No Hablo Espanol

(Note: I wrote this almost a week ago...but never published it until now.)
Yes, I´m still traveling and still doing great. The posting has been delayed for the usual reasons - time and lack of access to a computer. This blogging is time consuming!


However, I have a brief period now to type up a quick update and then will catch up on postings later.


Yesterday evening, I landed in Punta Arenas - back on Chilean soil after being in the Falkland Islands for 4 days. I´m e-mailing from a hostel which is more like a B&B which I learned about on my quick stop through PA while on the ship going south. When the taxi dropped me off here, there was no answer to my doorbell ringing and the door was locked, so I perched on my suitcases on the sidewalk. The wind was horrendous - almost as bad as our strongest gusts in Ketchikan during storms. (The winds did get as bad later last night - it was howling!) I did not wait long; however. Soon, a car drove up & Sonia - the owner greeted me enthusiastically. As she checked me in, she continued, just as enthusiastically, to speak in Spanish and I just kept nodding and trying to interject "No habla Espanol - un poco solamente" I was able to understand, more or less, directions to the nearby supermercado (grocery store) as it was almost 6 p.m. and I was hungry and tired. After walking around several blocks -almost keeling over due to the wind strength-I asked a man and was directed. (Donde esta el supermercado?) He looked a little bit seedy, but directed me with an almost toothless smile and then proceeded to say something else quickly in Spanish. So, again, I had to say - "Sorry I don´t speak Spanish." However, he walked alongside me until he could actually point out the supermarket to make sure I knew where I was going.

I finally tried some Spanish, however, that evening, when some other inhabitants of the hostel showed up. Antonia, his wife Monica and adult daughter Daniella, had been doing some hiking and traveling in the Torres del Paine area. His English was MUCH better than my Spanish, and we struggled through a conversation, but managed to understand each other. I found out that he and his family were from a town called Concepcion on the coast which was about 13,000 population. "Just like home," I told him. He was in the forestry business. Very nice people. A bit later, a 20-something lady from Boston showed up. Her Spanish seemed ever more limited than mine, but I think she knew more than she let on. She was going to be a "volunteer" in Torres del Paine - working on trails, I guess. Didn't know there were such opportunities - but she´d discovered volunteer arrangements on the web and would be going to Peru afterwards to do one there. (*I've since looked up Concepcion & I think I misunderstood Antonio - I believe the population is 130,000!)

I liked the personable nature of the owners - Sonia and Jose - but the street traffic that evening was pretty noisy as my room was at the front, right off the street. Jose came that evening to check on everyone and make sure they didn´t have any questions. He spoke English fluently, but stumped me briefly when he said good night to me in German. He owns an outdoor clothing store, which is where I found out about the B&B originally. On our port day in Punta Arenas while on the cruise, I just happened to go into his store - just to check out their gear. The salesperson was trying to sell me on some long underwear made of the newest in technical fabric, as I told him I was headed to Antarctica. I asked whether he knew of a hostel for when I came back through town and he introduced me to Jose who gave me a flyer. (So, if you´re ever in Punta Arenas, go check out Mountain House and say hello to Jose.)