Lauren: Sunday, the day of rest.

So, the lesson learned today: Don´t go out on Saturday or Sunday. Everything is closed. Everything. No grocery shopping, no cafes, no movie theaters, nothing. Except McDonald´s, KFC, and a few cafes. The one thing that is open are the museums, which are free to all.

Aneya and I went to two gorgeous museums. One in a beautiful building with questionably beautiful art (pictured above). The other was in the Plaza De Armas (pictured below), both just blocks from our apartment.

The Plaza de Armas is the oldest part of the city, where Santiago was established 400 years ago.

This museum had amazing historical art, depiciting the relationships between the Spanish Chileans and indigenous, especially Mapuche, and the glasses Salvador Allende was wearing when he was killed in the military coup in 1973. A lot of really interesting historical information that Aneya and I were completely fascinated by.

However. Finding food today was quite a challenge. Because we are heading to the south for a few weeks we haven´t bought too much food for the house (because it might spoil) and we were hard pressed to find lunch. I had avocado on two small pieces of toast.

Saturday wasn´t as bad, but most things were closed. We were shocked. During the week, it´s a bustling city with people and shops everywhere. Both days of the weekend, it seems the city totally shuts down.

So, lesson learned. I´m stocking up on supplies every Friday.

- Lauren

Aneya & Lorena: La Pequeña gigante.

Lauren: So that marionette show we went to? Pictured above is the marionette. She´s, I don´t know, thirty feet tall, and a few tons? She´s held up with a crane and strolls the streets of Santiago, looking for her uncle, the scuba diver. She has many costumes, and travels in a boat that has water squirting everywhere.

Aneya: Ya, Daniela had told us of this Pequña Gigante before we left the States, but I didn´t really know what to expect. But not all this. This is out of control! Yesterday, we went to see this, this parade of sorts, and there had to be thousands of people lining the streets, all running madly in one direction or the next. To catch up with the Gigante! They ran and ran, children hitched on to their shoulders, some carrying flags, with pictures of the Pequeña and a "Bienvenidos a Chile!" sign. And when they finally caught up with her? It was like they´d just won the lottery. People yelped for joy, jumping up and down, waving, proudly holding out their flags. It was unbeleivable.

Lauren: There were so many people at this marionette show. Daniela said reports were of one million people in attendance, skattered through the streets, following La Pequeña Gigante as she strolled Santiago looking for her uncle. It´s a play put on by a French company, and it´s a few days of this story. An orphan is travelling the world, looking for her uncle (the scuba man), and along the way she stops along Santiago. Yesterday she was in the park for a picnic and got her gigantic feet wet. Residents were invited to picnic along with her in the park. Que tierno.

Aneya: The amount of things this puppet can do is quite astounding. She can lick a lollipop, change clothes, dance, (that was the best part, really. They hoisted her up on a crane and made her dance, her legs and hips moving, her little head shaking. Everyone loved the dance.) Oh, and there´s a live band behind her ship, blasting music up and down the streets of Santiago. And then there´s her uncle, the submarine man. We haven´t seen him yet, but apparently he takes off his scuba gear, and she sits on his lap, so happy to finally be reunited at last. (I mean, she did travel the world to find him!)

Lauren: Aneya has excellent video of this, to be posted later when we have internet at the house.

-- Aneya & Lauren

Aneya: Fashion Police

When I told my friends and family that I´d be moving to Chile, they obviously had many questions, one of which was: What´s the style like down there? To which I would reply "No se!" I really had no idea. I just hoped that whatever I wore wouldn´t make me look like a fool. I tend to over dress fo every occasion, so for this trip I decided to keep my flashy Vegas clothes at home. And yes, I miss them (and my stilleto collection) already.

To answer the question, the style here isn´t very different from the States. It´s summer, so you see a lot of pretty dresses and skirts, nothing to distinctive or "Latin" Some girls rock the tight jeans and flirty tops combo, others go for tights (or the dreaded "jeggins") with an oversize shirt. In any case, the girls all look fabulous. Most men are very casually dressed in jeans and t shirts (except for that amazing Castle Party, where everyone was in button downs and slacks. Ahh, que lindo!) Older women tend to wear matchy pant suits in bright colors or Latin inspired dresses.

Then there´s this abundance of wierd gypsy pants (pictured above.) They´re like the pants the genie wears in Aladin, and they come in a rainbow of colors (the most offensive in tie die) People sell them on the streets here and Lauren and I have both noticed plenty of women rocking them (others try, but fail, and should really just put them to rest.)

Lauren and I tend to stick out, but no because of what we´re wearing. I´ve been living in my summer dreses and skirts, even though I brought 10 pairs of jeans (yes, 10, I counted the other day. What can I say? I travel light!) and I haven´t touched them once. The thought of something tight, sticking to my legs all day is enough to make me want to streak through the streets naked.

Lauren too, has been wearing dresses and shorts, mostly. It´s just too damn hot for anything else. No, we stick out because neither of us look like anyone else here. It´s a very homogenous city, everyone looks the same. Lauren and I have counted a total of 5 black people (and one was questionable) and absolutely no Asians, Indians, or, heaven forbid, Sri Lankans to speak of.

And there´s us. One, very white, one, very dark. Both rocking the curly hair (although mine, undoubtably, causes more of stir) Two girls, cracking up, chatting away in a foreign tongue, taking crazy pictures and generally causing mayhem wherever we go. Ya, we stick out alright. And that´s just fine by me.

Lauren: My name.

It was the most common name for my year. Lauren. Easy, two syllables, short, but I don´t know what it is (Aneya speculated it was all those consonents) but there is not a soul in Santiago who can pronounce ¨Lauren Williams¨. Aneya and I were in a cab when the cable guy called to install internet at our apartment and the cable guy asked, ¨Oh! I forgot to ask you your name.¨

I said, ¨Lauren. Lauren Williams. L-A-U-R-E-N.¨ (figuring, like most people, he wouldn´t be able to say it).

He snarkily replied ¨No! Your nnnaaammme.¨

´´Si! Eso es me nombre! Lauren Williams.¨

It really is completely impossible for people here to pronounce. The lady we´re renting our apartment from said ¨Well, at least it´s ... unique?¨ when I told her my name. What´s unique about Lauren Williams?


Aneya thinks I should just introduce myself mwith another spicy, latina name that people here can prnounce: Lorena, but I don´t want to use that name because ... well it´s not my name.


And Williams. It´s said every crazy way imaginable. We-yams. Or We-yum. So for now, me llamo "Lorn Weýams.¨


-- Lauren

Lauren: More about the food.

Produce here is just so amazing. Corn, spinach, fruit, you name it. Everything is so much richer, and you can buy a lot of produce at these tiny vendors on the corner. The nectarines are so juicy, the corn is so sweet. Milk comes in a box and is thicker and sweet. It´s crazy. Avocados deserve their own post. They are so flavorful and everything comes with a side of avocado.

Beer and wine here is also quite good.

The Chilean government is crazy about what comes into the country! They won´t allow you to bring in eggs, dried fruit, milk. No food from outside Chile can cross these borders, and you can see why. Produce is a huge industry here.

There are some fruits I´ve never really had in LA. Like lucuma. What´s lucuma? It looks like an avocado from the outside, but inside it´s soft orange fruit. And cherimoya here is also big. A lot of cherimoya flavored things: juices, ice cream, things like that.

A lot of the products in the supermarkets here will take some getting used to, and Aneya and I both have gotten sick from the water. We´re all about the bottles now.

The produce though, I can get used to.

-Lauren

Photo of lucuma from Peru Ecological.

Aneya & Lauren: Castle party.

Lauren: So two nights ago, Aneya and I were invited by Daniela and her cousin Valeria to a party in a local castle. A party. In a castle. It was really lovely. Everyday at noon this castle shoots off a cannon, which is pretty cool. Aneya and I both can can see the castle from our new apartment. It sits on top of a nearby hill, and at night it´s just gorgeous.

We were attending this Wednesday night Santiago After Office party, which was crazy. Every professional in Santiago under 40 was there.

We had to take a van up to the castles entrance, and it had really beautiful tile, and fountain (there are tons of fountains in Santiago) and it was just gorgeous.

Aneya and I both ended up dancing with two very nice, Chilean men. Pictures to come when we have internet in the apartment.

Aneya: Clubbing in a castle. I mean really, how many times in life can one say that? But that´s exactly what we did on Wednesday night. We met up with Valeria, who was on the guest list (and got us in for free!) and we made our way up the hill, the sun slowly setting over the trees (this was at 9;00pm, by the way. Ya, we have long days here)

To get to the top (where the castle is located), the party had shuttle buses for the all the beautiful people to get on. I´m not kidding about the beautiful people part. It´s like every attractive Santiago resident was in attendence. All the men were in button downs and slacks (love that), the women in pretty cocktail dresses. Lauren and I couldn´t beleive our luck. How had we gotten in to such an exclusive place?

Lauren: No, seriously. Everyone in Santiago is really good looking. It´s in such a different way than LA though. In LA it´s like everyone´s done up with makeup, very trendy haircuts and clothes, but here there´s this just like natural beauty. We were stunned. We both have already renouced makeup (for now). People don´t try to look a certain way, they are just naturally beautiful.

Aneya: The castle was huge, three stories with a massive dance floor at the very top (disco ball included) people migled outside, smoking and sipping their pisco sours (side note: piscos are a dangerous drink, one that seems innoccent enough, but will bite you in the ass in the morning. Trust me. Lauren: Indeed. ...)

The party seemed to be packed with men, and they were all very friendly, and much more attractive than any of the guys I´d seen wandering the streets here.

Lauren: We both got roses. I can live without all the smoking though.

Aneya: I was honestly beginning to worry about the lack of hot men in Santiago. The city had to have some. But where? Now I know where. They hang out at the castle. I know where I´ll be next Wednesday!

--Aneya & Lauren

Photo from Santiago After Office.

Aneya & Lauren: Chilean Spanish.

Aneya: So when I told people I was moving to Chile, their first question was usually, ¨Do you speak Spanish?¨ to which I would reply "A little". I took two years of Spanish when I lived in France, but the class was taught in French, so it was doubly confusing for me. I had to translate three times just to understand what the teacher was saying. Mexican Spanish is abundant in Southern California, but I was told it was very different from Chilean Spanish, and I shouldn´t bother learning it. I was also told Chileans use a lot of slang, speak super fast, and are a bit sloppy with their language. Needless to say, I was prepared for the worst. But it hasn´t been bad at all.

Lauren: ...Sort of. A lot of Chilean is Castillo, and Chileans talk crazy fast. Listening and understanding is actually like an exercise. At the end of the day sometimes I´m exhuasted from listening, because it´s really hard. Chilean Spanish is very distinct. I´ve met people from all over this continent, who have perfect Spanish (or so they say), but have a hard time understanding Chileans.

Aneya: I like to think I have a knack for picking up languages, and my experience so far with Chilean Spanish has proven just that. True, some people do speak very fast and it´s common to add ïto" to the ends of words (just to be extra confusing). But really, the Spanish here is....well, it´s Spanish. And I´m frankly surprised at the amount I understand. Speaking, on the other hand, is a different matter altogether. I don´t have a huge vocabulary yet, and I still get tongue tied under pressure. So, I´m letting Lauren take the lead. Lauren is fearless in her Spanish, striding over to any policeman or vendor and conversing as if she´s lived here for years. Her confidence in her Spanish is something to behold, and I watch and listen as she speaks, taking it all in.

Lauren: So many words are indigenous in their roots from Quechua or the Mapuche, so it´s a whole new vocab. Especially with shopping and produce. And I can´t read. I don´t know why, but all those weird verb conjugations and specific vocab words. Daniela very kindly went with us to our apartment lease signing and explained everything to me. I mean, those were legal, technical renting terms, but still! For the first time in my life, I´m largely illiterate! Sort of. I can read super basic Spanish.


Aneya: I lived in France for 6 years, and I´m so used to stepping off the plane and hearing the voices of French men and women (presumably complaining about something, that´s what they do best) and yet, even with their nagging, I feel as though I´ve come home. I´m so used to understanding what people are saying around me, I´m used to ordering with confidence, being able to walk into a shop and articulate exactly what I want. Not being able to do that has been quite humbling. I have to stand back and listen (always challenge for me) and I have to let Lauren take the lead. It´s been interesting to be on the other side of things for once.

Lauren: And I´ve begun to blend my English and Spanish! I´m getting really good practice with my Spanish. I love it, but again, it´s exhausting. I learn a new word every day. Tierno = nice. That was Wednesday´s vocab word. I´m trying to help Aneya learn the days of the week. At least those aren´t different from other types of Spanish.

Aneya: Chileans are very friendly people, and they generally take pity and help when it´s obvious we don´t understand. We´ve both had trouble with the money here. What it´s called, how much something is, all the numbers seem to jumble together and they appear to give nicknames to every coin (or maybe we just don´t know the names of them yet. Why does 500 sound like 15 to me? No se.)

Lauren: People are really patient. They slow down, explain everything, use different words if there´s a vocab problem. It´s so nice.

Aneya: In any case, the language has been a challenge, but a good one. That´s part of the reason why I came to Chile, and not to some French speaking country. Because I wanted to challege myself. And that I have!


In actuality, I feel as though I´ve already learned so much in a week, (Lauren: Aneya is adapting and learning Spanish at lightning speed.) I´ll bet that by the end of this month I´ll be chatting it up like nobody´s buisness. That, or I´ll be speaking some wierd French-Spanish hybrid. On va voire!


-- Aneya & Lauren

Lauren: Standing out.

So for the first time ín my life, I´m a racial and ethnic minority. I´ve always had friends that would tell me how it feels to stand out, or how it feels to look different in ethnically homogenous areas. But for the first time, I´m experiencing this firsthand. I´m so different looking from most people here and I´m constantly aware of it. It´s like I´m wearing my differentness all the time.

There is a small, but significant German and Eastern European population in Chile, but largely most people are of Spanish or indigenous decent, or some blend of the two. Walking around, I can just feel how much I stand out and I know that people notice. It´s kind of unsettling.

I don´t notice people treating me differently too much. Sometimes if I ask a question in Spanish, they´ll respond in English. And there was that one time in Valparaiso when the bus driver kept charging us more money because we were clearly from another country.

For the most part people are nice, though. I don´t get weird looks when I go into a store or anything like that, so in that way, being a minority here isn´t too bad. It´s just this constant out-of-place feeling that I´m experiencing for the first time.

-Lauren

Aneya: The Money Problem

It's less of a problem and more of a godsend, really, it just depends how you look at it. I'm used to converting my dollars into Euros and getting less than half back, or even worse, converting dollars to Pounds and getting....well, basically nothing.

But not so here in Chile! When I converted my money at the airport I had brought with me a sizable amount of cash. The wad of dollars in my purse was nothing compared to what I got back. Stacks and stacks of 1,000 pesos, 5,000 pesos, 10,000 pesos, plus change galore. Had the man made a mistake? If so, I wasn't going to correct him. I took my wad of cash and thought of all the completos I could buy. I was rich!

But really, the money conversion here is a pain, a calculation I'm still getting used to. (People who know me know my math skills are already lacking and Lauren, sadly, is no better.) Basically, it goes something like this:

1,000 pesos: 2 dollars

5,000 pesos: 10 dollars

10,00 pesos: 20 dollars

100,00 pesos: 200 dollars

Then there's all the change. One coin could be 50 pesos or it could 100 pesos or it could be 500. Then there's this other coin that's so tiny and plastic it looks like Monopoly money. This is the 1 cent coin, less than a penny, if you can imagine that. The first day here I was completely confused and had to have Daniela tell me what was what. Several times.

I'm getting the hang of it now, and I've realized that everything here is remarkably cheap. On our second day, we had a three course meal that cost 7 dollars! A 1.5 liter bottle of water? 50 cents. An hour online at an internet cafe? About a dollar. Our cell phones cost us 40 dollars each, but that includes 20 hours of free minutes and texts, the charger, the actual phone and each one comes with a radio in it!

There are people selling things on blankets all over the streets. Fans, toys, random magic wooden sticks, earrings (my weakness! I haven't bought any yet, but by the looks of it, i'll only be spending 50 cents, so why the hell not!) The fact that everything is so cheap is both a burden and a blessing. It creates a false sense of security, knowing my one 10,000 peso note can buy us dinner for weeks and weeks on end. We took a day trip to Isla Negra and the whole thing (bus trip and food) cost us 10 bucks. The only bad thing about this is that you feel like you can just buy anything your heart desires, when in reality, you need to be careful.

Lauren and I had dinner one night in a nice neighborhood and the meal was about 20 bucks, which is a helluva lot here. We had a few beers, I had a sandwich, she had a salad. In any other place, that would have cost us 10 dollars. At the most. What a rip off!

So, the moral of the story is: just because everything is super cheap, doesn't mean we need to go crazy. I've gotta keep telling myself that, or i'll be the one selling socks on the street!

Lauren: Ya.

I've only ever heard the word ya used to mean "enough." So imagine my surprise when I say "thank you" to a stewardess on our LAN flight and she responds with "that's enough." Or I've heard it used to say that something just happened. Ya fui al mercado -- I just went to the market.

In Chile though, there are three different uses of ya (basically it means just about anything). This whole new use of this word was absolutely fascinating to me. There are a lot of language quirks here; a lot of indigenous words used from the Mapuche and Quechua. More on that to come.

The Acknowledgement: The primary use of ya is simply OK, or "sure thing".

"Thank you for the coffee."

"Ya."

In this context ya just means, I acknowledge that you've spoken and there's really nothing else to say here, except well ya. There's really no English equivalent that comes to mind here.

The Excited Affirmation: Ya here can be used to mean "Yes! Let's do this!"

"Do you want to go to that play tonight?"

"Ya!"

The That's Enough: You wouldn't use this without a basta at the end. This is like, I've had enough of this. Ya basta -- No more of this.

The ya is also used to say that something just happened, but I have yet to hear it used in that context.

-- Lauren

Aneya & Lauren: El Pueblo Dominico

The ladies after lunch.
Pretty Fountain
This cute little artist colony/village in Dominico
My first Completo in Chile! Delicioso!
Daniela and I, drinking cantaloupe juice mmmm so good...
Photo shoot in the post office
Inside the post office
The first map of Santiago. You can see the Mapocho river running through it. ...

The beautiful Post Office
A Museum in the Plaza de Armas
The first building ever built in Santiago, and the oldest church here
The Opera house, we're gonna go and see a free show one of these days
Municipal Building

Aneya: The Bathroom Situation

So, the bathrooms here are relatively normal. We Californians have definitely been spoiled, what with our seat covers in every stall and general cleanliness. The bathroom in our hostel is clean enough, the actual toilet seat and cover are thin and plastic and feel as though they might break off at any moment, but other than that, it's fine.

The weird thing about toilets here is that many don't have toilet paper in the stall. You heard me. No paper. You have to get your supply ahead of time, out of a dispenser near the sinks. This is confusing, because you think it's just paper to dry your hands, but in fact it's for....other things.

Also, in many public settings (such as a bus station) you have to pay to use the bathroom! Only 200 pesos, but still. Then they give you a funky shaped token to slide through a machine, and voila! You're in. Some of the stalls are oddly shaped too, and so tiny, there's no where to put my purse, let alone luggage.

In any case, I should just be thankful we have functioning toilets at all, and that we're not forced to go all "Slumdog Millionaire" and use a shack with a hole in the ground. Santiago bathrooms are just fine, albeit a bit bizarre to a foreigner like me.

Lauren: Vegetarianism in Chile.

One of the first questions I heard when I announced that I was moving to Chile was "What are you going to eat?". It's true, Chile is known as being a meat-eating country, but it's also known for its amazing produce. If you head to the boarder you'll notice right away. No eggs, fruits or vegetables can cross this country's boarders.

On every street corner there is a fruit or produce vendor selling amazing looking corn, peaches, apples and nectarines. Aneya and I had a nectarine in Isla Negra and it was superb. And absolutely everything is served with a side of fresh avocado, smashed and salted, to be eaten alongside your food.

Some street food that is common, aside from the crazy hot-dog-with-everything-on-it completo, is the mote con huesillo. Literally meaning barley with the "little bone," which is actually a peach pit with a lot of the peachy parts still on it. The barley sits in a pool of peach juice, and it's kind of tasty.

I haven't had too much difficulty finding vegetarian options, but as Daniela informed me, quite often vegetariana means "with a small side of ham, please." Nothing, thankfully, has come with any meat in it, which has made me really happy.

I've had spinach mushroom ravioli, an avocado, cheese and tomato sandwich, cheese pizza, and breakfast usually consists of fresh fruit, eggs, and these Chilean biscuits (we've been eating out a lot. Certainly I have had more difficulty than I would in LA, and even then it wasn't easy, but it is totally doable to be a healthy vegetarian in Chile.

There are also tons of "Chilean" salads, that consist of chopped vegetables which are very common at restaurants. White beans with onion, tomato and onion, avocado and basically any array of vegetables. The whole avocado-with-everything I can get used to. Avocados here are so good.

Vegetarianism here should also get a bit easier after we get an apartment and I can do some of my own cooking. There is some faux meat here (carne de soya), but it's dehydrated. Just one more small thing to adjust to.

-- Lauren

Aneya & Lauren: Isla Negra

Relaxing on the beach.
Me, on top of a very large rock.
(climbing in flip flops was a challenge, but I made it work!)

Don't know who that random guy is behind us...
It was so, so beautiful, if you can't tell.


Pablo Neruda's third house.

Aneya: So after the horror that was Valparaiso, I was hesitant to go to another seaside town. But we ended up getting free bus tickets, and Lauren decided right then and there that we would go to Isla Negra, and we would have a fabulous time, dammit! And that we did! The next day, we set off for the now familiar bus station, and made our way towards the ocean.

Lauren: The bus station was packed with people though, and our bus was twenty minutes late. Umbrellas, kids, soda vendors everywhere. The kids were super cute though. Parents are so sweet with their kids, almost without exception. It's really touching. Anyway, our bus had those same plush seats (albeit not quite as nice as our first bus ride), and we travelled to the sea again, passing tons of vineyards along the way. In these areas, it seemed the air smelled really sweet and fruity. It was amazing.

Aneya: The town was tiny, especially compared to Valparaiso, and we wandered around until we found the beach. I wouldn't quite call it a beach, more a series of jarring rocks, with a spec of sand thrown in for good measure. It was all so beautiful, it reminded us both of Santa Cruz, actually, what with the large pine trees and greenery, the salty smell of the ocean, mere feet away. We took some pictures, then just relaxed on the sand, such a nice change of pace from the hectic, stressful day before. Children splashed and played in the water, even though there were clear "No Banyo" signs. Oh, well. Lauren and I dipped our feet in, and the water was freezing, as we predicted it would be.

Lauren: I'm not sure what the sign said, but that water was not for swimming. It was a tumultuous sea, no calm beach. But it was immense and deep blue (like the sea, I guess). We laid on the beach a while and took in some good sun. The warmth of the sun felt amazing.

Aneya: We then wandered the small town, had some delicious fruit, hopped on a "colectivo" and made our way back to the bus station, and then home. What a lovely day it was.

Lauren: The colectivo is an amazing advent. Where has this been my whole life? It's significantly cheaper than taxies, and people share the fare of a direct car ride. Four or so strangers will meet where this taxi-like car stays. The colectivo drives toward a region that is listed on the top of the car, dropping people off and picking up others on the way. And it's so cheap. Maybe cheaper than the Metro.

After that, we had a pleasant ride back into town on another charter bus.

Aneya: Santiago: Make Out City!

I'm not even kidding. Everywhere you look, people are making out. Waiting for the bus, on the subway, rolling around the grass in the park, in restaurants, in line for the bathroom. It's insane! Screw Paris, Santiago is the real city of love! Latin Americans are known for being passionate people, but I wasn't expecting all this. It reminds me of Paris actually, where you will, undoubtedly, see couples kissing in the streets, the romanticism of the city of lights overtaking them. But that's Paris, that's what you're supposed to do there.

I can't imagine how unbelievably hot these people must be, after a makeout session in 90 degree heat! Ahh, mais, c'est l'amour, the heat does nothing to stop these people from showing their love. It's sweet, really.

People here are definitely more affectionate than Americans (not that that's hard. The only people less affectionate than us are the British) When greeting someone, it's traditional to kiss them once on the cheek (I've seen many guys doing this, which reminds me of the double "bisous" in France. I'm sure Americans would be horrified by the sight of this.)

Families here are also very affectionate, showering their children with hugs and kisses galore. The children here are all so beautiful, and well behaved. The parents seem to give their children plenty of freedom, and yet they don't seem to go too crazy (unless you count swimming in a fountain crazy. Which it kind of is.)

In any case, Santiago is a city filled with people just bursting to show their love for one another. And I kind of like that. (As long as both people are moderately attractive. Otherwise, get a room.)

- Aneya

Aneya & Lauren: Valparaiso.

Lauren pretending to be happy in front of the fountain

Me, wishing those people would move.

View from the hills
The hills of Valparaiso
Now wouldn't those stairs be a good workout!
Lauren, happy after her glass of wine.
Me, always happy to be drinking.

Lots of fresh produce, but also....
SO. MUCH. FISH. Too much, really.
At the beginning of the day...little did she know what was to come.....

Lauren: So, Valparaiso didn't exactly live up to our expectations. We were hoping for good music, and well we weren't quite sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't what we were hoping.

Aneya: Ummm. Ya. Valparaiso was....interesting. Maybe our expectations were too high, maybe we'd been spoiled by the clean, beautiful streets of Santiago. In any case, I was expecting a charming little port town, celebrating it's bicentennial with a lovely little festival. That's not quite what happened.

Lauren: My first impression of Valparaiso was of this dog, laying right at the entrance of the city. Some part of its mouth was broken, and its mouth wouldn't close. Whatever happened this dog's face wasn't clear, but his face definitely met with a violent fate. It was so sad to see. After seeing this, I was really just appalled, horrified, and sad, so Aneya decided it was lunch time. She was nice about staying positive. ... and really wanted a sandwich.

Aneya: So when the bus dropped us off- Hold on. Let me back it up. We took a bus from Santiago, which was just lovely. It was modern, clean, and there was plenty of leg room. So the trip started off on a positive note. When we got to Valparaiso the first thing we saw was what appeared to be a street fair. Upon later inspection we found out it was basically one big garage sale, with the most random, dirty, ugly items you've ever seen. Let's just say we weren't impressed. That's when we decided to get lunch. Lauren had been traumatized by the sight of a sick dog, and I felt bad, so I found us a restaurant and got her a nice big glass of wine. This helped immensely.

Lauren: The streets were really dirty, the music was bad and loud. For some reason, there was a startling amount of amputees in this city. It was so sad to see. Sick people, sick animals, dirty streets. It was really overwhelming. And we trekked the entire city almost entirely by foot, so we were hot, tired, and scared (because men were really aggressive and forward).

And there were these two men moving a small motor in a shopping cart through the carnival! It was so so crazy.

Aneya: Afterwards, we decided to try and find Pablo Neruda's second house, located on one of the many hills of Valparaiso. It was FAR up that damn hill, we finally hitched a ride with a bus and eventually ended up at the "San Sebastian", his amazing, five story home. Neruda's house was totally quirky and had stunning views of the water. Afterwards, we got a ride on a bus back down the giant hill, which I was thankful for.

Lauren: But the bus driver kept changing the fare. First it was 100 pesos. Then 260. Then 600 pesos. I mean, we were going farther and farther, but still. The price was increasing exponentially. As soon as we were at the bottom of the hill we were off that bus!

Aneya: By now I could tell that Lauren was not feeling this city whatsoever. She said she felt "unsettled" by some of the streets, which, I will admit, were graffiti-filled, dirty and filled with strange looking people. Those charming little houses stacked on one another now looked ugly and worn down. The city was hosting a festival, and it was packed to the brim with people, each one more bizarre than the next. Men hollered at us as we walked (mostly nice things, like hermosa! or pretty ladies! But still, you don't have to get so close!) and I personally felt like I could be attacked at any moment by one of the many Goth freaks lurking the corners.

Lauren: I couldn't stop thinking about those sick, emaciated dogs that were everywhere. And the people! I've never seen so many amputees in any one area. I couldn't believe it. It was heartbreaking. I seriously couldn't handle it.

The dogs too were much more aggressive than dogs in Santiago. One tiny, skinny dog ran into my legs and almost tripped me after a larger dog started barking at her/him.

Aneya: We got lost and ended up walking around in a circle for what felt like hours. By this time, Lauren looked like she was about to burst, she was so fed up with this place. I wasn't as revolted as she was, it kind of reminded me of the seedier areas of Marseille, which I know well. It's a port town, after all. But she had had enough. So we decided to get back to the bus, if we could find it. Which we couldn't. By now a horrible sound was blaring from the streets (someone attempting- and failing- to sing) and sick dogs, amputees, and every other wierdo had decided to come out of the woodworks. It was like something out of a horror movie. Lauren still had a sense of humor about it. Sort of.

Lauren: At some point I began laughing hysterically, but more out of how ridiculous this whole day was. It was scary, sad, dirty (we were filthy by the end of the day), and I really had not anticipated a day like this. I mean, any time I've gone to a festival, I've walked around a lot, been really dirty at the end of the day, but this was truly unbelievable. Maybe because it was a festival, and everyone was just loosing their minds, acting crazy and getting in our faces and the streets were understandably dirtier, but that still doesn't explain all the sick people and animals (a quick Google search yielded no explanation).

Aneya: So we finally made it to the bus station, which was like something out of a war zone, packed with people yelling at each other, it was complete chaos. We tried to get on our bus, but were denied. Por que? We went over to the desk and were informed that there were NO buses leaving Valparaiso that day. At all. I wanted to cry right then and there. You can only imagine how Lauren was feeling. She was about to lose it, I could see it in her eyes. We went to three different kiosks and each told us the same thing. Then, miracle of miracles, a sweet girl, seeing the look of terror in our eyes, took pity on us, and helped us score two tickets out of there. We were beyond relieved. I ended up running after the bus like a crazy woman (which, it turns out, was empty) to make damn sure they'd let us on. And they did. And that was the end of that. Oh Valparaiso, how you disappointed thee.

Aneya & Lauren: Pictures!

The church on our street, at sunset

Lauren in front of a beautiful fountain in the Bella Vista neighborhood

This is a window from Pablo Neruda's house (one of three) The P is for Pablo, the M is for his mistress (and third wife) Matilda, who he was madly in love with. The P is a moon, the M is the mountains and the waves of the ocean are in the middle. Matila apparently had wild curly hair (sound familiar?) which he loved, and often wrote about.

From Neruda's house
Isn't it beautiful?
The Llama! Her name was Marietta and she was friendly, to say the least. She loved Lauren and gravitated towards her immediately!

Lauren: The llama started vigorously rubbing her head all over my body. It was so strange. And she'd get shy and hid her head behind her owner. She had a lot of personality. That's for sure.

This is one of the many beautiful parks in Santiago.



Lauren and Daniela at the antique fair in Barrio Lastarria.

One of the many German pub-type restaurants in the city.

Our first night in Santiago! Enjoying some empanadas and pisco sours with Valeria and Daniela.
First day at the hostel (We both look tired...)

Lauren: It was a long trip.