This was a long bus ride through the desert. I don’t really know how to explain 30 hours on a bus with nothing to see but sand and occasionally the ocean, but I can tell you it’s not as exciting as it sounds…
On the other hand, I would really like to spend a week or two in Iquique and Antofagasta. They are on the coast and they look like they have some interesting things to see. If nothing else, the largest Duty Free zone in South America is in Iquique, and you can stock up on booze and cologne for cheap. I suppose that this would be a huge draw for any Frenchies that happen into the Atacama. In any event, I made it to Santiago clinging to my sanity by a fingernail and bent nearly double underneath my absurdly heavy backpack. (I had my huge laptop in it; if you ever have a chance to buy a 17 inch laptop that weighs 7 pounds, think carefully about future travels.)
In Santiago, I was received by my good friend and former mission companion, Luis Cabanillas. He graciously agreed to meet me at the Santiago terminal at 5 am and keep me company until the first bus to VIna left at 8 am. Good guy, and he had plenty of interesting gossip to share.
I then got on the 2 hour last stretch to Vina. My Aunt lives on Calle Valparaiso in Vina Del Mar, which is the same street that the terminal is located on, about 8 blocks towards the ocean. Upon arrival, I was tired and so got in a taxi which ripped me off, but I didn’t mind much because I was ready to get there already. In a later post I am going to put up a lengthy description of all the foods I have tried in the last few months, with pictures, so I won’t get into lunch and all of that now.
My Tia Elba was the person who I saw most while I was in Chile, and with her I was able to see most of my cousins and uncles. With my Tia Elba, I went to Valparaiso the day after I arrived. There we had lunch and walked around doing some errands. It would seem like Chileans love their demonstrations, and while we were eating, a lot of students came running by being chased by riot police. I snapped a picture, but missed a truly photogenic moment when a cop in riot armor came past the window where I was seated dragging a guy in a headlock. I was too busy enjoying asado molido (*There will be an all food blog post soon, so never fear) to have my camera at the ready. Curse You Cuisine!, alas, I was able to snap this picture of the hubub after the fact:
After a few days of meandering around Vina, I had the interesting experience of leaving one afternoon and walking aimlessly until, without intending, I arrived at my dead Aunt Eliana's house. It was strange to fall into flashback mode as I rounded the corner. This was the house that I stayed in when I came to Chile for the first time. I felt like I could see a ghost of myself at 8 years old running around the corner in the sandals that my mother bought for my brother Jonathan and I. I remembered in the moment that I recognized the key cutting place on the corner so many bizarre little details. For instance, I recalled that the sandals that my mom bought left white triangle tan lines on my ankles due to the fasteners. Weird. In any event, this is what the place looks like:
Santiago
The first weekend in Chile, I went to Santiago to visit my friend from the mission Luis Cabanillas and also my Tio Chalo. Cabanillas (who I met in Tacna, and who hails from Trujillo) picked me up from the bus terminal and we immediately went to the center of Santiago to see the "tourist" stuff. I found it interesting, but in all honesty, I am coming to realize that I am not a big city guy. It was expensive getting around and took forever because the city is so large. More on that in a second. The things to see in the center are the Palacio de la Moneda, Plaza de Armas, and the Calle Ahumada:
I liked seeing the sights, but I was burdened by my 7 pound laptop and 2 days worth of clothes in my backpack. It was a beast to heave around. I also started to resent my beloved DSL's weight after several blocks. But oh well, that's the price of good pictures I suppose. Anywho, I had a swell time with Cabanillas and his family, and it happened to be his birthday. Oddly enough, I ate almost exclusively Peruvian food my entire 2 day stint in Santiago. The Saturday that we went to the center, we also went out to a dance club. Let me just say, this place was kind of ghetto. The ratio of guys to gals was way off (more dudes), and it was HOT!. Not good hot, no ventilation and I felt like I was breathing everyone else's sweat hot. It was still an ok time, but about 3am, I called it and we started the long trip back to Cabanillas's home. Along the way, I saw a drunken fight on the bus that ended with a guy getting stabbed several times by what looked like a box cutter. The stabber and his friend did quite a number on the other drunken fool before they jumped off the bus. Later, while awaiting the second bus that we had to take to get to where Cabanillas lived, he was propositioned by a hooker. I couldn't stop laughing, and his discomfort reached a apex (poor word choice?) when she made a grad at his family jewels. After his power block, she got miffed and left. I cannot express how funny this experience was, but it still makes me chuckle. For those readers who are perhaps thinking that Santiago is a crime ridden sty, I would like to point out that any big city at 4 am would probably not have it's best face on, and also that Cabanillas doesn't exactly live in the poshest part of town. In any event, we managed to drag ourselves out of bed after only a few short hours sleep in order to make church. I was impressed by the number of members, and surprised that in Cabanillas's ward, it would seem that 3 out of every four members are Peruvian. I believe that this is the part of Santiago where a lot of Peruvians live, so maybe in other areas, the ratio is less. Later that afternoon I went to visit my Tio Chalo and my Tia Consuelo (and for clarification, Tia Consuelo is actually my great aunt, so she is also Tio Chalo's aunt). We had a delightful chat and I was able to see his wife and youngest daughter.
And that was the second part of my Chile Trip, soon to come (hopefully in the next two days) will be the next part.
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