Saturday, December 8th, 2007 Feast of the Immaculate Conception and Cerro San Cristobal

Saturday, December 8th, 2007 Feast of the Immaculate Conception and Cerro San Cristobal

Woke up around 7 am, ate breakfast with Olga and we headed out together to Cerro San Cristobal. We hiked up in about one hour and got there around 11 am. We waited in line about 1 hour before we could enter into the chapel. Inside we were led in prayer by a few nuns and after a few short minutes we were escorted out for the next group. We waited for the next mass to finish by the side and when the Bishop saying the mass walked out, Olga asked the Bishop to bless the scapular that she had just bought me in the chapel on the hill. The Bishop was very sweet and said a short blessing, which absolutely thrilled Olga.

We found a seat for mass and it was a beautiful service. After mass we walked a short way down the hill and found a grassy hill looking over the city and ate the lunch we had packed for ourselves. Then we walked all the way back down the hill and instead of heading home, we spent the afternoon walking through the city running errands and buying last minute things I needed before heading home. We also stopped by to visit a long time friend of Olga’s. Her friend lives alone in a small but nice apartment in the heart of downtown. For the first time I had mate, the popular Argentinean tea like drink. It’s hot water, sugar, and mate, a flavorful herb that they put in the cup and sip out the water with a straw with a filter at the bottom. Afterwards we walked through the clothes market looking for outfits for Miguel for his birthday, a cute “Chilean” shirt for me, and a small Chile soccer jersey for my cousin Brendan for Christmas. We went all over but didn’t find anything we were thrilled about. Right when we were about to give up on the jersey, we stopped by a small kiosk that happened to have one more, small, Chilean jersey for the right price. It was absolutely perfect. Then we went to the grocery store and finally headed home.

I was exhausted when we finally got back, but I loved the time with Olga. In the evening Calli came over and we watched a Chilean movie called Casa de Remolienda, drank wine, and ate chocolate covered strawberries!