Winter is here

Last week in BA was really cold and the Polar air has reached Chile. Santiago recorded lows of -3C over the weekend and it certainly feels colder here than when we left for BA just a week ago. Winter in Valpo is usually pretty miserable. The city is famous for its cobbled hillside streets becoming raging torrents. A friend told me last week that in some sectors of the city the waters sometimes take cars and whatever else isn't nailed down with them...

So far, however, we've had virtually no rain. This is apparently really rare-May is usually the start of the rain and we're now in the first week of June. It's rained heavily once (back in January in a totally freak rain-storm) and there's been a bit of drizzle a couple of times, but nothing major. The long-range forecast for this winter is for it to be colder than usual but with less rain. That's great, isn't it? Well, less rain doesn't mean no rain-it means fewer days of rain but heavier storms. Something to look forward to, eh?

As it is, i don't care how cold it gets-we've had central heating installed and also, to keep gas bills down (gas is hideously pricey in Chile), a "salamandra". The house is actually a sauna right now and i have the window open...nice.