The world´s most expensive Kiwi fruit

I would love to be able to tell you about all the things I´ve done here in Santiago, all the sights I´ve seen, the food I´ve eaten....but seeing as I haven´t actually done anything, I can´t!

I got here two days ago, and my time in Chile didn´t exactly start very well. When I´d packed my bags in the hostel back in New Zealand, I´d put my two last Kiwi fruit in my carry on bag, intending to eat them later. However, I promptly forgot about them. So when it came to filling in the customs declaration form, I ticked the box saying I had no fruit or vegetables on me. Unfortunately, the Kiwi fruit were picked up the scanners going through customs at Santiago airport...despite my protests that it was a mistake and I´d forgotten they were in my bag (in Spanish - I was so impressed with myself!) I had to pay a fine of $80US for making a false declaration on my customs form. Not exactly the friendliest of welcomes to the country!

Yesterday, still feeling pretty jetlagged, I went out to ´see the sights´of Santiago. My first stop was to buy a new mobile phone, as my UK one doesn´t work here. After negotiating buying a ticket for the metro (in Spanish) I then had to get through buying the phone. They have this bizarre system here in Chile for buying things, which, now that I´ve been to a couple of shops and seen the same thing happen, I´m starting to understand. You ask for what you want from a shop assistant. The shop assistant writes you a receipt for it. You take you receipt to the cashier. You pay for your goods and get another receipt. You then take this receipt back to the original assistant who then gives you the goods you´ve bought. However, I didn´t understand any of this when I got the mobile phone and, together with my limited Spanish, this led to a very confusing conversation and me standing around feeling like a bit of a muppet. But I got my phone in the end, so it was all good...for about five minutes, then someone grabbed the plastic bag out of my hand while I was walking down the street! The phone was in my other bag, so all he got was half a bottle of water and the box for the phone and the charger. Still, after my experience at the airport, it left me feeling a bit upset and wondering why I´d come here. I headed back to the hostel, feeling pretty lonely and sorry for myself.

Happily, within about ten minutes of getting back, I started to cheer up. I got talking to some people who had just arrived and were staying in the same room as me. They were all really nice and friendly, and had been travelling all around South America, so they were able to reassure me that it´s really not all that bad! I spent most of the rest of yesterday with them - Jamie, Tim, John and Nadj. It was Tim and Jamie´s last evening in South America, before flying to New Zealand, so they were having a farewell celebration which they invited me to join...I even had my dinner cooked for me, by their two Swedish friends. It was great! So yeah, after having felt so miserable earlier in the day, I felt so much happier by the end of it.

Today I´ve done absolutely nothing, except buy a new charger for the phone. This hostel is amazing, easily the best I´ve stayed at, so I´ve just been relaxing here all day. It´s quite a small place, really chilled out, with massive high ceilings and wooden floors. It´s so beautiful...and they make the beds every morning! It´s so nice I could just stay here all the time...but I won´t, because that would be a waste of time and money. I´ve seen the others´ photos from their trip down to Patagonia so I´m itching to get going myself now. Tomorrow I think I´m going to Valparaiso for a few days, before I start heading down south.

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