Santiago in Chile 2

Before I left Melbourne, my friend Pancho gave me the phone numbers of his brother and family friend who I met last time when I went to Chile 3 years ago, but I left the numbers at home in Australia!!

The second day in Santiago, I decided to find Daniela -Pancho´s family friend. A lots of "looking for people" in this trip. Pancho told me that she works in a mobile library near the station called Centro. I first asked someone where the station called Centro is, but the person said there is the area of Centro, but not the station. So I went to the center area of the Santiago city and find the police men and asked where the mobile library will be. The word I found in the dictionery for the mobile library is the "biblobus", but the polices didn´t get it, so I said " el bus con mucho libros -the bus with many books" and that made them even more confused. Anyway thinking all of this now, even if they know the word, they wouldn´t know where the bus would be as it is 'mobile'. At the end of long conversation they show me the nearest big book shop and told me to ask there.

Then I went to the book shop. The people there were very nice and try to think of possible places the bus would be, but the places were far to each other and looked hard to visit all of them, so I asked where the nearest big library is. I thought the mobile library must belong to some of those non-mobile libraries.

Fortunately the biggest library in the city, La biblotica National, was very close to the book shop. So I walked up there. When I got there, I realised that was the library Daniela was working three years ago!! Coz she brought me there and show me around. So I thought it could be the same library the library bus is belonging to!

I walked into one of the room and said " I am looking for my friend who is working in the mobile library. Do you know where it is?" (That´s the only things I could ask in Spanish) . They had no idea about the bus or what I am talking about. Then told me to go to other section of library. As I didn´t understand which department he was meaning, I looked for the reception, but in the reception there wasn't anyone. When I was waiting for somebody to come, the security guy came. So I asked him same question. He was listening to me very patiently and I said the girl was working here as a sudent worker three year ago. Then he called the other security guy who was working there longer and the guy said taht he might know the girl. When I was describing her to them, I realized I still had her photo in my camera, so I showed them. Yes, he rememberd her! He took me to the place where he might be able to find out her number, but looked like he wasn't allowed to get number, so he took me to another room for the guy who knows her better. In the room, one of the workers knew where she works now. Then they looked up the number and the station of the library for me. Such a nice people. The station was "Estacion Central"!!!! not 'Centro'. I remembered it wrong at first place.
I took the metro to the station and kept asking people the way to get the library till I got there but the reception girl said Daniela is working in bus and won´t come back that day and gave me her number. As they didn´t have a phone, I walked back to the station and called. She was there at the library then!!!! I just missed her in 5 min. I walked back and ta-dah!! finally met her! It was a long day, but kind of fun especially when you have the happy ending.

We hung around together and decided to go to Valparaiso together for the weekend so I changed my flight to extend my stay in Chile. Valparaiso is 1 and a half hours away from Santiago and good holiday spot. It was so busy as it was a weekend of summer. We had big feast of sea food and fun there.
We had return tickets of bus, but at the night of Sunday, when we got the bus station, the guy said there was no more bus available that day as all the bus are full already on Sunday evening. I had to leave Santiago next day to Brazil so I wanted get back to Santiago that night. Daniela said to me there is two options. -Stay another night here and go home with the first bus in the morning or hitch hiking! Without thinking I chose the hitch-hiking. This is my third time hitch-hiking but the 1st time in Latino America. I asked her if she has ever done it, she said No, but we decided to do so. Very fortunately after about 15-20min wait, we got a lift from very nice couple of Chileno and Algentina. We had a few other accidents during the trip as well, but all solved fine. It was good very memorable trip.
She doesn´t speak English and my Spanish is very very limited, but somehow we are good friends. Now I want to learn more Spanish.