Santiago, Chile: November 8th

Greetings Everyone,

 

We are now in Santiago, Chile!  So far, we really like the city.  We are also grateful to be out of Peru.  La Paz, Bolivia was actually a nice city we also enjoyed.  We also have some more stories to tell about our last days in La Paz, but since we don't have internet at the hostel we are currently staying, we are currently in a cybercafé and have to pay for the internet.  Therefore, I don't know if I will have the time to write about the election and our trip to a Bolivian federal prison in La Paz.  Yes, Mom, we are safe.  That was the secret activity I alluded to in a previous post.  I did not want to mention it explicitly until we returned safely so you would not be worried if you read about it.  Needless to say, it was an eye opening experience.  This was not any kind of sanction tour of the prison.  It was underground.  It is illegal.  We had to bribe the guards in order to be let in.  And the guards do not go inside the prison.  They only keep the prisoners from going out.  The prisoners run the prison including the manufacturing of the cocaine inside.  Ozell and I did not participate in the final event of the tour, but most other travelers do... you get to buy and snort the prison made cocaine in one of the inmate's cells.  Allegedly, the purist coke in all of Bolivia.  But more on that in a subsequent post.

 

Ozell's tooth is bothering him so we are soliciting recommendations of reputable dentists from a local contact one of our friends back in San Diego knows here in Santiago.  We also went out to a gay club last night (more on that later too), and I happened to meet two local dentists there.  Unfortunately, they work for the government and cannot do the work themselves, but we hope to get some recommendations from them also.

 

More about Santiago later also.  I don't know how long we are staying at the cafe so I just wanted to give everyone an update and let you know where we are and that we are safe.    :)

 

Ciao for now,

 

Sean