This might end up being my post for the day, depending on my connection in Lima, Peru, and if anything interesting happens between now and when I fall asleep. I'm writing from Santiago's airport, which does not offer free wifi, but nearly all of the cafes here do, so I bought a juice and got the wifi password from a cafe.
I don't like it here (the airport, not Santiago itself), not because the airport is a terrible place. Other than the lack of real free wifi and the less-than ideal signage, the airport is fine. Well lit, clean, enough seating, non-invasive security check, etc. I think I'm just having one of those days.
For example, because I wasn't sure I was at the right gate, I wandered to the next one to check at the counter and I left my laptop there. I realized it about 2 minutes later, and I went back and it was where I left it but still... that was careless of me! And earlier, before I came to the gate area, my chocolate caliente was very bad. Not even like Swiss Miss powder mix (which I actually like, but recognize it's not the highest quality). Just warm brown water. :(
The worst was when I exchanged some money. I'd forgotten to exchange my French Polynesian francs when I left Tahiti (a common error on my part, forgetting to exchange my money) and, knowing that a lot of planes from Santiago go to Tahiti, I tried to exchange it here to some chilean pesos. I thought I had about 44 U.S. dollars worth of francs, but when I exchanged it for pesos, I only got about $14 in pesos back. Thinking I'd made a mistake with my mental math, and that I either forgot how much my francs were worth or how much pesos were worth, I looked up all the exchange rates at www.xe.com/ucc (an up-to-date site for exchange rates). Turns out, I was right -- my francs were worth about $44! Now, I'd understand if I'd gotten, say $38 worth of pesos for my $44 worth of francs. Exchange rates at airports aren't great, after all. But to get $14 instead of $44? There had to be a mistake, right? So I returned to the exchange counter and learned that no... the rate this bank gives between pesos and francs really is that terrible; it was not a mistake. Lucky for me, the guys at the counter returned my francs for the pesos. I'm bound to get a better rate somewhere, and losing $30 was just silly.
Finally, my plane was supposed to leave 2 minutes ago and I don't think it's even at the gate yet. My first delay of the journey!
I did have one minor victory: By buying tonight's dinner here at a little cafe to take with me on the airplane, I managed to spend all but some loose change of my chilean money, so that's one less currency I need to worry about exchanging later. I hope it doesn't continue to be one of those days...
I don't like it here (the airport, not Santiago itself), not because the airport is a terrible place. Other than the lack of real free wifi and the less-than ideal signage, the airport is fine. Well lit, clean, enough seating, non-invasive security check, etc. I think I'm just having one of those days.
For example, because I wasn't sure I was at the right gate, I wandered to the next one to check at the counter and I left my laptop there. I realized it about 2 minutes later, and I went back and it was where I left it but still... that was careless of me! And earlier, before I came to the gate area, my chocolate caliente was very bad. Not even like Swiss Miss powder mix (which I actually like, but recognize it's not the highest quality). Just warm brown water. :(
The worst was when I exchanged some money. I'd forgotten to exchange my French Polynesian francs when I left Tahiti (a common error on my part, forgetting to exchange my money) and, knowing that a lot of planes from Santiago go to Tahiti, I tried to exchange it here to some chilean pesos. I thought I had about 44 U.S. dollars worth of francs, but when I exchanged it for pesos, I only got about $14 in pesos back. Thinking I'd made a mistake with my mental math, and that I either forgot how much my francs were worth or how much pesos were worth, I looked up all the exchange rates at www.xe.com/ucc (an up-to-date site for exchange rates). Turns out, I was right -- my francs were worth about $44! Now, I'd understand if I'd gotten, say $38 worth of pesos for my $44 worth of francs. Exchange rates at airports aren't great, after all. But to get $14 instead of $44? There had to be a mistake, right? So I returned to the exchange counter and learned that no... the rate this bank gives between pesos and francs really is that terrible; it was not a mistake. Lucky for me, the guys at the counter returned my francs for the pesos. I'm bound to get a better rate somewhere, and losing $30 was just silly.
Finally, my plane was supposed to leave 2 minutes ago and I don't think it's even at the gate yet. My first delay of the journey!
I did have one minor victory: By buying tonight's dinner here at a little cafe to take with me on the airplane, I managed to spend all but some loose change of my chilean money, so that's one less currency I need to worry about exchanging later. I hope it doesn't continue to be one of those days...
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