Places to go in Santiago

Santiago, Chile. The capital, and the place you will fly into and out of for pretty much all flights throughout the country and outside of it. Being the capital, there are many interesting places to visit. There is so much history within this booming city that you need quite a few days to take it all in. The ISA group stayed there for a few nights for orientation, I revisited it when my mom can to see me, and I went back again just a couple of days ago (again with ISA). I hope this gives me enough things to tell you about so that you can have a wonderful time touring this grand city, at least for a couple of days.
First of all, you definitely have to visit Cerro San Cristobal. It is one of the most religious places in the country, the Pope even had a mass service at this site. There is the statue of the Virgin Mary at the top of the hill. Along the way you can stop at a church, gift shop, outdoor auditorium space, and much more. You can take a bus, walk, or, my favorite, take the funicular from the base all the way up to the top (well, close to the top). You can get off of the funicular half way up and walk through the zoo. When you get off at the top, there are some vendors with great Santiago memorabilia. This should be stop #1. You'll thank me for it later.

If you are feeling comfortable and confident, I would recommend at least stopping to look around the central market. It is mostly fish for sale, but you can also stop to eat at one of the many restaurants inside. Now, this is why you need to be comfortable and confident: the vendors can be a little forward, at least to people from the United States. the vendors have small print outs of menus and promos that they hand out. They also try to get you to come and sit in their restaurants. If you don't want to eat just yet, simply say no. You may have to say it a few times, but they will get it eventually.

On your way to Cerro San Cristobal, assuming you go by metro, or at least while touring the area, you will come across Patio Bellavista. In this little area, there are some small shops, a Starbucks, and many restaurants to choose from. things in the Patio are a little more expensive than most places, but it is still a nice place to stop and look around. There is also a little artisan market a couple blocks down the road. Things are a bit cheaper and most things are hand made. Both of these places can be found on the same street. When you get off of the funicular, just go to the road and walk straight away from the hill, do not turn. The street's name is Pio Nono.

If you are feeling like a history lesson, there are two places that you can go to learn about the dictatorship of Pinochet. I would suggest starting at El Museo de la Memoria. You can take a full tour of all three floors that tell you about the coup, life during the dictatorship, and how it ended. It is worth the visit as long as you have an interest in the topic. There are videos, photos, documents, and all kinds of propaganda from this period in Chile's history. You can also visit Villa Grimaldi (in the picture to the right). This was a site of torture and a holding area for prisoners. In the picture is the garden for the women who died or disappeared at this site. Villa Grimaldi also has a replicate of the cells that prisoners were held in, the original tower (which people very rarely returned from), and the pool that was used for torture and hiding prisoners when the Villa was under investigation. There is a room filled with pictures and personal items of people that were held there. This place has so much history and is absolutely beautiful, but enter at the risk of learning the dark side of Chile.
Last but certainly not least, you should visit the Cementerio General. Inside is a city of tombs. There are over two million people buried in this cemetery. People from the well known presidents to everyday people. There is also a section, Number 29, that used to be for the bodies with no names placed there during the dictatorship. When you visit this area, be sure to go with other people and keep track of all the turns that you make. It is literally a city and it is easy to get turned around in there.

¿Dónde está el baño? (Where is the bathroom?)

So, contrary to the title, I am not actually telling you where all of the bathrooms are in Chile. I am actually going to tell a little bit more information about the bathrooms here. You already know about the used toilet paper in the trash can, so we will expand from there. Sound good? Great!!
First and foremost, why am I telling you about the bathrooms? It seems kind of like a silly thing and that in our naive little minds, we think that all bathrooms are the same in all countries. That is not true. Some people learn it the hard way. Others learn it by watching others learn it the hard way. Also, my dearest mother, who came to visit me over the last week, pointed out that I should make a blog about the differences so that travelers and studiers alike would not get confused or end up in a stale without any toilet paper (to throw in the trash cans).
So, what is there to know? There's actually quite a bit. First of all, just because it's a public bathroom does not mean that it is a free bathroom. Some people make you pay to use it, others make you pay to use the toilet paper (in which case you should carry tissues on you at all times, just in case). It's not usually much, usually starting somewhere around 200 chilean pesos (about 40 cents). The price usually depends on how much toilet paper you need/want.
Next, there aren't always public bathrooms. In the US it is common to see one in public places, like a mall or in a park. Of course, you can always pop into a restaurant, buy a water, and stop to use the bathroom before leaving. But not all restaurants have bathrooms for customers and not all public areas have super easy to find bathrooms. Hence the title of the blog. If you don't know much Spanish, but you want to go to a Spanish speaking country, that is a very important sentence to know how to say. So if you can't find a public bathroom, or one in a restaurant, or the mall, just ask "¿dónde está el baño?"

Terms of Endearment

Everywhere you go you will hear terms of endearment. Common ones in the US are: honey, baby, sweetie (pie), etc. As many Chileans say, they are not quite so politically correct here, and that includes terms of endearment. So what do they say and what does it mean? I'm glad you asked! Here are some terms that they say and their translation:

• Chino/a/ito/ita: 
• Of asian decent (no distinction between the different oriental countries)
• Negro/a/ito/ita:
• Of african decent
• Gordito/a:
• Chubby/fatty
• Guatón:
• Chubby/fatty
• Gringo/a:
• From the United States
• Mi hijo/a:
• My child
• Mi niño/a
• My child

There are many more for sure, but these are the most common ones used. They are not meant to offend anyone, simply to describe your appearance (or the opposite). For example: If you are fairly thin/fit, they may call you gordito/a. Almost like a joke or sarcasm. They will use the same term if you are not quite so thin/fit. Please do not take offense to these terms. Chileans mean well when they call you by one of these words. It is their way of welcoming you into their homes and their hearts. 

Chilean Pesos and Currency Exchange Rate

So if you have been following along, you will know that the last post I made was also about money and how to budget. This entry is about what the money looks like, and how to quickly convert it to US dollars. I will also put the exact conversion, but for budgeting purposes, I recommend using the quick conversion. It will allow for a little more wiggle room in your budget (you will see why in just a minute).
So, let's start with the coins. You will see one, ten, 50, 100, and 500 peso coins.
One peso = 1/5 of a cent. (.17 of a cent)
Ten pesos = two cents. (two cents)
50 pesos = ten cents. (nine cents)
100 pesos = twenty cents (there are two different coins used for the one-hundred peso, both coins are displayed). (17 cents)
500 pesos = one dollar. (85 cents)







Next, paper money. There is a 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, and 20000 peso bill.
1000 pesos = two dollars. ($1.70)
2000 pesos = four dollars. ($3.41)
5000 pesos = ten dollars. ($8.52)
10000 pesos = 20 dollars. ($17.04)
20000 pesos = 40 dollars. ($34.08)


As you can see, the quick conversion is much cleaner looking than the actual amounts, and it gives you some room for budget adjustments later on. So, how do you get the quick conversion of Chilean Pesos (CHP) to US Dollars (USD)? Super simple. Let's say you're shopping at Jumbo, the supermarket. You've just gotten into the check out lane, everything is bagged, and they give you the total owed. It looks something like "19.950" (they use periods in place of comas and vice versa when it comes to numbers). You can either round that up as say it's 20000 CHP and almost 40 USD or if you leave the period where it is and use it as a decimal point, take the number you have and double it. So 19.950 CHP becomes 39.90 USD. Obviously, it is not exactly equivalent, but it is close and quick enough for you to use when you are on the go. You don't even have to be "good" at math to be able to do this little trick.