DAY 5 - DAY 8.
Los Angeles (Chile)
On the 14th of June, I few to the 'South of Chile' to a city called Concepcion. My destination was Los Angeles, a small city on the Southern Highway on the way to the far south regions, which include the region of Patagonia. Anyway, I flew LAN for the hour, but was 3hrs late for my friends waiting for me. Change of schedule from the time I brought my ticket and finally flew. The other issue was that at the last moment we were asked to change gates at the airport, due to technical issues. This added about 30mins to the lateness of my flight.
Upon arrival, I was met by my friend Jessica and her Dad Antonio. I hadn't seen them for about 7 years and it was like no time had passed. Yes, we were all a little older and time had physically changed us, but we were still the same people.
On the right here is a little photo of Jessica and I. As usual my eyes are half closed. Initially it was difficult to communicate, as my Spanish was still rusty and Jess doesn't get to speak English with a native speaker all that often. I just told her to relax and we'd get through it with a load of laughs. She then produced her best friend for the next week, her Spanish / English Dictionary. The drive from Concepcion to LA was great and the three of us chatted for the whole 2hrs. It was a good test for me and made me work my 'Spanish' brain.
Jess' home town of Los Angeles has a population of about 200,000 and is a local hub for tourism and farming, both crops and lumber. Lumber is required for the local paper mill, which, I think, is about the 5th largest in the world. So nut bad for a little town. Jess lives is a 'suburb' of LA known as Villa Santa Fe, which is located to the North West of LA, as indicated in the Google Earth photo, with the yellow box.
The houses here remind me a little of Europe, where there a rows of houses that are basically identical, only the tree in the front yard and the car in the driveway is different. That said, it is a very comfortable neighbourhood where a security guard rides his bike around just to make sure all is going well. I think he may be a little slack at times, as people still have their homes broken into. To the left is a photo of me in front of Jess' house. The Lounge Room, Kitchen, Bathroom, Dinning Room and Master Bedroom downstairs and two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.
I met loads of Jess' friends and those of her parents. One guy, Matthew, grew up in Sydney and is employed as a translator at the mill when foreign guests are looking over the plant. I also had dinner one night with some of Jess' family's friends. One of the couples is involved with Jewelry and I'm not sure about the other, but they had their twin daughters with them. I think I did ok during general dinner conversation when you can explain the events at Cronulla last year. Not bad when you have a limited vocab. One thing I found too is the stigma of hanging out with your folks and with your friends is not here either. I suppose that it is something I am used too, but it's not the norm in Australia. One night Jess, her boyfriend, an old school friend, her Dad and I all chilled out chatting, eating, playing Jenga, etc. It was a great night, until Nicholas (School friend) spilt the drinks over the table. I guess that happens when you tell stories in a very animated way, specially ones about 'Chillian Rodeo', where you are the local champion.
The days were very restful, as the nights were jam packed in LA. On Saturday night Jess and I drove out to her friend Nicholas' house. It was just going to be the three of us, which was good, as I think that 1 girl and 3 guys would have been strange in dynamics. Anyway we shared stories of both current and x-girlfriends, school holidays, trips abroad, etc. Jess didn't say much about x-boyfriends, maybe it's just a girl thing. It was a wonderful night in front of his open fire and I had finally started to feel warm again after a week of being cold. To the right is a photo of Nicholas and I, sharing a moment for the boys... At about 12, I got my second wind and convinced the others that it was time for the Disco. Arrrrh, I think now I will highlight the night by saying, I had a nice chat with some of the girls who serve the drinks, more chatting with Jess and Nicholas and had a great time dancing with Jess, South American style. Ask me about it some day, that's if I don't (guys only...!!! hehehe). Well Jess and I returned home at 6am, knowing that we had to get up get going soon for lunch at a friend's house for Father's Day.let's just say that I think Jess and I made the family a little late for lunch.

I must say that people here in Chile know how to eat. I don't think I have stopped since getting here. I wake up and have breakfast, then an hour later I have a cuppa tea with bread, cheese and cold meets, then an hour after that it's Lunch. Lunch is at about 2pm, so we have a light snack at 5 or 6 and then main dinner at about 9pm. I don't think that I ever stop eating. Anyway, Lunch on Father's Day was no different. The spread of food was huge. Jess and her family (4) plus couple 1 and 4 Daughters...(poor Dad) and then the host, his wife and the twins. Oh...me makes 15. I was still a little tired from last night, as was Jess, so we didn't say much during lunch and I was told to 'eat, eat. take more...' The food was lovely, I just couldn't eat. Plus the red wine with lunch was just perfect. They heat the red by the fire until it is warm and better to drink. I was so tired I kept zoning out and I think that Jess realized this, so suggested that we go to the other room to get warm by the fire and chill a bit. I think she was feeling the same. It was a great start to the my last night in LA. Jess and I chatted the night away. I spoke about my recent trip to Africa and she asked to see my photos, which I have on my external HDD. We also spoke about our dreams of the future and about life and family in general. She asked about my x-girlfriends and I told her the stories. She and I have similar stories and I think therefore a special bond. It was great to chat with her like this, but also sad, as I knew the next day I was leaving to go further south to visit Paul's Dad, just south of Gorbea.
My belief, that two people from different cultures, who speak completely different languages and can communicate with patience and laughter, can still be Very Good Friends, has been strengthen, once again... Siempre Jess, yo pienso tambien! Muchos Gracias por tu tiempo cuando yo viva en tu casa! Un beso para ti y tu famalia! Mucho amor. Leigh

DAY 3.
Santiago (Chile)
To the left is a photograph of the standard view of Las Condes. This is a picture of one of the main roads in Las Condes, it's called "Avenida Presidente Kennedy", I think that you can guess what that is in English... Like I said before, High-rise apartments line the streets with a few parks dotted along the way. Oh yeah and the driving is on the opposite side to Australia, so I get a little confussed every now and then, but just for a split second and then it's back to reality.

Well I have basically done nothing on Day 3. I think I sat arround the house, tried to read one of the chillian newspapers "La Tribuna" (guess it's translation...), watched a little TV (laughed at Homer and the family spoke Spanish for the whole show. It was about the one where the Simpsons join a cult. I guess it's ammusing when you have seen it a few times in English...). I think that I needed the rest and I just enjoyed doing nothing for a day. Eventually Paul and I went to the local shopping centre to look for a new microphone and headphone set, for his computer, and to but some new soccer boots and runners. Purchasing the head set was fine, but the shoes was another story. I don´t that that people here know what customer service is. First you need to get their attention...This doesn´t take long when you walk right up to them after looking at them for 5 mins and they are looking at you... Then you ask them to try on a size. They get come back, give you the box (take the shoe out if you are lucky) and walk away... you try it on and then go through the attentio'dance' again until they take the old shoe away and bring you a new one... Sometimes this dance takes you to the other side of the store, as all the attendants are talking away from customers... Very strange, when people in Australia want to sell items to you and generally don't leave you alone while you are in their shop. Just a different way of doing things, I guess... Anyway, as you can see I had a nothing day, if that was my high-light...!!!

DAY 4.
Santiago (Chile)
Again Day 4 was a lazy day. However, after getting up late, I went supermarket shopping with Danni. To get there we walked to the local 'colectivo' stop. Now colectivo's are taxis that have set routes, like buses, but they are cars and you pay the same amount if you are going one stop or 50. A maximum of 4 people per car and everyone just jumps in. Most people are happy to start up a conversation with fellow passengers...which can be hard when they speak to fast, which is my problem... so laughs all round when they ask wehre am I going and I say that I am an Engineer from Australia and I love being in Chile... Yo estoy mui estupido, pero no siempre...
Now, when I say supermarket, I mean SUPER. This place was huge... This of a Coles and K-mart combined. Sort of like the set up at Coles/K-mart Northland, without the wall inbetween. That said, the clothes are of a better than K-mart and there is a greater selection of food items. Awesome! I think we finished up with 2 full trollies. Fresh cheeses, meats, bread, seafood, the list goes on... and did I mention chocolate... Hmmmmm chocolate...We then caught a cab back home, which cost us about $5 Aus. to travel about 5km, so it was a bit of a bargin. That's something I have noticed here, some things are really cheep, most things, but every now and then you get a doosie or is that because I'm a gringo?

I did very little for the rest of the day, which I am getting used too. I think I like this idea... That was until Paul said that one of his mates was coming to collect us to go for a game of Pichunga (I hope I spelt that correctly) it's basically soccer on a smaller field, so that you can hone your skills, without having to run too much... Well I think I did Australia proud. I started on the bench... (Due to an odd number of players and I didn't want to show up my hosts. That was my thinking...) Anyway another guy turnd up, so now it was my turn to 'strut my stuff'. I played a defensive mid-field role and did it well. Made a few runs up the right wing and gave a few passes for felow team mates to convert. Like always, the goal scorer gets the glory. I was having fun in the 2deg C temp. I then went into goal keeper, as everyone must have a go. I must have done ok, as that's were I stayed until the end of the game. Made a few saves and the crowd went wild, well my teammates said a few things and the bird that flew by made a noise. All in all, it was a great time of hanging out with the guys. I really enjoyed the run, but no doubt will feel it soon.
That's been about the sum of my activities of late. Not much, but a good introduction to life in Chile. I am currently writing this blog at my friend's house in the south of Chile, a place called Los Angeles...yes, they have the same name. But I´ll write more about that later. Until then, Adios muchachos!

EL MUNDO DE LEIGH

This will be an account of my travels from Australia and then back again.DAY 1 & 2.
Melbourne (Aust.) to Auckland (NZ)


Well, my travels started in 'sunny' Melbourne on Saturday the 9th of June. I was awoken by the house alarm going off, as Mum and Dad entered the house. They had offered to drive me to the airport. It was probably a good thing that they did wake me up when they did or I would have been late, which is not a good thing when flying internationally.

I was inline in Melbourne for about 30mins and it was lovely having Charlotte with me. After checking in the bag, it was off to the departure gate. Mum, Dad, I did turn around and wave, but you were already walking and it was probably a good thing.

I flew QANTAS from Melbourne to Auckland. However at one stage, I didn't think that the plane would take off. We had taxied out and had just fired up the engines when a split second later, the Captain cut the power and it was back to the gate to get a part changed. An hour later and it's back to take off.

I landed in Auckland at about 5 and not the scheduled 4:15. There I was met by my friend Paola. That's her on the right and it's not a photo taken in a cop car, it's a back of a cab. I met Paola when I was last in Chile at the start of 2004 and we have kept in contact since then. It was good to catch up, as I didn't get to see much of while she was visiting in January, as I was sick from my Africa trip.

We went back to her place and dropped off my bags. While doing this one of her Brazilian friends, Sislania, came over. The three of us went to the Auckland water front and ate a wonderful dinner, which included a lovely Scotch Fillet.

I told a few NZ jokes to the girls and they loved the one about the price of lamb in NZ. I had to tell them very quietly as I don't think I would be alive now, if I said them out to loud.

We then danced the night away at 'SOUL', having a great night. I received a few funny looks from th guys standing around us, as I was dancing with 2 South American girls. Hey, I was having fun...

The next morning Paola and I went driving around Auckland, checking out the local shopping center and the view of Auckland from Mt. Eden (yes that is a volcano opening I am standing next too) We also drove to a small 'village' called Mission Bay. It was such a lovely little place. I really liked it's atmosphere. Again I was late in leaving for the airport, because of the laid back attitude I was having. Plus the Latte was too relaxing. Thanks for the experience Paola.

I arrived at the airport at 4:30 and my flight was scheduled to leave at 5:50, but again there were delays and the new time of departure was 7. Joy! as I could now look at cosmetics with Paola in the duty free section of the airport... I soon said my goodbyes and it was off to the departure gate for my long flight to Santiago.

DAY 2 (extended).
Auckland (NZ) to Santiago (Chile)

The flight from Auckland to Santiago is a long one. It takes over 12 hours and there is nothing too see, as it is at night and over the vast South Pacific Ocean. Let's just say that I did get a little sleep, I think about an hour or two, but most of the time I watched movies, short TV shows or played tetras. After leaving Auckland over an hour late, we made it to Santiago about 30mins late. So, why can't they fly that quick all the time? I know, faster spinning engines require more fuel...etc...

Now to enter Chile, you do not require a Visa, however you need to pay a reciprocal fee of $56 US or it's onto the next plane and you're out of there. That's the first cue you need to stand in and then it's the customs cue. The customs cue took over an hour and then it was off to wait 30mins for the bags to arrive. Then it was like being back in Nairobi, with guys running at you screaming out 'Taxi, Taxi, Senor?' There were more taxi drivers than passengers.

I finally found an ATM, took out some cash and looked for a 'Transfer Bus'. Of course non were available, so I had to get a cab. It cost me $14,000 (about $30 Aus.) to go from the airport in the Outer Nth West of Santiago to Las Condes in the Mid North East. Hopefully the picture on the LHS here is suitable for people to get an idea. That's the suburb that Paul lives in. The taxi ride over was great and made me use my Spanish, which surprisingly isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Thinking about it, I managed to avoid unwanted taxi drivers, find and use an ATM (in Spanish), take out some money, ask the information counter directions to the 'Transfer Bus' office and then chat to the driver for about 30mins in my semi-broken Spanish. Not bad after 24hrs with very little sleep.

Las Condes is the up market area of Santiago, a bit like Toorak.There are loads of high rise apartments, that have high fences and guards at the door. Every morning there is a procession of older women walking into these buildings, to either look after children, clean the houses and cook food. These ladies get paid about $20 a day and they work from 9am to about 8pm. (i.e. once the evening dinner is cooked and cleaned away. I feel sorry for them, but it is a source of income for them and helps with their family income and survival.

It was great catching up with Paul and Danni and meeting their daughter Natalia for the first time. She is 18months old and reminds me of Charlotte. I think I almost feel asleep a few times during conversations, but I survived until about 9 and then crashed. It was such a strange feeling being back in Chile.

For now it's "Asta la vista".