Chile: The Highlights

I wrote about what I did in Chile everyday, but never really described the overall impression of Santiago as a city or Chile as a country. When deciding to book my ticket for spring break, nearly 10 days, I knew it would be ‘short’ relative to other abroad experiences but that’s how vacations will be the rest of my life. I wouldn’t take back any of the money I spent and feel like the time was enough to become well-acquainted with what the city had to offer.

The two large “cerros,” or hills, define the city of Santiago. Called Cerro Santa Lucia and Cerro San Cristobal, both are full of parks and gardens the entire way up, and people of all ages are climbing at all points during the day. You can climb or pay $1 to take a funicular up, kind of like a ski lift! Unfortunately, Santiago has a huge pollution problem so although the city is bordered in mountains, you only really see fog on weekdays. On the weekends when there are less commuters in vehicles, the mountains are more clearly delineated.

At the top of Cerro San Cristobal, overseeing Santiago and its outskirts

As a working journalist abroad, Elizabeth is very well-versed in Chile’s current events. She explained to me how education is very expensive and that there are a ton of flaws in public education. One visible tradition is that college juniors and seniors steal the items of the entire freshmen class, and haze them with paint, seafood, eggs and more and won't give the underclassmen their bags back until they can on the streets for coins. What a crazy tradition, especially considering our view of hazing like this in the U.S.!

One of the freshmen canning on the streets (she gave me permission to take this photo)

Literature and artisan culture are strong values, and it shows. There are fewer museums than Buenos Aires, but because of that - they are all phenomenal. Every important location has a "Centro Cultural" component with not only a store or vendors, but also exhibits to learn about it. 

The Museum of Memory & Human Rights taught me about the dictatorship of Pinochet and Chile's No! movement and its rich history. Here, the yes and no campaigns to leave Pinochet in office had 15 minutes of TV airtime to produce campaigns. We watched the spots at the museum, as well as watching the No! documentary movie. 

The American community abroad is well-acquainted and loving life. Just like you meet a community when you move to a new American city, all of the English speakers find each other abroad and become friends. I met some of Elizabeth's friends from The Santiago Times, we constantly hung out with her Canadian friend Alicja (pronounced Alicia, but spelled the Polish way) and I met a few people throughout the trip and we kept in touch because we all speak English. It was a great week of traveling and next destination: Europe!

Alicja, me and Elizabeth having dinner at Patio Bellavista, a beautiful outdoor plaza

Key to traveling South America: confidence

There is no doubt that people change when they study, work or travel abroad. It takes a certain level of confidence to successfully make it in another country, conquer each day in a second language and take care of mandatories like purchases, payments and transportation.

This week alone, there have been multiple instances that require confidence and an overall sense of level-headedness to get through without being the underdog. And I would not have had this if I hadn’t first studied and traveled Buenos Aires.

First, I was buying a ticket to climb a mountain and only had a 10.000 bill, equal to $20 USD. South American countries are notorious for hating large bills and not providing change. But at the end of the day, that’s what the ATM gave me and no one else could break it. The salesperson asked if I had lower bills, no. Could I borrow from someone else, no. Did I have coins to make it easier for them to break it, no. I wasn’t trying to be a jerky customer; I sincerely didn’t have any of these. So what did he do? Took the bill and gave me change. It was right there; it was just a last resort. Pre-study abroad Katie would panic and start asking people in line to break the bill, but traveler Katie knew you had to be strong in your words.

This situation can be repeated in various other contexts, whether it was ordering soda in a restaurant (we don’t have that…but you did before and that’s what I ordered…oh, okay, here it is), or buying tickets for a bus (there aren’t any seats on earlier buses…oh, here’s two on the bus 30 minutes earlier). My personal favorite was going through security at the Santiago airport. The woman tried convincing me that to fly back to America, I needed a paper receipt that was not in my passport that proved the time I entered into Chile. “No one handed me that,” I said, in Spanish. “I can’t let you onto your flight unless you have that paper.” My first instinct was to panic, cry and tear apart my bags, going back to get my checked bag from the airline and search for where it was.

My levelheaded self paused and thought- there is no way everyone in this international flights line has that sheet of paper. I stood my ground, and she just handed me the exact same sheet of paper where I wrote my name, address and passport number. And now I’m back in the United States.

My point in sharing these situations is not that South American salespeople lie. Or that they are always seeking convenience and won’t accommodate their customers. All of these attributes are a part of their culture, and if you can’t assimilate into that in every moment, which not all Americans can, you have to be assertive to not get shorthanded, robbed, tricked or stressed.

At the end of my freshman year, I took a StrengthsQuest exam and learned that my five strengths were communication, focus, woo, responsibility and individualization. I was happy with these results, fairly good attributes and described who I am.

Immediately after returning from my 2.5 month trip to Argentina, I had to take StrengthsQuest again for a campus organization, and was shocked to notice that in 15 months, my strengths were completely different. The results showed that I had learner, input, arranger, responsibility and achiever. I was pretty upset and started crying at this change; I wanted my old strengths back. I hadn’t outgrown them, but these were just new strengths that better described my personality in various situations. The ‘new’ strengths exemplified the independence I gained while studying abroad, when my roommates and I constantly took the next step to assert ourselves, get from point A to point B safely and not settle for natives tricking the gringa Americans.  

Elizabeth and I met some college juniors from Vermont at a convenience store in Valparaiso who were studying abroad in Buenos Aires, and when we established that we were all American, they asked us if we had any suggestions. Naturally, we rattled off a list of the best things to do in Buenos Aires, and as much as they were taking it in, they weren’t writing it down or following up. We muttered how naïve they were for not asking for our names to message us on Facebook, or writing anything down. Then…we realized that how they acted was exactly what we would do our first time abroad too. Not everyone travels with those strengths.

Independence, assertiveness, an inherent eagerness to learn and self-confidence are things people must discover themselves and through their own experiences. They can’t necessarily be taught, nonetheless forced upon people. I urge you to unleash your confidence to have the best experience abroad, and not feel ‘jipped’ when you’re paying hundreds of dollars for a trip. Once you adopt these attributes, they’re difficult to hide in other aspects of your life - look at anyone who comes back from studying abroad and watch how they act when making plans. You’re in control of the life that is yours, and it’s a good feeling. 

Ending the Chilean journey: Valparaiso & Viñe del Mar

Thursday morning, we woke up, packed our backpacks, took the Metro to the bus station and paid $5 to take the next bus to Valparaíso, which was in 15 minutes. On the bus, we called a hostel, booked a reservation for that night and hung up. It was that easy. So much for planning ahead being a necessity!

The nicest hostel I've ever stayed in! 

I knew that Valpo was somewhere you “had to visit” in Chile, and that it was on a coast, but asked a few people back in Santiago to describe what ‘the things to do there’ are. The most common answer: walk around the loopy hills, go into stores and stare at the view. And that’s exactly what we did.

The hills, colored buildings & Pacific Ocean in Valparaíso 

It was unfortunately a cloudy day in Valpo, but we didn’t let it ruin our experience. The general vibe of Valparaíso is its hipster, laid-back population, a unique attire, colored buildings and ton of artisan shops. It’s made up of nearly 20 “cerros,” or hills, and people identify themselves based on which hill they live on. Each hill has an “ascensor,” or elevator, that you can pay to take you up if you don’t want to walk up the discombobulated streets. It’s actually a funicular and not an elevator, but you just accept the fact that it’s a cart moving up an incline. We did some shopping, chatted with some nice people, had a lunch promoción and some coffee and it was a successful day.

The city of Valparaíso from Paseo Yugoslavo, a deck on one of the cerros/hills

The next morning, we planned to take a 20 minute bus to the other side of Valpo, where there are more beaches, called Viñe del Mar. On Viñe, we went to Reñaca, a beautifully located beach. The sun came out from its hiding around 12:30 pm and Elizabeth and I soaked it in and enjoyed the view and the weather. We bussed back to Valpo to get on our bus to Santiago after a relaxing two days.

Because my flight wasn’t until 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, we still had one more afternoon to see anything we missed in Santiago! We made it to the Bellas Artes museum, which was a lot cooler than I expected. My original perception was it would have similar work as the endless art museums in Argentina, but in reality, the exhibits change every season and everything was incredibly unique.

We had one last lunch promoción at a nearby restaurant, where we ate amazing salads with avocado and a yogurt dressing. GAM, Gabriela Mistral, is the premiere Santiago theater, so we checked it out and saw some exhibits inside its “Centro Cultural.” Elizabeth and I ended the afternoon at an heladería with some rich dulce de leche ice cream and headed back to her apartment to pack and watch the movie No! Although the week flew by, it was a wonderful spring break of travel, learning and reminiscing to my time abroad! 

Reñaca

Back in Santiago

After returning on a 7-hour bus through the mountains from Argentina, we packed in a ton of activities in Santiago. We headed to Lastarria, a nice neighborhood/barrio in Santiago, and ate a nice dinner at Sur Patagonica. I tried the signature “Pisco Sour” drink, the liquor of Chile, and Elizabeth and I shared potato gnocchi and empanaditas de mariscos, which are seafood empanadas. I rarely eat seafood, but this was the most phenomenal meal I’ve eaten in awhile. We continued to explore the area and stopped at a nearby bar called Berri to drink its signature drink, blue berri margaritas. Pretty full day for a Monday!

Tuesday, we pretty much hit every area of downtown Santiago in 12 hours. Chile has a rich history under the dictatorship of Pinochet after an attack on September 11, 1973, with political genocide and a crazy government until 1990. A few years ago, former president Michelle Bachelet ordered the opening of a Museo de La Memoria y Derechos Humanos, Museum of Memory & Human Rights, to commemorate this period and all those lost. The museum is very well-done and I learned a lot, ending with the excitement of the No! movement. A documentary was just done on this and aired at the True/False Film Fest, so maybe I can even catch it at the Rag Tag theater back at Mizzou.

From the museum, we paddle boated at Parque Quinta Normal, a beautiful park near the metro/subway. Lunch “promociones” are huge here, so we had to get our good food at lunch prices. The Bellas Artes area of town has some great lunch deals, so we stopped there and got a soup/salad, bread, soda, tortilla española (or other meal), mashed potatoes and dessert for $7! I’m still shocked.

Our next stop was La Moneda, the Chilean version of the White House. There’s a Centro Cultural inside to visit, and it was cool to see Elizabeth point out places in the Moneda where she has reported for The Santiago Times, her internship here. Our last metro/Subway ride of the day was toward Paseo Ahumada and Paseo Fuente, two long stretches downtown with good shopping. Since summer is ending here, we got some great deals on wedges and sundresses! Shoes were running for nearly $6; it’s great to be somewhere where the exchange rate is in your favor. Many trip advisor-type websites had recommended trying a drink called “El Terremoto” at “La Piojera,” a gringo establishment in the downtown Santiago area. For those of you non-Spanish speakers, that means trying out an “earthquake” alcoholic beverage at a restaurant called “lice.” Sounds appealing, right?

The restaurant reminds me of Dick’s Last Resort in the States--somewhere you just have to go for the experience, but where nothing is good about the food, people or environment. We practiced our Spanish and hung out with some Chileans at the bar, and enjoyed watching Santiago craze over Chile winning the Chile-Uruguay fútbol/soccer game!

Wednesday morning, I was pretty exhausted from the past two days but still needed to do something. While laying out at the apartment’s pool downstairs, I met a fellow American and UC-San Diego student. Part of the travel experience is bonding with strangers! We had both studied abroad, were the same age and were visiting friends in Santiago. We hung out at the pool, took a break for lunch, I checked out an artisan Feria Santa Lucia downtown for a bit and then we met up to climb Cerro San Cristobal, a huge hill in the middle of the city with a beautiful view. Pictures to come.

To end most of the Santiago experience, Elizabeth, Alicia and I reunited at Patio Bellavista - an adorable patio full of restaurants and bars contained in a mall-type atmosphere - and had another authentic meal. Pictures to come of all of this.

Takeaway of the day: Santiago has plenty of things to do, and you can squeeze a lot into each day in the city!

I’ll finish my trip by heading to Valparaiso, Viña del Mar and Reñaca on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, which is crazy because Chile is an hour ahead of the Eastern time zones like New York because of its geographical location! Thanks for reading about my experience and I promise, photos will make it more exciting. 

Mendoza: When do you outgrow hostels?

When traveling to Mendoza, our first instinct was to book a hostel because it’s what we know. The thought of paying more for a hotel didn’t even cross our minds, because college students are tough for money and you just book a hostel. You’re supposed to ignore the co-ed rooms, loud noise, pressure to socialize in multiple languages with everyone around you and dirty atmosphere.

Saturday after our winery tour, we stayed at Campo Base - a hostel in the same network of hostels on hostelworld.com that we used two years ago in Argentina. We had three girls in a six-man room, and many of the hostel residents spoke English. There were a lot of Australians and people from the UK visiting, and they were all heading out to bars. After a long night on a bus and long day at the wineries, all we wanted was a nap.

We arrived to our unmade bunk beds, and the hostel employees had to go grab sheets and blankets. No soap in the bathrooms, no towels and an overall moist feeling in the room. The other inhabitants were leaving the door open, the lights on and getting ready to go to the bars. Right as I fell asleep, the girl on the top bunk of my bunk bed tapped me to introduce herself. Why were we dealing with this?

Around 5 a.m., a stranger drunkenly stumbled into our room and thought Elizabeth was one of his friends. That was our point of no return. She complained downstairs, he wouldn’t own up to the situation and we could no longer tolerate the hostel. I looked up the prices for nearby hotels, which were $170/night -- not necessarily better than the $14/night we were paying at the hostel. Alicia, Elizabeth’s Canadian friend and co-intern, found a website called booking.com that books hotel rooms, similar to what Travelocity does for flights.

For just $15 more, she found a hotel a mile away that we booked for the next night. It might not have been in the “centro” / downtown area of town, but it was our own room. We’d have silence, our own beds, a locked room, a bathroom and a clean shower. It’s crazy to think that we would not have prioritized these in the first place. We arrived at the hotel and the staff was incredibly nice. Our room not only had clean beds and a bathroom, but we had our own kitchen! We enjoyed the rest of our Sunday with no crazy worries, and our stress levels diminished.  

The moral of the story: if you don’t want to be invaded by strangers, sleep in an unlocked room with loud music & lights on, and be bugged by international people all evening - you’re too old for a hostel. It’s time to take the financial risk and just book a hotel.