Welcome to Santiago, Chile, i.e. the IE of South America

Welcome to the IE. This is a red alert day, no jogging, no speed walking and no playing on the jungle gym.


Santiago, or The Cleanest Biggest City in the World, outside of perhaps Singapore, which I've never been to, but I can vouch for the fact I did not see anyone caned in 4 days in Santiago and in my book, that makes it's cleanliness all the more impressive. In fact though, it's ironic, because though little trash resides in the streets and I would honestly debate implementing the five second rule in their subways, it apparently is one of the ten most polluted cities in the world, according to one website linked from the CDC (1). More importantly it reminds me of an especially developed, not to mention public transit riddled, Inland Empire, (minus the raised trucks, Independent logos, good Mexican food and rampant racism) which means I felt right at home.

Santiago is in a bowl located between three sets of mountains. This helps to create staggering views of the 5000 meter mountains rising in the distance, but also a safe haven for smog and other airborne toxins. This means that the 16 or so million people--no different, really, than is the case with much of South America, around 1/3 of Chile's population lives in or around the capital--live in a cloud of their own making; Whereas the IE lives in a cloud of their own AND LA's making. Needless to say the haze directly affects the views, leaving the surrounding area in a kind of pale, washed out, overcast drearyness.

The city itself is lively, full of the hustle and bustle you would find in any large western city, and unlike in Argentina, everything does not shut down during the four hour siesta. However, the speed of life has lent itself to a fast food culture not nearly as prevalent in other places we've been. Taco bell, Burger King, Mcdonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC all have strongholds throughtout the city, especially in the abundant malls found throughout. Yes, we ate at Taco Bell and the sauce is the same, thank god. But Beth was heart-broken by the lack of mild sauce and the use of "much-too-salty" black beans as a replacement to their "heavenly" pinto counterpart (veggies seem to be prone to hyperbole when their only culinary outlet is beans. No pun intended).

French fries and burritos = dual kitchen glee.

The city center (aka tourist area) is incredibly navigable, in particular by foot. So, we walked, and walked and walked some more. We managed to make all the tourist sites, and even a few off-the-tourist-trail markets (2), some of which were a bit seedy around dusk, but saved us over half the price on produce and gave us glimpses into the imperfections and, based on the smells around the area, the toxins underlying the city.

The markets are like an IKEA gone wrong. 1,000's of stalls, no conceivable way out, the only difference is they serve delectable seafood instead of microwaveable meatballs and $0.50 hot dogs.

I think what we found most endearing, however, was the people. We've really only encountered niceties throughout our trip, but here the people are genuinely friendly. They smile, ask questions and bear with you when you don't understand their pigeon Spanish (3). It was refreshing and I'd have to say the best part of our all together enjoyable, if sleepy, visit to the capital.

Note: damage from the earthquake near Concepcion didn't seem at all obvious. Granted we stayed tourist for the most part, but our only encounter was the closed basement, and a few other wings, of one of the main museums. That's not to say there was none, simply that it wasn't significant enough to be visible.

A giant statue of some saint sits upon a hill overlooking the city. A local tried to compare it to the giant Jesus of Rio, to which I scoofed, with a smile. At the top, Beth saw a girl crying and I saw a guy with shaved legs doing the old "spectacles, testicles, watch, wallet" routine after his run to the top of the hill.

Yes, it's true, this is no Arlington Park, but it's pretty damn close.



There were sculptures and street performers all over the city, including this guy pretending to be a sculpture.

Nightlife is big in Santiago, with people leaving our hostel at 1am to go out and returning with the break of dawn, but since we wore out our dancing boots in Mendoza, this was the closest we got. Please notice the building on the left.




This is tha full-frontal of that building. Apparently cell phones are much more pervasive here in Chile than in the states. I asked the security guard if you could play snake on the backside of the building. Unfortunately, it's not possible.

(1) a brief visit to the site to investigate whether Beth should drink the water proved inconclusive. Apparently no organization travels the world testing cities municipal water--someone definitely needs to do this soon, because I'm getting more worried about being the king's taster, aka Beths water loro, especially the more north we go. Ps Santiagos water did not make me sick.

(2) The on-the-beaten-path markets were equally as impressive. It was like a more intense version of Pike's Place in Seattle, a place which the cast of real world Seattle, if transfered to Santiago, would no doubt have found jobs slinging fish between stalls, slapping each other over osos, and getting to enjoy the many mini-kitchens located within booths throughout the market.

(3) Chile is apparently notorious for cutting words short and leaving "s's" and, oftentimes, "t's" out of their vocabulary, making it an even more difficult transition from Castellano Argentina.