The city of Valdivia has a lot of waterfront, which is very pretty and clean-looking. But what you don't see from the water are the two things that are everywhere: graffiti and dogs.
Graffiti really isn't the right word for it: it's more of an art. There are artsy silhouette drawings (above), huge spray-painted political messages and protests, lines of poetry painted in cursive, and childrens' drawings on the walls of daycares and schools (below)
Perros vagos, stray dogs, are also everywhere. At first it was really surprising, but now they are just part of the scenerey, napping in the sun, lounging on doorsteps, running after taxis, and barking. This one looked particularly sad, but they usually seem pretty happy and well fed.
The stray dogs in Valparaíso kept running straight at cars, which looked kind of suicidal. The ones in Valdivia don't usually try to get run over. Yesterday I saw a dog obey the pedestrian traffic signals: even though there were no cars driving by at the intersection, the dog waited until the little light turned green to cross the street. How smart.
This doggy is called Almendra, which means almond. She lives on our street and was left behind when her former owners moved away. We are now good friends, but it took a lot of bribing. She growls at everyone who walks by unless she knows them personally, and to get on her good side you have to give her a piece of food once in a while. My family told me to give here a pancito (roll) before trying to pet her, or else she will bite. Now we're buenas amigas, good buddies.
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