Chilean Quirks

There are some odd things and interesting things to be observed in Chile:

Point 1- Toilet Paper- This does not get flushed here. Instead it is thrown away in the normal trashcans.

Point 2- Restrooms- In order to use public restrooms, one must pay about $.50.

Point 3- The peso conversion means serious math here. Every $10 USD is about $5000 chilean pesos. And, when you look at number the (.) are (,) and the (,) are (.). It gets rather confusing to tourist.

Point 4- Avocado- They love their avacado here. It is offered on sandwhiches in slices or guacomole. It is also offered on hot dogs. Interesting huh?

Point 5- American Influence- There are some many American eating joints here. This includes: Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell.

Point 6- Copper- This metal is everywhere here. It became the export of Chile when Chile switched to a war economy in World War II.

Point 7- Taxis- They start at a base rate of $200 pesos, and go up $90 every 60 seconds or 1/4 of a mile. The drivers round up to the nearest $100 peso. They actually stay in the lines here, and the traffic is not nearly as crazy. I just hope I do not get killed by the subway here!

Point 8- Gems- There are now two beautiful stones found in Chile. One is lapiz azuli, which is a dark blue stone with gold flakes in it. The other is the cross stone which was just found about four years ago in the south of Chile. It is composed of seven different nautral elements including magnesium.