#3 Impressions of Santiago

Our first day in Santiago was impacted by the Colombus Day public holiday in another way. With the city lacking any life minus the moving crowds it also lacked vibrancy. While the graffiti and general run down nature remained the following day, people improved my perspective.

Santiago, as I hear South America often described, is a city of polar opposites. Public displays of affection were one my first impressions of Santiago. In local parks people embrace one another, with surprising passion, aware of others around them, but indifferent. However, with litter spoiling many of the parks, and stray dogs sniffing around, Santiago is not a city of romance.

Running necessary errands (and catching up on sleep) has left little time for sightseeing but the errands in themselves have been eventful and through doing this we have seen a lot of the city by foot. Purchasing a laptop from a Sales Assistant whose only English was that learnt from an i-phone app was to us a real accomplishment. And it turns out we could have got a motocycle in the same department store and saved ourselves a whole lot of cost and hassle! At the moment we are trying to get by as best we can through a phrase book, smiles and laughter. A language course cannot come soon enough.

After coming across the area of Barrio Bellavista we decided this was the place we wanted to stay. We were pointed in the direction of a nearby hostel (which happens to be run by a guy from Wanaka) by a local. Our previous hostel was nice, but very quiet; we did meet an American couple who have been on the road for 11 months now (South America is the fourth continent they have visited) at an asado (bbq) put on by the hostel.

Bellavista is full of cafes, clubs and restaurants; the buildings are all one or two levels, each a different colour with artworks painted over top.  It is beautiful compared with the lacklustre area we were in, though of course still somewhat run down. Though we're unlikely to have the same experience in Bellavista as we did in the city centre.

Returning to EcoHostel all of a sudden we felt a stinging sensation in our eyes and noticed others around us shading their faces as we were. It was only when we rounded the block and saw police and protestors at the end of the street did we click that this was the effect of tear gas. As we walked towards a crossroads a local man advised us not to go check it out (which Reece was trying to do).We have since learned that the protests are in relation to keeping university education free in Chile. The day we left Chile a huge march was planned down the main road.

My final thoughts on Santiago are on the inventive way people make a buck. At traffic lights, particularly during rush hour, men and women sell chocolate bars, icecreams, and soft drinks to people in their cars. We saw a busker and a juggler entertaining the traffic - they just stand in the middle of the road, do their thing, then walk down the line asking for change. It's genius!