It´s been 5 days in Santiago, Chile. I think this is the longest I have stayed in one place thus far in South America. Today I am off to Valparaiso because the locals tell me that I¨must go there¨...

Yesterday on my way to downtown Santiago I passed by a little outdoor market. In the back of the market was a beaten up old sound stage with a barely there sign ¨Artesian Chilean¨. On stage was a man in his late 30s playing his acoustic guitar. He proceeded to play song after song for over an hour. His voice was gentle and beautiful. He reminded me of the Chilean version of Jose Gonzalez from Sweden. This music was certainly a nice break from all the new wave 80s music I had heard my entire time here. However, what made this moment memorable was not the singing (although beautiful) but the other man on stage. He was actually off stage but to me he was the star of the show. An elderly gentleman in his 70s with a vibrant blue scarf around his neck kept pacing near the stage with something in his hand. I didn´t realize at first but I should have known when he, too, stayed until the end.. clapping enthusiastically song after song. He would cautiously approach anyone that would stay and watch his son perform on stage. He would then take out the two cds in his pocket and present it to anyone that might be interested. He eventually held unto those cds until the very end. He would wipe the leaflet cover every now and again to make sure it was presentable. It didn´t matter for me. I wanted to meet the man who was so incredibly proud of his son on stage singing before an audience of one.

I´m sure these two cds in my pocket are the best purchases I have made thus far in South America. I cannot wait to return home next week to play them.