Santiago, Tuesday

1709 In laundry room. Not very happy. No detergent included with flat and supermarket opposite only sells it in gigantic 40+ wash quanties. Host says via airbnb there is a minimarket nearby in San Isidro which sells it. First one I try doesn't. Well, they do powder, but so did supermarket, but of course machines in flats need liquid. Went in another minimarket in SI and bought what I deluded myself was probably detergent with fabric conditioning features but which I pretty strongly suspect is just fabric conditioner. Have put clothes in with this *anyway* and now waiting - daren't leave just in case we get some comedy levels of foam emerging - 28 mins while wash runs. Thought about putting some of my hand-wash soap in the machine but given it's going to use way more water than a hand wash I'd have to put loads in and risk overdoing it or using it all up. Did toy with just hand washing and half wish I had, at CLP1300 for the machine and CLP1100ish for the maybe-detergent it's not super cheap, but I do feel a machine wash is better when it can be had. Not very satisfactory at all, TBH I feel this largely makes the on-site laundry useless for anyone not staying multiple weeks. Of course I have to blame myself for not embarking on an epic quest to find a minimarket which did have liquid detergent in small quantities, now I am assured it exists.

I can only hope it's true that washing is mainly a mechanical process and having the machine thrash the clothes around in cold water (I should probably have chosen warm in hindsight, but I didn't, since I was being super careful not to use high temperature and shrink stuff) will help a bit. Feel a bit of a sap TBH.

1749 At small restaurant on Santa Rosa, was going to get steak and chips but no steak so switched to chicken. Had two leftover hotdogs earlier but otherwise not eating at home today; need to go over to lang exchange soon and it's variety etc. (Back in London I can cook - using some frozen stuff - a moderate variety of things. Given issues with buying in relative bulk and using stuff up and being reluctant to use oven, my cooking here isn't as varied.)

Getting half litre schopp with it, WTF. May have a beer on way home from lang exchange too.

1826 Not bad. 6200, broke a 20k and left 800 tip. Place is Hao Zai Lai.

2253 At Bar Santiago between U Catolica and Santa Lucia metro stations (just for ref; walked over to exchange and walking back). Exchange was quite good, at a table with five Chileans, alternating 10 mins Spanish/English. Perhaps spoke too much but prob OK, ended up sharing a platter and had a beer with it (paid about 4500 with tip). Been sitting at table for ages without service, maybe it's not table service here. One of those snack bar kind of bars, but thought I'd give it a go. Got a recommendation to maybe visit Pichilemu (between here and Concepcion). Also apparently not v expensive to fly to Concepcion, tho will check and given hassles and expense of getting to/from airport (esp in Concepcion where I suspect it would involve a taxi) may not do it. Told it's about 7 hours on bus to Concepcion.

Also aware of my deficiencies in Spanish from having practiced but at least I was generally understandable and understood most of what other people were saying. All good really, it's all practice.

Wondering if should go up to bar, not sure.

2259 Chap just came over, took my order and took me slightly by surprise but it's all good. Had a beer at the lang exchange as I said, but don't think one or even two here will be a killer.

Didn't get up til maybe midday-very-ish, hung around in flat for ages, I think in part putting off enquiring into laundry room location. Stupid but do seem to have very strong "get blocked by procrastinating on tiny mildly unpleasant tasks" thing lately. It may be stupid but I feel I need to be careful not to squat too much in that flat to avoid the "pain" of going out and doing stuff. Meh.

A few of guys at table had been to Brazil, they all seemed to like it and said a lot of Brazilians spoke Spanish; I guess as native speakers they also have more chance of taking advantage of the similarities with Portuguese too. But this makes me feel a little better about going, and I should maybe try Spanish sometimes.

Didn't sleep too well last night at first, though I set no alarm and I think I felt moderately well rested as I emerged gradually into consciousness - I think when I do set an alarm, even for a late-ish time and I'm technically awake before it goes off, it might have some deleterious effect.

2/3 through this half litre. It's a bit extravagant (financially and wrt alcohol budget) but I might have one more before I go home. Not super enjoying it but also not not enjoying it.

Apart from meeting briefly a semi-bilingual Chilean woman who could have passed for English (her mum is English; apparently she stopped speaking English at home when she was 12 as it was affecting her Spanish accent) while paying at the counter, people met tonight included (all Chilean, all from Santiago):

- a mostly blind (he wore glasses but had been helped to table by someone else and may have had a stick; this is my impression, it seemed rude to ask) guy who'd just finished studying to be an interpreter

- a woman who had spent a year studying English in Australian, then gone to visit various places in Asia where she also had to speak English (having no languages other than English and Spanish)

- a computer engineer who had studied Chinese for a year in China

- a chap who was basically fluent in English but had taught himself solely by playing video games (one of the others also said this had been a big part of his learning but not necessarily all); I don't *think* he had had English lessons at school but I don't know for sure.

- another chap who didn't say that much but seemed a perfectly decent bloke (he was the one who told me about flying to Concepcion)

I find myself being tempted by the largish bars of chocolate in the supermarket; not something I routinely eat and I had loads of chocolate over Christmas but it is what it is; perhaps I am remembering in part how in Guatemala the concept of a largish chocolate bar didn't seem to exist outside not-usually-that-large-and-pricey bars of Hersheys, but this is not super rational. (I have no idea if Argentina does large chocolate bars; I don't remember noticing them but then again I didn't go looking.) Am drinking enough and eating enough that am doing my best to resist this temptation; TBH I am not sure I have put much weight on, or that what I have put on isn't mainly from Christmas, but whatever.

Am getting a second beer, then will probably go home. I think I'm maybe 10 mins walk away, perhaps less.

I hope they are serving me Cristal (1700 each) as I asked not Heineken (2400) as the glass says.

The video game English chap was quite taken with my suggestion that Chile seemed to combine the best bits of Latin American and England; he also said stuff about how Chile didn't seem very stereotypically Latin American. OTOH the semi-bilingual woman didn't agree (tho we didn't have a long conversation; I was waiting to pay) with me.

While I remember, supermarket opposite flat has signs saying according to a new law they won't be giving out free carrier bags from 3 Feb. Glad I at least got to enjoy being in a sane country for a few days; feels a bit like being here before they emulated the UK smoking ban. Wankstain controlling shitcunt social engineering bastards seem to be in power the world over...

I mentioned my plan to maybe find a student in Concepcion to have conversation classes with; not that they'd necessarily know if this is feasible and maybe they'd be too polite to say if they thought not, but no one seemed to say this was unlikely.

Might be dumb - I'm not pissed; just a bit extravagant - but if I can get another I might, just cos it's gone midnight on a Tuesday night and it tickles me to be somewhere with a less fricking controlled nightlife than the UK.

0019 Yeah, got another. Find myself wondering if they're toying with shutting - I asked the waiter for another, he didn't propose as last time, but prob mostly randomness there - but by no means empty inside and still all tables outside full. (I am indoors; no tables outside when arrived plus why not try inside?)

Except for what sounded like them from somewhere near flat earlier but may not have been, I still haven't heard any Los Prisioneros songs here in Chile this visit. Music in here hasn't had any and seems a bit English language (we just had La Isla Bonita) but is of a vintage which suggests we just might.

0047 Keep scribbling down details cos I suspect they'll add colour for Future Me. Woman from lang exchange lives (I think south) out past limits of metro, has to get that then bus, it's 1.5-2h each way(!?) and she does that every day and apparently this is normal. Apparently Santiago is growing rapidly (it has a London-like quality of being economic centre of country) etc.

0050 I was wondering if closing - and maybe they are - but a new group just turned up, and it's by no means deserted inside or out. I'm definitely going home after this beer though, feel mildly pissed and phone batt down to 11%. Still crave chocolate but even if find a shop open en route home will try to resist temptation.

0056 Got bill, all Cristal so all good, 5100. Breaking a 10k and tipping 700. Vamonos.

0110 Home. One of guys tonight said Santa Lucia was slightly dangerous - don't go on the hill after dark, and he had seen a guy assaulted here at night after being dropped of by a taxi - but not really worried and felt fine (tho desperate for piss despite going before last beer at the bar) on walk home.

Do ideally need to go up Santa Lucia hill and hill at north end Pio Nono during this trip; could see statue of virgin on PN hill as walked over to lang exchange. Been up both before but be cool to revisit, plus have photo in flat of IIRC view from top of Santa Lucia hill.