Monday was a busy day:
I had to take my new Chilean RUT (tax number) to Jorge, who is the manager at the Calle Lira Suzuki dealership where I had bought my moto, and arrange the ownership documents and insurance.
I still had some bits and pieces to buy for the bike and trip - some tools and panniers.
Kevin had arranged an interview with Chilean musician Nano Stern (check him out if you don't know him), who happened to be in town between playing across the world, and I was to film the interview.
We had to check out of the hostel we'd stayed at and find our couchsurfing hosts' place. We'd got to Sabntiago so unexpectedly quickly that we'd not arranged anything for the weekend. Hostel's are great, but we didn't come half way around the world to hang out with other Europeans - and what better way to get to know a city than with someone who lives there.
Everything went to plan. Jorge at Suzuki was keen to sort everythng for me and excited for my trip. He had nearly spat his coffee over me when I first told him I was taking the little 110 c.c., four-speed, city bike through Bolivia to north Peru and back. As I'd been back each time putting down the money for it, telling him about past adventures I could see him realising I might actually be crazy enough to go through with it.
Shopping went fine and I had some Optimus Prime childrens schoolbags for panniers and a sturdy German foot pump in no time.
Nano was genuinely warm, interesting and thought-provoking. The interview was a pleasure to be a part of and he showed us a very cool bar.
Using the metro system at rush hour with all our bags was hectic, but funny and a perfect peak to a crazy day. As we were trying to rendez-vous with O'car (our host) it became clear that you get perfect mobile phone signal on the entire Santiago underground system. Pay attention London - This is useful.
Then came the best bit by far - We met O'car.
The first night at his place his friend Camila (known from hereon as La Loca to avoid confusion) came over, followed by another friend Camila (known from heron as Cami, with her own couchsurf guest - Kathrin (Kata), who was to start her semester at a university in the nearby city of Valparaiso.
We had a few beers and my first "Melon con vino". I'm sure you can guess the main ingredients, but I' going to explain the full process so you can all try it at home.
1. Cut off the top, then hollow the pips and sinew from a (honeydew) melon.
2. Fill it with white wine and some ice, adding sugar to taste.
3. Scrape off some of the flesh, leaving it to soak in the mix.
4. Leave in the fridge to soak for as long as you can resist.
5. Enjoy with good people, scraping off the boozy flesh as you go.
6. Try to get most of it in your mouth instead of down your face.
7. Repeat steps 2, 3, 5 and 6 until there is no more wine.
Please procure the ingredients immediately, but wait for great company before combining them.
We all got on so well, and I could tell that Santiago, and O'car, would be good to me.
I spent the next five weeks back and forth between O'cars place in Santiago and Katas in Valparaiso (a.k.a. Valpo - a quirky city on the Pacific 100 kilometres away), waiting for the paperwork for my moto to arrive.
The next blog posts will be stories from these beautiful times.
I had to take my new Chilean RUT (tax number) to Jorge, who is the manager at the Calle Lira Suzuki dealership where I had bought my moto, and arrange the ownership documents and insurance.
I still had some bits and pieces to buy for the bike and trip - some tools and panniers.
Kevin had arranged an interview with Chilean musician Nano Stern (check him out if you don't know him), who happened to be in town between playing across the world, and I was to film the interview.
We had to check out of the hostel we'd stayed at and find our couchsurfing hosts' place. We'd got to Sabntiago so unexpectedly quickly that we'd not arranged anything for the weekend. Hostel's are great, but we didn't come half way around the world to hang out with other Europeans - and what better way to get to know a city than with someone who lives there.
Everything went to plan. Jorge at Suzuki was keen to sort everythng for me and excited for my trip. He had nearly spat his coffee over me when I first told him I was taking the little 110 c.c., four-speed, city bike through Bolivia to north Peru and back. As I'd been back each time putting down the money for it, telling him about past adventures I could see him realising I might actually be crazy enough to go through with it.
Shopping went fine and I had some Optimus Prime childrens schoolbags for panniers and a sturdy German foot pump in no time.
Nano was genuinely warm, interesting and thought-provoking. The interview was a pleasure to be a part of and he showed us a very cool bar.
Using the metro system at rush hour with all our bags was hectic, but funny and a perfect peak to a crazy day. As we were trying to rendez-vous with O'car (our host) it became clear that you get perfect mobile phone signal on the entire Santiago underground system. Pay attention London - This is useful.
Then came the best bit by far - We met O'car.
The first night at his place his friend Camila (known from hereon as La Loca to avoid confusion) came over, followed by another friend Camila (known from heron as Cami, with her own couchsurf guest - Kathrin (Kata), who was to start her semester at a university in the nearby city of Valparaiso.
We had a few beers and my first "Melon con vino". I'm sure you can guess the main ingredients, but I' going to explain the full process so you can all try it at home.
1. Cut off the top, then hollow the pips and sinew from a (honeydew) melon.
2. Fill it with white wine and some ice, adding sugar to taste.
3. Scrape off some of the flesh, leaving it to soak in the mix.
4. Leave in the fridge to soak for as long as you can resist.
5. Enjoy with good people, scraping off the boozy flesh as you go.
6. Try to get most of it in your mouth instead of down your face.
7. Repeat steps 2, 3, 5 and 6 until there is no more wine.
Please procure the ingredients immediately, but wait for great company before combining them.
We all got on so well, and I could tell that Santiago, and O'car, would be good to me.
I spent the next five weeks back and forth between O'cars place in Santiago and Katas in Valparaiso (a.k.a. Valpo - a quirky city on the Pacific 100 kilometres away), waiting for the paperwork for my moto to arrive.
The next blog posts will be stories from these beautiful times.
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