Dinner with friends
Trip Start
Jul 09, 2008
1
10
14
Trip End
Ongoing
Santiago,
Chile
Friday, July 18, 2008
Conversation was great again. We even managed to joke around this time. Their English is getting so much better so quickly. They said they really like being able to speak with us because they get to practice. They taught us a little Spanish as well. The meal was lovely, a big chunk of steak. What they say is true, the meat here really is good.
We talked a little about life in Chile. They were saying that university education is now becoming very expensive here. The government is starting to put up the costs or maybe privatise it. (Not really sure which from the conversation) And health care is also getting expensive. They said you can go to the hospitals for free but they don't have the best doctors and care. Or you can go to a Clinic. But when you check into the clinic you have to give them a blank signed cheque. Can you believe it? Before they even let you in you have to give it to them and then they'll fill in the amount when you leave.
We also talked a little about their time under Pinochet. It didn't sound like a particularly nice time to be in Chile. Although they did say the only good thing about it was that there was absolutely no crime. When there are police running around with machine guns then no one was game to do anything wrong. These days petty crime is pretty rife in the main city area and some other places around Santiago. Like anywhere though, there are just some places you steer clear of.
As we were leaving I slipped up a little. We walked past the kitchen on the way out and I said, oh you have a nice cocina (which I pronounced cochina). Carmen smiled and said, oh I think you mean cocina (pronounced cosina). Cochina means dirty. Hehe oops. We had a good laugh about insulting them to finish out the night J Oh well, I'm sure there'll be plenty more of those to come as we keep learning.
Next weekend we are going out to the beach. They have some friends with an apartment out there so we are going to stay over on Saturday night. They apparently have hot tubs out in the sea water or something like that.
