Nonimmigrant: Bienvenido a Santiago

Sunday 4 September 2011

Bienvenido a Santiago

Are airline seats getting smaller? Not even a herbal placebo sleeping pill could get me through an uncomfortable night, but we arrived this morning in one piece. Then we had to wait an hour for our bags to be fumigated, but avoided the $140 entrance fee because we're British and the Chilean government likes us. Pete was very kindly at the airport to meet us, and drove us back through a rapidly expanding Santiago for a delicious breakfast with Fini and baby Pepita. It was 11am by this point - we've already gone Latin with our timekeeping.

After a long session of gossip about good old Berkeley, and the chance to take a shower, Silvi and Ignacio arrived and kidnapped us for a trip to Ignacio's parents for lunch (3.30pm - still Latin). I was able to roll out some of the Spanish I've been working on so diligently at the gym ("please", "thank you", "where is the bathroom?"). I think everyone was quietly impressed. A barbecue was planned for later, but poor Raimundo has come down with tonsillitis! We wandered around the financial district instead, and will hopefully catch up tomorrow.

Santiago is an amazing city, surrounded by the Andes to the east and smaller ranges the rest of the way around. They're building what's going to be the tallest structure in South America, and the government is aiming to eradicate poverty by 2020. Pete drove us through the brand new road tunnel under much of the downtown, and we saw plenty of new home construction on the way out to Ignacio's parents. Chile is happening in every way.