First few days in Santiago de Chile

Well the first few days have been both hectic and boring, exciting and frightening. So far the biggest challenge, like in most foreign countries, is getting used to the language. The simplest things like ordering some food becomes an arduous challenge, with hand gestures and mimicking galore. I'm sure the onlookers got their fair share of entertainment for the day just watching. But, already I am beginning to pick up simple phrases for my necessities. It's actually quite amazing what you can get done knowing just a few words.

Everyone else in the hostel has been very helpful as well. The owner especially, though possessing limited English, tries to help me the best he can. The hostel itself is clean, but a little old. You won't mistake it for a Michelin rated hotel anytime soon, but it has character. Like the crazy dog the owner has, it is a big black mutt with little training but a good nature.

On my first day there, the owner took me to lunch at a cool little restaurant close by to have the typical Chilean lunch. We started off with a pisco sour, which is apparently the national drink of Chile. It was a grape liquor with sour mix and egg of all things. Pretty good none the less. We also had ceviche for an appetizer, which is fish in a lemon sauce, almost like a fish salad. Pretty hard to describe exactly, but it tasted really good. For the main course I had a chicken dish while the owner had a steak rare. The chicken was also delicioso with some sesame seeds on top and a sweet and sour sauce on the side. A great first Chilean dining experience!

Also, my trek to the top of the mountain of santiago (not really a mountain) is tomorrow.

P.S I don't want to have to upload photos twice to blogger and picasa so I'm just going to use Picasa. Here is the link for the Santiago pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/navrdd/SantiagoDeChile#