Santiago-A-Go-Go

Santiago Chile is hard to get my head around. Unlike in Argentina, where I was fresh off the plane in Buenos Aires, here I've been rambling around the countryside and saw the south before rolling into the big city yesterday. Some first impressions:

Lots of suits and briefcases and shirts and ties, innovative facial piercings on post-punk teens and 20somethings, many old men in classy hats with canes, clean modern subway, no dog pile problems like Bs As, carabineros (cops in scary semi-fascistic shiny boots and olive uniforms) everywhere, mad Chilean flag fetishism, serious business vibe like people have shit to do and make money, old colonial right up next to new glass and sterile 70's government bldgs, colorful flowers and graffiti all over... check the pix, yo!

Tonight am meeting Orli's study abroad cousin for drinx, tomorrow will hit the beach at Viña Del Mar with Nicos a Wharton B-School student on vacation, then tomorrow night got a date to sample Chilean vino with a wine studies prof from U. Chile I met on a bus in Argentina 3 weeks ago. Not sure how I developed such a packed social calendar here, but it's working!