Day 108 ended better than it began, with me going to see Alexander. Seeing Colin Farrell making a fool of himself by wearing a very bad blonde wig did me the world of good.

In the morning I had another great German breakfast and headed off for the bus which would take me to Santiago. It was nearly an hour late and I chatted to a bulky German travelling with his bike. He was a bit disappointed about cycling in Chile because the distances are so great and the lack of any organisation. He was heading to Peru and had a few trips planned there. If he thought Chile was disorganised I was very much wondering what he would make of Peru...

On the bus, the usual boredom was alleviated slightly by
1. José, the bus steward, who was so chirpy he put a smile on my face
2. Angel, the hyperkinetic 7 year old, who took a liking to me and kept making silly faces.
3. my neighbour, who said that 'all Spanish were racists' which in itself was a very racist comment, I thought.

Getting to Santiago was great, like seeing an old friend. I called Residencial Londres and had a whole discussion with the taxidriver, who was migrating to Sydney, Australia soon. We were talking about the places I'd been in Chile and I realised I have now seen more of the country than many chilenos. The Residencial is very nice, in the Barrio Paris Londres.

I walked to the Plaza de Armas and sat reading in my guidebook, but was soon interrupted by Michael and Andres, two guys in their early twenties. Michael was argentino and his friend chileno. I sometimes needed Andres to interpret for me from Argentinian to Chilean Spanish because Michael's accent was bloody hard to understand. That didn't stop him from talking up a storm though.

Andres asked me how Chileans were regarded in Belgium, would they be looked down upon if they moved there. I admit I haven't got a clue, but to be honest I think most Belgians have never given any thought to the fact that there is such a country as Chile, never mind that any of them would want to move there, but of course I didn't tell them that.

The Chileans seem to have a chip on their shoulder about the fact that the Spanish colonised their country, then left without leaving anything of historical importance (like they did in colonial cities in Peru or Bolivia) and now supposedly look down upon them. I don't know how much truth is in that, I think the Chileans, like the Cubans, overestimate a little how much their country really features in the world's mind. Most people don't give a second thought to either country, I think. But that's just my opinion.

Anyway, after I told him I spent time in Salta (he was from that area), Michael was so pleased he asked me out to dance and even suggested we share a 'mate' together (a true argentino, he brought his whole equipment with him) but I crushed his dreams in one fell swoop by telling him I was picking up my boyfriend from the airport on Wednesday... I suppose that's the last time I'll have to ward off this kind of attention.

Sitting on the square I realised that, as unimpressive as Santiago looked after the madness of Havana, in November last year, it's a really nice city, with a pleasant vibe to it, especially now in summer. True, the chilenos are fairly unobtrusive people and it takes a bit longer to get to know them, but then that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's also mainly because they are not after your money or your nationality...

Life is good. It's the end of january and very hot, I had a huge icecream and in two days I'll see Keiron again. The Deet incident is all but forgotten.