The Office

Well, I've changed my mind. Bolivia will have to wait until I'm finished with life at ECLAC. The photo above was taken from a rooftop restaurant by a friend of mine, Matt Broscio in Vitacura, an easern part of Santiago. From where the photo was taken my apartment is fifteen minutes on foot in one direction, while the office is fifteen in the other. The upside to all of the contamination in Santiago is the spectacular sunsets. The light refracts off the smog sometimes for almost an hour lighting up the sky in all varieties of oranges, reds and yellows. If you're lucky you may even see a smogbow. Thants right, replace rain with smog and you still get refraction- just don't breath in too deeply.

Here's a view of the main building with the pond in the foreground. You can see the top of the tower as well. Standing on the tower you have a great view of the frontal range of the andes as well as the skyline of eastern Santiago. The bird swimming around in the pond is a Black-necked Swan. They are all over southern Chile, especially in Valdivia. Recently, a paper mill opened and due to all of the toxins they dump into the swan's habitat about half of Valdivia's swan population has dies or migrated to other parts. But that's another story...

Picture taken of the flags of the member countries of ECLAC from our post-lunch lounging session. The lawn was our escape every day from the daily grind and wewere sometimes joined by the ECLAC ducks or the tai-chi group. I prefer the ducks, at least you can quack at them.

Adrian and I taking advantage of the 1.5 hour lunch break with the bell of peace in the foreground.

A view of the pond with the fountain in action. In the distance are the skyscrapers of Vitacura. The grounds serve as a great escape from the chaos of Santiago. There are even peacocks, although their romanticism wears off quickly after listening their ear-splitting squak...

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