RTW: Exchange in Chile

Best pit stop ever

The fat lady has sung. It is over, three interesting and unforgettable months here in Chile are about to end. Though not finally yet, but in a matter of hours there will be one happy man on a bus to San Pedro de Atacama, from where I start my Bolivian tour just to come back in two weeks for the final goodbyes, and more importantly, the girlfriend. ;) Anyway, yesterday as all my duties here were done, it was time for the victory cigar I got from my French friends. I even shaved for the occasion, I figured that since there are other internationally famous Finnish monsters now, this one could retire already.

The past week was indeed a really shitty one, but hey, one can't enjoy all the time. Haven't had any trouble sleeping the past two nights as all the schoolwork was done. Actually some exams did not go all that well, but it was not a matter of lack of trying. Also, the actual progress of the thesis for this trip is still a big unknown, I got plenty of data and articles and people who can help me via internet, but I still wasn't too convinced myself (bearing in mind that I need to finish it in the fall...).

Now, as I am packing all my life in a backpack again, it feels a bit sad to leave. Then again, focus of this whole thing was not to study, but to make the trip so in that sense this was the best pit stop ever. This seems like an appropriate time to throw in some conclusions..

WHAT I AM GOING TO MISS ABOUT CHILE

- The people. You just have to love them, and once again in 3 months I have had the pleasure of meeting some great people, some of which will surely be my friends for years to come.

- Quality of courses (ok, not all but some were by far among the greatest I have ever seen).

- The atmosphere of the house. So much for my bohemian life style.

- The "savage dogs" of the house. If it would not make me feel so insecure about myself, I could use the word "adorable" to describe them.

- Escudo (local beer). Mi mejor amigo del barrio.

- Gym of my school. Too bad I didn't realize to take a photo, maybe later -it was big and overly well equipped.

- Big city life -living in a metropoly is just so different and it kind of grows on you.

- Wines. This place is wine heaven. Nuff said.

- Movies that are so cheap I was practically ripping them off at the rentals. I think I rented some 60 movies or so in 3 months.

- One of the cleanest, nicest, most secure and most effective metro systems in the world.

- Gas stove. Does wonders when you are cooking, as does having a big kitchen.

- The forbidden things here: a sign in the door of my local store says no ingresar animales (don't take animals in) and under it is a picture of an elephant?!?! It is impossible to enter without smiling every time.

WHAT I AM NOT GOING TO MISS ABOUT CHILE

- The room wihtout heating on those below zero nights (and no, it does not help to be a Finn, even ezkimos would not like that), freezing my butt off.

- Smog and the screaming micros that spew out its main ingredients.

- 1,5 hour schooltrips that just annihilate you on a day that has classes from 8 AM to10.30 PM, completing it all into a mind-boggling 17-hour experience.

- Group workers that don't give a shit about deadlines in a place where just about every minute late costs you points. Or to generalize it more, promising one thing and not delivering. Enfuriating. At the last group work session I just had to take control. It can not be that difficult to assign responsabilities and put timelines to them. Now they think I am a control freak for teaching them some A's and B's about project work..

- Insta-coffee. These people have no clue about real coffee.

- The flip in attitude when people get into metros. Many turn into complete assholes, and despite the vastly imminent instructions to let people get out before you rush in, nobody gets the picture. I am generally on the bigger side here, so if I just get angry enough at the idiots I turn into an asshole myself and just ram the midgets out of my way -and blame the Swedes if someone asks.

- Local hot dogs. Completo = hot dog with excessive mayo, italiano = completo with excessive avocado and tomato (and mayo -colours of the italian flag..). You can not fit these babies into your mouth so you best eat them with a fork. Hot dogs. With a fork. You can not taste anything as there is too much of everything (but the meat).

- Pisco, the local grape liquor taken with lemon and egg white (Pisco sour) or coke (Piscola). Major source of headache even in small quantities. Pisco -I feel ya.

- Scooching in front of my computer with no table or chair. Does wonders for your back especially if you are writing a 20-page report.

- Not being able to talk about politics. A big no-no here. Strong opinions and often quite opposite. After renting a car to drive around central Santiago, talking about politics is the worst mistake one can make. Just was glad that when I had lunch at Pinochet's nephews' house (which I didn't know at the time) I did not open my mouth about politics.

I probably forgot something, but that is what came into mind at this point. This has been a ride, seriously a great experience to learn and understand everything and I am glad to have made the most of it. I will probably be logging off for a while now, but before that some pictures of "the last supper". Below is a photo with some friends from school: Benjamin (Chile), Maria Jose (Ecuador), Robin (USA) and Paola (Chile).

posted by Kassu @ 4:57 AM