Sententia

I finally made it here after a few problems. First, my plane from Boston to Miami was delayed (by fog of all things) by over an hour so I missed my 11:25PM to Chile. The next flight wasnt (its really hard to find the apostrophe key here) until the next day at the same time. The redemption was the hotel and $35 in food vouchers I received. There was also another guy, Sasu, who missed the flight so I had someone to have at least a few meals with. He was going to Antofagasta (a city in northern Chile) to teach english for seven months (with a small stipend). After walking to a pharmacy for an international calling card I got to sleep around 3 and woke up at 6, 7 and 9 to call the Y in Chile, but no one answered. Luckily they called me back later and we made arrangements. Thats not all, once I got to Chile and putting my bags through customs and waiting for an hour, I was fined $200 for an apple I forgot I had, and thus forgot to claim! I tried to plead a little, explaining I was teaching english, not going on a vacation, and thus could use that money for good things, but to no avail. The only good thing about that catastrophe is that I have a nickname: Juan Manzana (apple in Spanish), and that any apples we see are an instant source of laughing.

Differences in Chile:

1. Meals are at very differnt times than in the U.S. Right now our meals are at 9AM, 2PM, and 8PM.
2. The 24 hr clock is very common here.
3. Unless you make an effort to pay someone back for something, they will not ask you to.
4. On the highway, people actually only use the left lane for passing, wish it could be like that in the states!
5. Very little food is imported, mostly just red meat. Staples like rice, tomatoes, lettuce, avocados, potatoes, chicken, is from Chile. Ive never liked avocado more!
6. Bus drivers are pretty crazy (but pretty fun, next best to a roller coaster), although maybe thats not really a new thing, hahaha.

Ì think thats all for now, more to come!

Its absolutely amazing here, a lot like San francisco, and very much like a latin american New Orleans where the wide streets and plazas are.