I am posting late tonight, after a long day; I think the travel is catching up with me! Tomorrow I leave the place I've been staying (see photos, one taken from the patio of my room) and move to Hotel Tiwanaku, an "apart-hotel." Think Residence Inn, or a one bedroom suite with kitchen. Tiwanaku is an indigenous Bolivian name. The apart-hotel is right on the ocean and has a small pool, which will help in the heat. It's in a great location, although nothing in Arica is very far away. At Hotel El Paso Park this week, I learned many important details of daily life:
1) Nothing works in a hotel room if you don't insert your key card in a little sensor slot inside the room - an energy saving device, so nothing is on when people are not here. I discovered this only after calling recepcion to report that nothing in my room seemed to work -A/C, lights, TV, nada. I hope they found my ignorance charming.
2) It's the best month for mangoes in Chile. They even have little ones the size of pears!
3) The TV shows I understand best in Spanish are Los Simpsons; !No te lo pongas! (What Not to Wear); and Superninera (Supernanny). A little scary, but I'll take what I can manage. I am only watching things in Spanish, though. CNN en espanol is getting easier to understand each day.
4) No one on CNN Chile cares about the OctoMom. She has disappeared from my life.
5) No one walks around with coffee or bottled water. What you get at your meals is what you get until you stop in a cafe or go to a machine. A transition for this Starbucks-struck nortemericana! :) That's who I am here - "la norteamericana." It's interesting, isn't it, that I'm not "la americana," since they're Americans here, too!
1) Nothing works in a hotel room if you don't insert your key card in a little sensor slot inside the room - an energy saving device, so nothing is on when people are not here. I discovered this only after calling recepcion to report that nothing in my room seemed to work -A/C, lights, TV, nada. I hope they found my ignorance charming.
2) It's the best month for mangoes in Chile. They even have little ones the size of pears!
3) The TV shows I understand best in Spanish are Los Simpsons; !No te lo pongas! (What Not to Wear); and Superninera (Supernanny). A little scary, but I'll take what I can manage. I am only watching things in Spanish, though. CNN en espanol is getting easier to understand each day.
4) No one on CNN Chile cares about the OctoMom. She has disappeared from my life.
5) No one walks around with coffee or bottled water. What you get at your meals is what you get until you stop in a cafe or go to a machine. A transition for this Starbucks-struck nortemericana! :) That's who I am here - "la norteamericana." It's interesting, isn't it, that I'm not "la americana," since they're Americans here, too!
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