Photo by OMGEsteban
Note: It's better for you to read
- Swifty in Chile (Part 1)
- Swifty in Chile (Part 2)
- Swifty in Chile (Part 3)
- Swifty in Chile (Part 4)
- Swifty in Chile (Part 5): Visiting Pablo Neruda's House - La Chascona And Learning Spanish
- Swifty In Chile (Part 6): Rediscovering Santiago And The Meaning of Film Festivals
- Swifty In Chile (Part 7): Seafood Scam and Glamourous Awards Ceremony
21st of August, 2007, Day 8.
The Santiago International Film Festival (SANFIC) had ended the night before.
One by one, the guests left. Hu Shu, and Marina (the Argentinean producer who went to Neruda's house with me days earlier), taking the same bus to the airport.
And then, the Canadian filmmaker, Scott, who philosophized with me the meaning of filmmaking and film festivals under the starry sky. He left too.
I bade them all adieu.
Hu Shu had warned me that one would be lonely if he remained after the end of a film festival, he had to say goodbye to all, and then find something to do by himself. That was the fate I ended up with after extending my stay in Chile.
Two days earlier, Hu Shu had gone off to the fabled Valparaiso, Chile's most important seaport and 'Cultural Capital', the place Pablo Neruda called the 'Ocean's Sweetheart'. So beautiful and steeped with cultural and historical importance that the city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. He came back at night and told me that I had to go there no matter what. He also added that one of Pablo Neruda's houses was there too.
To go to Valparaiso, one would have to take a 2-hour bus ride. I was initially reluctant to do that. Traveling so far in a foreign place? What happens if I cannot return to Santiago in time? Do I have to incur more expenses by spending a night in Valparaiso?
