The bus ride on Los Liberatadores mountain passage between Mendoza and Santiago offered breath-taking views of the Andes Mountains, valleys, streams, tunnels, railway and villages. Snow blanketed the sides of the road to the mountain tops as we wrapped around the switchbacks. Crystal clear and cold streams rushed down from the melting snow and ice. I tried my best to capture the beauty from inside the bus, though I wish I could stop the bus and take pictures. It took us 1.5 hours to wait in line to pass through customs and migration officers.

Ricardo drove me up into the mountains for some fun in the snow at the Colorado and Valle Nevado ski resorts. It felt like it should be Christmas, so I asked Ricardo how they celebrate Christmas, since it’s during their summer. Brazilians flock to the beaches but the Pacific waters are still cold along Chile’s coast. Chile has adopted much of USA’s culture, including Christmas. They sing the same songs and Santa wears the same outfit on a sleigh as north of the equator. On the topic of similarities, Chileans work the same typical 8-hours with 2 weeks PTO, 2 weeks of holiday and 1 week sick leave. Unlike other latin american neighborhoods that are lined with concrete walls and houses built one next to the other, Santiago’s neighborhoods are more open with houses and yards, like what you see in a typical US neighborhood. Walmart has made its way into Chile under the name of ´Lider´ as well as big home improvement, department and furniture stores,

Santiago, Chile is unlike other Latin American cities I have come to know. In fact it resembles more of a North American city. Houses are built on plots of land in neighborhoods with yards and gardens between the foot and street and only a fence dividing eachother instead of tall walls with broken glass or barbed wire. This standard of living has been realized in the last 20 years when the government was transformed to reduce corruption and strengthen the national economy. Each district of Santiago acts as a small city with its own elected representatives who maintain the daily operations. For this reason Chileans pay more taxes but it appears they receive better services in return. Another difference I noted were their police, whom they call Carabineros. They are highly trained and are not corrupt, accepting no bribes.

Many US fast food restaurants have caught on but some of Chile’s original fast food type restaurants remain popular. We made a quick stop at El Tio Manolo, famous for it’s big sanwiches. Ricardo recommended the Lomito Italiano, a pork sandwich piled high with tomatoe, avocado and homemade mayo. Called Italian, not for the flavor of the ingredients but for their colors, red, white and green. Just as the Chilean flag is similar to Texas, so too do the sizes of their sandwiches measure up to BBQ sandwiches from Texas where everything is bigger. We ordered another couple sandwiches to treat Karen. We enjoyed eachother’s company listening to latin beats and classic tunes Googling images of Chile’s natural wonders, namely Patagpnia and Easter Island. With that I said my farewell, hoping to return again soon.