Chile Forum

Topics here do not need to be about Chile. More or less anything in the World ( keep it under control ).

Hey all! How ya doing? I just signed up. Wanted to say hi. I guess the lobby is as good a place as any to do that.

I would have used a different handle but I didn't see your chuckenchile until after I signed up. Oh well, there can never be enough chucks in the world eh?

I'll be arriving in Stgo. on the 28th of Sept. I want see if Chile is the place I want to live and maybe retire in, I got a feeling it is. I've been researching this for awhile, even when I was living in Mexico in 2004 teaching English I was looking into living in Chile. I plan on staying at least a year.

Best way to find out about a place is to live there I think.

cheers!


I'm pretty excited! The time has almost come.

Yea, don't worry about it. I decided to stick to my "admin" handle for the most part.

Chuck J how did you deal with the flight, did you get a one way ticket?

I almost always buy a round trip because they are the same price. I often buy a round trip, with the option to change the date for a fee. However, I almost never use the round trip. It is nice to know you got it.

Hey skyl4rk, I got a one way on Delta. I don't really want fly across the USA and change planes in Atlanta but the non-stop flights are very expensive.
I thought $592 one way, one stop, was pretty good. 4:45 hrs. flight from PDX to ATL, 1:30 layover then 9:45 ? from ATL to SCL.

Anyone know of any Spanish language schools in Stgo.? My Spanish is pretty rusty. I looked at Woodward's website but they seem expensive.

Are you noticing a trend here I'm a cheapskate.

I guess I'll just go spend the night in Mendoza after 90 days to get a new tourist card when I come back in, I did the same thing in Mexico three times didn't have any problems.

cheers.

Chuck

The buses over to Mendoza are cheap, and kind of fun to bum around the super shopping mall that town has become.

You might try contacting http://www.ees.cl they might be able to set you up with private Spanish courses.

OK, I made it to Chile!

Here's some info if you want to know the details, or not.

Anyway, both flights arrived a little early due to pretty good tailwinds. The flight from ATL to SCL was 20 minutes early, 8:45 instead of 9:05, I know it's no big deal but I took it as an auspicious sign

When you go into the terminal after you get off the plane DO NOT get in the line to get your visa, etc. First you want to go over to the windows to the left and give the Chilean government it's $100, (if your American, other counties pay different amounts) reciprocity fee. They'll take cash or credit card. Then they'll stick a little piece of paper on your passport stamp it then you can get in the visa line. I walked right past the reciprocity, heck I think I even looked at it but I was so groggy from lack of sleep it didn't register. My first dumb mistake in Chile, been there all of 10 minutes

Then after you've stood in the tourist visa line awhile the happy, happy guy or gal behind the glass will look at your passport to see if you paid the reciprocity fee, stick it into an electronic scanner machine to see if your an international man of mystery or whatever, then your free to go get your luggage.

The cute part about this is that you have to walk through the gift shop to get to the baggage carousel. Sort of a "welcome to Chile now spend some money" thing Pretty slick.

I was happy to see my luggage didn't get lost. But found that TSA gorilla's broke the zipper on my big suitcase
One guy sort of escorted it out on the carousel, after I claimed it and verified nothing was missing he called another guy over and then he wheeled my bags over to an area where he tried to fix it! That didn't work so he wrapped it in that plastic saran wrap stuff or whatever it's called, and apologized for it being broken. Wow! Talk about service. I like this place already. Voila! Done. I was free to go.

So then I wheeled my mini-mountain out of the terminal to where I was greeted by at least one hundred limo and bus people holding signs with names trying to make connections. One guy had a sign that said taxi, that's my guy

You would think I should be coming out of my stupor about now, it was about 55 degrees and the air was fresh as it was 8:00 am. But it didn't help. The taxi ride to where I'm staying in Providencia was only 8 thousand peso's, ($16) but I gave the guy a 10k and 5k bill ($30).
Oops! I have no idea why except I was pretty well sleep deprived by then. I can't sleep on airplanes, and the night before I left I couldn't sleep because I was so excited. And I guess being a dumbass helps too.

More next time about the German girls with the piscola and vodka

your trip has just begun. If you need any help let us know. Keep the forum updated. How long are you staying?

I have trick I use at customs all over the world. Customs counters are always chaos. If I have anything that I need to pay a duty on, I hang around with my stuff and keep asking diffrent agents untill I get the answer I am looking for. Idealy it is, "get the hell out of here, and take your stuff with you." Does not always work, but i have about a 50% success rate with it. Works with lots of red tape.

When I first landed in Chile about 6 years ago, I had a desktop computer in a large roller suit case. I knew I was in for some duty on it, and I wanted to sell it rather than take it out of the country with me. So, I asked the nice guy if I could just put it behind the customs desk while I went to an ATM to get some money and pay my fees. I came back about 30 mins later, and asked another nice guy if he could get my suit case that was waiting for me behind the desk. He handed it to me, and never said a word about the duty.

Use how tired and confused you look to your advantage at customs. Just make sure you really get the go ahead from one of the agents, so you have some authority you can point to if they stop you at the door.

IME of an average 3 entries into SCL per year for the past five + years:

Computer equipment and other gadgets have never given me a problem at SCL Customs. They are looking for AGRO products and could care less about your "personal use" electronics, luxury items and gifts.

I have found custums to be much more interested in luggage as of the past 1 1/2 years. They have looked thru my luggage extensively and as I have laptop + other equipment for work they always ask about it. I just answer yes and no with no explanation asn as honestly deadpan as I can.
Custums will try to get you off balance in a variety of ways and they observe how you react. I always slow it down and move almost at half speed so that they get bored quickly.

I brought down a radio for my truck and they caught it and wanted to know what it was about so I told them. We sat there for 5 minutes or so while they "checked " the "rules" after I said I wouldn't pay the fee. So I just leaned on the luggage and waited and then they got tired of me. Another time at Christmas they wanted reciepts for all the gifts. Same routine. They depend on the traveler to get nervous and freak where they will then start the "upset official" routine and demand in harsher tones the payment which makes the traveler even more nervous and apt to pay the fine to end the misery.

I have seen almost everytime I go thru scl their favorite routine. They will call you down the line with all your luggage and lean over it asking questions without opening anything or just opening a little bit one thing. The official will then say nothing and walk away down to the computer terminal. The traveler thinks they are free to go so they pack thier bags and place everything on the cart and begin to move out and at the last second before youare out the door they will summon you back and now fien the "upset official" routine. Of course if you have something you don't them to find you think you are out only now you are not and this is usually too much for the Chilean to bear and so the break . They wait to see how you react. I always wait until I hear them say you can go and call after them to make sure.

ciao, el puelche

I also keep repeating that they are all personal items. Every country has an exclusion for them, and let the customs agent do the work to find out which things are not.

admin wrote:your trip has just begun. If you need any help let us know. Keep the forum updated. How long are you staying?

Thanks. I may take you up on that, and I'll keep posting here.

My idea is to live here and go back to the US every two years or so for a month. Right now I'm staying in a residence inn near Tobalaba metro. It's pretty cheap compared to a hotel, I even have a hard-line Internet connection into my (tiny) room.

What's the deal with the apartment rental companies? I'll probably be looking into it this coming week or next. Do they want you to have a Chilean bank account before they rent to you? Or are they "flexible." I doubt it's possible to get a bank acct with a tourist visa anyway.
I think dealing directly with owners is probably easier as the Benjamin's speak all languages. How did you handle this?

Anyway, It's been a breeze so far, knock on wood. It's been about like I expected, no nasty suprises. Yet.
The only thing that's bugging me is I really should have tried to learn more Spanish before I arrived. They talk so freaking fast and the accent is different.

Oh yeah, my first night here I got high as a kite drinking piscola with three German girls in the residence inn, it was a lot of fun. I'm not much of a drinker, pretty lightweight really. And wow! it snuck up on me. I guess I didn't get too stupid, they were still talking to me the next day.

cheers.

In Chile, I would be more concerned about building a resistance to Pisco, more than your Spanish. Your Spanish will come around. Not handling your Pisco can be more of a problem.