Chilean Experiences

Our first stop in Chile is called Valparaiso. We took an 8 hour bus from Mendoza to there, but the sights we gorgeous. We drove through the Andes, so there were pretty mountains, valleys, lakes, cliffs, and colorful rocks. The border between Argentina and Chile is at the top of the mountain at the end of a long tunnel. Crossing the border took a lot of time, but once we declared we had no food, we were clear to enter the country. The first thing we saw on the Chile side was about 50 switchback turns to descend the mountain. Curve after curve, buses and trucks made their way slowly down the mountain, somehow managing to stay on the road.

Valparaiso is a port town, so its people are called portenos, just like in Buenos Aires. It also had a similar feel to La Boca because of the brightly colored houses made from scraps from the shipyard. It was settled by sailors making their way from Europe to California during the gold rush. Since it is a natural port, it was a good place to stop for food, drinks, and of course, women. There were quite a few US Navy men over the years, who stayed with a woman for only a night or two. These women became pregnant without ever knowing the name of its father, so on the birth certificate, some of the babies were called Usa Navvey (imagine it with a Spanish accent)…

 The town is made up of 45 different hills, each one making up a little community with their own soccer team. I really liked the place; it had a certain charm that can only be found in tight nit communities with unique history. There were a LOT of stairs and hills, I was glad it was at sea level! They also had some old funiculars, or elevator type things—but they cost money to go up, and some were no longer working. It reminded me of Venice without the canals. Even though only a few of the hills are protected by UNESCO so they retain their colonial feel, the whole place is quaint and lovely. The bright colors remain a tradition, and often times teenagers will offer to paint your house for you with some artistic touch. These are the houses that don’t have graffiti, so most people accept.

There were a few cultural changes that I made me feel like I was in another country. After spending so much time in Argentina, it was weird to feel cultural shock again. The money is very different. It’s bright colors, plastic material, and different sizes. And it has way too many zeros. 1000 pesos is worth about 2USD. You can imagine when we went to pay for our hostel and she asked for 20,000 pesos!

The food was also very different. Hot dogs were very popular, usually served with avocado, ketchup, and mayo (these were called Italianos, because of the Italian flag). They also had a lot more spicy food, which I enjoyed after 4 months in a country that doesn’t believe in spice. Chorillana is another typical dish, with French fries, sautéed onions, beef, sausage, and scrambled eggs. I had a mix of pinto beans, pumpkin, and red pepper: quite delicious actually. One night we got churros for dessert. They were also amazing, better than a funnel cake. Did I mention people in Chile are pretty big? I definitely noticed an increase in size crossing the border.

Drinks are also interesting. Pisco is a grape brandy, and very popular in most of South America. They would mix Pisco with lime, sugar, and eggs whites and call it a Piscosour. It tastes like a margarita, but better. They also add pisco to coke, and call it a piscola. And I know why, it tasted like piss in your coke. Another drink they have is called the terremoto, or earthquake (by the way, they get 2 earthquakes a month in Chile, there was one in the north while I was there). This is half white wine, halt pisco, and some fernets on top. And then a big scoop of pineapple ice cream. They call it an earthquake because after drinking one, the world with be shaking. Dorothy and I tried to find one to share, but ended up at a bar that didn’t make them. Instead we got to listen to this guy playing guitar and singing American 80s songs. It was very entertaining to watch.

We took a day trip to Vina del Mar, about 10 minutes away on a bus. This is a “nicer” or at least newer area, with better beaches. We spent awhile playing in the sand and letting the waves reach our toes. Since it is fall here, or the beginning of winter, it’s a bit cold for a beach, but it was nice. I’ve now been to East and West coast of South America.

We had lunch in a nice restaurant and I ordered (after some confusion with the language barrier) a plate of veggies. It was huge and delicious, and cheap.

After that we were on a mission to find the castle. We saw it in the distance, at the top of a hill, so we decided to try and find it. After a while of wandering and trying to catch our breath, we came upon the castle on the hill. It was a good feeling to accomplish a simple goal in a foreign country. Not to mention cool. Castles are cool.

When we got back to Valparaiso, we went to a giant grocery store. Talk about culture shock. It was like a Walmart; in fact, they had some Great Value items, like Mac and Cheese! I’m usually not a big supporter of Walmart, but after 4 months of having lame grocery stores where I can’t find anything I want, I was in heaven. We also bought chips and salsa. Nom Nom.

I didn’t want to leave Valparaiso. It was cozy and I liked our hostel. But Santiago was calling. We took a 2 hour bus to Santiago and made our way to our new hostel on the subway. Carting around all my stuff has been a hassle, but not as bad as I thought it would be.

Our first night we just walked around the city. We saw the Plaza de Armas, the Central Market, and a few other random part of town. Dorothy wasn’t feeling very well so we went back to the hostel for a free dinner and went to bed early.

The next day I went on a walking tour while Dorothy rested up in bed. Santiago is a cool city. It’s pretty safe and easy to get around. We started off talking about the history of Chile, which is kind of confusing. All I really got from the talk was some guy was killed by being hung upside down and skinned alive, while the killer ate his heart. Apparently they are really important people in Chilean history.

We say the Presidental Palace, which was bombed during the 80s. They president at the time wasn’t killed in the bombing, but committed suicide instead. This was the start of the dictatorship that was a bad time for Chile (the same time as the Dirty Wars in Argentina). For several years, people lived in fear of the government and under strict regulations such as food and work. In the 90’s, they voted on a new president and things have been much better since then.

Except education. Public education is really not good. Our tour guide said it was better to not go to school than to go to a public school. So parents pay a lot for their kids to go to a private school There were protests going on when we were there It was a national protest for better public education. College is expensive and costs about the same as the US, but wages are lower. There are usually a lot of protests in Chile, and they are allowed to do it as long as they have a permit from the government. Although sometimes they still get out of hand and end in tear gas.

There are a lot of stray dogs in Chile. Most countries are usually a dog or cat country. While Chile has a few stray cats, dogs are far more common. And the people love their dogs. They have a good relationship with the people, even though they live on the streets, the people give them food and medicine when they need it. So the dogs are friendly and don’t bite. There was one who followed us on the tour who used to be a really good pigeon chaser; but he’s older now so he can’t catch them. There is also a dog during the summer who steals empty bottles. When all of the tourist have water bottles, he will come up and steal it from your hand and just follow you around for a bit. But the dogs do get hit by cars fairly often (Dorothy and I actually saw one get his tail trapped under a tire). Our tour guide said that’s why they chase cars and bark at them, because they don’t like them. Or they just see their reflection and think it’s another dog.

In the Plaza de Armas (pretty much every big city has one of these), there is a lot of night life. On one end of the square there is a championship chess tournament, with lots of old men wearing their berets, and the comedians on the other. There are also tarot readers and usually the religious men preaching how sinful we all are. All in all, a very cultural place.

On our tour, the guide warned us about the noon cannon. Everyday some guy at the top of Santa Lucia hill (a man made hill constructed by prisoners to make the city prettier) sets off the cannon. Sometime tourists will freak out and thing the city is under attack, because it really is quite loud. I like cities with some sort of noon bell/siren. It reminded me of Gunnison, only a bit more violent.

Our last night in Chile, Dorothy and I went up to the tallest point in the city, on top of a hill. It was really pretty to see the sunset and then the city lights. It did get really cold, but definitely worth it.

Overall I really liked Chile. It is a good country with nice people and delicious food. I could see myself coming back here.