... So deary me, here I am... I toyed with the idea of dissolving this blog like an aspirin in water after so many heady nights, but its survived by the skin of its preverbial teeth... and I'm sure you're relieved to hear that;)
... So it's been a while and I'm still in Santiago... don't worry, I'll be moving soon, probably monday or tuesday (depending on if I need to recover from the weekend:)... In all honesty I've been a bit of a lazy bum recently... not being very touristy... but today I'm out and about again, the fresh air and the sights allied with music in my ears have lifted me to a station so high that I feel compelled to blog... the hiatus from blogging means I'll inevatably miss and forget things but Ce la vi...
... I went to another football match... this time Colo Colo v Santos in the Copa Libatadores (the South American Champions league)... and well, last time was good but this time it was something else... the atmosphere was electric... the crowed was intense and the mighty Colo Colo won 3-2... it was the first time they had beated a Brazilian team in Chile... So I guess I'm a lucky charm... (On the subject of lucky charms, happy St.Patrick's day everyone:)... now I know that football has alot of things to answer for, many horrible things have been done in the name of football but on that wednesday night in Santiago, I saw the good side of football... a crowed mentality can obviously lead to horrible results as everyone loses their individual thought and becomes part of a collective which somehow lets the people shed personal guilt and therefore allows them to say and do horrible things... but on an electric night where the crowed is united with passion and joy there is really nothing to compare to football at those moments:)
... As I mentioned before, the hostel atmosphere has reverted again with the mood lifted and good times had... I got invited to drinks and a mini BBQ at Antonio's (a manager at the hostel) cousins apartment... it was really cool it was just me with 5 Chileans (Antonio, Pablo his cousin and Pablo's wife, Allan (or you can call him Gallan which is Spanish for 'player':) and Carolina)... it was really cool and they were really friendly... for me such moments are what travelling is about... even those moments when everyone is speaking in Spanish and I can only understand what is non-verbal, I really love it... I feel like I've been welcomed in and I'm a friend, I feel I'm getting a view of their real life and it is a privallage for me... I've experienced similar things during my trips to Russia and Ukraine and, although it can be difficult to be on the edge of things linguistically, I really love it... I guess moments like that are why I've stayed around here for so long, because I feel welcome and I feel honoured by this... So to all my Chilean friends, THANK YOU:)))
Now I'm off to look at Colo Colo shirts... might need to get one for my adopted Chilean team:) ... Then coffee, food and probably drinking tonight... I was going to take a night off the booze after a few green beers at a St.Patrick's day party last night but oh well... it was a cool party for St.Patricks day, really enjoyed it... losts of locals in good mood... I spoke with quite a few who were really quite cool... the green beer infected my veins a little bit though and I got in the spirit and started to dance about... I was a bit confused when they had a bagpipe band at the pub... Isn't that Scottish? Oh well I guess it's close enough... also all these bag pipe players in Santiago are probably desperate for any oppertunity they can have to shoe in a bit of bagpipes... I got mistaken as Irish by the only realy Irish guy I met in the bar... Damn my weirdly confusing accent... Once one of the cleaners in the laboritory I worked in, who is also from Bristol, asked if I was from Canada... hummmm... I know I come from the other side of Bristol but come on!
... OK I will go now... I'm sure there is more to write but I'll save that for another time... I popped into the internet cafe because I was inspired to write (although, when you read this you probably won't think, 'Inspired`!) but it's sunny out and there is something so nice about walking out in the sun with a good mood and music in your ears... when I get back to the hostel I'll try and upload some photos so you can have more oppertunities to laugh at my Mr Bean haircut;)
Love you all,
Matt
P.S. Two more films I've watched recently... Clockwork Orange (very 1960... cliched infact but it may have been made before the cliche... it was good, but the book was more beautifully graphic and enticing and the special language was more immersing in the book) and The Great Dictator (A Charlie Chaplin film... never properly watched him before... it was good but really quite a different experience from modern films... it jumped about sometimes in a way akin to a sketch show, but it was good... the man was a talent (is that quite an obvious statement? ;) he directed it, wrote it, produced it, starred as two different characters in it, did the musical score... you name it, he did it... oh yeah, and he's English:))
... So it's been a while and I'm still in Santiago... don't worry, I'll be moving soon, probably monday or tuesday (depending on if I need to recover from the weekend:)... In all honesty I've been a bit of a lazy bum recently... not being very touristy... but today I'm out and about again, the fresh air and the sights allied with music in my ears have lifted me to a station so high that I feel compelled to blog... the hiatus from blogging means I'll inevatably miss and forget things but Ce la vi...
... I went to another football match... this time Colo Colo v Santos in the Copa Libatadores (the South American Champions league)... and well, last time was good but this time it was something else... the atmosphere was electric... the crowed was intense and the mighty Colo Colo won 3-2... it was the first time they had beated a Brazilian team in Chile... So I guess I'm a lucky charm... (On the subject of lucky charms, happy St.Patrick's day everyone:)... now I know that football has alot of things to answer for, many horrible things have been done in the name of football but on that wednesday night in Santiago, I saw the good side of football... a crowed mentality can obviously lead to horrible results as everyone loses their individual thought and becomes part of a collective which somehow lets the people shed personal guilt and therefore allows them to say and do horrible things... but on an electric night where the crowed is united with passion and joy there is really nothing to compare to football at those moments:)
... As I mentioned before, the hostel atmosphere has reverted again with the mood lifted and good times had... I got invited to drinks and a mini BBQ at Antonio's (a manager at the hostel) cousins apartment... it was really cool it was just me with 5 Chileans (Antonio, Pablo his cousin and Pablo's wife, Allan (or you can call him Gallan which is Spanish for 'player':) and Carolina)... it was really cool and they were really friendly... for me such moments are what travelling is about... even those moments when everyone is speaking in Spanish and I can only understand what is non-verbal, I really love it... I feel like I've been welcomed in and I'm a friend, I feel I'm getting a view of their real life and it is a privallage for me... I've experienced similar things during my trips to Russia and Ukraine and, although it can be difficult to be on the edge of things linguistically, I really love it... I guess moments like that are why I've stayed around here for so long, because I feel welcome and I feel honoured by this... So to all my Chilean friends, THANK YOU:)))
Now I'm off to look at Colo Colo shirts... might need to get one for my adopted Chilean team:) ... Then coffee, food and probably drinking tonight... I was going to take a night off the booze after a few green beers at a St.Patrick's day party last night but oh well... it was a cool party for St.Patricks day, really enjoyed it... losts of locals in good mood... I spoke with quite a few who were really quite cool... the green beer infected my veins a little bit though and I got in the spirit and started to dance about... I was a bit confused when they had a bagpipe band at the pub... Isn't that Scottish? Oh well I guess it's close enough... also all these bag pipe players in Santiago are probably desperate for any oppertunity they can have to shoe in a bit of bagpipes... I got mistaken as Irish by the only realy Irish guy I met in the bar... Damn my weirdly confusing accent... Once one of the cleaners in the laboritory I worked in, who is also from Bristol, asked if I was from Canada... hummmm... I know I come from the other side of Bristol but come on!
... OK I will go now... I'm sure there is more to write but I'll save that for another time... I popped into the internet cafe because I was inspired to write (although, when you read this you probably won't think, 'Inspired`!) but it's sunny out and there is something so nice about walking out in the sun with a good mood and music in your ears... when I get back to the hostel I'll try and upload some photos so you can have more oppertunities to laugh at my Mr Bean haircut;)
Love you all,
Matt
P.S. Two more films I've watched recently... Clockwork Orange (very 1960... cliched infact but it may have been made before the cliche... it was good, but the book was more beautifully graphic and enticing and the special language was more immersing in the book) and The Great Dictator (A Charlie Chaplin film... never properly watched him before... it was good but really quite a different experience from modern films... it jumped about sometimes in a way akin to a sketch show, but it was good... the man was a talent (is that quite an obvious statement? ;) he directed it, wrote it, produced it, starred as two different characters in it, did the musical score... you name it, he did it... oh yeah, and he's English:))
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