Bond... James Bond

Rumours had it that part of the next 007's Quantum of Solace movie was going to be filmed right here in Paranal. All conversations during the past month would end up on Bond and Olga Kurylenko, la chica Bond. They were also going to shoot in Antofagasta and the most controversial issue was that, in the plot, these places are supposed to be Bolivia, and chileans and bolivians have an historical background of not getting along very well...

We started seeing some movement around here, but mainly basic staff people coming and going, taking notes for the preparations. On Tuesday, however, a boom of people invaded this place, with tons of equipment, cars, trucks, making everyone really excited. In the afternoon we were given a lecture by the observatory director about what was planned for the upcoming days and all the restrictions that we would be subjected to. Details on the scenes shot are confidential and pictures were forbidden, which caused quite a fuss with the usual arrogance of the staff people.

All was done with great secrecy. A stuntwoman came first to perform and test one scene. It was tough, she fell a couple of times. After that, another actress came (rumours about her being Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter and the second bond girl were heard as well, but I cannot confirm that) for another scene. The main actors only came for two days and their arrival time was unknown. I stayed up until late one night to see if they would arrive, but got no luck... Today, however, they were there, early morning. I barely saw them and didn't even recognize Craig, someone had to tell me that he was there.

The truth is that Paranal almost stopped to see the shootings. Someone (nobody knew who) would regularly play the Bond tune in the communication radios for just a couple of seconds. Today, with all the actors, everyone stayed to watch a bit more. It is also the day I would come down to Santiago, my turno had ended. I got to see a bit of all, but it was disappointing that I barely saw the actors... well, almost disappointing. With some audaciousness, my reward came in the end!

(After failing so many times to stealthily get a picture of the bond girl, Olga, I was despairing watching the shootings, sitting quietly, one hour before leaving. At some point I see her and another girl walking towards the residence. She was not in the scene they were shooting and everyone was outside, so I gave them a few minutes and followed them inside. She was sitting in the lounge talking with another guy, no security around, not much staff movement as well. I took a deep breath, convinced myself that I had nothing to lose, heart beating completely out of control, shaking all over with the excitement coming from antecipation and approached them. I asked in a surprisingly polite english if I could ask for a picture. The two of them staring at me, those big surprised gorgeous green eyes staring at my abandoned puppy face, until she babbled a "oo..o..ok". I asked the guy to take the picture (and therefore to avoid any chance of having him also in the picture), held her shoulder and got myself THE picture. I know what you are thinking now, but I will NOT post that picture here, it is mine, my own, my precious!!)

More info in
http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2008/pr-07-08.html

San Pedro de Atacama #1

Since one day and two nights in Antofagasta were enough to see the city, I decided to go also to San Pedro, a small and charming pueblo in the middle of the desert. It is a gathering point for tourists, because it has plenty to offer. From half-day géiser tours to 3-day trips to Bolivia salt lakes, bike riding, volcano climbing, natural park sightseeing. Well, the options are endless. After more than 10 years, I biked again, under the sun, during 6 hours, 25 kms, across rivers and between canyons, explored caves, visited old inca ruins, bathed in a 35ºC geothermal pool at 4500 km altitude, watched the most gorgeous sunsets and tasted the nice local food. These experiences are hard to describe. Check out the pictures in the end.

However, this was not the most valuable part of this trip. In the four days I spent in San Pedro, I learned that when you travel on your own, you are only alone if you want. I must say I was only alone for a few hours and I could have chosen not to.

This time I didn't book a room, I booked a bed, in a dorm, thus sharing a room with three more people. I did it because it was cheaper, but from now on I will do it always, because it is just great! That room hosted seven different people while I was there and the atmosphere is awesome because people hang together, either to go for dinner or to schedule tours or activities. That's how I met engineers, accountants, consultants or archaeologists, boys and girls, young and... less young, travelling for a couple of weeks or backpacking for more than half a year. I was in fact amazed with the amount of girls that actually travel fearless on their own.

Pablo (Colombia), Carisa (US) and myself were the ones that stayed together at the hostel for longer. We did quite a lot together and at some point decided to make a parrillada for everyone at the hostel, to bring people together. When there isn't one supermarket where you can find all you need, fun increases quite a lot. So we went outside the tourist area, fetched local stores for vegetables and meat, bargained for quantity discounts and chose a fine chilean wine, all this under the confused look of the people behind the counters. Everyone then helped with the food in an amazing 12 people unorganized synchronization. The final reward was to watch people talking enthusiastically, not only with us, but among themselves as well, around a glass of wine, when a few hours ago they didn't even know each other. Providing some moments of pure joy to people is very very rewarding. In the end, I know I will not be able to keep in touch with everyone I meet, but I keep them with me anyhow.

San Pedro de Atacama Photo Album

Antofagasta

I spent part of my first days off in Antofagasta. The second largest city in Chile, 150 kms north from the observatory. It was part of the process to decide where to live for the next year. During my stay at the guesthouse, I had heard terrible tales about this city, about how nothing it had, just a portuary city with its waters polluted with arsenic. I was almost obliged to make my choice of living in Santiago before even coming to the north...

Well, it is not so bad, I was in fact surprised! The city as a whole is surrounded by mountains on the east, by desert on the north and south and by the charming pacific on the west. The center is a maze of perpendicular avenues, built of colourful wooden houses and full of animation on the streets. I would say it has a bigger influence of bolivian and peruvian people than Santiago, but the same fancy people can be seen, just the atmosphere is more of a local fishing town than of a big developed city.

There is one main pedestrian street, full of shopping centers, international fast-food chains, book and music stores. During the whole day, there is street animation, either jugglers, clowns or an old woman singing spanish melodies with an amazingly clear voice. I stayed in a rough but clean hostel, in the center, the bed was to forget, but it only costed me 7 Euro per night. Pizzas are bad, they don't use mozzarella cheese and their concept of tomato sauce is to cut the tomatos in cubes... There was however one restaurant with excellent food and piano nights, a bit more expensive but very very pleasant. I had the time to see chilean police in action, chasing a guy on the streets. Poor lad...

Well, in the end I decided to live in Santiago, for the sake of my social sanity. Next turno off, I'll go down to get myself a place I can call home...

First day

Wake up time: 5:00 am. The journey begins, a taxi leaves the guesthouse and drops us at Santiago airport. 1400 kms north we land in Antofagasta airport, in the middle of... nothing. Around the airport just dust, mountains, the desert. The airport is shared with a military base, strategically placed to cover the northern region (borders with Bolivia and Peru). A bus waits for us at the exit and drives us across Antofagasta to pick some more people. Finally, it starts its 1.5-hour journey across the desert, nice paved road, the same dusty colour all around, some copper mines and factories, until we reach the observatory road by 12:30.

A big ESO plate marks the beginning of the ascent. The road is steep. At some point, a road sign warns that thereon only car parking lights are allowed. Car lights, even at 7 or 8 kms from the telescopes, interfere with the measurements. We pass a hill and up there it stands, Cerro Paranal, named as the observatory, the hill hosting the largest optical telescopes in the world. Impressive view. Around it... nothing!

A bit further we reach the basecamp, where all the logistics were built. Some containers, antennas, buildings. The bus stops at last in front of a dome coming out from the ground, with two passageways descending towards one door each, slightly before the dome. Around the passageway a few plants provide the only green colour in kilometres. That's what we see from the outside: two passageways, two doors and a dome.

"You have to register first at the residence desk", someone says. It feels weird to head towards a door, in the middle of the desert and into the ground, when the only thing you see beyond that is a dubious dome. After that door, another door, then... I stop, drop my bag and stare, with my mouth open, an incredulity look in my eyes. The contrast is astonishing.

Below the dome lies a huge tropical garden, with a pool at the bottom. The humidity inside is tropical as well, to compensate for the average 10% outside. The passageway rounds the garden and descends towards a huge hall, with sofas, tables and chairs. There's a desk, where I got my badge and a room key. Behind it, windows show the valley beneath, with a bit of ocean far away. The residence (or the hotel, as some call it) has four floors and was built along the hillside, as part of the hill. From the outside, the slope is not visible and therefore such architectural masterpiece cannot be foreseen.

The room is shared with someone that has the opposite turno as me, meaning that probably I will never meet my roommate. Private bathroom, a nice desk, a small window and a closet. Internet and phone are available. Cleaning and laundry are on the house. Meals are served in a cantine, with 3 or 4 courses to choose from. Vegetarian meals are also served. No alcohol is allowed here, apparently shit happened in the past, though in certain events, some wine seems to appear.

After lunch I am given a security briefing, in spanish, to learn the rules. No walking at night, no wandering in the desert without warning someone, 3 liters of water a day, no light after sunset, just a small flashlight they give us. All rooms and offices have their curtains closed and there's a team in charge of checking this every day. Even the residence dome has a huge cover to avoid light contamination from inside.

After that I am taken up to the observatory, by car, about 3 kms up. There's a building with all the offices and also the control room. I was introduced to a lot of people, it will take some time to get all names around here. I was given my first assignment, but told to "take it easy" in my first turno. The important for now is to understand how things work around here, to adapt to the environmental conditions and to learn a bit about what is done and by whom. There is however one thing, which is the subject of the moment around here: some scenes of the new James Bond movie are going to be shot here!! It fits...

The Guesthouse concept

My first week in Chile was spent in Santiago, to take care of paperwork and do some medical tests (football player style...). During this week I was accomodated in a very special house owned by ESO: The ESO Guesthouse. It could be called a hotel, but no, it is very different. In fact, it is even better than home. It is arranged in a way that we don't have to worry about anything else except... relax and enjoy! This seems to be the general ESO philosophy, by the way.

The Guesthouse is a one-floor house with 12 rooms, each with its own bathroom. It is ruled and managed by one person at a time, which sleeps there as well. It has its own cleaning staff, its own chef and its own helpers. The house is U-shaped with a garden in the middle and a small fountain with goldfish. In the backyard, there's another garden with a swimming pool.

In the Guesthouse there's no chance of making friends, at most just contacts. The house is normally just a checkpoint before or after going to one of the observatories in the desert. Therefore, during this week I met different people each day (mainly astronomers), some of which I also met afterwards when I took up duty. There was a couple of exceptions though, people who came to Chile to work in the office in Santiago and that stayed longer at the house. With these I will keep contact.

The meals is were things get really interesting. They have fixed times and it is up to us to decide if we want to have a certain meal or not at the house (letting the person in charge know in advance). The food and the variety is just astonishing, but what makes this house unique is beyond that.

15 minutes before dinner is pisco hour. Pisco is an alcoholic apéritif made from grapes, very good and quite strong indeed. Everyone is called to the living room where the drink is served. This is when we see different people every day and where we start the social evening. After the pisco the dinner is served in the dining room, with everyone sitting at the same table, family style. This is only possible, since the meals are served at a fixed time and it is this familiar concept that really distinguishes this place from a simple hotel.

The meals are cooked by a chef and are served in a very cerimonious way. The lady in charge normally sits with us at the table and the helpers (calling them waiters is a bit out of the picture, but that is the concept nevertheless) are called by pressing a button. There is chilean wine, red and white, which are both absolutely delicious. In the end, some go to sleep (flights are very early in the morning), the house staff retreats to work and the few left just grab the rest of the bottles of wine and a glass and moves either to the garden or to the living room. It is at this time, around a bottle of wine, that the gossiping and all the off-record information I would never get to know otherwise begin.

This is the concept. All is arranged for us. If we need a taxi to go anywhere, they call it for us (if it is for an organization issue, it is paid); if we need a taxi somewhere in the city to get back, we pay it and it is refunded; if we need to book a flight to go to the observatories, it is done and paid for; if we come late evening, we can ask for a sandwich and a glass of wine. We are spoiled!

Santiago#2 - The city

The landmarks
Santiago is a wonderful city. The center and the rich area are full of high buildings, but it has also some history, specially with references to the Pinochet dictatorship and Allende's patriotism. The south american flavour is all around in the old barrio Bellavista, full of bars, restaurants and discos, inside colonial buildings. I haven't tried Santiago's night yet, but even during the day it is impressive.
Santiago is also the city of cerros, small hills in the middle of the city which provide a fantastic view over the different areas. One of them has a huge statue of Imaculada Concepción on the top and a 270º absolutely delicious view over Santiago.



The lifestyle
Santiago has a latin type relaxed lifestyle, people are very nice and comprehensive, smiling back at you and your poor spanish. However, the city still has a high discrepancy between social levels and the concept of servant makes some sense for these people. Therefore, you can have a lot of services and pay not that much for them.
In general, I would say Santiago is a safe city. Though I haven't had the opportunity yet to try the nightlife and its usual problems, I haven't felt unsure for one second so far, not even tricked in any way.

Social life
Apparently there is plenty of social and cultural offers. The concerts are amazing, this month there was Dream Theatre and Deep Purple on the same day, Interpol, Underworld, Iron Maiden and Enio Morricone are scheduled, Bob Dylan is coming as well. Things happen in Santiago! High class meals for less than 15 euros or lunch buffets for 3 euros are all over. The food is good so far, with a lot of fish specialties and meat from the northern regions.

Santiago#1 - La zona cuica

Today I wandered around the posh zone in Santiago, since I had to also take care of the paperwork and it is all in the same area: Vitacura and Las Condes.

The first thing you notice in the morning are the housekeepers coming down the huge flats, wearing their soap opera uniforms, to take the little and fluffy poodles for a walk. And I saw several during my 30 minute walk... A little further in the morning it is possible to see the posh wifes or the fancy daughters, getting out of the garage driving a big jeep (God knows how...), probably to go shopping.

The main street of this area is full with top-class stores, italian clothes' brands, starbuck cafes, expensive restaurants and... a high voltage power line (!!) crossing the whole avenue, coming from somewhere over the hills and ending at an electrical power station at the end of the avenue. Some poor boys also try to gather some coins by juggling near the traffic lights. One of them did terrible in the end, with the whole 5 balls bouncing on the street.

I also found a huge mall, full of people (guess what... fancy and posh!!), and a fairly good park. But, in general, either you find huge 20-floor towers or nice little houses with garden and pool. It is a very peculiar area and I am pretty sure that the real Santiago is not like this.