Glacial Deposits.indd - Department of Geography - Geology - Illinois ...

One cultural oddity that I quickly noticed during my stroll through the city was the large number
of stray dogs running around. The dogs were of many types and breeds, many of them good
sized. It was peculiar to see them running around on the sidewalks with no owner in sight,
sometimes alone, oftentimes in groups of two or more. I had heard that this was something to
look out for. Fortunately, despite their size, the dogs kept to themselves and did not harass the
humans. In fact, they seemed quite friendly, and seemed to go about their business just like the
humans.
I stopped off at a small deli and ordered an empañada de pino and Coke. The empañada was
good, a bread-like pocket filled with a mix of meat, onions, hard boiled eggs, raisins, and an
olive. Ordering the empañada was a minor challenge. The Chileans that I had met thus far were
patient with my virtually non-existent knowledge of Spanish. I usually try to pick up the basics of
a language before I travel as a way to show respect to the host country and as a matter of my
own convenience. However, I did not have time to learn Spanish for this trip, given the timing of
the travels during the busy part of the fall semester. My working knowledge of French and Latin
helped with reading some words on signs. But in conversation, forget it.
After checking into the hotel, I went to register at the conference, which was the reason for the
trip to Santiago. At the registration, I had good conversations with attendees from Nigeria and
Slovakia. I talked with the Slovakian about my own Slovak heritage. He enjoyed hearing about
the migration of my relatives to Chicago in the early 1900s; apparently there was a big wave of
migration of Slovaks to Chicago at this time. He knew of the town where my relatives were from.
On the way back I had an American hot dog (or complemento), which included an avocadobased
condiment. I jumped on the subway to head back to the hotel. I realized that I had the
very basics of Santiago figured out. Usually, I think it just takes a day to figure out the basic feel
of a new city.
Later that night Jim Carter made it to the hotel after traveling to Punta Arenas, Tierra del Fuego,
and Torres del Paine in far southern Chile with Judy Olson. I very much enjoyed listening to
stories of his travels down south, and was amazed that he even made it to a Rotary Club
meeting while down there.
Jim: Monday, 16 November—Monday morning we grazed the breakfast buffet that was part of
our room rate. Then we walked about 500 feet and squeezed onto the subway and 15 minutes
later we were at the Escuela Militar (Military School) where the conference was held. I
remember taking the subway in 1979 and was pleased to find it is still in very good shape and
very functional. It cost 80 cents for each ride.
We attended the opening session and tried to orient ourselves. There were six rooms for
presentations, a commercial exhibit, rooms for meetings of commissions, a hallway for poster
presentations, a long hallway devoted to displays of national map exhibits and a display of the
Barbara Petchenik Children's Maps Exhibit, and a dining room. It was difficult to get our
orientation. The conference registration included a sit-down lunch with very good food and
desert. These luncheons proved to be a good place for conversations and building relationships.
And, after a big breakfast and a quality lunch, there was no need to eat a large dinner.
We went back to the hotel to move into a new room and returned to the conference to gather
with the other members of the U.S. delegation. There must have been at least 40 persons there
from the U.S. At that time we learned that the U.S. is hoping to host the International
Cartographic Conference in 2015 in Washington, D.C.
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