Santiago and Punta Arenas

hey guys,
so i´m still alive! who´d have thunk it? actually, it´s all going really well. i´m in chile at the moment (obviously) and things haven´t been anywhere near as hard as i thought they would be. i have to admit i was FREAKING out for a little while there, but i stand corrected. the reason it´s been good is because of the people i´ve met. they are so bright, friendly and kind.

i came into santiago yesterday after 20 hours in transit (god i´m an awful human being after that!) and then had to find my way in the center of santiago. managed to get my way onto a bus, no problem and then struck up conversation with the chilean girls in front of me. luckily they both speak some english and we got along really well. sonya and vanessa (the girls) agreed to help me find where to get off the bus, they said they were going where i had to go anyway so they´d come with me. ripper. so we´re chatting and laughing and sonya asks me where i´m planning to stay. so i tell her. and she gets this REALLY worried look on her face and says to me, "show me your list, you´re not staying there, it´s dangerous". i happily obliged. so she and vanessa argue the relative merits of the places and come to the conclusion that i should stay at sonya´s place. anyway, i was a bit worried of inconviencing her at first, but she seemed legit so i agreed. sonya lives with her husband jose and 11 year old daughter. they are the loveliest family i´ve ever met. took me in, fed me chilean food and put me up for the night. the girls and i went out and had some beers in town and then jose organised a realy cheap and safe connection to the airport today. such lovely people. good fun too. but totally safe, so don´t worry!

anyway, next time i stay in santiago i´ll stay with them again.

this morning i headed down to punta arenas... which in the immortal words of paul keating is "the arse end of the world". it seems ok though. i´m using it as a kick off point to go and see the ice glaciers. the flight into here is amazing though. you fly over patagonia which is in essence, bare, hardarse rock with nothing on them except the occasional snow capped mountain. and it is HUGE! the only this you can see for hundreds of kilometers flying in is rock and the shadows of the clouds on them. just amazing. a bit change t o flying out of santiago where you are literally flying about the clouds next to the andes. they are enormous. everything is in south america i think. the lakes too, massive.

anyway, for those of you playing at home my next steps are:
peurto natales
el cafare (argintina)
monegro glacier
and then back again because then i fly back to santiago.

anyway, get or keep in touch and let me know if you´re reading the blog and how thing are OZ side. most importantly, who won the grand final? i bet a dollar it was sydney.

i´ll get in tough again soon,
love,
simone