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Letter from Santiago

Okay, yesterday I ran a letter I received from my friend Killy Stanton who lives with her husband, Robert, and sons in Temuco, Chile, which was about 160 miles from the epicenter of the quake. As she reported, things were very, very scary for her and her elderly parents (her husband was in Santiago with their son when the quake hit). Today, I’m going to run a letter I got from another good friend, Liz Caskey. Liz lives in Santiago where she operates a food and wine tour company, Liz Caskey’s Culinary & Wine Experiences. Liz notes, as did another Santiago tour operator, Brian Pearson, whose letter we ran yesterday, that things are pretty normal in Santiago and they hope everybody doesn’t get all scared off by the media reports of damage in the south and cancel trips to Chile. Here’s her report from the capital:

The San Pedro bakery in Santiago. Photo courtesy of Liz Caskey.

The San Pedro bakery in Santiago. Photo courtesy of Liz Caskey.

Dear Friends and Family,

I want to truly thank you for your continued support during these tough times in Chile. It has been so wonderful to hear from you all through calls and e-mail as Chile deals with the aftermath of the quake. We appreciate your prayers and thoughts.

To give you an update, now 5 days from Saturday’s devastating events, things in Santiago are thankfully normal, as in much of the country. As you know, with Chile’s long geography, the majority of the country is functioning perfectly normal with the exception of the affected areas within 100 miles of the Concepción area and the coastline hit by the tsunami. While the news images continue to show looting, please know that the military, Red Cross, and many volunteers have already arrived with food, water, and aid. Electricity and communicatio(ns are being restored as we speak to these areas. Today (Friday), there is a huge drive, Teletón, raise millions of dollars to provide temporary housing for every family who lost their home. There is a sense of real solidarity here. The of light of hope has appeared for these people. The next huge step is reconstruction.

The wine industry here did suffer some serious losses of inventory and damage to facilities, mostly in the regions of the Maule, Curicó, and some areas of Colchagua. Others escaped completely unscraped. I will be posting later this week with a full update since many of you have asked. It is a complex situation since harvest is due to start any day and vintners trying to manage where they will make the 2010 vintage in some cases.

Many of you have also requested information on how you can contribute to the rebuilding efforts in Chile. Beyond the Red Cross, which is for aiding relief efforts, we suggest these three ways.

1. Travel to Chile

If you have traveled to Chile, have a trip scheduled here, or know people that do, please encourage friends, family, and colleagues to still come. Refer them to my blog, where I directly addressed this issue yesterday. The images the media is “exporting” and messages the US State Department issuing are harmful for the country in the long term and can impact its tourism. The information they are providing is simply not accurate since many people do not understand the country’s geography and where the quake is contained. They stick all of Chile in the disaster boat and this is completely false. Chile is operative and normal in ALL areas minus the above-mentioned affective area. We have had clients on wine tours this week and heading to points in Patagonia with zero problems or alterations. Don’t let TV paranoia ruin what makes Chile so wonderful. Help spread the word.

2. Support Local Business & Reconstruction

Our business has started a direct initiative to support a local non-profit foundation with a school and organic farm we visit with our tours to channel funds to families affected by the quake both locally and in the south. We are donating a significant portion of the proceeds from our Eat Wine Santiago guide, a food & drink e-guide to the capital. Please help our efforts by purchasing this e-guide. Ask your family and friends to help too. Even if you/they don’t plan on coming to Santiago, Eat Wine Santiago includes a great wine list, insight into Chile’s food/wine culture, will directly contribute to reconstruction efforts in Chile, and seriously, costs less than a dinner for one or a bottle of decent wine. We also will be offering free updates for the first two editions for friends, family, and colleagues who may have Chile on the horizon in the future. Click here for more information.

3. Buy Chilean

Now more than ever, please buy Chilean. Organize a “Support Chile” dinner party or wine tasting. Accompany with classic dishes like Cazuela, Savory Chicken stew, ceviche, or Ensalada Chilena, Chilean tomato salad. You can find recipes on my blog. Serve Chilean wines from Sauvignon Blanc to Carmenere which you can find throughout the US/Canada easily. Incorporate Chilean ingredients like fresh fruit (blueberries, peaches, and grapes at this time of year). At Wholefoods and gourmet grocers you can find Olave olive oil and the piquant smoked chili spice, Merkén.

I promise to keep you all updated and in the loop of our efforts to turn a devastating situation into a promising one. If there’s one thing I have learned in life, with the right attitude, we as human beings are capable of confronting any situation and doing anything we put our mind to. As they say here, Chile se la puede. Chile can do it. We are doing it. Chile will step forward. But in addition to your prayers, I hope you will consider supporting us the reconstruction directly here in Chile.

Please feel free to e-mail me directly at liz@lizcaskey.com with any questions you may have.

Un abrazo cariñoso,

Liz & Team

p.s. This photo is taken at San Pedro bakery in Barrio Brasil, a family-run bakery and one of my favorites in Santiago for delicious marraqueta bread. One of the many faces of small business in Chile.

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Letter from Temuco, Chile

I have a lot of friends in Chile and have been getting reports from Santiago to Patagonia regarding damage from the massive 8.8 earthquake that hit central Chile last Saturday. Two good friends, Robert and Killy Stanton, live within the shadow of three volcanos in Temuco which is 433 miles south of Santiago. It’s a gorgeous area, known as the gateway to Chile’s Lake District with its forests of alerce, a sequoia-like giant that can live for 3,000 years. But Temuco was also only 160 miles from the quake’s epicenter—way too close for comfort as Killy reported to me in this e-mail sent shortly after the quake:

The Stanton family in Temuco, Chile.

The Stanton family in Temuco, Chile.

I must say it was one of the most frightening nights of my life as I was alone here on the farm taking care of my parents (as Robert was in Santiago meeting Matthew, who had just returned from Kenya), when the earthquake struck at 0345H.  The house shook so violently and great chunks of masonry came falling down, glass was flying everywhere and everything was shattering all around me and I could hardly stand up, as I ran out of the house round to the guest wing where my parents live, and when I got to my mother she was so terrified she could hardly breathe, she had actually been thrown out of her bed!  Of course just being the two of us we couldn’t move my father who is an invalid, and was in the room next to hers, but amazingly enough he didn’t even wake up!!

Once the quaking stopped, all I could hope was that we had been in the epicentre and that Robert and the boys in Santiago were all right.  As we all know now, it was in fact Concepcion and Santiago felt it as strongly as we in Temuco did.  Robert and Matthew were in an apartment on the 19th floor which swayed like a willow tree and creaked and groaned, but they managed to get out down the stairs, rescuing a little girl on the way whose parents had left her alone that night to go to a party!  William was at work in his office finishing up a project (at 345am!!!!!) and all alone on the 16th floor with furniture and water cannisters flying around, but he found his way in the dark down 16 flights of stairs as there were no emergency lights!!

We were without water and electricity until just a few hours ago, and some of our “aftershocks” have measured 7 on the richter scale, so those are pretty scary too, but we have to get used to it, as they say that we might have tremors for up to a year.  Meanwhile chaos is reigning everywhere.  The airport is closed, Robert and Matthew can’t get back to Temuco as the roads are chaotic and dangerous and Lawrence is stuck in Lima.  In Temuco there is no petrol at the service centres, the shopping mall has been closed for 3 weeks for repairs and all the other supermarkets are running out of supplies, with people getting aggressive and threatening violence towards the staff.  I have stayed away as we have farm produce, potatoes, apples and I have stuff in the freezer for a couple of weeks,and I only have myself and my parents to feed, but it is not much fun!  I would love to have Robert and Matthew home and Lawrence back in Santiago with William, but I will have to be calm and patient!!

Take care and all the best,

Killy Stanton

And from Brian Pearson, an American ex-pat who has lived in Chile for some 7 years now and runs a tourism company out of Santiago called Santiago Adventures:

We hope for better reporting  in the presentation of Chile’s current situation. As expected, the international media has focused only on the most severely damaged areas. They have done this without clear indications of the geography of a country that is 2,800 miles long. This has led to confusion and much unnecessary worry regarding the 6 million people in Santiago where very few people were injured. The major damages are 3 to 5 hours south of Santiago where, sadly, there were many deaths and there are many people still missing or trapped in buildings.

It is also unfortunate that the US government has recommended not traveling to Chile for tourism. Approximately 5% of the Chilean economy is based on tourism. The best way to help the people of Chile is to make sure that the world is correctly informed that Chile is open for business despite the country’s current effort to restore the areas affected by the earthquake. The main tourist destinations San Pedro de Atacama in the north, Patagonia in the south and Easter Island were unaffected by the earthquake. People should consider Chile very safe to visit once the Santiago airport is fully operational in the coming days. With a few minor inconveniences, we are very confident in our ability to deliver the same level of service we have always provided to our customers.

How you can help? If you would like to offer your assistance to Chile earthquake relief, please donate to the Red Cross which has committed to assisting Chile with their relief efforts www.redcross.org.

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