Santiago Chile

Hello hello! This is a deep dive into my first part of my trip to Chile. It's been quite a while since I've been abroad and because I don't speak Spanish this trip was eye-opening and challenging in many different ways.

The start of this trip was probably the hardest part. I had a full day of travel to get from PDX to Santiago and due to check in limits being one hour before your flight at the Portland airport I ended up waiting to get checked in for an hour and a half and just barely got to my plane with about 15 minutes before the plane was going to leave. So this trip was nothing short of exciting and high adrenaline from the very start.

After 24 hours of planes and airports I made it to Chile! It was so wonderful meeting up with Fabi, a friend I made in the states while she was studying abroad in Portland our senior year of high school. We took buses and trains from the airport to get settled at her apartment. While we were in Santiago we traveled around the city solely by train and foot. It was the perfect way to see Chile for the first time. So many people in Santiago use public transit and it was an unique experience traveling with the public and seeing how people go about their days. It's not unsimilar from what I saw in NYC way back when, but I haven't been to many big cities so it was really a new experience in general.

The first day we got settled in before going on a very adventurous hike. If you've never climbed up a steep hill in a dry water schute...It feels like every step you take you'll fall and roll all the way down to the bottom of the mountain. It also feels like you're walking in a desert with how steep it is and fighting the urge to stop because you feel so unsteady. About half way up the climb I was wondering what Fabi had in store for me in Chile and if I'd make it out beefy or broken. Once we got to the top we took a break and admired the beautiful view of Santiago. Because the entire city is in the basin of mountains you have to go pretty far up to get a good view but once you're up there it's more than worth it. We meandered along different hiking trails admiring the stream alongside us, the spectacular views and the beautiful summer weather. Well, I enjoyed the summer weather but I would imagine Fabi would have been happy with it cold and rainy haha! We hiked around until sunset where we watched the cityscape turn beautiful shades of gold and pink before we crab crawled our way down the mountain, exhausted, and caught the last bus back into the city.

While we were only in Santiago for three days before going to Chiloe Island, we did lots of exploring the city. I got to experience some of Fabi's favorite food places and help cook at the apartment where we spent time talking with her housemate Domi. Domi, studied English in primary school and was really very good at speaking the language even though she wasn't the most confident. We had a lot of fun trying to communicate in our mix of broken English and Spanish and I think that was the part of the trip I learned the most about the language when we were having conversations and Fabi wasn't in the room. It really forced both of us to get out of our comfort zones and inspired me to start taking Spanish courses once I'm back (which I haven't started yet but can't wait to learn for when I go back!)

One thing I noticed throughout the trip was how different Chilean Spanish sounds to when I've been in Mexico. They all speak much faster and enunciate way less so my brain was a whirlwind the whole trip. Santiago and central Chile sound very different than Southern Chile. In the south they have an even heavier accent to the point where at times Fabi wasn't even sure what they were saying. Which made me feel a bit better about how lost I was in the language.

One of the days during our time in Santiago we dedicated to the arts district. This is one of Fabi's favorite areas and she showed me her favorite streets and houses to look at and we walked around markets and cute neighborhoods. All of Chile is incredibly colorful-something I dearly miss in the states where all of the houses are very beige and earthy. The bright colors and beautiful street art are even more pronounced in the arts district where life seems to be bursting from the seams.

We visited the local art museum and got to see beautiful sculptures and works of art from Chilean artist and creators. My favorite part of the museum was hands down the basement. They have an exhibit that walks through the years of civil unrest and the uprising in Chile in the 70s. There were artifacts, photographs, and compelling arts and installations talking about how art was a huge part of the movement in this underground resistance during a time of death and destruction from the military and coup that took over the country. It was devastating to learn about and very eye opening in relation to the political unrest that has been in Chile more recently especially revolving around civilian death from police. It seems we can't escape police brutality anywhere. Overall the museum was incredibly thought provoking and beautiful, whether in magnificence or horror.

During the evenings of our time in Santiago we went out to bars and restaurants. One evening Domi, Fabi, Tibor (Domi's boyfriend) and I all went out to see the night life in the city. Because we were only there during the week it will definitely be worthwhile going out on a more lively night when I'm back. Originally, I was supposed to be in Chile for three weeks, ringing in the New Year in South America. While it was the right choice to come back when I did, seeing the night life around new years is definitely one of the top things I wish I'd been able to experience. 

We went to the area where the clubs are that they go to and everywhere was dead. It was building after building of clubs and the most people we saw were the 'recruiters' in front of each club trying to hustle people in for the night. I had never seen people try and sell a venue to you like that. It was interesting but very intimidating and aggressive being haggled every few steps. Because it was so low energy we ended up going out to a bar near the apartment for the evening. It was a celebratory night as Domi had finished all her exams and Fabi had found out she passed all her classes for the term. We got drinks and had a wonderful time talking, swapping stories and joking around. One thing I noticed about all their drinks is how common it is to find drinks with guava or passion fruit in it. I've officially found my favorite types of cocktails because YUM!

We headed back to the apartment for a night cap and made a friend of one of the stray dogs. He was set on following us the whole way home and we named him Mojito (the drink of the night) before we snuck him in the apartment to give him some food and water before bringing him back outside for the night. It was an emotional turn to the night because none of us wanted this loving dog to go, I would have brought him with me if I had the ability, but we fondly joked about Mojito for the rest of our stay.

We finished off my time in Santiago with walks in the park, cooking up a feast of food and spending time with friends, going to the corner store to buy local snacks for me to try (I'm obsessed) and taking a much needed rest day after spending lots of time walking around the city.

Santiago is full of so many pockets of beauty and culture that I can't wait to explore more on my next trip down, which we have actually vaguely planned. After three days packed full of adventure and experience I was more than excited to see what my time in Chiloe had in store.

If you would like to read about the second part of my trip to Chile, and stay up to date on my photography endeavours subscribe to my Patreon where I post more regularly! www.patreon.com/smjphoto