The Far Side of the World

A few days ago, I left my comfortable home in Alaska to voyage to the far side of the earth: Chile. After spending a day in upscale Seattle, it was a rude shock to find myself suddenly in the third world. Everything was dingy, worn-down; the streets were a chaotic and confusing maze, the infrastructure was crumbling, the buses crammed full of people; everywhere I looked, homeless people slept on the streets, and at the airport the line was massive, with an hour wait just to reach the security line.

Once I left D.C., though, things went much more smoothly. Case in point: the Santiago airport in Chile, which was upscale and clearly organized, had a variety of recycling options, and gave out free samples of chocolate.

Yeah, this is my kind of country.

From Santiago, I caught a plane to Temuco (also: instead of peanuts, the plane gave out apple-cinnamon coffee cake). From there it was a quick transfer to Pucón, where I'll be based out of for the next couple of weeks. I'm taking morning classes here to brush up on my Spanish, with afternoons and weekends free to explore the area. After that, with my Spanish in better shape, I'll spend my last two weeks in the country... um, doing something (still working on that part).

Pucón, a couple blocks from my house:

For the birders in my audience, this was the first bird I saw in Chile: