Chillin' in (Hot) Chile

After about a month of pretty bland food in Argentina, I was really happy to see that my first meal was accompanied by salsa, with CILANTRO!!! Those of you who know my propensity for all things cilantro can understand how excited I was about this. I spent the day walking around the streets of Santiago and I realized that it really reminds me of East Los Angeles in a weird kind of way. Mountains surround the eastern part of the city, and of course, everything is in Spanish, the air is a bit smoggy-- felt just like home!

Over the past month and a half, I´ve realized that being able to speak Spanish has paid dividends over and over again. A free beer here, a free bus ride there, a side dish of something special from the restaurant owner-- it all adds up and I´m just happy that this genorosity and hospitality is mostly due to the fact I am a foreigner who speaks their language. I´ve also come to the conclusion that elderly people are the best people to ask for directions. Some have even offered to walk me to where I need to be, so I suppose that´s something to keep in mind in the future. We have a lot in common I suppose, as neither of us have anywhere really to go right away!

After one quick day in Santiago, I decided to head out to Viña Del Mar, a coastal town about two hours west of Santiago. I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time in over 9 months, and was somewhat nostalgic about LA, especially after being in Santiago. Sigh... only 3 more months left before I have to head back home. More on that later in a different post....

I met Katie (Texas) and Rachel (Michigan) at the hostel and spent the day hanging out in Valparaiso. Funny thing happened that day. Katie slipped and fell on her butt and subsequently, her left butt cheek shook (quite rapidly actually) uncontrollably for a few hours. "It´s moving by itself, I can´t stop it!!" "I feel like a rap video ho!!!" "Beyonce ain't got nothin on this!" Man, I haven´t laughed that hard in such a long time.... but after a half hour of this, we kind of started to worry. Like, what if it shook forever? Katie and I discussed the pros and cons of this at length and came to the conclusion that she'd make some good money for a few years, but after that would have a hard time getting a real job. We went back to the hostel, she had half a bottle of wine and everything was fine.

We also met a few other people from the hostel, one funny guy named Thomas-- favorite quote from him "I maht be from Louiiiisianah, but I´m nawt stupid." Thomas and Katie exchanged hilarious stories about growing up in the South over dinner and I realized that they had very different experiences than I did in LA. Like, shooting empty cans with shotguns at the age of 12, or, how to skin an armadillo (you hang it upside down on a tree), and the grunting noises they make when the stubborn bastards burrow under your house. Thomas also told me about this restaurant that serves roadkill, and I´m definitely going to make a pit stop there on my way back home.

After three nights in Viña Del Mar, I headed back to Santiago, to hang out with Sonia, a friend I met in Punta Del Este. She invited me over to her place to have "once," which is basically evening tea time....at 8pm! Sonia and her mother had a hard time understanding how Americans can eat dinner at 7. We spent the rest of the evening just talking about all the random things people talk about when you´re from different countries. I learned a few new Chilean phrases, like "pato malo" which directly translates to "bad duck," but really means "criminal." Neither of them had any idea as to why such an innocent bird can be used to describe bad guys. Sonia recommended I go to the Parque Mahuida the following day, and to make sure I take a ride on the Roderbahn.

When I arrived there, I saw this sled on wheels with no seat belt, no safety harness, nothing. The attendant just gave me two instructions, pull back to slow down, and push forward to go, well, as fast as you want to. I recalled the movie, "Cool Runnings" and realized that I felt like I was in a similar situation. Before I took off, I asked the attendant if it was safe to just go straight down without slowing down. He responded, "If you want to, but you might fall off if you´re not careful on the turns." The first ride down, I took it easy but decided to go the second time around full blast.... with my camera on my right hand! I know, probably not the wisest thing to do but I just had to do it because these rides, or, death sleds, just wouldn´t exist in the US. Unfortunately, my last turn was held in check by a father and daughter going much slower than me, but was still a blast!


All in all, good times again! Off to Brasil for CARNIVAL!!!!