Getting to know the city!

Day 2 in Santiago

My host mom drove me around some of the neighborhoods of Santiago so I could get acclimated quicker. She showed me most of the names of the streets, how they work, and the neighborhoods in which Santiago is divided by. They call them Comunas, I am staying in the comuna of Providencia and my friend in Las Condes which are both next to each other. 

After the little quick tour through some of the streets, she took me to the Costanera Center to exchange dollars for Chilean Pesos. They don’t accept dollars here! The Costanera Center is a big mall filled with lots of stores and places to eat and drink. 

The Sky Costanera is located there too. It is one of the biggest attractions here because it is a tall skyscraper that you can pay to get to the top and see the whole city of Santiago from there. Although it is a little expensive, the views from there are totally worth it! 

 After leaving the Costanera Center, we went to this local ice-cream shop to get some ice-cream near the house. It was super good! Since it is super-hot here in Santiago because it is summer season, everything that’s cold feels and tastes good. 

I met up with my friend in the night to go get something to eat. It is like a 30-36-minute walk from my house to hers. We went to another mall near her house called Parque Arauco and got some crêpes there. We walked back to her house and then I walked back to my house. I didn’t have access to the internet because I still haven’t purchased a data plan here. Therefore, I was worried I was going to get lost but thankfully I didn’t. I got back home safely. 

I also have my own room with my own bathroom!!! Yes!!! It is very spacious and I have my privacy 24/7. I cherish this so much because sharing a room with someone else is cool and all but sometimes you want your own privacy to be alone and I have that here. I like it.

Santiago is filled with lots of parks, malls, and places to eat and drink. It is a very tourist city. The metro is so convenient to get to most of the places here. The people are very welcoming too. It’s been a couple of days only in this city and I couldn’t be more happy to be here.