Enough Empanadas Already

We were keen to get a SIM card to save money on texts and for local calls, then head to the other hill, San Cristobal, to complete our set of things tourists can to in Santiago. So we went to the ATM to draw money. Not working. We went back to the flat to get the credit card. Not working either. Several times in India Nationwide had let us down badly, by preventing us from drawing money when we really needed it. This was the same thing happening. It seems like they have some problem with their international link because people with other foreign cards had no problem, but neither of my Nationwide cards worked. Then a few hours later is was OK again. This lack of money meant that all we could afford to eat were empanadas again. They might be a national speciality, but on our third day in Chile Joanne had already had enough of them.

An empanada. It's just a pie isn't it?

We waited around for hours, ate an empanada or two, and finally were able to draw cash and get the SIM card, which was the first real test of my Spanish. It's pretty rubbish, but between my Spanish and Joanne's female ability to read people's gestures and intonation we were able to work out what everyone replied to my clumsy questions. By the time we got the SIM card it was too late to do anything touristy. It was raining anyway, so who wants to go up a hill?

Joanne's hundredth empanada in three days

Back at the flat, Jaime and Pablo said they would like to cook for us. We had actually just had a little something to eat, but we needed something to go along with the New Zealand wine we had brought them. They explained that they don't drink much, only with guests, so it would just sit there if we didn't help them. They don't like to go to the Couchsurfing weekly meetings either, Jaime said, because they are just about getting wasted, and he can't be bothered with that. Even on the groups online, he continued, most of the people who join “Last Minute Couch in Santiago” or just say they are willing to host, never really do so; they just want to party, but he really likes hosting people, which is why they are in all the groups. What a difference from Japan, especially: people who are members of Couchsurfing and actually want to host people! For most people, they reckoned, it's just about joining in with the travelling spirit by getting drunk with travellers, without having to travel yourself (or host any of them). “I don't think Couchsurfing is about getting drunk”, Jaime said, whereas the most common attitude we had encountered online was “Couchsurfing isn't about a free place to stay”, which is patent nonsense. It seems the problem is that some people think it is just about getting drunk and some people think it is just about a free place to stay. Unfortunately most of the former group seem to be hosts and the latter, guests.

I reckon they have the balance right: free place to stay, eat a nice meal together, drink a bottle of wine, and sit around chatting for a bit longer than we should have considering our early morning flight to Easter Island. It didn't matter that we went to bed a bit later than we intended because the salsa club downstairs kept us awake for most of the night anyway! Travelling is all about learning to live without sleep.

written by  The Happy Couple on September 5, 2009 from Santiago, Chile
from the travel blog: Michael's Round-the-World honeymoon
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