I arrived to Chile on Sunday morning. Apparently, the Sunday before the worst Monday of the year- here, as the seasons are different than those on our hemisphere, here the children go back to school at the beginning of March. To me, it made absolutely no difference, but I guess it is a fact worth mentioning. The flight was surprisingly quite pleasant (I watched the Birdman- why, och why does everyone says it’s so good? I didn’t like it.) and I arrived on time. My bag wasn’t lost which was a big surprise too.
A funny thing happened at the airport. Chile, as someone told me later, is the only South American country which managed to avoid plagues. This is due to their extreme carefulness when it comes to what they let in- you can’t bring fruit, vegetable, honey, mushrooms etc. Theoretically I knew about it, but still- when I was waiting in a line for the luggage control, a dog approached a guy I was talking to who sat next to me on the plane and started scratching his bag. “Och dear” I thought “a drug dealer. I’m sure he put something into my bag too, like in the Bridget Jones!”. But he wasn’t a drug dealer. He’d just had an apple in a plastic bag in his handbag. He threw it away before the dog approached, but it still smelled it. Not a Bridget Jones situation after all.
Another important thing about Chile is that they don’t speak English. I read somewhere that only about 3% of the population does. And so, even in the hotel, I had quite some problems communicating. My Spanish is very, very basic as well, so it wasn’t easy. The hotel guys do speak English, but only at the reception. When I tried to order something to eat and all I said was “No comer carne. Quiero comer algo” (I don’t eat meat. I want to eat something), they didn’t know how to talk to me. In the end I just took the dish of a day which was not my dream food but at least I survived till the evening. Later, I met some friends from Poland who live in Santiago. We went to a hill called San Christopher, from where you can see the whole city. I decided to make use of my new camera for the first time We had some traditional Chilean drinks (with a bit wild name, I don’t think I will ever remember it) and later food. It was all lovely and felt like holiday. Some pictures I took at the hill:
I stayed up till 11 pm (3 am our time) and fell asleep like a baby. On the next day, Monday, I had a health check. It took a half of the day, from 8 to 13. After that, the woman who was accompanying took me for lunch to a Chilean place in the highest building in South America- Costanera. And then, I was sent to the place which was supposed to be my home for the next 5 months.
I can’t express how I felt when I arrived. The place is lovely, no doubt about it. I have a tiny little wooden house, with a bedroom (double bed again! Hurray!!!) and a small living room. But… well. There are four houses like mine on the piece of land, surrounded by a high fence. But only my house is being used, which means… I am alone here. It is really a middle of nowhere. Santiago isn’t far away- about 50 km- but in this place- there is nothing. No shops (to the nearest market, you need 10 minutes by car), no people, really. Nothing. When I arrived, the land lord showed me the place and I told him I only had one piece of fruit, so he drove me to a shop. That was an exceptional situation. I have literally no idea how I am supposed to go shopping in the future. And there is no internet… I sat on the bed and I would probably have started crying but I was too tired, so I just fell asleep.
So the situation wasnt’t good. But… But there is the view. And it is lovely.
Today I went to work for the first time. I’m too tired to write about that. The important fact is that I got a phone which has an internet connection, so I can post this for everyone to stop worrying! And I will write again soon. Besos!!!
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