Various Things I Have Noted

General

Santiago itself is a combination of Los Angeles and Mexico City. The population is almost entirely Hispanic, with some local Indians called Mapuches to the South. Chile is mostly Roman-Catholic, and for the most part is pretty conservative. About 7 million live in Santiago, or roughly half of Chile’s population. One of the major problems with this city is pollution; the city is surrounded by mountains, which trap smog from factories and buses- or “yellow destroyers” as the locals call them. 80% of the pollution and 60% of the accidents stem from these gigantic yellow tanks, which is ironic, as in the US they want more people on the buses. Along with the buses, there is a futuristic subway (they call it the Metro) underground. Santiago also lies just an hour away from both the beach, and a major ski resort, so between that and the nightlife (None of which I’ve experienced ?), this would be a very fun city to live in. By the way, the name “Santiago” translates into English as “James”

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At the walled-off American Embassy

 

The Cathedral

I went to one of Santiago’s many cathedrals; Like most Roman Catholic cathedrals, the one I went to was hugely elaborate, with paintings on the ceiling, gold everywhere, and sculptures of archangels killing various evil people. It was huge, I’m betting it cost between 50-100 million.

 

A caricature of me

 

On Time

In Chile, life moves very slowly. My family and I were the only people at a restaurant, and it took over an hour for us to be served. And then, we go to a different place, same thing. Businesses here just close randomly, and street vendors close up right as rush hour starts. Maybe it’s a good thing…

The Language Barrier

I remember one time when a street vendor walked up to me, trying to sell souvenirs to the pasty American, but when I started trying to blab at him in French (from instinct), he ran away. I've also had to face such a barrier ordering ice cream (taking ten minutes to order a choclate single scoop cone), and in refusing to allow porters to carry my feather-weight bag.

Animals

I saw some wild goats up North, in the La Serena area. It consists of arid hills, a couple observatories, and a lonely dirt road. Barely anybody lives here, except some half-dead goats who survive on the little grass there is. The goats ran off from my van pretty quickly, and I wasn’t about to go sprinting across the rocks in sandals to catch a goat that was probably faster than me anyway. Sorry, but I didn’t nab a picture of them either.

The Lake District

I spent a couple days down in the Lake District, in the town of Pucon. It’s a lot cleaner down there, kind of like the difference between Manhattan and Upstate New York. Lots of people from Santiago come down here on vacation to enjoy the scenery. The Lake District is kind of like the Pacific Northwest, in that sometimes it’s sunny and absolutely awesome, but half the time it’s rainy and cold. The first day we were there it was 90 degrees and sunny, but by dinner it was pouring. We also saw a rodeo while we were there, which was fun.

Alex and I near Pucon

 

Clothing

Clothing here is actually more conservative than in say, LA or Miami. Men usually walk around wearing semi-formal shirts, slacks, and shoes. When I walked out onto the street in shorts, sandals, and a tank-top (sorry to put that picture in your mind), I got a couple weird looks. Women’s clothing is pretty conservative too; even though it’s 90 degrees now, most people still are wearing heavy clothing.