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A week in Valparaiso already. Spanish class is going well. Learning fast...learning being the key word...now need to practice. Reading the paper every day to learn vocab and expressions. But still, need to find some Chileans to speak with. Although their Spanish is said to be one of the hardest to understand...they drop all the ends of the words... like the ´s´for example: gracias becomes gracia, nos vemos becomes no vemo. No wonder it was hard to figure out what people were saying the first few weeks I was here. All the travelers I´m meeting are saying it´s much easier to understand the language in Argentina, Peru, or Bolivia.

Anyways, since I can´t post pics for a while, I figured I´d share interesting facts and figures. Today: cost of life.

2kg of tomatoes = $ 1
1 kg of avocado = $ 1.40
1/2 kg of apricots = $1
2 little pieces of bread = $0.40
1 yoghurt = $0.60
Orbit gum = $0.70
1 L of water = $1.10
1 L of beer = $1.60
glass of wine at a bar = $2 to $4 (or much more of course!)
pisco sour (the national drink) at a bar = $4+ (for tourists only!!)
Bottle of wine from the store = $3 - $15 ( the $4-5 are just fine!)
Simple lunch menu (empanada, fried fish + rice, ice cream) = $5-8
A nice plate of fish (ie: not fried) for dinner = $8+
Typical backpacker´s lunch, ie: make-yourself sandwish (ham+cheese) and fruit = $3
´Yummy´completo (hot dogs) italian way (with avocado, mayo, ketchup) = $2.50
Empanadas de pollo = $1.60 - $2.00
Hostal night = $ 10-11 in the burbs, $ 12-14 in the cities
1 way ticket on the brand new Valparaiso train to Vina = $0.90
1 return ticket on the old micro bus = $0.90
1 way from Valpo to Santiago (1hr1/2) = $7
Banos = $0.30 (gotta pay everywhere)
1 Hr on Internet = $0.80
Jeans = $20 (yes, got a pair already!)
Sunglasses on the street = $2

No more pics for a little while, as I have no more camera!!! I got mugged on Sunday right in the middle of the street, a few blocks away from a main plaza. Just bad luck...wrong place wrong time. I had changed hostels that morning and the locker in the new place wasn´t available to me (the previous traveler still had his stuff locked inside)...so I ended up walking around with my small backpack for a little bit. I obviously usually never do- especially in cities. Those who know me in NYC know that i never carry a bag even there (mostly because i´d forget it!). So long story short, 4 guys came from behind me and just grabbed the backpack off of me. It happened so fast, no time to react or even shout. I think I did resist a little, or they struggled getting the strap off my right arm, so I have some scratches on my forearm, but other than that, I´m ok. Good they didn´t hit me or push me or something. So pissed though as they got away with my passport, money and credit cards, camera, and my journal...and postcards I was about to send off. Went to the embassy yesterday to apply for a new passport...will take 3 weeks. All in all, a bad start to my stay here, but I figure it won´t/can´t happen to me again, so I´ll be safe the remainder of the trip. The hostal got an earful when I got back though...why couldn´t another locker be available to me....ugh. The police officers who helped me out were very nice (I think they are so used to it... it was like a doctor´s office...so many people in line to report thefts). One guy spoke english which helped to file the report. He gave me his number in case I needed anything. And NO, he wasn´t hitting on me...it was just out of pure kindness.
I also realized after that a big cruise ship was in town, so it´s probably the worst time to walk around as thieves are on the look out for tourists. Oh well. I´m over it now. Glad that I had some friends at the hostal that I had met in La Serena...they spot me some cash and we hung out Sunday night, cooked a big pasta...shared some chilean wine... got me over the initial shock (sure feels weird when you´re left stripped in the street...not one penny on you!).
Ok, on a lighter note, I finally started my Spanish classes this am. Very small class...only 2 or 3 other students. I think I´ll breeze through the first chapters. Looking forward to figuring out verbs and every day expressions. And yes, I¨ll learn a few swear words in case someone comes too close to me again and I can scare them off.
The sun is out...pretty strong...need to go buy sunscreen (part of the stolen stuff, along with a roll of toilet paper, i hope they find that useful!!!)...and off to the beach.
More later in the week...maybe I´ll even attempt some a spanish entry!!

Just spent 4 days in La Serena, a very cute little town 8hrs north of Santiago. Good to be back in civilization. I do want to point out that what I have been living & visiting in the past few weeks was mostly in the mountains and desert, not a full representation of Chile. If you´re thinking Chile is all mudbricks houses and dusty road, not true! La Serena is bustling little town on the water, with impressive colonial houses downtown, a modern plaza, and a cute harbor Coquimbo 10km away.
My hostal, la casa Maria, was the cutest little place so far....with an interior courtyard and garden. The host had so many stories to tell from the dictatorship, it was hard to keep up...really need to improve my Spanish.
Turns out that 3 french travellers on the bus with me from San Pedro were at the hostal too. We ended up touring the area for 2 days together. First we took a local bus up the Elqui Valley, where vineyards grow in between the arid mountains and dusty valley. It´s an impressive oasis where pisco comes from, the national drink...from 30 to 46 proof!! Toured the Capel distillerie, but it´s mostly a tourist trap...the taste is so minute, I tried to get a second... didn´t work. Ugh.
The second day, we opted for exercise...after all these bus rides, we all felt walking to Coquimbo was de rigueur, a 2hrs1/2 hike. Felt great. Along the beach. Not a beach where I´d go spend my holidays (cold water, tons of seaweed), but apparentely in a matter of weeks, it will be packed with Chileans on vacation. We toured the fist market, the biggest one I´ve seen so far, and settled in a restaurant overlooking the harbor and its cute yellow boats (similar to Arica´s) for a fish feast: seafood soup (a la Indiana Jones, better not look too closely what´s in the soup) and reineta fish. The fish is automatically fried here if you don´t ask for a la plancha (no wonder people´s waistlines are a little on the overweight side)...and fillet´d....impossbile to get a whole fish with head and tail, bummer.
Anyways, we wrapped up the day with some scrabble games on the harbor in the sun... a little fare niente.
On my last day, I toured Tongoy, another harbor 1h1/2 away, via local bus. Now that felt like an authentic fishermen´s town...back to dusty roads and brick houses, a grade up from shanti houses. Although there´s a beautiful road along the coast with fancy houses, must be vacation houses for the city dwellers. Everything was closed still....season starts in two weeks. So I ate alone at this beach restaurant overlooking the harbor...very pleasant...basic...and local... felt like the end of the world again, since I was the only soul around and the waiter only popped out of the kitchen every now and then to check on me. Perfect for some meditation...with a pisco sour!
On Saturday, got on a 7hr bus ride down to Valparaiso, a big harbor 1hr1/2 away from Santiago. The town covers 41 hills along the coast. There´s steps everywhere you look and elevators to take you to the top of each hill. Looking forward for some good workouts...who ever complained about a 6 storie walk-up in NYC! More later....time for a hot shower before the boiler goes off...things you have to worry about!

Since many of you are asking me about logistics, I´ll use this entry to answer a few questions.

Toilets:
You need to carry toilet paper at all times (at least anytime you leave a big city, so for me since Santiago!). It´s funny the first few times when you see people walking around with a roll, but you get used to it. What´s annoying is those who don´t plan and want to borrow your roll....it´s like gold!!...so you start to worry if you´ll have enough until you get back to civilization. Toilets usually consist of a tiny bowl, like the ones I had in primary school (size difference in the population!). You can´t flush of course, since you´re in areas with no running waters, so there´s a big barrel of water with a scoop to use as a flusher. Not to forget: put paper in trash not toilet! Honestly, it´s not bad at all. I was in Paris a few weeks ago & encountered a turk bathroom, not much better! My preference of course is to ´go´ outside, better view, and no smell!!

Shower, hygiene:
You´re lucky if you get hot water (again this is in the mountains & desert- and in hostals)...but in the end you get used to cold showers. Just makes me want to hit my stupid tenant on the head= he couldn´t deal with the water fluctuating a little bit and I had to install new pipes & valves before I left. Blew my budget, so now I´m taking cold showers because of him. But again, I´m used to it now...better cold water than none. As I´m typìng, it´s been 2 days since I showered and I´m getting on an overnight bus, so no shower until tomorrow. Not a big deal though, who said we had to shower everyday. All these chemicals we use can´t be good for us. I´m using one soap for my face, hair, body, and clothes, and it works great. Never had better skin! Plus makes my bag so much lighter...it is the smallest of all the travelers I´ve encountered...all of whom are jealous...I just tell them to downsize their toileterie kits!

Music:
Ok, here´s a funny story. As mentioned before during my trip in Putre, I was subjected to this really annoying Andean music, the same tape for hours and hours of driving. I was actually quite surprised at how bad the music was considering the good music I had heard in Santiago and at the concert in Putre. Turns out the driver in Iquique had the same tape...as well as my last driver in Bolivia. AHHHHH. This band must have been on concert recently and they all got the tape. I just couldn´t figure out why these ´manly guys´(sorry to sound sexist) would listen to this winy music, like Harajuku girls screaming. It all made sense when my last driver put in a tape with english music (bad 80´s, mind you) and I realized the tape and/or deck were overused and full of sand, so the music playing is all distorted. Just think back when you had a cassette player and you popped in a tape...if it sounded all screetchy and out of synch, you ejected it right away. Well, eject was not an option for me. The driver probably thinks english music is hideous, but I don´t understand how he puts up with his own music being all distorted...for hours, and HOURS. On Saturday, I played my ipod all day, we all did. On Sunday though, I started using it sparingly anticipating one more day of driving, so I just played it during the Andean music, and put up with distorted bad 80´s music. But this am, at 5am that is, I figured the hell with it, and played my ipod the whole time. My tolerance or will to adapt was just not strong enough. I mean is adaptation subjecting yourself to gremlins screaming all day? Turns out this Andean band is like the N´Sync of this side of the world...I saw the tape cover...nothing to do with harajuku girls!

Life:
Ok, this entry sounds a little deep and off topic, but not to worry. I´ve been enjoying a lot of thinking time during the drives these past few days- very ´therapeutic´! Nothing like blasting your music while driving 100km/hr across a desert, and letting your mind free flow. I highly recommend it. So I had this realization, while I got a glimpse of myself in the rear view mirror: I have the same hair cut as when I was 5yrs old like in this black and white pic of me at the beach in Val Andre (forgot to mention earlier: i don´t bother with my hair...it´s flat all the time). So it hit me: life goes in circles. Jo/CK, remember that text we studied in german class all about circles? I think we even watched a movie...seemed like nonsense at the time...maybe some language barrier too. Anyways, now it´s making total sense. I´d thought about it before, but only a few days ago did I realize you don´t have to picture life as a straight line with crossroads, but instead picture it as a bunch of circles. Ok, I´ll publish this even if it makes me sound like a moron, but I was proud of my new visualization.

Took off Friday for a 4 day trip to Bolivia, which I recommend to anyone coming to this side of the world.
I ended up sharing a 4X4 jeep with 4 other travelers: 3 germans and 1 canadian, good group. It was just us and the Bolivian driver driving through the incredible landscapes of Southern Bolivia. Now that´s the way to visit!
I can´t put in words all the beauty I saw in the last 48hrs, my brain is still processing everything. I´ll post pictures but they can´t capture the grandiosity (is that word?) of the landscapes: from sand deserts to rocky deserts, through canyons and valleys, through llama and alcapa herds (hundreds of them) and tiny villages, back to deserts, geysers, and volcanos. My brain was on overdrive the whole time. The first day we stopped by lagoons of unimaginable colors: green, white, red. The contrast with the mountains and the desert in the background was just magnificient. You feel like a miniscule creature next to these amazing sites. The second day was mostly driving but we made numerous stops to take in the surroundings and pose with llamas and vicunas. We had lunch in this little town made of mud bricks, homemade of course, at someone´s house (probably the driver´s cousin or something). The food hasn´t been the highlight of the trip so far...mostly pasta, rice, cucumbers, tomotoes, and always soup to start with. But that´s ok, it fills us up enough. No sweets though...so I´m in major sugar withdrawal. Anyways, back to the trip. We ended up playing ´marelle´ (don´t know the name in english...hopscotch maybe?) with the two little kids in the courtyard. Very fun. Back on the road, we continued absorbing the scenery. Not sure how the driver knows where to go, as there´s no road per se, just tracks. When we´re in the desert, it´s like the Paris-Dakkar just went through: dozens of tracks going over the dunes and crossing each other. Somehow though, the driver knew which one to follow.
The first night we spent in a refuge by this red lagoon. The view was great, but the facilities very basic. No running water. Cold rooms. Thank god for the 2 alpaca blankets- they weigh a ton- but still, not a very comfortable night. The second night was in this cute little hostal close to the Iyuni salar...so grateful for a hot shower and comfy bed.
Finally on the 3rd day, we made it to the salar: just out of this world. You do feel like on the moon, or maybe on the north pole. You can actually drive through the salt flat, so when you get in the middle, all you see is white all around on all horizons. We took fun pics you´ll see, as you can use the salt flat as a blue screen. We drove to this little island in the middle, which we could climb and admire the salar from ontop. Just spectacular. It had rained not long ago, so you could see puddles here and there, making the whole site even more surreal.
After some obligatory stops at the salt hotel and some artisanal stands selling stuff made of salt, we drove into the actual town of Iyuni- pure chaos. The market was spread across the main street, quite folkloric. The Bolivian women, plump and with 2 long black braids, similar to the Chilean women up north, use these colorful blankets to carry their babies on their back, all the while balancing this funny top hat. You can feel the hardship of their lives and the wear and tear of the weather on their faces. The kids are cute, with their nose running, and their clothes in need of urgent repair.
After a llama steak for lunch, I´m heading back to the tour agency to catch my bus back to San Pedro...a lot of driving ahead, but all worth it! Not only for all the beauty, but spiritually as well. Feels like my shoulders are so much lighter and that things are coming together. Feeling geat. Wish I could share this energy with all of you in cold NY or grey Paris!!!
PS: made the long trip back to San Pedro, quite an adventure. Turns out I got my ´personal´driver...drove until night time (about 3hrs) on Monday to this little village in the mountains. Slept in this want-to-be hostal: cold room with 3 beds. Dinner= soup, as usual, mashed potato and hot dog (and mark my words that´s the last one I eat!). The driver was worried he wouldn´t get up in the am so he ended up sleeping in my room, since I had an alarm clock. Imagine in the US, if that would fly! He was innocent, not to worry. Up at 4:45am to drive another 4hrs to the border, and another hour into Chile. As if I didn´t get enough driving, I´m getting on a 16hr bus ride to La Serena tonight...mind you I haven´t taken a shower in 3 days now... poor neighbor on the bus! hehe.

Got to San Pedro de Atacama on Monday, a popular stop for tourists who want to visit the Salar de Atacama, the 3rd largest Salt flat in the world (#1 is Iyuni in Bolivia, #2 is Salt Lake).
What a nightmare though!!! This town is purely built on tourism...you don´t even get to meet Chileans...all you hear on the streets is English, French, German. The town is quite cute...all adobe constructions...about 4 square blocks...but only consists of tour agencies, handcraft stores, and restaurants. Everything is so expensive and unappealing to me.
I did sign up for the classic tours: Valle de la Luna, Salar de Atacama, and the Tatio Geyser....but honestly very disappointed by all. The tours tend to stretch the visits with´fill-in´stuff to do, ie: visit a local town, when they actually drop you off for 20min to do some shopping. Ugh, can´t stand that. Plus wherever you go, there´s about a dozen mini-buses following you. For the Valle de la Luna, we were about 150 people standing on top of this sand dune to watch the sunset....breaks the atmosphere if you ask me. Then imagine when we all have to head back to the buses: just like sheep!
The Salar was interesting to see just to compare to the one I saw in Surire up north. Because the water is so much deeper here in the desert, the salt crust makes little rock formations, almost like sponges...very different than in Surire where the salt was flat (hehe, as in salt flat!). But once again, they sell you the tour as though you´re going to see a flamingo reserve...well 12 birds doesn´t count as a reserve to me....especially compared to the hundreds I saw up north! Anyways, you get the point. Oh one last thing: the tours include breakfast and lunch...that´s 2hrs of eating instead of touring. Of course I love to picnic in beautiful places...but not next to the bus along with a million other tourists!
This morning, I got up at 3:30am to go on the Geyser tour...you need to get there by 7am so you can see the full effect of the evaporation. As soon as the sun rises, the Geysers don´t produce smoke anymore, so less impressive. The site was quite amazing to visit: the highest geysers in the world, at 4,100m, but the drive there was a nightmare.... on dirt wrinkly road... I think I shrunk by an inch, my vertebrates are all smooshed. Try sitting in a mini bus that´s vibrating faster than those gadgets at Sharper Image for 2hrs each way. I think I also lost emeral on my teeth!
So that´s the summary of San Pedro...I would highly recommend either going straight to Putre for a real Chilean adventure, or if you must stop here, do the tours yourself, rent a car, or get on a bike for the nearby sites. Did get to catch a beautiful sunset on my last night there. Still appreciating being in the middle of nature and taking in all the beauty, but need to get away from the crowds.

Fun fact on logistics: because we are in one of the driest deserts of the world, the town shuts off the water around 8pm or so, at least in the hostals... so you better get your shower before (cold of course).

Off to Bolivia...to go see the biggest salt flat in the world...

After Putre, I made my way down to Iquique, a popular beach destination for the Chileans...maybe a wanna-be Fort Lauderdale....but honestly, not my idea of a fun beach resort. The town resembles Arica but much bigger and with towers along the coast, not very charming. Apparently, Chileans also flock to Iquique around this time of year for its duty free shopping...gotta load up for Xmas.

I ended up taking a day trip in the valley to see the old Nitrate towns which used to be managed by the English: Humberstone and Santa Laura. It turned out to be a festival in Humberstone, with ex-inhabitants coming back to visit and celebrate their time there: dances, music, expos. Talked to some of them- fascinating: the segregated lives of Chileans miners and the English owners, the richness of the industry (also seen downtown Iquique with its beautiful old houses), the mechanics of the mine, etc. Also tasted local foods (priorities, priorities), gotta check the name of this one specialty: poached peaches in juice with grains. So refreshing in the desert heat!

The tour also consisted of stops in neighboring towns to check out the churches (La Tirana) & thermal baths (Pica). And yes, believe or not, I went in....it was more like a big swimming pool dug in rocks with bamboos all around...but as soon as it got crowded, I was out of there...who knows how often this water gets recycled...plus it´s warm...germs germs germs!!! Another highlight was all the fresh fruit juices, mango-papaya... can´t skip that.... but sure can skip Iquique though...way too commercial! Plus my hostal was on this noisy street...I think there was some sort of bordelo across the street with music blasting until 3am...I was glad to be out of there. The joys of hostals, $8 a night!!

Now we´re talking. Arrived Saturday pm in Arica via plane: great landing in the middle of the desert, felt like you landed on the moon. All of a sudden out of nowhere this town appears in between dunes and the ocean, and the pilot finds a small strip of tarmac to land the plane. Walking out onto the stairway, looking out to infinite dunes, I felt like the adventure was starting now.
The whole town is like a shanti-town, one grade up. There´s a cute plaza actually with a church done by Eiffel and a fancy fountain surrounded by colorful tiles, but other than that the town is put together who knows how. Yet, it seems like people have an ok life, mostly from fishing. The fish market here is quite a sight...everyone is eager to show you the morning´s catch and how to prepare it. Pelicans and seals add to the folklore. Spent the am walking around and the pm at the beach: a little windy with sand constantly flying in your face, but it doesn´t seem to bother anyone. Kids were playing soccer for hours- great fun to watch. The water is quite pleasant but you freeze once you´re out. Tons of people selling various treats- i have yet to splurge. Did get my first local empanadas...gotta remember there´s an olive hidden in there, with the pit! I´m sure by the end of this blog, I´ll be raving about a slice of pizza instead, but actually for now I really look forward to my empanadas snacks.
The hostel is quite modest, but super welcoming. The first night was pretty packed with fellow travelers off to Peru. We cooked dinner together, traded stories, and exchanged tips, well I guess it was more me asking for tips. Good times. This one french guy spent 2month1/2 biking through Boliva with two buddies. Now how´s that for an adventure! He´s in ´recovery mode´ eating away.
One more night here and off to Putre...Altiplano, here I come. Next, pictures will talk for themselves...so bare with me as I try to figure out this blogging thing.

Ok, I made it!! horray, horray. I have about 15min left on this computer to summarize my first day. So far so good!
Flight from NYC-Atlanta-Santiago was pretty uneventful...old plane, old seats, bad food, weird neighbor, lousy crew...boy, i miss business class and the warm nuts! that's an inside joke for those of you who don't get it.

Took local bus to Barrio Brazil where my hostel is...some hostel...all about the partying...they sell beer until 4am, this is going to be promising.... that's ok though, i'm so tired from touring the city that i'll sleep through it all.
Got in around 11am and took off to explore the city right away....the main square Plaza de Armas, the cathedral, the fish market -very important-, the view from the Cristobal -that's where I bumped into the president (Michelle Bachelet, yes, a woman president!!! might be an inspiration to others) who happened to be taking a private tour of the spot....pretty cool, no! on my first day...there were a dozen guards around her, but people were able to shake her hand...i couldn't figure what to say to her in spanish (that's because I don't speak Spanish yet, hmmm)...oh well- continued on to the pedestrian streets for some folklore and to a supermarket for some research. BTW, Stoli is cheaper than Bacardi...and they don't have real vermouth, but some cool immitation instead. Tons of yogurt, so i'm happy about that, but no good chocolate, i guess i'll have to give it up for 6 months....will that counts towards lent?

Ok, gotta wrap up, more later....quick observations: Santiago (6million habitants, ie: over 1/3 of Chile's population) seems to be a mix of Buenos Aires and Lima, modern westernized buildings mixed with more tradional houses/neighborhoods like Bellavista, I feel totally safe walking around, people are friendly, gas is about $1 a liter, high school kids are into punk rock (from the school uniform they switch to that 'east village look' plus throw in long black hair with bangs), people here love their ice cream...and hot dogs, weird...the fruit stands are beautiful: strawberries galore, full artichokes like from Britanny, big asperagus, and tons of avocados... will go back to the fish market tomorrow for a feast and buy some fruit too. Not quite like the Tokyo fish market, but still impressive... crawlie-crawlers all over but mostly whole fish from dorade to bass (Chilean seabass!! even if un-pc right now).

Ok, off to read up for tomorrow.... not sure when i'll update next...probably from Arica. Stay tuned...

Day 2 in Santiago: weather being so-so, it was ideal to go tour some museums: the Cousino Palace, highly recommend (a european-like extravagant house with french wood, italian marble...huge contrast with the outside world), and the pre-columbian art museum. Also walked through the various neighborhoods Bario Paris-Londres, San Francisco, Chinatown, and back to the fish market for lunch. Got a good feel for the city in two days...met some US college students from University of Oregon...they told me all about the bar scene- so I felt lived through that as well- but also some good tips for my upcoming travels.