Muy Chilly in Chile.
It´s about 2:30 pm here in Punta Arenas, in southern Chile. As my first introdution to Chile, it´s not a bad place. The Italian guy Paolo, the Spanish girl Cynthia and I got here yesterday at 5 pm, with lots of rain to greet us. I was so glad to get off the bus. A very pleasant Argentinean gentleman sat next to me and talked my ear off for the whole trip, minus the last two hours when I fell asleep, but the outcome is that my Spanish has been further improved. Miracles happen when you are forced to communicate! And the two border controls passing from Argentina to Chile were easy.
The hotel I had made a reservation in promised to pick me up from the bus stop, but alas, we were so early arriving that we took a taxi. That´s when the Lonely Planet, yet again, disappointed me. We got dropped off in front of a hair salon. Whoops, the place moved. So the taxi driver drove us around and found us a place, which lucky enough, is in the center and a little cheaper. And I got to have my own room! I´ve been waiting and waiting patiently these past few weeks, looking for an opportunity to get some privacy.
We changed into warmer clothes (which didn´t really help much, I was still freezing despite my 5 layers of shirts!) and went in search of food. Places dont serve dinner until about 8 at least so we were screwed. I ate chocolate to fill that empty hole in my stomach. To procraastinate until dinner time, we walked around our neighborhood, which is small city but quite busy. It´s also modern, with crosswalk signals that count down how much time you have until the light changes, so we didn´t feel like we were in such an unfamiliar place. Then I regaled Cynthia and Paolo with stories about how sometimes people here (and in Europe too) when passing by me -- all of them men so far -- bow and say "Konichiwa" or "Arigato." It´s a really annoying thing I deal with when I travel. It´s also a hilarious thing. Cynthia found this happening to be so funny she laughed for about a full 3 minutes. So how do I react, she asked. Well, it usually happens so quickly that I don´t even have time to respond, I said. I see it two ways -- these guys think they´re being cheeky, but at the same time they´re trying to be welcoming. I have learned to brush it off, but its always on the tip of my tongue to correct them, which is really difficult when it takes me a minute to gather my Spanish before I can make a complete sentence. Next time!
I haven´t been too impressed with Chiliean food so far. We went to a highly recommended (from our hotel), nontouristy place (one of the guys standing next to the owner was picking his nose like he was reaching for buried gold from a heap of silver) and had fish. It was tasteless. Then, today, after I went to the duty free zone to find a calculator (I have become terribly inefficient at math since I´ve gotten here), I got pizza that was half cold. On it floated the ubiquitous jamon y queso, ham and cheese, that I haven´t been able to escape from since I arrived in Argentina. I swear, I cannot bear to eat any more processed cheese and plastic ham meat! The Chileans also eat something called completo, which is a hot dog drenched in mayo and other sauces. Sounds like an instant and guaranteed coronary to me. I can´t wait to get to Santiago because I plan to eat non Latin food. I am really missing Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, Middle Eastern... food I take for granted living in L.A.
One of Punta Arena´s highlights is its cemetary. It´s a quite peaceful place, with mausoleums bumped up against smaller graves. I´m skipping the penguin reserve, since I already got to hang out with the fine feathered friends in Puerto Madryn, but to make up for it, I´ve changed my plans slightly and will be heading on a 2 night, 1 day tour with Cynthia and Paolo to the Torres del Paine nat´l park, probably the number 1 or 2 backpacker destination in S.A. It´s more suited for trekkers who want to camp throughout the four'day hike in gorgeous scenery, so that´s why I had decided to skip it. The moutains and landscape are supposedly mind-blowing, with glaciars and turqoise lakes. I know I won´t be getting too deep inside the park with this tour, but it will suffice for me. I´m really enjoying the break from hiking for now.
I stayed up all night watching cable TV in my room. Watched CNN, an Indian drama, MTV, a Woody Allen film... I can´t even remember what else. It was all fascinating. About a third of the channels was dedicated to American tv imports, but subtitled in Spanish. There were your usual telenovelas and cheesy talk shows for balance too.
So far I´ve been noticing that people love, love, love covers of songs here. For instance, in this Internet cafe, there´s a CD playing of monks singing covers of Simon and Garfunkel (I swear to god). In Argentina, I heard a reggae version of Strawberry Fields Forever. Covers of Blondie? Check. I´m still waiting for covers of Madonna...
The hotel I had made a reservation in promised to pick me up from the bus stop, but alas, we were so early arriving that we took a taxi. That´s when the Lonely Planet, yet again, disappointed me. We got dropped off in front of a hair salon. Whoops, the place moved. So the taxi driver drove us around and found us a place, which lucky enough, is in the center and a little cheaper. And I got to have my own room! I´ve been waiting and waiting patiently these past few weeks, looking for an opportunity to get some privacy.
We changed into warmer clothes (which didn´t really help much, I was still freezing despite my 5 layers of shirts!) and went in search of food. Places dont serve dinner until about 8 at least so we were screwed. I ate chocolate to fill that empty hole in my stomach. To procraastinate until dinner time, we walked around our neighborhood, which is small city but quite busy. It´s also modern, with crosswalk signals that count down how much time you have until the light changes, so we didn´t feel like we were in such an unfamiliar place. Then I regaled Cynthia and Paolo with stories about how sometimes people here (and in Europe too) when passing by me -- all of them men so far -- bow and say "Konichiwa" or "Arigato." It´s a really annoying thing I deal with when I travel. It´s also a hilarious thing. Cynthia found this happening to be so funny she laughed for about a full 3 minutes. So how do I react, she asked. Well, it usually happens so quickly that I don´t even have time to respond, I said. I see it two ways -- these guys think they´re being cheeky, but at the same time they´re trying to be welcoming. I have learned to brush it off, but its always on the tip of my tongue to correct them, which is really difficult when it takes me a minute to gather my Spanish before I can make a complete sentence. Next time!
I haven´t been too impressed with Chiliean food so far. We went to a highly recommended (from our hotel), nontouristy place (one of the guys standing next to the owner was picking his nose like he was reaching for buried gold from a heap of silver) and had fish. It was tasteless. Then, today, after I went to the duty free zone to find a calculator (I have become terribly inefficient at math since I´ve gotten here), I got pizza that was half cold. On it floated the ubiquitous jamon y queso, ham and cheese, that I haven´t been able to escape from since I arrived in Argentina. I swear, I cannot bear to eat any more processed cheese and plastic ham meat! The Chileans also eat something called completo, which is a hot dog drenched in mayo and other sauces. Sounds like an instant and guaranteed coronary to me. I can´t wait to get to Santiago because I plan to eat non Latin food. I am really missing Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, Middle Eastern... food I take for granted living in L.A.
One of Punta Arena´s highlights is its cemetary. It´s a quite peaceful place, with mausoleums bumped up against smaller graves. I´m skipping the penguin reserve, since I already got to hang out with the fine feathered friends in Puerto Madryn, but to make up for it, I´ve changed my plans slightly and will be heading on a 2 night, 1 day tour with Cynthia and Paolo to the Torres del Paine nat´l park, probably the number 1 or 2 backpacker destination in S.A. It´s more suited for trekkers who want to camp throughout the four'day hike in gorgeous scenery, so that´s why I had decided to skip it. The moutains and landscape are supposedly mind-blowing, with glaciars and turqoise lakes. I know I won´t be getting too deep inside the park with this tour, but it will suffice for me. I´m really enjoying the break from hiking for now.
I stayed up all night watching cable TV in my room. Watched CNN, an Indian drama, MTV, a Woody Allen film... I can´t even remember what else. It was all fascinating. About a third of the channels was dedicated to American tv imports, but subtitled in Spanish. There were your usual telenovelas and cheesy talk shows for balance too.
So far I´ve been noticing that people love, love, love covers of songs here. For instance, in this Internet cafe, there´s a CD playing of monks singing covers of Simon and Garfunkel (I swear to god). In Argentina, I heard a reggae version of Strawberry Fields Forever. Covers of Blondie? Check. I´m still waiting for covers of Madonna...
posted by Chocolat at 9:26 AM
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