Pensamientos Sobre Mi Vida en Santiago

Well it's my final week here in Santiago. I made the decision last week to change my program and go back to Buenos Aires for my last 2 weeks. As much as I've tried I haven't fallen in love with Santiago like I fell in love with Buenos Aires. I do think Chile as a country though, could easy win my love as there are infinite numbers of outdoorsy things to do. That love will have to wait on another day when I have the time and money to find myself so far south again.

My Chile Experience. The observations, enjoyments, and dislike over the past 4 weeks:

1. I've been cold on and off for the entire 3 weeks. What did I really expect with winter on the way? I've asked myself the exact same thing. Turns out that a lot of places in Santiago don't have central heating, including my room which has 3 outside walls and doesn't receive a lot of sun during the day. My nightly attire includes wool socks, my Patagonia pullover, and some nights a beanie. I conduct the majority of operations in my room with my body tucked into the heavily blanketed bed. I will never again take such things as central heating for granted.

2. The pollution here is visible and ever present. It's like you've put on a pair of glasses that zaps away the details of the horizon, the Andes, and clear blue sky. In place of this your eyes must pierce through the hazy air. Sometimes, when I'm walking towards my house and I look up and can just make out that the Andes are ahead, I wonder how my little lungs are doing breathing the air here day in and day out. It's definitely not the kind of souvenir I want to take home with me.

3. The Chileans who live in my neighborhood and the neighborhood where my school is are squeaky clean folks! I pass by some of the cleanest park benches ever on my way from the metro stop to the school. I swear I see them being cleaned at least once a week. And every morning people are out sweeping the leaves from their little bit of sidewalk too. So my shoes stay clean and my lungs are being filled with dirty dirty air. What a funny irony.

4. I've had the fun experience of jamming myself onto the improved and crowded subway system everyday to get to and from school. Though it's often a full contact experience, it fills my people quota for the day. To be totally truthful, I think I've become addicted to having lots of people around me. Like I've mentioned before- I'm sure I'll experience withdrawals when my feet finally find their way home to Utah. I'll go from seeing hundreds upon hundreds of people everyday to a number drastically less. Please come visit me and when you do, would you mind bringing your entire neighborhood with you?

5. Teenagers here are big into the gothic/punk look. In general though the clothing color scheme includes a lot of black.

6. Happy to note that the food here is spicier. It's strange though, after so many months of less spicy food, I can feel the spiciness in my stomach. Eating more seafood here too. As a resident of a land locked state, I've tried several new types of seafood. Not sure what they were, but I ate them all the same.

Okay that seems to be enough for now---it's cold, the air is dirty, the streets are clean, the clothing is black, and the food is spicy and a lot of it comes from the sea. I love making a short story long!