Somos Turistas en la Santa Lucia

One thing to remeber when traveling through Chile is that it is always important to be late, no matter what the occasion. Whether it be for your child`s birth or to meet a friend for cafe, always be at least a half an hour late, otherwise people might think you`re weird. Or at least that is the belief Nate subscribes to.

After eating a late breakfast, consisting of pan (bread), cheese, spam paste and green tea we headed out to see the sights of Santiago.

In order to conceal that I am a gringo I carry my Let`s go Chile Book in a shopping bag and try not to reference it when people are looking. Unfortunately any attempt at concealing my identity was promptly shot to hell when I stepped into Santa Lucia -a small mountain in the midlle of a city that was made into the most confusing set of circling staircases in order for the government to hide the fact a big pile of stones are in the middle of the city by making you want to throw up from dizziness -and realized that everyone else on the steps were of European descent except for the many stray dogs wandering around and the volunteer security brigade.

Santa Lucia is nestled right in the middle of skyscrapers and busy roads, giving a great view of the idustrial and natural sky line. Nate told me that since it had rained for the past three days this day was by far the clearest since the rain cleared out the pollution that generally covers the city.

After Santa Lucia we went to two different art museums and looked at many different Chilean and Latino artists. But possibly the best part of the musems was the restaurant across the street which gave us a three course lunch (french food), a glass of wine and a cafe cortado -the local way of drinking espresso- all for 6 american dollars.

To finish the day off we visited Nate`s friend Soledad who let us know that no matter how much I covered my book with plastic, or kept silent, Chileans would always know that I was a gringo.