The plane from Dallas to Santiago lasted an entire 10 hours. It was a roomy, overnight flight with two complimentary meals. And even though the seat next to me was vacant, I could still not get comfortable. I believe I exhausted all of the sleeping positions the two seats would allow.....Watching the sun rise over the Andes mountains made up for my night of tossing and turning.
Chileans did not make a good first impression with me. Upon arriving in the country, all foreigners are required to pay a fee and for Americans, it is $100. So, i handed the lady at the booth 5 $20 USA bills. She would not accept one of the twenties because there was a teeny tear in the bill! I tried to hand her Chilean pesos and she refused. "no accepto".
*What the hell!? i thought. I'm in Chile!
Thankfully, 2 other girls from my program were with me on the flight and came to save the day and lent me the twenty dollars i needed to enter the country.
After the airport, we were bused to our hostel. We were welcomed with pisco sours and keys to the forth floor. Can you imagine 4 girls lugging our huge load up 4 flights of stairs! ?
I had a great time exploring Santiago with people from my program. My hostel is located in the bohemian district in Chile, so it is crawling with new york styles, punk music, and surprisingly, Gothic teenagers. Chile is way more up-to-date with recent trends and popular music than I expected. I spoke with a girl that works at the front desk at the hostel about Sufjan Stevens, New Order, Interpol, and other American indie artists.....and i decided to give chileans a second chance....
I've chatted with many other Chileans since my arrival, and they have proved themselves more amiable. However, I've found that they are more arrogant, hip and independent than other latin americans.
Salud!
Until later...ciao!
1 comment:
I'm sorry to hear about all of the money issues... how stressful! and the heavy food... haha, I can't even imagine how that vegetarian girl must feel. It's interesting to hear about the culture, it sounds like you will be able to have an even better time, as you will manage to find what you enjoy. :) best wishes with Spanish sis, I'm sure you're having too much fun. take care.
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