Birthright 2: Crossing into Chile

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Two years ago when I traveled in the middle east, I started my trip on something called Birthright Israel, which is a group trip to Israel for Jewish young adults to explore the Jewish State. As I prepared to cross into Chile, I felt of it as sort of a second Birthright trip. Although I have been to Chile before, it was always for a short time and usually spent visiting with family instead of exploring the land and people on my own. For the first time as an adult (wow, am I really an adult? ok, as a young adult), I will explore the country of my mother´s birth and my other homeland with open eyes and try to learn about the country that I would have called home if it weren´t for certain events. I am excited and feel a sense of pride even before we cross the border.

Let me back up. We arrived in Tacna, Peru in the morning of January 24th and decided that since Chile is actually 2 hours ahead of Peru due to daylight savings time, we would forgo exploring Tacna and head straight to Arica, Chile.

Because we like to cut it close, we had decided not to pull out more Peruvian currency while in Puno or Tacna, and we hoped that the few soles we had left was enough to get us over the border. We were immediately approached by several collectivo drivers and actually had to barter with them because we were short of the asking price. It was right then that I decided that for the rest of the trip I would barter using the "we are out of money" line since one guy cut his price in half for us, determined to gain our business. It was great! I couldn´t believe how easy it was and we sort of did it without choice since we were out of money anyway.

A collectivo is best described as a shared taxi cab, and we would see these all over Chile. You usually pay a set price (or in this case a negotiated one) and the driver takes that amount from as many people that fit in the car, which usually means traveling in a tight space with complete strangers... just one of the many things that would never fly in the US but work great here.

Crossing the border went without hassle, the only excitement being my own feelings upon entering into Chile. Once at the bus station in Arica, there was some debate about what where we would visit as we made our way south to Santiago. I wanted to visit the towns in the northwest (Arica, Iquique, Antofagasta) or the backpacking capital of San Pedro de Atacama, but Jay seemed less than impressed with these places and wanted to head to just north of Santiago.

And since unlike most of the other places we would visit, I knew that I would return to Chile and have the chance to explore the north on my own. So, I agreed to do something I never thought I would: to take a 24 hours bus ride. Yup, that´s right, a full day on a bus. I know, its crazy, but it was just the most efficient way to make it down the long coast of Chile. Believe it or not, I didn´t kill anyone! The bus was super comfy and thankfully, actually had a bathroom this time. Listening to music, looking out the window, watching dubbed Will Farrell movies and taking a Tylenol PM really helped pass the time quickly.

And I got to see the northwest of Chile in a way -- through the window of a bus driving down the PanAmerican Highway, Route 5.

The first few hours we drove through the desert, and I never thought it would be so interesting to spend hours staring at nothing. But the desert is fascinating in it´s nothingness. Miles and miles of sand, almost dead shrubbery, strange tracks in the sand and crosses lined on the side of the road allowed me to wonder and dream about the people who had lived and passed through the extreme North of Chile for thousands of years. The scenery was flat on both sides, except for when we drove near the edge of the cliff and could look below into an Oasis in a valley. Despite the amount of green we would occasionally see in these vallies, only a few were inhabited and used the fertile land for farming.

Soon, the land around the bus starting growing taller and taller until we weren´t sure if we were in the dessert or the mountains, but the endless view of sand convinced us that we were still technically in the desert. All of the sudden, almost out of no where was one of the largest car graveyards I have ever seen. I don´t know why I remember this, probably because it was deserted for miles around and then all of the sudden there were cars, trucks and buses left to rot and rust on the side of the road. The chop shops in Jersey got nothing on these guys! The dust of the desert had collected on many cards, and again my mind wandered thinking about the stories of how the cars got there... how many people had broken down in the middle of the desert and was that the reason for the many crosses on the side of the road?

Again, out of nowhere, the scenery changed about 4 hours from Arica as we entered into Iquique.

At first, it literally felt like we were driving through a sand dune... It sort of felt like we were on another planet or something since the sand was piled HIGH on both sides, with only a narrow road for the bus to drive on. It felt like the walls were closing in the longer we drove through the dunes. Then, the left side of the dunes disappeared and we were surprised to see a vast city spread on the coast, looking like at any moment it may be swallowed by the glistening sea. It was so beautiful, it literally took my breath away. The sea was deep blue, but the sunlight shone right on the shore making it almost impossible to see anything but light. Breathtaking... I wish I had a picture of the city sprawled across the lengthy coastline, pushing all the way out to the fringes and all the way back to the mountains.

As we stopped for a while in Iquique, Jay and I started talking about the big differences (and only so far) between Peru and Chile. Since I had been to Chile before, I guess I wasn´t as shocked as he was, but he couldn´t get over how "European" everything was... not just in the style and looks of the people, but other things as well. He pointed to a 5 year old in a polo shirt and said "That would never happen in Peru." And he was right, we never did see little kids dressed like that in Peru. Of course, the Peruvians we had the most contact with were people in the cities and local farmers, while it was clear that the Chileans on the bus were mostly middle and upper class.

Of course, these are just generalizations based on our experiences so far, but I would be ignorant or in denial to pretend that these differences aren´t apparent. I am not saying it is better or worse, just that Peruvians and Chileans (and Peru and Chile) are very different.

Just five hours south of Tacna, the average skin tone was lighter, people were taller, and while some traits of native Chileans were apparent, their features were also very European.

As we drove through town, I immediately noticed another difference with Peru: advertising. For a second I thought I was in San Diego again. The only difference was that these ads were in Spanish and the hair color of the models was darker than those in the states. This was something that we didn´t see a lot of in Peru... now and again there would be an awning with the Coca-Cola writing on it, or a sign for a beer, but here there were billboards everywhere, advertising cell phone plans, back to school sales, cologne and mortgage companies. It was amazing and interesting to finally see the mass marketing campaigns in South America that we are used to in the states.

And finally, the other major difference so far was the openness exhibited by Chileans. I thought that it was just my own family that would talk to people on the street and turn strangers into friends in a matter of minutes, but just in our few hours in Chile, I realized it was the hospitality of most Chileans. Even as we crossed the border into Chile with a young Santiagoan couple also coming back from Machu Picchu, they started chatting us up in their little English and I answered in my broken Spanish. We talked about traveling, jobs, family and different parts of Chile. Before we even reached Arica they had given us their phone number instructing us to call when we arrived in Santiago if we needed anything, or just to grab a beer. On the bus, we immediately learned the life stories of the women sitting near us. Man, I love this place! It just feels like home.

After heading out of Iquique, the scenery became dull until the sunset, with the exception of a huge mine we passed where large cranes and other machines abused the land for it´s natural resources. I continued looking out the window, and soon drifted to sleep once the sun fell behind the mountains.

In the morning of January 25, we woke up almost in La Serena, Chile, a beach town where we decided to stay for a day before heading to Santiago. La Serena is a quiet, beach town filled with Chilean tourists, but we didn´t see any other tourists, which was a nice break from the places we visited in Peru that were packed with international tourists. We found a room in a woman´s house right near the bus station, and set off to get some sun.

The beach was pretty, but nothing special. The sun, however, was so hot. You know how Al Gore told you that the ozone layer over Chile was getting thinner and thinner? Yeah, he wasn´t kidding. I really thought that my soul was getting sunburned. It was so intense.

As the sun was setting, we decided to go find the main plaza and explore the city. We were surprised to find a sort of carnival all over the main plaza... with street performers, music and stands of artists selling their crafts spilling out into the surrounding streets. We ate empanadas on the street while watching a clown do a hilarious skit in the middle of the street. Empanadas are a traditional Chilean pastry, but not a sweet one. I guess the best I can describe them are like saying they are mini-calzones usually filled with a mixture of meat, onion, egg and sometimes an olive. Although they also come filled with cheese, chicken and near the shore, with seafood. The dough is usually slightly sweeter then pizza dough, but not quiet as sweet as a pie crust. They are delicious and most importantly, very cheap! Yummy!

We enjoyed the carnival and the carefree feeling of the families that surrounded us. It felt like we had stepped into someone else´s summer vacation where everyday was spent at the beach, and every night spent buying the children ice cream and watching clowns and dancers.

This was so different from what we had experienced so far, and it was nice to finally feel like I was on vacation without a care in the world or a mountain to climb.

One day turned into two and we didn´t leave for Santiago until Saturday, January 27th where my family would greet me with open arms...

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