Trip to Chillán

Spent Thursday-Sunday with my 19-year-old host sister Vivi and her 3 friends at a cabin in a small town near Chillan, close to Concepcion where I was the previous weekend. We tried to go skiing, but a wreck (a "taco") blocked the road so there was a three-hour wait, which made it impossible. I barely caught the bus on the way there because we got to the station (they already with their tickets and me without mine) and the bus was already full. We made friends with a guy at the bus company and he managed to work my on at the last moment. So I had the pleasure of sitting in the seat that isn't really supposed to be sat in (I think). Leg room: 2 inches (my seat nearly touched the seat in front of me), so my legs sat in the isle. Seat back: at least 90 degrees with a head rest curling over me like a breaking wave. Location: 12 inches from the bathroom, which left just enough room to open the door and for the smells to mature as they wafted outward.

The bus on the way back was a collective near-disaster. Something happened with the car at the last minute so that two of our friends couldn't meet us at the station, so we didn't get on the bus. They finally arrived and we met them across the street (something happened with the police but I have no idea what) from the station. We waited on the sidewalk down the street from the station, hoping that the bus would pull out and turn our way. It did and we ran out in the street hailing with our tickets. They stopped.

I have also learned that "having a cell phone" doesn't mean anything. I have four now and I'm hoping that the one that worked today will work tomorrow (for the second day). My others either don't have a charge cord, don't get service, have a broken screen, or ring (or whatever) whenever and only whenever they wish.