All settled in now across town, I´ve got my own room for the next few weeks or so till I find an apartment. It´s this house occupied only by students, including a couple from the USAC program. Most are Chileans or from other parts of South America. Unlike that shit hostel there´s a kitchen here so I´m looking forward to cooking my own dinner tonight. Apparently tomorrow there´s a carnival in the downtown area, it should be fun. I´m also happy to report that skateboarding is alive and well down here in Santiago, I´ve seen a ton of kids out shredding and even a local skate magazine, too. I´ll have to bust out my board here before school starts and see if them kickflips still work.
I´ve been a little apprehensive about my vegetarianism here since Chileans eat more meat than anyone except Argentinians; the lonely planet tells me it might be better just to tell them that I´ve got an allergy to meat. An allergy to meat? that´s what i say to explain the whole no dairy thing, but I kinda doubt it´s gonna fly with the dead stuff. One assuring note is that when I was walking down here yesterday I stopped in an italian restaurant to ask directions. Outside they had a sign advertising two vegetarian specials; one with fish and the other with ham. It reminds me of that article in time that was nice enough to break down the different kinds of vegetarians, like the ones who eat fish and chicken and the ones who only eat fish. What the fuck? I was also told last night that I have to avoid the wines that use fish guts as a clarifier. After fermentation is complete in wine and beer, some brewers put different animal based products, usually gelatin, in the brew because as it sinks down it catches the dead yeast and other stuff, then the liquid is siphoned out leaving the fish guts and leeks at the bottom. The leeks have absolutely no affect on the taste, i guess some brewers just really want a certain uniform color. Anyway, Escadu beer which is definitely the best stuff I´ve had here so far doesn´t do this so I´m safe. Rock, if you have time go to Drew´s page and read that article he has posted about the pipe and fittings factory in Tyler, Texas, because it´s really good and sobering. Also check out my bro´s page, because the photoshopped pictures of the Dandanista are even better than the dishwashing one Mark did when Dan was in Alaska.