Stress and tension drain in Chile

For the last three years, my all-time favorite place to visit has been Luang Prabang in Laos. The reasons are because of the slowness of the pace of that country, and the friendliness of the people there. So far I haven't been able to find a competitor for Laos -- but I think that Chile might run a close second.






The first thing that struck me in Santiago was how much slower the pace of life is. On a weekday afternoon, there were crowds of people sitting in the central Plaza de Armas, just hanging out, or playing chess. Even the dogs seemed to be much more laid-back -- there're a ton of strays in Chile, and it's not unusual to see a random stray dog passed out asleep in the middle of the street. (Surprisingly, for this many strays, the streets are quite clean -- I didn't see much dog poop. Wonder where it all goes.)



It seemed also that there's quite a strong sense of community among the people there. The town squares, or plazas, are packed when evening falls, with people just coming by to hang out, it seemed. And also, it wasn't unusual to see people engaged in conversation in the middle of the road, in the park, wherever. Reminds me of rural China, or Hong Kong in a slower, gentler time.


The people were extremely friendly. Oh, we attracted stares -- I suppose it's not usual to see Asians there -- but a smile almost invariably brought back a friendly smile in response. Many times, we were approached by total strangers who saw us looking at a map, either in the metro or on the street, to ask if we needed any help. And these were just ordinary people, not uniformed police or metro employees. Many of them did not speak English either, and they must have known that we probably didn't speak any Spanish -- but they just wanted to help.

Even with the conference and the presentation hanging in the background, I could feel my stress drain away. As further proof, my seasonal dyshidrosis, which had been threatening to erupt as I left Hong Kong, faded away on the second day. Let's hope it doesn't return!