Day 3: The park

Day three.  When I did a 2-week boy scout hiking trip through the Rockies, they called day 3 the "brick wall".  This was the day when your habits on the trail came to fruition:  if you hadn't been sleeping as much as you should be, if you hadn't been keeping clean, or if you hadn't been eating right, the piper came for his comeuppance on day 3.  I'm happy to report that I've made it through the brick wall today with minimal scarring.

I started the day by going back to the place where I got my cell phone to get it activated.  I realized that when I tried to call people, I would get some crazy message on the other side with this chick talking a million miles per second, then telling me what my phone number was again.  One of the customer service representatives helped walk me through the automated service, then with a smile on her face told me I needed to practice my Spanish.  I thanked her in Spanish, told her I am definitely practicing, then told her to get bent with my 100-watt smile.  I'm not sure she understood the latter part.

Instead of heading back towards the hostel, I ventured further down Liber Bernardo O'Higgins looking for places of interest.  I came across a 4-piece brass section on the street playing a song eerily similar to the Mos Eisley Cantina theme, and saw a few policemen standing around in their olive-green uniforms.  The policia down here are much more intense than in the states.  They look like they actually work out, and have never even heard of Dunkin Donuts.

(They also may or may not have a little game)

After walking up a few minutes, I ran into the Chilean version of a mall.  I have to say, it was pretty interesting.  They all show the majority of their wares in the window itself - going inside the store is pretty much just to purchase or try out whatever item you're looking for.  Also, everything was open-air.  The stores themselves had doors they could lock obviously, but the entire 3 floors were open to the elements.

(I hope he was buying for one of his kids)

(Tired of looking like an old honky?)

Walking a little further up the street, I came upon this really cool park.  It was essentially a big hill in the middle of town, with an old fortress (Castillo Hidalgo) and something more or less resembling a lookout tower at the top of it.  It was pretty incredible to see the view of the surrounding area from the top of the building.  It was clear that Santiago itself is surrounded on all sides by the Andes once you reached the top of the park.

After snapping a few photos, I hung out in the park by the statue and read for a couple hours.  I ended up leaving once this lady sat across from me and started breast-feeding her kid about 5 feet away. 

While walking out, I realized that I apparently missed the memo that the park is only for couples making out after 3:00 PM.  I must have ran across 15 different couples swapping saliva vigorously.  I spat up in the air and caught it in my mouth once or twice so as to not feel left out.  It was sort of like making out with the wind.

The Universidad de Chile was practically next door, so I thought I'd wander through there.  On the way, I ran into two people trying to generate interest/money for their "educacion gratis" campaign at the University.  I thought it was pretty funny/ironic that they were asking for money for their free education campaign, but I obliged them with about 50 cents of US money (they wanted more, but I feigned not understanding).  It was the first time that I didn't mind talking to one of those street peddlers, because it gave me an opportunity to talk with a native who was very interested in making sure I understood whatever they were talking about.

The university had a setup talking about the universe through astronomy (one of my favorite subjects), so I wandered through there after getting an espresso from the nearby cafe.  The guy who took my order at the coffee shop was pretty flamboyant, which gave me a good laugh.  Apparently any profession involving hair, clothing, or trendy cafes contains some gay tractor beam, regardless of the native language or culture.  (If you start an indie band named "gay tractor beam", I want at least some credit).

Walking into the Universe tent at the University turned out to be a great idea.  They had all these signs up about aspects of astronomy and physics that contained ideas that I already knew, so I was able to deduce a lot of Spanish from them.  I also was able to more or less understand a native fairly clearly when he explained how the doppler effect tells astronomers whether a galaxy is moving closer or further away from us.  It was a very encouraging exchange.  Maybe I can learn Spanish after all.

At a local food spot, I talked with some crazy guy about el loteria for a little bit, and then he asked me if I was German ("tu eres aleman?").  Uncanny.

That's all for today.  I imagine these posts will start becoming shorter in the future, but as I have nothing better to do nowadays, you all are reaping the benefit (or suffering?).  Until next time.