Pedro de Valdivia--First Home and First Governor of Chile

This week I finally ended the long and drawn out process of apartment searching and settled on moving at the end of this month. I'm really excited about it and will definitely post more about my new neighborhood, apartment, and roommates in the coming weeks. But I'm also a little sad to be leaving the neighborhood that has become my home in the past two months.

Avenida Pedro de Valdivia attracted me in my first days in Santiago. In fact, while walking down it on our way to a restaurant for dinner, I literally said to myself, "I am going to live on this street." Although my living situation didn't end up being a good fit, I still think Pedro is a perfect mix of tranquil charm and easy access to shops, restaurants and cafes. If I could have found another apartment somewhere along it I would have stayed.

So, in thinking about my move and not having Pedro de Valdivia be part of my daily routine any more I started wondering about the actual Pedro de Valdivia. Pretty neglectful of me to never have even Wikipedia-ed the namesake of my street in the whole two and a half months I've been here!

Turns out old Pedro was, as you might imagine since he has such a sweet spot named after him, a pretty big deal. He actually founded the city of Santiago and was the first royal governor of Chile when it was still a Spanish colony. According to my quick little research project (thanks Wikipedia) he tried to improve relations with the native population, which had been pretty much brutalized by his predecessor. However, he still was on a mission--expand Spain's hold as much as possible--so no matter how peaceful he might have tried to be in the process, he still no doubt ended up stepping on a lot of indigenous toes. He did manage to expand as far south as Concepcion, and his namesake Valdivia.

There are several different stories surrounding his death, but what is for sure is that he died at the hands of the Araucania tribe. All of them equally horrifying, one involves his arms being severed off, roasted, and eaten in front of him while he was still alive!

Colonialism issues aside, I have to feel proud to have lived on the street named after the founder of Chile. He was pretty badass and the Santiago that he founded back in the 16th century at Santa Lucia hill has become a pretty nice place to live, so I can't complain.