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Wednesday 12th May - Santiago
By Claire
Sunday, 16th May 2004 02:32

After breakfast we packed some of the things we've bought as souveniers and presents into a big box and taped it all up. We took it to the post office and, with our best Spanish and despite the Chileans' lack of best Spanish (I can hardly understand one word in an entire conversation here, they make no sense!) we managed to send the box to my mum. No idea if it will arrive, so if not, no-one gets Christmas presents, but it was very exciting and I did a little 'Chilean Post Office Dance' which sort of has to be seen to be appreciated.

We had an appointment with a doctor to get some antibiotics for Mikey cos he's not been feeling too good for a few days, so we checked out the metro system (very quick, efficient and clean) and waited in the huge hospital which was a bit intimidating. We had to pay in advance before we could see the doctor, and we were $2,000 pesos short, about £2. They wouldn't take cards or dollars and Mikey doesn't have a pin for his card, so we were a bit stuck. A girl waiting in the queue, asked us in English if we were alright and we explained the problem. She said that the best thing to do was let her give us the money, otherwise we'd be there all day. She refused to take dollars in exchange and we were left feeling a bit guilty but very grateful.

We waited in the waiting room for ages, jumping everytime a name was called on the tannoy, just in case it was for Mikey in Spanish. Finally they called us, we got the prescription and we could wander round the town again, looking for the pharmacy. We checked out the rest of the metro system, working out how to get to Valparaiso, somewhere we want to go for a day or so, and finding out where all the parks are. We also bought everything we need to make supper tonight, including cornflour and garlic salt, which I got quite excited about. We made supper in the big kitchen and watched Lost in Translation on television, which made me look forward to Japan.



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