The view from our hostal, of the Argentinian embassy.
In the Plaza de Armas: the cathedral next to a modern building.
One beautiful station in Santiago´s awesome metro system. We used it!
Our new home, El Furgon.Our time in Santiago has been surprisingly enjoyable, especially considering that it is a busy city and that our central task has been to find and purchase a vehicle for the rest of our trip. When I say surprisingly enjoyable, I mean wonderful, really. Today, Ryan said that this is ¨The best city experience [he has] ever had.¨Being here has, once again, reminded us of the fallacy of the myth that suggests U.S. superiority over Latin/South America. Santiago is a very modern-yet-down-to-earth city, with very kind people, beautiful art and parks, clean & efficient public transportation (awesome subway), great weather, views of snow-capped mountains, great roads & signs, etc. Everywhere we have gone, people have welcomed and helped us.
Buying a car has been a fun challenge. Our search has taken us to all corners of the city; at the end of each day Ryan asks, ¨How many miles do you think we´ve walked today?¨and we like to think it´s around 10 (probably a slight exaggeration:).
We have joked that we are in the midst of a Spanish language program and our recent homework assignment is to research buying a car: government offices, forms, very big numbers, car parts, and not to mention getting around the city. Our Spanish is definitely improving, and we are having an easier time understanding the Castillian version of Spanish spoken here. Today we feel like we passed the Spanish final exam. We have officially purchased a Hyundai H1, which is a cargo van. We have named the van ¨El Furgon¨(pronounced fu-GON) because we had to say that word a thousand times to find a suitable van, and because it sounds cool in Spanish, and because it means, well....¨van¨. Ha!
We are sooooo excited to head out of town en El Furgon, and we feel ready--camp kitchen, maps, surf gear, bedding: check! The plan is to go as early tomorrow as possible, and head toward Pichilemu. We will check in again when we find an internet cafe in our next location.
We love you all, with whole hearts,
Jess and Ryan
P.S. After trying to post photos from our camera, using three different internet cafes, I decided to go ahead and post this without the photos, but plan to keep trying...Stay tuned for photos. :)
Buying a car has been a fun challenge. Our search has taken us to all corners of the city; at the end of each day Ryan asks, ¨How many miles do you think we´ve walked today?¨and we like to think it´s around 10 (probably a slight exaggeration:).
We have joked that we are in the midst of a Spanish language program and our recent homework assignment is to research buying a car: government offices, forms, very big numbers, car parts, and not to mention getting around the city. Our Spanish is definitely improving, and we are having an easier time understanding the Castillian version of Spanish spoken here. Today we feel like we passed the Spanish final exam. We have officially purchased a Hyundai H1, which is a cargo van. We have named the van ¨El Furgon¨(pronounced fu-GON) because we had to say that word a thousand times to find a suitable van, and because it sounds cool in Spanish, and because it means, well....¨van¨. Ha!
We are sooooo excited to head out of town en El Furgon, and we feel ready--camp kitchen, maps, surf gear, bedding: check! The plan is to go as early tomorrow as possible, and head toward Pichilemu. We will check in again when we find an internet cafe in our next location.
We love you all, with whole hearts,
Jess and Ryan
P.S. After trying to post photos from our camera, using three different internet cafes, I decided to go ahead and post this without the photos, but plan to keep trying...Stay tuned for photos. :)
Vans are pretty cool
ReplyDeleteAlex