Round the world in 90 days!

We finally made it to Chile! As I was checking through immigration, the officer was not only bopping but singing (rather loudly) to Whitney Houston´s I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY and I knew we weren´t in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Chilean TV is really hilarious. They have made Chilean version of all the popular american sitcoms like MARRIED WITH CHILDREN and THE NANNY and quite a few others. The reality tv is way too much, they have a really good one called FAMA which is like a cross between IDOL, BIG BROTHER and SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE? Great stuff! Also, the morning shows will use any excuse to have no less than 3 bikin-clad ladies on screen at any given time. Oh, and don´t get me started on the Tele-novelas!

Shortly after we arrived, my family decided that where we were staying was no good, too dangerous, not close to anything, etc, etc, etc. Fortunately, my cousin Gabyta has a house that she doesn´t use which happens to be on the same property as my Tia Mona and my cousin Cono. And so it was decided, and this is where we are staying.

Julius and I have been a little shocked by Chile. So much is said about ´how far Chile has come´ but there is still such an incredible rift between rich and poor. I guess some things in Latin America just don´t change. The cost of living has certainly gone up but wages don´t seem to be high enough to warrant it. It really makes me angry. The contrast between the poor and rich suburbs is truly astonishing.

The kids on the same property have been quite fascinated by us and are harrassing us on a daily basis. We are quite literally the only Gringos around this part of town and it is a little intimidating. We are constantly warned to look after our belongings and make sure we don´t get ripped off especially ¨Julito with his Gringo face¨. Apparently I can pass for Chilean if I just keep my mouth shut. I´ve aleady had a fight with a local shop-keeper that I suspected of trying to rip us off. If we speak English in the street it is as if the whole world stops and stares.

We haven´t walked around Santiago too much yet but my cousin Macarena took us out recently with her now ex-boyfriend. I was quite sick and over-whelmed so didn´t get a chance to really take anything in. We´ll have another stab at it shortly.

It has been a little tougher for Julius without knowing any spanish at all and having the face of a gringo. He had a rather jolly night with my Tio Memo involving a whole lot of whisky (pronounced weekee in spanish). I left them to it. They are now ´compadres´.

Because we have been unwell and a little scared to venture out, we haven´t seen much Santiago night life (yet). My aunt and uncle took us out the other night to an area where there are a lot of cute looking bars. The national drink in Chile is Pisco sour which I´m loving!