Que Linda!

Last week's vocabulary phrase was "Que linda!" as in "Ay Valdivia, que linda es esta ciudad!"


At first my thoughts were "not another bus trip with Berto and Gabi". But one mention around the teachers' coffee table that Mike had a conference in Valdivia and everyone was telling me how beautiful the place is. So we marched down to the bus station Tues. afternoon and, after an overnight at our favorite hostal in Puerto Varas, we were rolling into Valdivia by Wed. afternoon.

And yes, Valdivia is a city of many charms. For starters, it is at the confluence of three rivers about 15 miles inland from the Pacific ocean. The three rivers encircle an island, Isla Teja, that is the main campus of the Universidad Austral de Chile as well as home to the botanical gardens, crew club and museums. Valdivia has also been influenced by the influx of middle class German immigrants in the second half of the 19th century.

Tucked in alongside the rivers and on Isla Teja are houses built by the German immigrants. With their gable roofs and detailed woodwork you could be fooled into thinking you were somewhere in Germany. The prevalence of natural blondes and the good beer (Valdivia is the home of Kunstmann - our favorite!) back up the Germany deja vu.

Gabi enjoyed the natural history museum that was housed in the former residence of Karl Anwandter and his sons Gustavo and Carlos. While Mike was giving his talk at the Congreso Chileno de Otorrinolaringologia: Medicina y Cirugia de Cabeza y Cuello, the kids and I explored town.


Some of Valdivia's most famous residents however are not human. Sea lions, lobos marineros, have decided that they own the place. Thursday afternoon, we were strolling along the river walk and happened past what our map identified as the helicopter landing pad. Better tell any helicopter pilots they will have to beat back a dozen sunning sea lions before they can land. We also spotted several more on a dock provided for them floating in the middle of the river. Life is tough!

On the other side of the bridge from Valdivia to Isla Teja is the fish market. Berto could have stayed there all day, and it wasn't the taste of fish that attracted him

The fish market backs up to the river. As the fish mongers fillet the fresh catch, they flip the scraps over their shoulder into the river. There, terns fly, gulls squawk, cormorants dive and sea lions rule over all. The bigger sea lions had their own spots staked out and calmly waited for the big pieces to flop at their fins. One sea lion was even positioned right next to the fillet table. I thought the fish man rather bold to get so cozy to such a big beast until we saw his secret; he fed the sea lion a whole 10 pound fish!


We'll save our boat tours for the next post. For those of you who can pronounce Otorrinolaringologia, here is Mike's conference report.

As promised... CHORL 2010 was at the Hotel Dreams (a Chilean chain), a big new pretty sail-shaped building. There were about 250 clinicians and researchers from all over Chile (and distributed the way the general population is, so most were from Santiago) and a few from Argentina and Columbia - and a few guest speakers from Australia and the U.S. Though the conference was in Spanish, they provided simultaneous translations (both directions!) for the rest of us. I was impressed by the types of research people were talking about and the state of clinical practice in Chile - pretty much the same issues (so far as I'm aware) as in the U.S., including what can go wrong and how to pay for things. My 10-minute talk went well, and I got some nice comments afterward. As in the corresponding conference in the U.S., this seemed to be a big opportunity for schmoozing, socializing, and collecting swag from all the vendor booths. I collected some pens from booths that were not for drug companies - they weren't easy to find!

And people were very nice - I was able to strike up conversations easily, and at the banquet a few folks looked after me. And what a banquet! at a gymnasium in the park on Isla Teja, with free drinks (Pisco Sours, of course, and more) and dancing and food food food! Roast lamb, roast pork, sausages, calamari, mariscos pil-pil, salads, tortas, mousse, kuchenes - enough for three dinners! We remarked on how ironic it was that a conference for hearing doctors should have such loud music... All in all, it was a fun time.

Next: A bus trip out to the coast by Valdivia - muy linda tambien!