we made it!

we left yesterday at noon and got to santiago this morning at 11 or so. managed to get to the bus station to buy tickets for tomorrow and then took the metro to where our hostel is. i had to ask two different people for directions. i´m a bit nervous and unsure of anything i´m doing here, and it occurred to me that being totally unsure of what to do made me act like a kid. like the people i asked directions from were cops. both times. like when you´re 6 years old and you´re told that if you´re lost or need help, ask the police. as an adult, i would never do that. but when i´m totally lost, a cop is who seems safe. strange...
anyway, we got a room for $33 for the night. which isn´t awesome i guess, but i´m feeling really tired and i don´t think either nance or i wanted to keep walking around trying to find another place that probably wouldn´t be that much cheaper.
so tonight we´re going to find a chinese restaurant (we studied the phonebook for at least a half hour to find a restaurant within walking distance since it turns out asking people on the street for directions is hard. i think partly because i don´t understand and partly because they don´t really know...). i think we´ll take out food and sit in our cozy little room and eat and go to bed early.
this is a totally new dynamic for nancy foo and i. she´s totally dependent on my ability to navigate us. and we operate in really different ways. usually she´s the organized one who has a plan before we get started with anything. now she has to deal with my "walk around til you find it and if you get lost ask a cop" approach. so i think she´s frustrated. not with me, but with not being able to help herself really. anyway, she´ll learn fast. she does that.

also, a PG-rated blog is coming soon for grandparents and other folks who would just do better with that sort of thing.

now to help nance with the keyboard. all the punctuation is hidden in new mysterious places on this keyboard...
much love
kz