LOS TRES CABALLEROS

So here´s the three hardest working obreros at Las Siete Cabañas. The little guy on the left in the sleeveless muscle shirt is Carlos. I can remember how crazy he got singing Beatles songs on New Year´s Eve...he had the words down perfectly even if he didn´t have the slightest idea what those words meant. On the right, in the green Jameson´s Whisky shirt is Orlando, who actually happens to be one damn fine guitar player. And finally, the big guy in the middle is none other than Diego Parada Savignone himself, crew leader and manager of the cabañas.
Actually, I snapped this photo only minutes before leaving El Tabo for my return drive into Santiago. These three characters were, along with Diego´s wife Luisa, my best friends for the eight days I spent there, and I know that they are hopeful that I can muster up another trip to Chile and a posible return to El Tabo in December, but that´s another story.
I made it back into Santiago without incident, and actually feel a bit of pride in the fact that I was able to navigate the highways and easily find Andres´new office in the barrio Los Condes. After I got back, he put me up in his apartment in El Centro on Calle Mosqueto, and so today I have been taking in once again the sights of this superb downtown.
Unfortunately I have been having a bit of a task trying to re-connect with Andres, and since he forgot to get me a cell phone I have had to frequent one or another of the so-called "Centro de Llamados," which are glorified telephone booths, usually doubling as internet cafes as well to try to call Andres. I did get ahold of him this morning, and, thinking that we would be getting together for almuerzo (lunch), I was a bit surprised when he told me he would be too preoccupied and for me to call him after 7 p.m. because he was going to make arrangements for us to get together this weekend for a barbecue. Well, that sounded nice, and I did my part - waiting until after 7 p.m. to call him. But all I got was his voice mail, so I figure that things are particularly insane for him right now as he is taking in his kids this weekend and will be shopping for food etc. So I just told his voice mail I´d try again in the morning.
So Santiago is hot. Yes, HOT. I mean temperature-wise. Like it is almost 8 p.m. as I type this in the internet cafe, and the temperatures must still be in the upper 80´s (F). And there´s no end in sight for the heat until I get on my return flight home to the cold winter in the USA.
Anyway, I´ll try to shoot some photos of some of the major city landmarks here in El Centro Santiago for my next post. Until then, amigos...