gorgeous view from my balcony: home for the next month!
“Wow, kinda a dump,” I thought as I peer out of the the taxi window. It’s just after 6:00 am and we are driving into central Santiago from the airport. To be fair, it is dark out and the streetlights cast an unnerving glow unto the old buildings and empty streets.
We finally made it to Santiago, Chile! Our first destination of our 3 months stint in South America.
D and I sit in the back of the taxi heading to our rental. The driver doesn’t speak an ounce of English, but he’s nice and we manage to chat through broken Spanish. Not bad! But it is too early. We don’t get to check-in until later in the morning. We ask for a breakfast spot recommendation to pass the time, but he tells us nothing is open this early. So we continue to find our building.
“I think this is it.” D points to a building. I look out the window to see what he’s pointing at, and see a run down building. Its windowless first floor is instead a series of roll-up garage doors, colorful with layers of graffiti. The concrete is spalding at the upper floors and the grey paint peels off in crumbly strips.
I really hope it’s not. Didn’t we vet the airBnB’s rental options extensively and spent hours looking at pictures?!
It turns out our building is a few over. It has a real gated door and no graffiti on its walls. But there are a couple of bums sleeping out on the sidewalk. We gingerly walk around them and step into the building. It has a real foyer and (tiny) lobby with a security desk. The security guard lets us stay in the lobby even though we don’t have a room to check into yet. We sit on the tiled floor in a corner with our luggage and wait, tired from the long flight and nervous from being in a new city.
After a while, we decide to go out and explore and maybe find some breakfast. The sleeping bums are gone, thank goodness. We walk down a deserted pedestrian walkway. It’s quiet and dark and smells a little. Our only company are a couple of raggedy stray dogs and we remind each other not to draw attention or touch.
And everywhere we go, we’re met with closed garage doors, sealing any livelihood behind their heavy metal exterior.
We only make it around the block before we head back, forgoing any ideas of breakfast. We go back inside our lobby and huddle in the corner again. I’m determined not to move until we are able to check in. I have a brief moment of panic.
“Omg, I’m not a traveler!! What if I hate it here, and I’m not meant for dirty streets and bums and all of this?! What if I’m just meant for a clean Orange County lifestyle?! And we have a whole month here! What if I never learn to love it?”
I sulk in the corner until the cleaning lady needs to mop the floor. So begrudgingly, I leave the safety of the lobby and once again, step out into the street.
This time, the sun is shining high in the sky. The streets are filled with people. Men smartly dressed in business suits with briefcases making the morning commute. Young women in dresses and heels, click-clacking their way to the office. Mothers holding the hands of their children on the way to school. Janitors sweeping the streets clean of trash. Vendors setting up their street stands of produce, clothing, and other knickknacks.
We walk on and on, through the bustling streets. The previous dark barren streets are now unrecognizable as the formidable garage doors are lifted to reveal bright colorful shops. The sun fills the streets with warmth, and something else warm radiates through me as well. Even though our luggage is getting heavier and heavier to carry, my heart begins to feels lighter. The dark gloom that befell over me earlier is lifted and I find myself enjoying the vibrant streets.
Slowly, I break out into a smile.
I think I may like it here after all. :)
This post is part of the #sundaytraveler series. Check out this post The Other Palaces of Vienna: The Hofburg and The Belvedere by Pack Me To (@packmeto), and don’t forget to support all the other participating blogs (links at the bottom of post)!
I can definitely relate to this feeling! Landing in Budapest, I was less than impressed by the graffiti and crumbling buildings. But over time I grew to like it and even started accepting it as a part of the city’s charm. Hopefully this is the beginning of a great adventure for you! :) Thanks for linking up to the #SundayTraveler
Thanks Adelina! It’s always weird when you get somewhere and it’s not what you expect, even when I didn’t even have much expectations to begin with! But the city is definitely charming and vibrant during the day and evenings.
And thank you SO much for making me aware that my comment box wasn’t working lol!
Doesn’t arriving finally at your accommodation always make you nervous?! It does make me nervous. Photos can sometimes be so deceptive. And they say that at the night time all the cats seem black. So yes, arriving in the big city at the night or early morning can be kind of scary. Curious to read about your second impressions on Santiago. Thanks for linking up to the #SundayTraveler.
Thanks for reading Frank! Yes, it was the early morning/before sunrise arrival that did it. Everything was just so empty and dark. But after being here for 4 days now, I can say that I really do like it here!! Thanks for the support!
I could only imagine what you felt like – you did a great job of describing the anxiety you must have felt! I’m glad that it seems like you do enjoy being there now! Looking forward to following along with you on your journey!
Thank you Lauren & Justin! I am liking it more and more here :)
Great story! Glad that you warmed up to your neighborhood in Santiago. Chile is high on my list of places to travel, so I hope you enjoy your time there!
Thanks for reading Dana! I hope you make it down here someday, you’ll love it.
Oh the beginnings of new places are so exciting and terrifying at the same time. It looks like you’re going to be fine, though. Looking forward to reading more about your adventure. =)
They truly are :) Especially since this is my first experience being a long-term traveler instead of a tourist on vacation. Thanks for reading!
I’m pretty sure Santiago is one of my favorite cities on earth, thus far. We’re going to have a great month, Anna! Are you going to tell your readers how you misplaced my camera a few days into our trip :p
“Wow, kinda a dump.” I think most people who leave the US for the first time or after a long time and go to developing countries probably think the same thing. I know NT sometimes comments similarly on some of the places we visit. It just means you’ve had a privileged life ;) but you have to look past that inner shock and see the true beauty. Travelling is also a good opportunity to see how other people live, how life is different in other countries/cultures, and how much hardship some people have to go through to survive.
Don’t worry about it and think about it too much. You’re going to be fine and get used to it in no time!
PS. It actually looks pretty clean there from your picture(s). And… did you find the camera?
Yeah could definitely be a shock! But it was only because we arrived in the dark. It’s completely different when the sun is up and people are out, and we’re really enjoying it!
Hehe, I tend to only post the beautiful pictures, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to post more raw pics too. The streets are actually pretty well taken care of by the janitors :) And no, someone stole (pickpocket) it, unless I’m just completely unaware and dropped it (but I really don’t think so)..sigh
You do a great job of describing your feelings with Santiago at first. I think all places have the crappy areas of town and we are so used to seeing the gorgeous pictures that are taken at just the right angle and place that we forget everywhere has areas of town that aren’t as nice as we expect. Glad you are loving it there now! Thanks for linking up to the #SundayTraveler :)
Thanks for reading Ashley! And thanks for the kind comment! I’m also guilty of only taking and posting the pretty pictures :)
Good luck on your journey! Love the blog theme; you have good taste ;).
Haha thanks Adrienne! I love yours as well ;).
I checked out so,e of your Santiago posts…thanks for the good tips/suggestions!
I know the feeling, but Santiago is a fantastic place, I’m sure you’ll grow to love it!
Yes, you’re right… by the end of my time there, I LOVED it!! And I miss it a lot now that I’m gone :( Thanks so much for reading and leaving a comment!
So I never knew you went to Chile! Amazing! The way you described that morning brings back so many memories for me. I’m glad it wasn’t all bad – I’ll try to read through a few other posts :)
Hehe I’ll never forget it, because it was the FIRST morning of our new traveling lives. I still remember how scary everything looked and how I was so afraid that i wouldn’t like it. Oh I have such fond memories of Santiago :)
oooh I totally get it, my first big trip by myself was in Berlin and it is so overwhelming at the beginning!
So I’m 3+ years late commenting here, but I’m starting to do some recon for our trip to Santiago now. This is such a beautifully written post. I’ve felt those same roller coaster of emotions countless times. As always, thanks for sharing & inspiring :)