My South American Journey begins

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So I have already made a trip down the East Coast but my travelling urges were not satisfied so I flew half way around the world, gained a day and arrived in the capital city of Chile, Santiago!

After a reasonably long flight, 16 hours to be in fact, I arrived in Santiago and made my way in a taxi to my luxurious hotel. Now, many of you probably expect that to be sarcasm because either you know me or travelling too well. However, you'll be suprised to here it's the truth. I booked the hotel when I was at home and still quite rich, so enjoyed a King Size bed, fridge, a bath, fresh bath towels, air conditioning and a TV! I would have enjoyed the TV more had I been able to understand Spanish better.

I made my way into town to get some food and try and make a phone call home as my phone wasn't working. First things first I needed to change some money up. So I found out there was an exchange place in Central Station and headed down the main road there. I wandered around for ten minutes. But after a search with no luck, I asked a security guard in pigeon spanish where it was. However it didn't go as smoothly as planned...here's why the conversation when a little like this

Me: Hola. Donde es Fedex?
Man: Fedex?
Me: Erm...Cambio de...?
Man: AH, Afex! (He spoke something I didn't understand but pointed right)
Me: Gracias.

So there I was feeling pretty proud of myself, until I attempted to change money. I wanted to change my Aussie Dollars into US Dollars and get a days worth of Pesos. However, I ended up with 50,000 Pesos which was useless to me as I am only in Chile for one night! The man behind the desk had no idea what I was saying...so he got his manager who also spoke VERY little English who was trying to convinvce me they had given me the right amount of money. After numerous attempts at explanation, we finally got somewhere...I started over. He handed me back my money and I handed just 30 US dollars over and was excited to recieve 15,000 Pesos!

After this debacle...I soon realised the chance of anyone speaking Spanish was slim. I learnt a few things very quickly.
1. Santiago was much cheaper than Sydney...a banana for 87Pesos...nearly 9 pence, a Burger King Meal for 2,800...under 3 quid!
2. It is very difficult to use ATMs and Payphones as they too are all in Spanish.
3. Although speaking slower in English and trying to gesture, you may be able to communicate on some level. For example when buying ice cream, you really must learn to speak Spanish!

Hurrah for the fact I am starting a Spanish Course on Monday!
I managed to get some sleep about 9pm local time, which was just sufficient considering I had to be up at 3am for the flight!

Looking forward to keeping you posted. Much Love. Peace Out.xx

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Comments

[jenni]

Good to hear that you're fine. hope you have a lovely tan and come back to london soon? Both me and deise miss you alot.. Good luck with the spanish :) X Jenni

[Eric]

Hey Nicola, I really enjoyed your Chile post. It reminded me of my time there. My blog is looking for some good travel photos. If you have time, email us some at [e-mail] or check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric

[Tink]

Buenos Dias!
Buenos Dias Nikki! Glad to see you've got a blog going and I know how good it is to have some comments so thought I'd leave you one! I can completely empathise with you on the language barrier! Luckily Laura spoke enough to get us by but you'll learn really quickly and the people who did the Spanish courses at the hostel we stayed at in Arequipa (Casa De Avila - it's great if you're needing a place!) said they picked it up really quickly and it was well taught. Glad you're having an amazing time! Email or facebook me, Tink xxx

[Dad]

dad
Hey Nicks good to hear its all going well, cant wait to hear about the flat share and how your spanish course went Love you lots dad

[Nikki Monk]

Gracias =)
Thank you. Jenni, I miss you too. I'll be home in a flash though! Tink, comments are much appreciated. Thank You. I will keep you informed about the Spanish lessons, Dad. =)