpected bonus. The fish are more abundant than normal. With the approaching Easter weekend, hotels are advertising. Fortunately, Chile’s premier tourist attractions in the Lakes Region were not affected as the power of the earthquake, like a shotgun blast expanded to the north and lost its power just north of Santiago. The summer tourist season is coming to an end and workers in that industry are getting a breather. In June the winter season begins when ski enthusiasts and professionals flock to the world-renowned slopes of Portillo, La Parva, Chillan and many others. The government, tour and hotel operators are taking advantage that Chile has caught the attention of the world to promote the country’s magnificent attractions from the driest desert in the world to the boisterous seas off Cape Horn. It will take two years to repair the highways and bridges of the 250 miles that separate Santiago from Chillan. Due to detours, at the moment, it takes eight to twelve hours to cover the distance. One could call this trip the rubble tour. This year, you will probably see fewer Chilean products in your supermarkets as the quake did affect the harvest, fruit packers, fisheries and port installations. A large percentage of the wine stock was lost. Like the French, Chileans love their food and the affected area was dotted with bed and breakfasts, country gourmet restaurants where well-known chefs competed with each other. Off the coast, the Humboldt Current provides nourishment to an impressive array of seafood. Last Saturday, I had five mussels for dinner. That was enough to gorge myself. Next month, the limited loco (relative of the abalone ) season will open. This will give the fishermen a good source of income to help in the coastal recovery. In Concepcion, near the epicenter, about 30% of businesses are open. Some are still closed due to damage or lack of water. Full water service should be restored soon. Going south, life is little affected by the catastrophe. The fashionable lakeside resorts with impressive views of volcanoes and the modest inns (hosterias) with the same views are open. The German bakeries still produce their famous kuchens and strudels. The remote fishing villages are a world apart where one can stay in small inns and delight in superb home made delicacies. Beyond the Lakes Region lies the Far South and Patagonia with thousands of islands, fjords and glaciers that reach the sea. Sea lion, Orcas, dolphins crowd the twisting waters, while on land, shy huemuls hide in alerce forests, home to the world’s tallest and oldest trees. Though surrounded by wonders, Chileans are world travelers, During the Gold Rush, miners headed for California. There, they threw such a party that you find Chileno Valley just north of San Francisco. North of Santa Barbara, CA, you can drive over Murieta Pass in memory of Joaquin Murieta, a notorious highwayman. On the East Coast, Chilean fruit exporters modernized the decaying Port of Philadelphia and made it a smashing success. My neighbor in Nairobi was a Chilean filmmaker. In Laos, I met a Chilean aircraft mechanic. Though they like to travel, Chileans don’t like staying abroad too long and they bring back new ideas, methods and technology. Chilean investment abroad exceeds foreign debt. Also, Chile has rainy day reserves invested in sovereign funds. The cost of reconstruction will exceed thirty billion dollars. This requires a huge effort not only by the government but from business and individuals. On March 22, 2010, a little over three weeks after the catastrophe the first new school opened its door to admit 150 children from the village of Lloca. This is a modular building with thermally insulated class rooms, computer room connected to the internet, teacher’s lounge, kitchen and dining room. The speedy response was made possible by Desafio Levantemos Chile, a private volunteer organization founded a few days after the earthquake by world famous yachtsman Felipe Cubillos. Lloka not only has a school now but fishermen a putting out to sea again in boats repaired by volunteers and donated outboard motors. Eighty emergency shelters are up. This is the first complete functioning community since the tsunami demolished everything along this coast. DLC plans to build 56 schoolsfor 25,000 students in the next two months. Repair more boats and donate four hundred outboard motors. In Llico people already talk about opening a restaurant and how they will be receiving visitors.
With people like this, can a country stay down?
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