'Emerald: Almost the most precious stone' (corrected)

If you're walking around Santiago's downtown, and suddenly you feel like you fall inside on a 3D photocopy of Paris, you might be tripping over 'Esmeralda' street. Located between the Central Market and the Fine Arts Museum, just one block from Forest park and 3 blocks from Bellas Artes Metro station, you'll find a historical place  still made of bricks, and historic buildings are lined up one after another.
The street got the name from the famous chilean warship that got caught on the bottom of the sea called 'La Esmeralda' and in the past the neighborhood was the place for legal paperwork and commercial trade.
But the interesting thing is what's happening these days. A group of young people are sweeping away empty bottles and are giving a fresh look to the scene. Near 'Plaza del Corregidor' you can find 'indie' fashion stores, with collections of eclectic and vintage clothes. They usually organize fashion parades and flea markets, where you can buy that special holographic dress that you were looking for. If you're a gentleman, you can go to the 'El Ropero' store, and buy yourself a jacket for $15.000, pick your favorite tie and you're ready to conquer the world. In case you're riding bike and suddenly you prick a wheel, there's a weird garage called 'Una velocidad' where you can fix your mechanical problems and also customize your bike if you want to look like a 21st century man.
Sometimes, the 'Plaza del Corregidor cultural center' gives public poetry and speeches where neighbors, pedestrians, cops and homeless people get involved in a violent and wild war of WORDS.
Rounding the corner, on 'Mac Iver' street there's a store of old fashioned movies and second hand comics called 'West Coast'. The store is like a trip back into time where you get involved in an imaginary trip to the 'far west', meanwhile you can buy some gifts for your 'secret friend' at xmas or complete your miniature rail collection.
A half block away from the plaza, you' will find a building called 'The Goethe institute'. A piece of the German culture found in the 'heart' of the city. They always have live concert sessions, if you want a nap; films exhibitions, if you want to stay in tune with Franco Prussian 'avant garde' scene, and sometimes interesting events like close encounters of the third kind or psychic split seminaries.

The Esmeralda neighborhood also offers a couple of options for warm cups of coffee and prepared drinks, but if you are also hungry, go to 'El Encuentro' and have a traditional and delicious Peruvian meal. There you can experience the pleasures of the Peruvian cuisine and enjoy a generous 'Ceviche' with a particular 'Inca-Cola' or much better ask for a Cusquenian beer.
Maybe if you don't have enough money, the option is to buy a boxed wine from the liquor store, then you sit at the plaza fountain and enjoy it surrounded by friendly homeless dogs.

So, Esmeralda street may catch a few coins off your pockets, and gives you a nice and short trip about what's going on in Santiago. But if you go often or you move there, you're going to appreciate it as a precious stone buried on a big field of rocks.

Pablo Retamal.-