Chile (a few impressions)...

Stray dogs
A LOT of them over here (though happily, much less actual dogshit than in Buenos Aires!). Seriously, they´re everywhere. It seems this is a problem that cannot be solved without mass sterilisation, which is unlikely to ever get off the ground. The ones that AREN´T strays, strangely, seem the noisiest - there are a couple of particularly appalling yappy shits near my uncle Ricky´s. Dunno what their problem is but as guard dogs I doubt they´d be much use, as they make a racket at pretty much any passer-by, car, bird, whatever...

Change
Nothing like the problems you get in Argentina. The actual money is far cleaner and nicer as well - none of the really skanky peso bills that we did our best to get rid of as quickly as possible over there. In fact, one 5,000 peso note we got was SO NICE that (laugh, you may as well) I managed to avoid spending it for the entire period of our stay here...

Receipts
On the other hand, Jesus Christ, do we really need a receipt for absolutely EVERYTHING?? My pockets are overflowing with em! Even when Becka used the loo at Concepción bus station, she got a receipt for that. And the system of having to queue up and pay at a separate cashier instead of the person who takes your actual ice-cream/beer/sandwich order doesn´t seem like the most efficient or user-friendly. The most infuriating, perhaps. Still, I guess it gives more people jobs...?!

The food
Actually, on the whole, better than in Argentina, we both thought. Certainly more varied. You can get yourself a better sandwich (avocado, tomato and runner beans make a fine addition to the slices of beef or chicken), much better seafood, a nutritious cazuela (stew, often featuring chicken, pumpkin, potato, rice, a small corn on the cob and plenty of coriander) on most menus, and better empanadas also. Sure, the steaks aren´t up to the same standard but there´s not that much in it... (Becka prefers the Argentine dulce de leche to our manjar, tho)

Public transport
Very modern, clean and efficient metro (not one delay at any point), with several very arty stations. Unfortunate that the metro is so rammed at pretty much all times that the people travelling on it have become fairly selfish, and often will blatantly disregard an older person who really should be offered a seat in order to plonk their arses down and then ignore all the cold, hard stares (mainly mine). They play music videos at most stations as well, but for some reason they only seem to ever be by Alicia Keys.

Rock
I think Chileans are even bigger rock fans than Argentines, judging from the T-shirts you see every day. They also seem to be more heavily into reggaeton as well, but I´ll gloss over that one...

Football
Not on the telly as much as in Argentina. Also far less national team shirts worn about the place (even though we arguably have more to shout about at the moment). Confusingly, Cristal beer seem to sponsor pretty much every team in the top flight, so it´s hard to tell who´s wearing which team´s shirt. Seems to be fairly rabid Colo Colo support around my uncle Ricky´s area - including the charming graffiti "traigan madres que balas sobran" ("bring Universidad de Chile fans, we have plenty of bullets") emblazoned down the high street...

Language
Famously the least comprehensible Spanish speakers in the entire Hispanic world, anyone who´s studied Spanish to any level would need a while here to decipher people in the street saying the likes of "cachaste el paco culiaaao, hueón". Becka chastised me when I started talking like this to my cousins after a few jars, deeming it "lazy". She has a point to be honest, though much as it can be impenetrable, I´d say it´s still possibly the most inventive - and witty - of all the Spanish "dialects"...

"Los Venegas"
Much to my horror, this programme (which apparently has been going for 20 years or something) came on when I was contentedly chomping away on a chacarero in Pucón - it seems my family´s name is being taken in vain somewhat, as the cast all seem to be buffoonish arsewits of the highest order...! The rest of the restaurant chortled away merrily enough as I fumed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJteCDIbtWk&feature=related


Obesity
I was slightly alarmed at the amount of clearly overweight kids I saw, that seemed much more noticeable than in Argentina. One kid on the tube relentlessly stuffing his face with chips was particularly alarming. I do hope this is something that they start taking seriously soon! I also get the impression Chileans are far bigger boozers than their neighbours, probably due to the fact that the Argentines are naturally more outgoing and gregarious than us (we tend to have a more reserved temperament, more like the English even!) so need far less alcohol to get the party started and lose their inhibitions...

Anyway, that´s just a few impressions for now - must say by the end of this stay here that I´ve got far more fond of Santiago again, and will both miss my ever-accommodating and welcoming extended family, and look forward to my next visit. Which won´t be too far away! Next stop, Rio...!