Coyhaique

Colorful houses to beat back the winter gloom.

German influence downtown.

Modern art or a trash can downtown?  It´s a trash can.

It could be any house in the suburbs until you notice the stovepipes coming out of every room!

Random Tom Friedman-esqe social observation: you realize how small the world really is when you fly to the end of the earth, check into an internet cafe, and the 40 year old Chilean next to you is... checking family photos on facebook! 

...or when they play Maroon 5 at the local grill.

So the funny thing is, on a map, Coyhaique is at the end of the world. 

But culturally, itcould be a suburb of Denver.  There are supermarkets, free Wi-Fi, Coronas at the restaurant, a North Face store downtown, SUVs, and teenagers on their cell phones - it´s all here.  Even a GNC if you want to stock up on vitamins to be a little more macho. 

It´s a little more quiet, and it all has a Latin flavor to it, but you wouldn´t be crazy if you thought you were a lot closer to the US.