Tuesday

Because the city shuts down, Sunday was about walking around and looking at the very interesting graffiti art liberally distributed through Barrio Bellavista.

Afterwards, I went to one of the more historic sites in the city: Santa Lucia Park. It was the rock upon which the initial settlement of the city was founded. It had been left to go to wrack and ruin when the city decided to turn it into a heritage site/garden. Very nice and peaceful.

Yesterday I didn´t bother with an entry because it was turning out to be an uneventful day. I was supposed to get together with Humberto but there was no answer when I called. The phone systems here are brutally expensive. I think I´ve spent over 20 bucks just making calls at the public booths. So I ended up just hanging around the hostel and drinking and trying to stay cool.

Around 2:30, a fat, friendly Chilean girl walks into the hostel to recruit 5 people to be on a Chilean drama called Passiones. So my Scottish friend Graham, two Americans, and a handful of Brazilians and I decided to do it, provided that we would be amply supplied with beer. These guys must have a budget of $500 an episode. The acting was absolutely hilarious and a few scenes were almost ruined because the Brazilian girls were shovelling Cheetos and Tostidos in their mouths like they were watching a soap at home. It took way longer than they said it would (not shocking if you are familiar with film/tv production), but since I was stuck doing nothing anyway I don´t know how I could turn down something so awesome. I am now officially part of the Chilean cultural fabric. I can now leave assured that I have left my indelible mark on the minds of Chilean housewives up and down the country. In fact it is syndicated throughout South America, so my fame may precede me!

Today I went to the mountain known as San Cristobal. It has a statue of the Virgin Mary which is lit up at night so that it´s visible for miles around. I went with the Americans from last night and we took the cable-pulled buggy up the side of the mountain. The view was a little underwhelming with the mid-day smog obfuscating much of the view. We opted to take the cable car down and see some of the large park that cloaks and surrounds the mountain. The problem was that we landed two miles further away from where we entered . After this ride we bought festive plastic animal masks which we wore at intervals and attracted amused/confused looks from bystanders.

´Cause that´s how I roll.