1999 Impressions of Christmas in Chile

Many life-like Santas climbed up ropes both inside the public areas of the mall and outside on the walls of the stores.

Christmas decorations at our nearby mall included both seasonal and religious themes. Above is the top of the multi-story Christmas tree at Parque Arauco. The base of the tree, at left, was huge and featured live rabbits and white doves living on a slope covered with sod, plants and a small stream. In another court area of the mall there was a life-size village of "Belém" with a combination of mechanical and living townspeople. We forgot to get any photos of this. We thought it strange that they used large snowflake lights to decorate the outside parking lots. We only got to see them lit a few times, since it stays light until past 9 PM here in December, summertime in Santiago.

This 20 foot high Menorah was erected near the Hyatt Hotel. It was interesting to see the Spanish spelling. "Feliz Januca."

1999 Christmas Party

The party we hosted for the Santiago office Oxy-Chile employees and their families at the country club was a lot of fun. A professional photographer took pictures, so everyone got mementoes of the event. While adults enjoyed appetizers and drinks, the children played games in an upstairs room.  Then all gathered for dinner, speeches, and after-dinner gift exchange and family games.

One of the party games everyone played after dinner involved each half of the room "dressing" one person with everything they could find.  Dave Logan sure is wearing a lot in this picture with Laura and Max!

Artie made an excellent speech, in Spanish, which entertained his boss, Julio Napoles, at right, who had come to Chile for the annual service awards dinner for the plant in Talcahuano as well as for the party.

Santa arrived with a sack of toys for the children. Here in Chile, he rings a handheld bell to call the children, since sleighs and  reindeer with bells on their harnesses don't work in the summer time.

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