Not only was I lucky enough that my friend and her family let me stay at their home. They literally treated me like family. The first few days was just living life as it was lived at the Munoz household. Little brother Manu cooked amazing food. Tia came home from working at the feria to have lunch with me and then men of the house. We ate and of course all partook in a nap afterwards. Friends came over. Tea times. Drinks. And of course more and more food and sun.
This was about the time I understood the strength of the Chilean sun. I also didn’t know at the time there was hole in the ozone. Being from Hawaii, I did put on my sunscreen but I thought I could handle it. But no one handles a hole in the ozone very well…if only I knew. I was a lobster by the end of the day and for about three days following that incident.
click on any photo to open the image gallery.

First day in Santiago.
Belen takes me to a mall the week before xmas.
It was people soup but I loved seeing all the different type of Chilean people.
In a city of 15 million people, in a crowded mall the week before xmas, I run into the girl who sat next to me on the plane. Out of all my travels…that was truly a first. I never seen anyone on a plane ever again. I may have run into people on planes or airports.
I also got to experience the ritual 5 o’clock tea time. We met some of Belen’s friends at Emporio de Rosio and had our drinks and cookies during this everyday social hour. I experienced the hospitality of the friend Renata who without question and only 20 minutes of knowing me urged me to visit her side of the country, at her pleasure of just showing me, in Concepcion about six hours south of Santiago.
And I almost got my phone stolen by the wachiturros.

I arrived in the morning after an all day and all night transit.
The first Chile did was take their $150 from me to enter their country.
After almost an hour of trying to get out of the airport and immigration being mean to me, as usual, I finally made it out. Belen said it was like a blind date. She had no idea who or what to expect. I mean, I had seen pictures of her but I hadn’t seen her in the actual flesh for 8 years. I thought about how we use to stand together in our choir class in the most air conditioned class at Moanalua High School.
I exited out of the opposite side from where she was standing and for about 10 minutes I freaked out thinking what if she wasn’t here and I would just be alone in Chile for the next couple of weeks? Sure enough I saw her familiar face standing on a set of stairs with her eyes peeled, looking for me. We made eye contact and she worked herself through the crowd as I stood there feeling the time pass and return to a meeting point. We shouted in English while having our first embrace in eight years.
After seeing their beautiful home in Hospital and getting settled. Belen took me to Buin’s seasonal feria where her mom had a spot selling things for the holiday. One-I felt like a giant. Standing at 5′6” I towered over the Chileans. Two-there were no Asian people. And mostly, it was in the 80s and awesome.

Surprisingly, it appears many people are waiting for the Chile posts.
I came back to my very busy Seattle life with a cold and new quarter in effect.
So here are the beginnings. (my apologies on not being able to make up a pop up gallery).
4 hours and 42 minutes from SEA to ATL. Delta ran late as usual.
And 9 hours and 25 minutes to SCL.
It was raining in Seattle as I left. As I mentioned before, transit is an amazing place for me.
I wrote in my black travel book, not knowing what exactly I was going to take away from this trip, knowing in 16 days, I would know a different place, people and foods but not too sure who or what and how I would exactly feel. I knew I would be riding a plane again, similar to the one I was on, and I would feel different. I just really had no idea. Also keeping in mind, a different kind of two weeks than the weeks of healing my foot, deadlines, meetings and Seattle life…time and place are two funny things when put together even though they are alway together.
From ATL to SCL, I sat next to a woman from Santiago and a dude from Macedonia.
Made for good talks while we tried our best to sleep. Awaiting to wake up in Santiago, Chile.