¡Hola! Welcome to my incredible journey across South America! Technically, it was my journey across southern South America–starting in Chile, then over the Andes to Argentina, and finally on to Uruguay. It was such a thrill to head to South American for the 1st time. One of the best parts of the trip was all the great food I had along the way. Do you remember the amazing dinner I had my last night in Madrid? Well on my 2nd night in South America, in Santiago, I had a meal that equaled it, or at least came extremely close. You won’t have to wait too long for that 1. Speaking of waiting, this trip was the longest by far of all my fabulous international sightseeing trips: 18 days. I will challenge myself to get the posts done as quickly as I can so you won’t have to wait too long to see them.
One thing that I completely anticipated about this trip was the language difficulty. I managed quite well on my trip to Spain. As I expected, fewer people I encountered on this trip spoke English. There was a lot of relying on Google Translate. What was great was sometimes just 1 word–from either me or the person I was dealing with–made the whole conversation click. It was definitely worth learning some Spanish ahead of time. I even have to say that I had more language difficulties on this trip than I did on my trip to China, Taiwan, and Korea. I think this is because those countries use different alphabets, so they include translations in English on signage.
On the contrary, there was another thing that didn’t go as I had expected. And that was a very good thing. Based on a lot of what I had read, I was pretty nervous about crime before the trip. No, I was VERY nervous about crime. 1 thing I did to prepare was getting a pair of “pick-pocket proof” shorts. It turns out that I loved the shorts and wore them almost every day. More importantly, I never felt unsafe the whole trip, even in places that have bad reputations like Valparaíso in Chile and the La Boca neighborhood in Buenos Aires. I really felt stupid by how nervous I had been. Yes, crime happens everywhere. It helps to take normal precautions and to always be aware of your surroundings.
I don’t have a history lesson for you like I often do for a trip. Everyone knows how the Spanish colonized most of South America, including the parts where I went. Eventually, those countries gained their independence. (The only part of continental South America that remains under European control is French Guiana.) But as always, it’s more complicated than that. I was annoyed with myself that I didn’t learn more about the history of the 3 countries I visited. There were more European countries than just Spain, or even Portugal, that were involved. Maybe we’ll learn a bit more of the history as I work on the upcoming posts and send them on to you.
Anyway, instead of leaving you some goofiness, like I often do on my introductory posts, I’ll leave you with something bicoastal. My trip was a transcontinental journey from the Pacific Ocean in Valparaíso, Chile, to the Atlantic Ocean in Punta del Este, Uruguay. And here I am! I’ve got my feet in the Pacific in the picture on the left, and I’ve got my feet in the Atlantic in the picture on the right. (You can probably tell that I dipped more than just my feet in the Atlantic. Or maybe not. If I had hair, you would be able to see that it was wet.) Okay, as always, I’m looking forward to reliving my trip with you.
Guillermo de Connell
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