Restless
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Santiago,
Chile
Monday, December 13, 2004
Santiago wasn`t as terrible as I had been told by some people. But I was still restless, needing to keep the wheels moving.
Casa Roja
After running into Darren in Valparaìso I tried to make a reservation for Casa Roja. Things didn`t sound too promising when I spoke to the chick on the phone, but luckily when I showed up it was all good and my name was attached to a bed.
Casa Roja is a massive big house that is being renovated by an Aussie. There were so many people there and I think most of them were working to earn their free accomodation. I had been told that it was a massive party place, and I believe it, but the party just didn`t strike me, which is maybe what was making me restless to move on.
I did run into 2 people that I sold mine tours to in Potosì and also my crazy Canadian buddy Andrea from Salta, so it was kind of a meeting point I suppose you could say.
Sights, what sights?
I had a wander around Santiago, which certainly wasn`t as polluted as I expected and I could make out the mountains, although the snowcapped ones eluded me until my last day there. Here I saw a bit more of the Christmas Commercialism that I hate back home but that has been unapparent in the last few places I`ve been. I mean, people carrying massive garbage bags full of things home on the Metro is an interesting sight.
I also took the time to wander up Cerro Santa Lucia, which is a park/castle thing. It was all on a hill, so I climbed the stairs up to get a view of things. I felt a bit like Amelie as I was watching the man clean the telescopes and it struck me how it was the kind of thing that you very rarely see.
There were lots of nice nooks to hang out in, and the Chilean youths were making the most of these places. Back home you don`t see half as many kids hanging out and pashing in public, but then again, the kids back home probably go to each other`s houses a whole lot more than happens in South America.
That was about it for the sightseeing, although I did resist the temptation of the market in Plaza Brasil and only bought one pair of earrings.
What is it with the men here?!?!
I went to see Los Increìbles, or The Incredibles, at the cinema, which was quite an incredible film. As per Mujeres Infieles, a Chilean film about how 62% of Chilean women cheat on their husbands that I had seen in Valparaìso, I understood about 80% of it, so I was happy.
About three quarters of the way through the film, a guy came up and sat in the seat behind me and started talking to me in Spanish. He said "Do you have a minute?" to which I replied, "I`m watching the movie" and then he just started rabbiting on and I was trying desperately to concentrate on what was happening in the movie rather than his conversation in my ear. I turned and said "¡Afuera!" which is something that you would say to a dog to make it go away but he kept on bleating until I turned with a big greasie on my face and waved my hand angrily. He sat there for a few seconds and then went back to his own seat.
As he was leaving the cinema at the end, he said "Disculpame" which means excuse me. What the??? Could he not have waited until the end of the movie to start talking to me? They just have no shame of being rejected. Australian boys would never do that. Not unless they are teenyboppers or my brother, who seems to have an arsenal of successful experiences like that. Maybe Sam is a latino in disguise....
Things I Learned
* Chilean men are the same as every other South American.
* I have met lots and lots of people on my trip (who all just seemed to be at Casa Roja at the same time)
* I`m over tourist stuff.
