Mi Camino de la Mañana – My Morning Walk

I am a morning person, and like to get up early in the day and have some quiet time to myself, spend a little time in the gym, get ready for the day, have breakfast and then make my way out the door to work. This is my routine back in the US, and for the most part, this has been my routine here in Santiago. The setting and circumstances may be uniquely different, but the routine in some ways helps to ground me in an ever-changing and challenging set of circumstances that some may vary daily in Chile.

One of the really nice benefits to working here in Santiago, and especially here in Ñuñoa, I have the luxury of being able to walk to work on most days. Without a car and being in close proximity to UMCE, this is a comfortable 15-20 minute stroll that now takes me past relatively familiar sights and sounds. What once was a labyrinth with strange and exotic markers is now part of a comfortable and enjoyable part of my morning routine.

I come out of my apartment building and head down the street, past the Theater and the Government offices, and see the ever-present fountain sending its magnificent plume of water into the air. I come to the main street, Irarrazaval, and make sure that the traffic lets me cross, as I wait for the green light to show my way. Safely across, I head adjacent to the plaza, past Las Lanzas y other restaurants near the plaza. I then walk past a school, where the sounds of young students laughing, playing and conversing fill the crisp morning air. Making my way across the street and away from the plaza, I head down a street called Dr. Joho, and go past La Tecla, and then make my way toward the university.

Right now, in the dead of winter (el invierno), I feel the hint of cold (el frio) in the air, but also witness the signs of spring (la primavera) as I move down the street. The trees are sprouting leaves, buds readying to burst and small flowers, some white, some yellow, greet me a new each day. I imagine this is also a scene that will be at all times familiar and full of changes, not only in the flora and fauna, but in the ever present numbers of people all around. As spring moves forward, people’s stares turn to smiles and their bundled existence leads to freedom in movement, and this to me signals that indeed, the times are changing.