Santiago, Chile, Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Wednesday, 1995-12-27 12:00 local (Z-3)
...STILL here, 4 nights now, the longest I've ever sat in one place with Tower. The other two are really pissed because it's costing us money, but there's nothing we can do but wait. I can't remember how many changes we've gotten. The current story is that we'll get out late this afternoon. That's what they said at one point yesterday—in reference to yesterday afternoon.
Went on another walking tour yesterday, five hours this time. I definitely like Santiago more than Buenos Aires. It's not as grand, but is a bit more modern. One thing I don't like is that many of the stores here use the system where there is one cashier. You decide what you want and then go to the cashier, tell them what you want, pay for it, get a receipt for your money, and then take that receipt back to the clerk and get your merchandise. That system was in use at the drug store where I bought sun screen and at an ice cream parlor where I bought an ice cream cone. The problem with the system is that if you don't speak the language, how do you tell the cashier what you're buying. I knew how to say “two dips of chocolate ice cream” and I knew how to say “sun”, but “screen” was beyond me. I had to go get the clerk and have her come to the cashier. C.J., you may remember we ran into that system in Italy—drove me up a tree.
Shoes are inexpensive here, about half what they are in the U.S. unless they're Reboks or Adidas, then they're the same as the U.S. McDonald's (decided to vary my diet from Kentucky Fried) is just a little more expensive than the U.S. Cameras are DOUBLE the U.S.
I got stopped on the street twice. The first time was by a very nicely dressed older man. In broken English he explained that he had been to the U.S. three times to visit his son who lives in Pocatello, Idaho. I was beginning to think he just wanted to practice his English and my general rule that if somebody stops you, they want something was, in this case, incorrect. However, he finally got around to what he wanted. He wanted to buy American dollars at a rate much better than the official exchange rate. Unfortunately, I had only pesos on me, having left all my American money in the hotel. The exchange rate here is government dictated rather than reflecting the actual worth of the peso, and their inflation rate is severe. Hence, of course, there is a black market in U.S. dollars.
The second stop was by a student at the U. of Santiago, who was quickly joined by two more students. They were out distributing a little poem in Spanish and English as a goodwill measure to tourists (at least that was their story)...and then at the last they hit you for money for their education. Sometimes it seems as the whole world has their hand out, and obviously, I have tourist written all over me.
Oh, yes, the chocolate ice cream. First I screwed up by ordering a double. They are very generous with their dips here. A double is like a triple in the U.S. I got down the street a block or so from the ice cream store, and a little kid ran into me, causing me to stop short...and causing the entire double dip to leave the cone and descend along the front of my white shirt. I spent the rest of the five hours wandering around with this large brown stain.
The hotel here has an indoor pool, with no facility there for getting any sun. However, yesterday I found out they have a separate solarium. So, it's now off to the solarium for a little sun. Have to get ready for the Caribbean! <g>
Terry