Wednesday, June 17, 2009

I want a shirt that says "its chilli in Chile"





This past weekend I had the awesome experience of traveling to Santiago, Chile. Since it was a national holiday on Monday, me and four other ISA friends decided to make it a four day weekend and hit up CHILE. Best decision of the BA trip. I absolutely loved it. We left Thursday after class. Our trip began with a 15 hour bus ride to Mendoza via semi-com Omnibus. This included one of those chairs/beds that goes almost horizontal so you can sleep. The trip started off a bit slow and we were actually a hour and half late arriving in Mendoza, but at least we didn't miss our connection. That would have been a disaster. I knew I was gonna enjoy the ride when the bus attendant handed us Bingo Cards jaja. We were five out of maybe 10 people actually participating and we still didn't win. Curses. The winner got a full bottle of wine so we were a little bitter about the loss. Next, the bus played What Happens in Vegas (Ashton Kutcher film) which I had not seen before and gave us dinner and wine. The meal was okay but the wine was awful. I had to eat a bread stick in between each sip in order to get it down but i was determined to finish my cup. I would have enjoyed the entire trip better if i wasn't sick and blowing my nose every 10 minutes. Normally i enjoy bus rides/car rides but the headache, runny noise, and clogged throat made it difficult to be comfortable. Eventually i fell asleep and got a decent amount of shut eye. The stars and the moon were so bright in the country side. I sometimes forget how awesome the sky looks at night since I'm always in a city. 

Like I mentioned earlier, we made it to Mendoza a little late but at least we made it. The second bus was more enjoyable for me because it was a twisty trip through and around the Andes Mountains and past the border. I cranked up the iPod and started snapping photos of the Andes. Just like when I was in Italy and became obsessed with the Alps, I had the same thing happen with the Andes. They were simply amazing. I just look up at each massive mountain and think about how insignificant I am compared to it. Profound, i know, but nature brings it out of me. This bus played another Ashton Kutcher movie, My Boss' Daughter (awful!!), but I didn't really pay attention to it. What is it about Ashton?!?!? I enjoyed the ride through the mountains because it often felt like a roller coaster. You know how you are suppose to coast around sharp corners or slow down because you might tip over, yeah this bus driver did the opposite. I swear the driver was accelerating around the turns. I found it entertaining while others found it terrifying. Tomato, tomahto. Crossing the border into Chile was an interesting experience. First off we had to tip the guy for searching our bags. Huh??!?! Its like paying the guy that tells you your getting audited. Awfully silly if you ask me. Next we had to take all of our belonging off the bus with us and get our passports and papers inspected. I wasn't that worried except for the fact that the inspector man kept sneezing on my passport. I mean gross. I was already sick, I didn't need el gripe thank you very much. After that line we were herded into a smaller room and lined up as a man collected another paper from us and gave us the evil eye. I felt like I was an illegal immigrant (again) and that at any moment someone was gonna point to me and take me to the back room, never to return again. Lucky for me that didn't happen and i was clear to cross the border. I highly recommend everyone attempt to cross the border of a country by bus, it makes for an interesting experience. 

Eventually we made it to Santiago. Upon arrival into the city we were all looking out the windows and were a little disappointed with what we saw. The joke of the trip was trying to find Santiago, we couldn't see it. Once off the bus everyone just starred at me and was like, now what? As if I have all the answers.... well first we tried to find an ATM because none of us had Chilean pesos so we couldn't afford a taxi or metro ride even if we knew where to go. Well none of the ATM's were working for anyone's card so one guy Drew exchanged money at a counter in the bus station so we had SOME money. Next i looked up the address of the Hostel because I was the only one that wrote it down. Actually i was the only one to do ANY research on CHile before arriving. Honestly they were damn lucky that i am responsible and a well seasoned traveler for they could have be stranded without any directions. Basically i was the life-saver of the trip. Not even gonna act surprised...anywho, by memory i figured out approximately where we should aim for and hit the metro. It was pretty crowded but it had more space than the BA subte. The only difference with this metro was that each stop and start was accompanied by abrupt jerks so even the most skilled balancers, like myself, fell over each time unless you were holding onto a bar. At least i didn't run into anyone. 

A few things to note about Santiago: one PDA is EVERYWHERE. I was in the city for what, like 20 minutes, and already i saw at least four different couples just going at it in the metro and on the street. Grossss. Second, the currency is $1 = 575 Chilean Pesos, so everything looked extremely expensive at first. We were all shocked when our metro ride cost 460 pesos. In BA the metro cost $1.10 Argentine pesos. I can finally say i was a millionaire....in Chilean pesos that is. Lastly, in Chile they speak "normal" spanish, not castellano so when my friend Mychal called the Hostel for directions he was saying "ca-shay triana" instead of "ca-yeah triana". its hard to type out the pronunciation differences, but they are significant. So it was a little difficult for us to transition back to Normal Spanish, or as my friend Justine calls it "mexican spanish". Eventually we got the correct metro stop to get off at from the receptionist and then i found our street on the metro map so we knew where to go. 

We walked around in front of the building for a little while looking for some kind of marquee, but finally a man started waiving at us and shouted "Americans!!" so naturally we followed him. jaja its funny how easy it is to call us out. Once we got there we checked it, dropped off our bags, found an ATM and figured out how to get money out. The receptionist Monica was very sweet and incredibly helpful. She provided us with a map, information on where to go each night and day, and answered all of our questions. After getting our money we checked out our room and freshened up. This was my first experience with a Hostel so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Elizabeth had told me a little about them before i left. The main thing i took from her stories was that hostels are awesome....and now I know why. We all wanted to be together so we signed up for a $10 US a night 8 person co-ed room. The room came equipped with four sets of bunk beds. Ooop here comes the Camp Chateaugay flashbacks!! I claimed a bottom bunk. I was just thankful I didn't have the bottom bed right in front of the door. Reese (another ISA companion) pointed out that when people come home drunk they're most likely to hop into the first bed they find and you don't want it to be your bed, or do you????!!!!? jaja. Good point, situation avoided!

The Chilli Hostel Santiago was an adorable hostel. It came with a respectable bathroom for each sex, free access to a communal computer, outdoor and indoor sitting areas, bbq and kitchen, lounge area, free breakfast, and a crucial location. Muy Precioso!!! We decided to pay the 400 pesos and eat the all you can eat bbq dinner that the Hostel provided on Friday nights. At first we were the only names on the list so we were a little worried that we would be the only people at dinner. Not to worry, for the majority of the Hostel attended the all you can eat and drink dinner. It was a FABULOUS dinner of choripan, vino, steak, vino, SALAD :D, vino, vegetables, vino, pasta, and did I mention vino? ;) It was heavenly and the Chilean 300 peso wine (very cheap!!!) was muy delicioso. Now I don't consider myself a red wine drinker at all, but that was all they had so i sucked it up and i ended up really enjoying it. That night I met so many amazing people it was almost a little overwhelming. I met this incredibly sweet girl from Holland named Mary. She was traveling for the year and had just came back from BA. She was very helpful and gave me some great suggestions on things to do in Chile. I also met Sam from London and Kelvin from Scotland. They had met each other along the road and decided to travel together for a little. They were hysterical and had some hilarious stories. They also introduced me to a new card game that I hope to teach my yanki (pronounced sh-ang-key) friends :) I met Barry from Dublin--he was so well educated and well spoken i felt kind of dumb talking to him but he was very sweet and lastly I was introduced to Laura form Ohio who was doing the exact same program I am doing in Spain but in Chile. That was great because I asked her all kinds of questions about the program and experience and we exchanged emails so that we can keep in touch. She told me that she got rid of her Book of Face because she didn't want her students to find her on it. Makes sense... Yeah so it was an amazing night and a great start to the trip. We had intended on going out but we ended up having to much fun at the hostel playing cards and taking that we all decided to just stay in.

I guess I was just excited to finally sleep in and not have to set an alarm clock. Our goal for the morning was to wake up in time for breakfast (11am). I knew that wouldn't be a problem for me. Night one in Chile and I already considered the trip a success. I'm kinda easy to please.


2 comments:

  1. Very nice! Although Chileans don't speak Spanish at all...I once crossed the Nicaraguan border by bus and it was terrible. Standing in the 95 degree sun for 5 hours because EVERYONE working customs took a lunch break at the same time...and for a very long time.
    This post reminds me a lot about my trip to Chile 4 years back. Lots of wine, lots of great food, lots of cheap and good wine, and LOTS of PDA. We were eating Paella at a very nice restaurant (in the end the meal + drink was about $10) with a couple outside going at it hard....girl with her leg in the air...the couple real tight together, spinning & moving all around, with everyone watching and laughing for at least 10 minutes. BUT you'll see more PDA in Brazil, in real weird places too...

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  2. haha looking forward to it :)

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