Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le...Viva Chile!!!!!

Finally its time that I made entries in my travel blog! I have been here in Chile for almost a week now and god it feels like ages! We arrived on the 10th of September leaving behind all the mess that we had to go through in order to organize out travel- visa, transit visa, permission, etc. etc.- and looking forward in anticipation and excitement our stay in Chile!
And now I realize that all the trouble we took is going to be totally worth it!

Well this trip is not going to be much of traveling unlike in china. Although I am going to be visiting atleast four places for sure. First of all, Santiago where we are right now and going to be till the 27th of September. And then the symposium starts, first at Vina Del Mar, then in Temuco and then in Pucon. All these places are supposed to be tourist havens excepting Temuco which is like a smaller version of Santiago.
Vina is a beach city and Pucon is a skiing resort! Wow! Am sure its gonna be awesome!

Well right now we are in Santiago which is the Capital city of Chile and the biggest and the most populated one too. Out of the 17 million odd people in chile 7 million of them live in Santiago. Phew! That’s a lot. Even though the city is really massive, most of its parts are well connected by the metros (which are excellent and a very efficient and convenient way of transportation) and the buses. So except for getting swindled miserably by the taxi driver from the airport to the city, most of the other internal travel in the city has been quite peaceful and uneventful! And cheap too! :)

The day we arrived here and 2 days after, the weather was unbearably cold. We were falling short of being adequately dressed even after 5 layers of clothing! (but of course it hasn’t been as bad as that one time in Brugge, Belgium when I thought I was going to die out of cold. Honest! I really thought I was going to die!) Anyways these days the weather is much better with the days being sunnier and brighter and hence a little warmer. Well the winter is almost coming to an end. Its officially over on the 21st of September!!! So the days are much Springy now…. :) The nights are still so cold but of course you are not much a victim when you are sleeping under 5 layers of blankets!

People here are really warm and friendly. The Chileans are known for their good spirits. Though most people don’t speak English, communication has never been much of a problem. Well we are now able to manage a little in Spanish…Spanglish! Actually, many of the words in Spanish are quite similar to those in English and comprehending them isn’t much of a hassle. People here are very hospitable too. Right now it seems like the entire nation is celebrating the national day which is on the 18th of September. These guys are one helluva patriotic people. And primarily, I guess, they only need a reason to party! We were already invited to two such parties and both of them were great! One was at the architectural university and the other at a church. The one at the church was called a fonda.
It was great, with all the music, dance, eating, drinking, everything!

So that’s about it from me right now. Will write in more in sometime as more eventful things unfold! Till then, adios!

PS: “We” refers to Rohan and me.