"¿Habla ingles? ... ¡Claro no!"

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WARNING THIS IS LONG. READ AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE.


Pues, estoy en Chile - “Conce,” to be exact - and here is my tale this far:
After the completion of my travels, beginning on Friday, I had gotten about one hour of sleep in thirty-six hours and had eaten a mere four protein bars in forty-eight. You might ask why the lack of sleep and food? Well for the latter, all I can say is: airplane food. For the former, that has a separate explanation. As I was boarding my butt-kicking marathon flight from Toronto to Santiago, I noticed that I would be seated next to a very cute very old man, and this excited me because I thought I could get some good oldtimer stories from him. It turned out he spoke not a word of English, but I thought this even better, so that I could practice my Spanish listening skills. Well I listened and listened, and these are some of the things he possibly might have said:

1. I’m 86 years old
2. My son just got married in Toronto, which is why I was there
3. My wife just died in Toronto, which is why I was there
4. I personally knew Salvador Allende
5. I’m 144 years old
6. I used to have a restaurant in Santiago and Salvador Allende once came in
7. “Entiendes?” (yes, I would always reply, although it obviously was never really true)

Now, some of these statements may seem contradictory, but the lack of understandable info could be due to:

a. My lack of advanced Spanish (on top of my terrible listening skills in general, even in English)
b. The Chileans’ lack of S’s (therefore, for example, “despues” - “after” - becomes “depue”)
c. This gentleman’s lack of teeth.


He also let me know that all the Chilean kids these days are cussing all over the place…and then proceeded to tell me all the bad words they’re saying.

But back to the sleeping thing: basically every time I would try to sleep he’d say “Y cuando yo era niño…” and start talking again. I must say that after fifteen hours of that it got pretty annoying, no matter how cute he was.

ANYWAYS, I finally arrived in Concepcion on Saturday afternoon, slept from four to ten, got up to take a shower, discovered that the Lord of the Rings was playing on TV (therefore it had to be watched), then slept again until the morning. I finally got to walk around this long-awaited city on Sunday, and the air was so fresh and tasted so beautifully (especially compared to airplane air) that I wondered why hardly anyone was outside! The streets were mostly empty and shops were all very much closed. Church? I think that’s a yes. So I simply walked and wandered a few hours and a few miles, and I discovered that everyone was in the supermarket! Alas, a super-duper-market! This place was like a Walmart and a Costco combined, I just can’t understand how everything one might materialistically need can possibly fit in one building. And it kind of made sense that everyone was there, seeing as how all the smaller shops were closed for the day.

But I kept wandering and decided my tummy needed some traditional Chilean grub, so I landed in the only restaurant I could find open and sat down. Well I looked on the menu and, lo and behold, there were no vegetarian options (even though there was a sign saying “vegetariano” on the door). So I asked the waitress if there were any vegetarian dishes and she’s like “yes, there’s…the vegetarian dish,” but saying it as if she’d never served it before. “Oh, just the one?” I ask. “Yes, well of course.” So obviously I get it, then discover that - surprise - it’s a salad. The waitress also looked very confused when, handing me the check, she noticed that I’d taken off the egg and cheese and potato salad. Yay for traditional Chilean food! I’m kidding, I’m only waiting until I get home-cooked veggie meals from my actual family (because if you don’t know, I’m here a week early before the program actually starts, so I’m staying in a hotel and discovering things).

This morning I went to search for a hostel to stay in, because let’s be honest, hotels are not the cheapest places to live. So I got out my handy dandy lonely planet book on Chile (equipped with “down-to-earth, accurate information” as it says on the back), and went on a little quest. One hostel, as I soon discovered, no longer exists. I then asked around about two other hostels, which apparently are in the same building. Some people pointed me in different directions, then when I got there I asked more people and they had no idea what I was talking about. This took me a few hours, and my check-out time for the hotel was nearing. So I just booked an extra four nights in this hotel, which doesn’t give me any complaints, but also doesn’t allow me to meet fellow travelers and also keeps me up watching American movies in Spanish all night (except for tonight! I’ve decided I’m going off movie-watching for a time…Although it does help me with my Spanish listening skills.)


Okay! Now for some interesting facts (or observations anyway) on the city:

Everyone here is light skinned with dark hair and eyes. Therefore I think I blend in pretty well. But I think that’s also because people my age dress similarly, somewhat hipster-ish with a piercing in the face (more like how everyone at Jack’s looks, actually). I’m pretty sure people think I’m from here at first, because I start off talking in Spanish and they take me seriously, but then I have to ask them “wait, what did you just say?” a few times, and they look at me like “wait, are you dumb?”

I’m pretty sure the PDA is encouraged, wherever and whenever.

Everyone eats ice cream. All the time. I haven’t tried it yet but it’s the next thing on my list.

I live right next to the Plaza de Independencia, which is the center of town for hanging out, eating, shopping, music, dancing, etc. It really reminds me of San Cristóbal in Chiapas and its Zócalos, because there’s an enormous church on the west side and a little round stage/gazebo in the middle of the large square. It’s also reminiscent of Mexico because there are pedestrian walkways and there are tons of people walking around at night, eating gelato and such…

No one speaks English. I think I just assumed that everyone would because it’s one of the most “Western” countries in Latin America. But no one does, except for the lady at the front desk of this hotel. But I’m glad no one speaks it. One, so that I’m forced to practice more, and two, because it distances itself even further from America.

On each block in this area there are what are called galerías, which are buildings that take up entire blocks and hold within them many shops, so they’re kind of like mini malls. But the hallways within are so twisted that they’re more like mazes than anything else. The biggest market, however, is El Mercado Central, a bustling half indoor, half outdoor, find-everything market. It’s like the one I mentioned before, but whereas in that one everything was probably made in China and it looked like an American store, this one is ripe with Chilean goods. The indoor section is in a huge abandoned train station I believe, with rickety metal walls and dirt floor. As soon as I walked in I saw a shop with hand-carved wood utensils in between a grocer with barrels of various olives and a seamstress with colorful dresses. Then I turned a corner and had to cram through a long row of restaurants, with women all yelling off the items on their menus, trying to entice me to eat something yummy and meaty. Then another corner, only to find (and smell) a long row entirely covered with hanging carcasses! I can go on about this market, but I will save that for another time.

I’ve discovered I really do like traveling alone, because I can do whatever I want on my own time and in whatever way I wish. I am also a natural introvert, which probably helps - that and the fact I know I’ll be immersed with others in just a few days, and I’m trying to enjoy the sense of calm, mystery, and invincibility that comes with the knowledge that no one here knows who I am.

Young women wear boots. Young men wear converse. I also wear converse.

Lonely planet can go jump off a cliff (sorry Mary Claire, I know you swear by those things), and not merely for the hostel business. I can’t find any place that comes out of that book. Accurate indeed.


Me encanta Conce!


Besos y abrazos!

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