"Working in Santiago" a Santiago Travel Page by kiwigal_1

I am a New Zealander who arrived in Santiago on 3 June 2006.

Initially I thought that I would be staying in Chile for only 6 months as that was the duration of my work contract. That has now turned into an indefinite stay as my contract got extended and then on the 5th January 2008 I got married to Christian Montoya, a Chilean!

I have travelled a fair bit and stayed in a few cities around the world but I have to say that right from the first day I felt really comfortable living in Santiago. The city does have pollution problems in the winter months and has public transportation issues (what big city doesn't!?) but has a whole lot going for it too.

If you are passing through Santiago or want some advice then please drop me a line.

* A winter that didn't really start until the end of July with a huge snowfall on the mountains and rainfall in the city. Mostly the days are sunny though which I like.
* The drivers here are crazy!! Noone sticks to lanes or seem to use indicators and they drive very fast! It is a wonder I haven't seen a crash yet.
* The infrastructure here is really good. Good roads, excellent metro, a bus system (which is improving), construction everywhere.
* The architecture is pretty modern up my end of town
* The people take a little longer to get to know than the other latin americans I have met in the past. I wouldn't call them cold exactly but they are definately more conservative.
* This is a comfortable place for an expat to call home.

Santiago is a pretty big city but I spend most of my time probably within 20% of it. I live in an area called Las Condes and I walk to the barrio El Golf to work. There are lots of people around at all times of the day and everyone is always rushing it seems.

Las Condes is a very modern area. Most of my friends who have visited have been surprised at this and I guess I was also when I first arrived. Santiago changed its public transportation system this month and now we have the era of "TransSantiago". People complain there aren't enough buses and the metro is always full but I think that it is a safer more complete system than before that is just having teething troubles. People will soon forget what it was like when the horrible yellow micro buses used to reign the streets of Santiago!

I have a Chilean boyfriend now and a small network of friends. Work is busy and life is settling into a routine that I am comfortable with. I play touch rugby with a local team, eat out and dance the night away in Bella Vista or sit on my balcony with a nice glass of Chilean Carmenere wine and watch the world go by :)