Time to say hello to our followers and divulge a little on our first week in Chile. My camera has so far not shown itself outside as we have been mad used car shoppers this week. We are now professional metro and micro (bus) travellers having trudged through every far-flung suburb of Santiago, some places a little more reminiscent of India (less the cows) then either of us had expected. On Tuesday our car hunt led us to a comuna named Lo Espejo where one must jump out of the way as the Policia prefer to give chase on foothpaths with sirens blazing, to avoid traffic (this actually happened). Amongst the dry and dirty outskirts of the city lay gigantic shopping malls that are stark contrasts to the comunas surrounding them. Negotiating the purchase of a used car in a language you really only know how to order coffee in was a new challenge for us (some might call a nightmare). We are fairly certain the seller was the winner on the day, however, we are now the proud owners of a little white Mitsubishi Express van fondly named Señor Vánchez. Let’s hope he lives up to the challenges ahead.

Here are a couple of things that have ticked our fancies this week:

• Interesting fact: speed bumps here are called “lomo del toro” which means “back of bull”.
• Best quote: “van is long, good for your surf tables” (by the man who was helping us with the purchase of Señor Vánchez).
• Carménère.

Matt in Lo Espejo

a little bit of street art

                

               

La Cisterna Estacion entrance

Señor Vánchez

Local photographer Mauro Leiva (@elchuck for you instagrammers)