First Impressions: Living through the ambiguity and learning to love Chile by Fran

We arrived in Temuco with an embarrassing 10 bags, all of them at maximum size and weight. I guess this is not bad for two people for 7 months but my mind kept repeating: too much stuff, too much stuff. Everyone was polite and never said anything harsh as in “Why do you North Americans need so much stuff. “ The biggest hassle in the entire 24 hours and three flights to Temuco was an exasperating moment in Santiago when we were unable to produce the receipt proving we had paid for the bags all the way to Temuco. (Lesson #1: Chile is a country of receipts. Everyone from the grocery cashier to the bus driver gives you a receipt - or sometimes two. Hang on to your receipts. You never know when someone will ask you to prove you paid.) After about 20 minutes of wrangling, using very poor Spanish on my part, the supervisor accepted the inevitable i.e., these people know so little Spanish the effort is not worth it. She let us through without paying a hefty charge (approx USD$300), but with the inevitable scolding: In Chile: hang on to your receipts.