Primer dia Sur del equador

I bought a couple travel books for my time in Chile.  Although I thoroughly enjoyed reading them I am starting to think they are redundant.  All you need is an open mind and a talkative personality.  During the layover and on the flight I got some of the best travel information I could ask for.  The girl who sat next to me on the plane was also 23 and knew the ins and outs of Santiago.  Same with the woman who shared an outlet with Ryan at the airport.  Did I mention the flight was delayed by an hour.  But we got here.  This morning I got to see the sun shine on the Andes.  Then as soon as we arrived a the Castillo Surfista Hostel in Santiago the owner gave us even more information.  In about an hour or so we are going to go on a walking tour and get to be full fledged tourists...needless to say I am looking forward to it.  I really love the city already.  There is a definite nip in the air and my fingers are chilly as I type.  It is so weird being completely out of my element again.  I think the first day in a new country is always the most scary and the most exciting.  It is hard to remember the differences between Chilean culture and our own.  Luckily at the cafe today the waiter basically told us flat out, would you like to add the standard 10% tip.  I said yes.  Gosh I love new places, new people and new cultures.  I had papaya juice (juice isn't Zumo its Jugo) and ate some of Ryans tres leche cake.  It's a good thing it wasn't just mine or I would have eaten ALL of it, probably in .5 seconds. Yum.

Spark Notes:
- The city feels like Spain with gardens and art sculptures everywhere
-  Chilean boys are easier to talk to in Spanish than girls...
-  My bank was hidden in a hospital so that was fun to find
- I suck at getting directions from people in any language
- you double (sort of) the currency to figure out what it is in dollars   (200,000 pesos is $400)
- I will probably freeze tonight

Walking Tour
- new awesome tour friends
- awesome guide who drank with us after and was so happy and friendly
- cool bar- Bar La Nona
- Salty meat, cheese and olives
- el terramorto- grownup rootbeer float
- saw all the sites on the tour- learned some stuff
- Ryans is the navigator