07-29-08 !Hola Santiago!

¡Santiago es enorme! A few nights ago, I ventured out of the Barrio Brasil, where we've been staying all week, for an evening tour of the city by bike. I grabbed a greasy empanada on a street corner near Los Heroes and took the subway east, almost to the end of the line, to Alcantara. We have been warned, by just about everyone, about our safety in Santiago, so fumbling for the right coins for my subway ticket and noticing, for the first time, that everyone on the train around me had thick, dark brown hair, I felt nervous, but only for a minute. Jostling through the underground and gripping the metal bar on the seat in front of me turned out to be a comforting routine, and certainly after three years in Chicago,I did just fine!

I arrived at La Bicicleta Verde in the bustling and glass-windowed barrio of northeastern Santiago called Los Condes. I met Peter Murphy, native Kansan and tour company founder, Joel, a Chilean co-guide who is a lawyer by day, Coni, a young Chilean journalist (she's doing an article for her magazine, http://plantacarnivora.cl), and her friend Juan, a photographer. Peter came to Santiago six years ago to get his masters in politics on a scholarship, and today teaches in a university, in addition to running his bike tours. We hopped on brand new mountain bikes with blinking lights and cruised through cool, dark, quiet parks, and what seemed to be some of Santiago's most exclusive neighborhoods—very different from the graffiti-lined streets where our hostel is. We passed through Los Condes—banks, skyscrapers, five-star hotels, upscale bars and restaurants—and then through Vitacura, equally "high society" as Peter said (this English phrase seems to be understood in Spanish.) Vitacura is named after an Incan cacique, I learned, but today is home to shops like Ermenelgildo Zegna (Jim, do you need anything?). There are ten working Starbucks in Santiago. I visited one in lieu of Nescafe, but will, in the future, resort to this only in emergencies. It’s the McDonalds of my generation—even below the Tropic of Capricorn, the packaging is in English.! The neighborhood of Vitacura is sometimes called "Sanhattan" because of it's resemblance to New York City—a real showcase of wealth and capitalism. I could be wrong, but I believe I read in my guidebook that Pinochet lived in this exclusive suburb until late in his life. I do not know the general Chilean perspective on the former dictator, but I would like to find out, having my own opinions. I have been advised by my Spanish teacher to avoid this topic of conversation (as well as abortion and homosexuality) as much as possible. My ears are open for now.

After stopping in a park for Nescafe out of a Thermos, we cruised through El Golf (another wealthy, urban neighborhood with a golf course at its center). After El Golf, we followed the river to the lively neighborhood of Bellavista, an area every guidebook classifies as Bohemian, home to lots of restaurants, bars, and theatres. We finished the ride raising our glasses at a spacious bar called Surreal. Over pisco sours, I learned a few more Chilenismos. I love trying to speak Chilean Spanish—the crew I rode with were really great to speak to, and the Chilean accent, which tends to drop the endings of words, especially the letter s, is charming. I’m working on it!

Chilenismos

al tiro, al toque (Peru) = right now

pito = whistle or joint (80% light up once a year, according to Peter)

mamoncete = mama’s boy

concho = backwash

polera = t-shirt

guachaca = local

marcar la tarjeta = call boyfriend/girfriend on a regular basis

rayar = to obsess about, literally, to scratch

There are probably many inaccuracies in my description of our route, but suffice to say that it was fun and beautiful and chilly to cruise around Santiago on a bike at night. Santiago has a ciclovía, and even a sizeable Critical Mass the first Tuesday of every month, but it isn’t nearly as bike-friendly as Chicago. The cars are large and inconsiderate (I saw more pickups and SUVs than I ever did in England, perhaps they’re the product of big continents)—the busses go so fast they could decapitate bystanders on the sidewalk with their side mirrors. Most cyclists ride on paths or sidewalks and most ride mountain bikes, though Joel and Peter say fixed-gear bikes are popular here too. In style everywhere, it seems! There did not appear be many bike lanes.

The crew I rode with were fabulous, and I would definitely recommend the tour!

That’s all for now, between the Internet cafes and borrowed laptops, I’m usually scrambling to get all this down. (Annie, you were right about the computer!)

Elizabeth xoxo