September 21st... the first day of spring in Chile
Hola and all that espanol, this is a wee update of the journey so far. Fo and I arrived in Chile a week ago today (we toasted our anniversary this morning over coffee) and its been an adventure of wonder so far. Our first day in the country took us by surprise - a huge shock to systems lethargic with being spilt by Mike and Laura and the Californian sun. We were used to Disney and the magic of princesses and Chile shocked us into a whole different reality. Arriving early in the morning we were grouchy for not haing been upgraded on the plane and hence not having slept. We were overwhelmed by the unfamiliar language (neither of us are anywhere near knowledgeable of Spanish) and the grey cold sky. Lump that with the fact that we got royally ripped off by a taxi-man within minutes of being in the country and you get the image of two glum little girls. Santiago was all closed up for national holidays and it took hours for us to find an open cafe that would provide us with the solace of a coffee. Enter our German angel Volke who was sitting at the table next to us and helped us figure out the new currency. He has become a bit of a saviour for us. That night we met him for drinks and he took us for a tour of Santiago while also sliding in tips on how to get harassed less by the ever intent Chilean men. He has since helped us find Valparaiso, a town nearby Santiago where we are by the ocean and in a beautiful hostel. Hes here in Chile as an architect helping impoverished people in Valparaiso develop alternative housing to the illegal shanty towns their in now. He has introduced us to this community of such amazing people who, even though their in a tough situation, have greeted us with open arms and smiles and hospitality. Weve been paying them for spanish lessons all this week (slow progress) and have helped out in the garden and spent loads of time playing with the kids (who help our spanish a whole lot). We´ll be leaving for La Serena on Monday and its going to be so sad to say goodbye. Thanks to that bastard cabbie a whole lot of fun adventures have come our way and it feels like weve really made some good friends. They think were alcoholics because we always turn up with wine, but we share it with smiles and some semblance of communication (we just laugh a lot and it seems to get us by)!
So. bouyed by the language developments we venture forth!
Ill update again down the track,
lots of love,
c
Hola and all that espanol, this is a wee update of the journey so far. Fo and I arrived in Chile a week ago today (we toasted our anniversary this morning over coffee) and its been an adventure of wonder so far. Our first day in the country took us by surprise - a huge shock to systems lethargic with being spilt by Mike and Laura and the Californian sun. We were used to Disney and the magic of princesses and Chile shocked us into a whole different reality. Arriving early in the morning we were grouchy for not haing been upgraded on the plane and hence not having slept. We were overwhelmed by the unfamiliar language (neither of us are anywhere near knowledgeable of Spanish) and the grey cold sky. Lump that with the fact that we got royally ripped off by a taxi-man within minutes of being in the country and you get the image of two glum little girls. Santiago was all closed up for national holidays and it took hours for us to find an open cafe that would provide us with the solace of a coffee. Enter our German angel Volke who was sitting at the table next to us and helped us figure out the new currency. He has become a bit of a saviour for us. That night we met him for drinks and he took us for a tour of Santiago while also sliding in tips on how to get harassed less by the ever intent Chilean men. He has since helped us find Valparaiso, a town nearby Santiago where we are by the ocean and in a beautiful hostel. Hes here in Chile as an architect helping impoverished people in Valparaiso develop alternative housing to the illegal shanty towns their in now. He has introduced us to this community of such amazing people who, even though their in a tough situation, have greeted us with open arms and smiles and hospitality. Weve been paying them for spanish lessons all this week (slow progress) and have helped out in the garden and spent loads of time playing with the kids (who help our spanish a whole lot). We´ll be leaving for La Serena on Monday and its going to be so sad to say goodbye. Thanks to that bastard cabbie a whole lot of fun adventures have come our way and it feels like weve really made some good friends. They think were alcoholics because we always turn up with wine, but we share it with smiles and some semblance of communication (we just laugh a lot and it seems to get us by)!
So. bouyed by the language developments we venture forth!
Ill update again down the track,
lots of love,
c
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