Pomaire and Papa

Pomaire (pronounced pom-ie-dd-ay) is a famous tourist town outside of Melipilla.  Abundant natural clay in the hills surrounding the town bolstered a thriving pottery industry in the community. In the village there is a tradition of giving Chanchitos, little pig statuettes to friends and family members to bring good luck. Okay, maybe I pasted those last two sentences from Wikipedia. But they just sounded so awesome.

We went to Pomaire on one of our first weekends here and went back with Papa when he came to visit the first of November. If you go to Pomaire on Saturday the streets are crowded and it's hard to walk from store to store. If you go on a holiday weekend (like we did with Papa) it's impossible to drive or walk anywhere and you end up hot and sweaty and not getting a picture with Papa.

 A Chilean woman painting a statue. Some slightly creepy garden gnomes.

 There is pottery like this everywhere. Food cooked in this pottery is supposed to taste better.

We bought this Chancho pot to test this theory.

I'll let you know once I'm ambitious enough to actually do it.

 

 Isabelle and Becca standing by their favorite flowers. You can see the difference in their personalities.

 

 Mando buying souvenirs for the kids at a little vendor.

 We ate at restaurant in Pomaire that was actually pretty good. They had this incredibly large clay pig in the front. While Mando was in the bathroom the Chilean waitresses all oohed and ahhed over Sam. One of them practically grabbed him out of my arms and took him to show the bartender and other waitresses (all within a few feet of us or I would have been having a panic attack). He's such a novelty down here with his bald head and blue eyes. It also helps that he has such a friendly disposition and giggles for anyone who talks to him.

 

We went back to Pomaire with Papa a few weeks later. He left with his ride before we got a picture and we stopped for icecream. Doesn't Mando look happy?

 

In the streets of Pomaire. Doesn't Joseph look happy? The tortilla sign over our head is not accurate. I have yet to see a good tortilla here. They don't even have corn tortillas. (In case anyone is confused Chile is a LOOOONGGGG way from Mexico.)

 

Oh wait, I did get a picture of Papa. He stopped to look at the cacti in a cactus shop. Then he ran out and I had to ask him to come back for a picture. It must be exhausting to always be one your way to something else.

 

 

Mando bought me this lapis lazuli necklace and earrings at a little shop. This stone is mined in Chile and Afghanistan and as I'm fairly certain we'll never make our way to Afghanistan it's a perfect memory of our time in Chile. Thanks Mando.

 

 Paul Sr. and smallest Paulest playing ticket to ride on the ipads before we left for Pomaire.

Can you see the family resemblance?

Okay, I just found the last two pictures on Mando's phone. We ate with Papa and some friends/coworkers at a restaurant called Parillas de Argentina.

They cook the meat right in front of you on the grill and then put it on a plate that is sitting on hot coals inside a dutch oven. This is one of the very nice restaurants in the area.

Here's some pics of the kids playing on the swings outside

They are all thinking how lucky they are to be playing outside instead of going to school.

Well maybe not really, but I like to pretend they feel that way.