The event ended late and I had gone by bike. Pablo was also near by at a friends so he started to ride towards me so we could ride home together. His tire popped, he crashed, and fractured his collar bone. I was only a few blocks away so I got there quickly to figure things out.

This is where the important part comes in. 11pm on a Tuesday night, a boyfriend that needs to go to the hospital, and two bikes that need to get somewhere somehow.

Without hesitating, I think of my friend (let’s call her gringa #1) who has a Ford Excursion and lives close to where we were. I call her a friend even though I met her 10 days ago and didn’t even have her cell in my phone yet. I call her a friend because it just clicks, you know someone is real or not probably after the first time you meet them. So I needed to call her to come get the bikes and I didn’t have her number.

So I call another friend (gringa #2).  I call her a friend because I can talk to her about everything and she’s sarcastic and tolerant like me. I’ve known her for about as long as I’ve been here. I have gringa #2 get on my email and find the number of gringa #1 who I then call to find out her car is not working but she offers to help in any other way she can… like a friend.

So Pablo’s dad comes to get us and Pablo’s dad’s girlfriend stays with the bikes until he can go back to pick her up with room in the car. This is where friend #3 comes in. I call her a friend because she’s real and admirable. She talks about her life and her goals without fear that I’ll judge her, because I’m a real friend to her.  She also lives near where Pablo crashed. So I called her to see if she wouldn’t mind going to meet with Pablo’s dad’s girlfriend to walk the bikes back to her place together so we could leave them there and worry about picking them up a different day. She hopped on her bike and headed out. But in the end, Pablo’s dad was already returning with the car, so we didn’t need her to help any more.

I call them friends because I can call them without thinking that I might inconvenience their night. Because I know that I’ll be there for them some day when they need me and I wouldn’t think twice about helping them. That’s when you realize that a girl isn’t someone you need to email 2 weeks in advance to “plan” to “have a coffee”.. it’s about a real connection with out the need to put on an act and squeeze them in your schedule.

Pay attention to parts:

:30-:42
:54-:55
2:01-2:07

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCd2KncpQfY&feature=player_embedded]

Would this ever happen in the U.S.? Do you think it is completely culturally insensitive and inappropriate for Chileans to be making fun of gringo accents on national news?

We all know one of my main reasons for moving here was my Chilean boyfriend, but lets forget about him for a second. I lived in France the summer after I graduated high school. Then I studied abroad my second year of college. If I hadn’t met Pablo and moved to Chile, I would most likely be living and working or volunteering abroad anyways, whether it be in Chile, South Africa, Thailand, or Germany. I have the travel bug and love to experience new things. Living in Chile has provided me with experiences and opportunities I could never find in the U.S.

First of all, I love Chile because I am able to start up my photography business here. California is saturated with competition and high living prices. In Santiago, I get to relax and focus on my photography, gaining experience, without worrying about not affording my groceries. I love not feeling lost in a huge ocean of competitors and am happy to be able to take advantage of Santiago’s personal feel.

The second reason I love Chile is because of Santiago. I’ve never lived in the heart of a city before and I have always wanted to. I feel like Santiago is a just the right size. From my house I can bike pretty much anywhere I want to go. My neighborhood is beautiful, with tree-lined side walks, bike paths, flowers. I do feel like I fit in even though sometimes I obviously don’t. I feel comfortable in the city and I feel safe.

Pretty little city!

Next, I love Chile because of the culture. I like that I don’t feel stressed and can do things at a slower pace. Dinner is late, which, when I’m hungry and tired, is kind of annoying, but I also like that things are relaxed and not rushed. I come back to the U.S. and bite my fingernails down to the skin within the first day just because everything is so much more stressful and fast paced. If you know me, you know I’m a pretty impatient person and do rush a lot, but I really appreciate living in a country that is teaching me to relax and remember what is actually important… instead of getting wrapped up in T.V., shopping, school, and work in the U.S.

My doggies are imporant Yes, Tequi is wearing boxer shorts.

If you haven’t already, check out my blog posts about fruit and veggies in Chile HERE and HERE I’ve probably wrote about it twice already because it was a shock to me. Something I didn’t think about before moving here. Love it!

I’m not really the “super long blog post” type of person.. so I’ll cut this one here. But I promise to write more about what is great about living in Chile. Stay tuned!

Also.. if you are a reader that doesn’t already live here, and have questions.. please ask in a comment.. I’d love to answer questions and I’m bad at guessing what people might want to hear.

Pablo continues to refuse to pay him so he asks Pablo his name and then introduces Pablo to the entire van (about 8 other people) and explains how he wants a discount. Pablo wasn’t embarrassed and just waves to everyone. We explain that we either get the discount or get out of the van, no big deal, so he, get this, ASKS IF WE ARE JEWISH? I’m seriously in shock by this point and ask if this is seriously a professional tour company?!?! Pablo says he is Jewish and still refuses to pay. Finally the money collector gets off the van at his office location without his extra 10USD and we continue on the tour. He had to accept that we wouldn’t pay because the driver/tour guide was not even a part of his company and he had already paid him, so whatever money he lost would be his personal loss. “The customer is always right” does not exist in Chile and I guess “try to guilt and embarrass your customer into giving you money you don’t deserve” is the new thing.  (Tip: Don’t book a tour with Franco in Puerto Montt)

This is kind of a cultural point in Chile that really bugs me. Chileans seem to accept things when they are less than promised (Edit: “Promised” is the point here, I’m not saying that Chileans should ask for more, I’m just saying that if a tour says they will pick you up at a certain time, one should complain when it doesn’t happen). An hour late for a tour they paid for? No problem! Bad expensive meal? Please bring more! And the horrible cycle continues and some companies or employees can get away with being mediocre. I think this explains the some of the poor customer service I’ve seen in Chile. If only Chileans knew their rights and spoke up, maybe things would improve and be more efficient, whether it be restaurant food or tours. It is so frustrating!!

The rest of the tour was great. We saw a lot in very little time. Hitting up Ancud, Dalcahue, and Castro and getting back to Puerto Montt around 10pm (on the map, Puerto Montt is a short ferry ride and short drive north east of Ancud)

Here are the pics:

A traditional dish of Chiloe, Curanto. They cook everything underground with smoldering coal for a few hours.

A tiny island off the coast.

A super old canon

Most of the boats were sitting on land because the tide was down at the time.. pretty crazy.

A fresh fish and ceviche market..

There was a wedding going on in the historical church in Castro.. had to snap a shot. And I wasn’t really invading, since I didn’t see any other professional photographer.

Puerto Montt

Puerto Montt

The house we stayed at

Volcano Osoro view from Puerto Varas

Volcano Calbuco view from Puerto Varas

Puerto Varas. I would have loved to go kayaking if we had not arrived so late and had more time.

The water must not have been that cold

Yes, I have turned Pablo in to a dog lover and this stray wanted to play!

A California license plate in a bar in Puerto Varas

At sunset on Lake Llanquihue

I love to photograph dogs and there are a lot of dogs in Chile. So when I do take my camera out, I end up looking like a crazy gringa giving so much attention to them. Let me start this little travel series with my dog collection from last weekend:

Thanks for stopping by.. please subscribe in the sidebar and come back soon!

I’m thinking this blog might turn into a travel blog for a bit. And I promise to take lots of photos, artistic ones, not just point & shoot, but with my SLR, since one of my goals this year was to take more photos of my “daily life” and I haven’t really stuck to it yet.

Happy Summer! (in the Southern Hemisphere)

There have been a few expat responses to this honor/curse. You can find two of them at Bearshapedsphere’s blog and Titleless Sara’s blog. Though I won’t give an in depth analysis of the decision, I’ll throw out some of my opinions.

Let me start by saying, I don’t believe Santiago deserves that spot. Yes, Santiago is safe, economically thriving, and cultural, but I don’t think it should have been #1. Why? First of all, Santiago is just another bustling metropolitan city and for travelers coming from the US, it’s not practical to fly half way across the world to visit it. For me, there is nothing special enough here to pay for a 1000USD flight from the US. Secondly, Santiago is not Chile. Chile has beautiful desserts, islands, and glaciers, therefore why is Santiago on the list and not San Pedro de Atacama or Pucon? If they had listed Chile as a country on the list, I wouldn’t have contested one bit.

Then comes my ideas of what travel means to me. I prefer to travel somewhere exotic (different from the US) or, if I want a city with museums, art, and history, I’ve got a list of ones in the US I still need to see. I also like to travel cheap. Santiago is not exotic. Like I’ve said before, it’s probably the least exotic place in all of South America. It’s also not cheap at all. Not what you would expect. One of my gringa friends went back the US for the holidays and confirmed everything in the supermarket in California was cheaper than in Santiago except for milk and fruit/veggies. A Chilean commented on another gringa’s response to this article and seems to have agreed with me. He said,

“If you want something metropolitan, go to Europe!, if you want some exotic and cultural infused place, go to Cuba, Dominican Republic, Perú or Bolivia. And if you want to know the end of the continent, Argentina is just fine, and have better costumer service and food.”

What he says is true and he even offers options to replace other destination within Chile (which is possible too, though I think Chilean Patagonia is worth seeing). I’m not saying this just because I have lived here for 5 months and have gotten used to it’s “exotic-ness”. After living in San Diego for 3 years, I would recommend it as a travel destination over and over, but Santiago is just “normal” to me. Yes I like living here and there are cool things to do and places to see, but not a #1 type place.

Check out the rest of the destinations that made the list, pretty random, no? Maybe they were just trying to be the most unique list of the year or maybe they were catering to a different type of traveler than myself.

Now… Am I happy it made the top spot? Yes. I’d like to see more tourism here. I would like people to get to know what it is like here. To realize it’s not some third world country. Or even to realize Chile is in South America, not Europe.

Do you agree? Does the city of Santiago deserve the #1 spot in all of the world? Would you recommend the city you live in as a top travel destination?