Chile

The reason I went there was to pay a visit to a bloke named Greg. He is an Australian guy who moved here about 5 years ago. Our good friend José Miguel collects little cars- matchbox, hot wheels etc. He has almost a whole room full of them at his house. So this guy Greg has a shop selling matchbox cars. I was hoping I would see some of the cars from my childhood, but my memory is a bit hazy to know what exactly I had. I know I had a Mercedes that was blue, a formula 1 car and a smashed up Porsche.

What he did have in the shop however, was the exact track I had as a kid, there was no doubting that. I realised I actually had two different tracks, this one- the beach style, which include a looping wave, and another one that had a loop followed by a jump. I didn’t buy anything today, but that’s not to say that won’t be different in the future…What I really wonder is if my collection from my younger years is still around somewhere back in Bega.

So anyway I talked to him for a while, I was wearing my Raiders hat, and he showed me he had a Roosters bag (no me gusta!!!!). Then his friend from next door came in, that guy runs a music shop, mainly selling posters and some t-shirts, we got talking and he asked if I liked Toe To Toe. I said I did, and he said I was the first person he had met that liked Toe To Toe.

Then he told me he was in a band and they were playing on Thursday. So I will go and check it out, it’s in Bellavista at Bar Uno. The band is called Bajo Tierra. He said they are just starting out, but he has been in quite a few other bands including Dentro De Nada who I have a feeling I have heard of before.

In saying that, I just realised I may have double booked myself. I have signed up to play in a pickup soccer match, using a website called Jogabo. I really like the idea of this website, which basically allows you to sign up for pick up games throughout the world. So they are having a game on Thursday night and proceeds of that will go to charity. So I will probably play in that. It doesn’t start til 10pm, but the show probably doesn’t start til even later. The guy in the shop, Juan Carlos he said it started at 10, but you can never be sure exactly what that means in Chile.

So anyway, the rest of this little shopping centre, Portal Lyon is filled with similar kinds of shops. Video games, tattoo parlours, skate shops, more shops selling shirts, records, CDs, tickets, etc. As I was walking around the circular pathway, I got thinking- I wonder how a shop selling Footbags would go…

By the time I got to the bottom I decided it would go pretty badly. As I continued my walk home a guy came up to me. He looked a bit shady and I was a bit concerned about being robbed. I think he wanted a light for a cigarette, or money to get cigarettes. I’m not too sure really, but I didn’t have and wouldn’t give him either if I did. There were no troubles and I continued on my way.

Tomorrow night will be the final of the Copa Sudamericana. “La U” won the first leg in Ecuador 1-0, even though LDU Quito had not lost there for a number of years in Copa Sudamericana games. They are in pretty hot form, and I have a feeling they are yet to lose a game since I arrived in Chile.