Blogs from Santiago Region, Chile, South America - page 9

Geo: -33.4691, -70.642February 13We had a long uneventful flight. Just so tiring but was worth extra money to upgrade. Arrived in Santiago right on schedule. Customs wasn't bad but then I got ushered through the handicapped section. Took bus to hotel got signed in and had a chance for a short rest then grabbed a bite to eat. Already drank water at hotel. Just habit when I took my meds. So heres to hoping that it was well purified. Will try and do better until we get on the ship. It us beautifully warm and sunny. Lots of haze and about 80. Boarded a bus after a lunch for a 3 hour city tour. Saw downtown presidential palace where president works. The country does not provide living quarters. Plaza de Armas - Santiago's main square, Constitution ... read more

It all Started with a Plan Last Sunday, CJ, Anna, and I had made plans to travel to Cajon del Maipo to go hiking. It was going to be the first real opportunity I had to go hiking outside of Santiago proper. The plan was a loose one at best; we were going to meet at 8:15 in metro station Tobalaba, before heading to Las Mercedes, where we would take a colectivo to San Jose de Maipo. Well, we ended up running slightly behind because someone stopped for breakfast (which of course, was closed...). Then we headed to Las Mercedes, where we were disappointed to realize that the little convenience stores in the station where we had planned to stock up on water and snacks for the day were closed (because who gets up early on ... read more

Learning to Speak Chilean Like any region/country has it's own version of the language (ahem, hotdish vs. casserole, coke vs. pop vs. soda, you guys vs. y'all, you get the point), Chile has it's own spin on Spanish, that I am slowly picking up on. As in, a word or two every once in awhile. When someone points them out to me :P For example, instead of 'fresas' (as taught in high school Spanish 101), strawberries are 'frutillas'. The guy who sold me them gave me a weird look as he handed me the box of red fruits and said 'frutillas'. Oops. Also, the add 'po' to words here. 'Sí, po' 'no, po'. I understood a lot more once someone explained that one to me! En el Metro Had an awkward experience in the metro this ... read more

Classes Tuesday marked the first day of classes, but I only had one during the day. So, I walked around the city with one of my classmates until dance class later in the evening. Our favorite find was a little coffee shop near La Moneda that sold COLD PRESS COFFEE. That was a hugedeal, because most of the coffee sold in restaurants or little breakfast/lunch shops in Santiago is made with instant coffee. Or, if you happen to find fresh ground coffee beans, it's almost always going to be served hot. Which....is not exactly what you want when you're from Minnesota and it's over 90 degrees and sunny (which is great, don't get me wrong, but I still don't want hot coffee). Later that day, I had dance class where we began to learn salsa and ... read more

Views from 10th floor Amistar Apartment room window and the hill side ruin that I was not permitted to climb this morning, due to high risk danger of attack. . .... read more