happy birthday naldo! (i had some cake today, on your behalf)

note: location is santiago, chile

this morning i spoke to a friendly woman at the international police station. she said it would be no issue switching visas/passports. tomorrow, i’ll go to the aduana to see if i can extend the permit for the sentra…since it’s illegal to import used cars into chile.

one frustrating thing about chile is the overpresence of artificial flavors and colors. granted, fresh fruits and vegetables are everywhere…but i have yet to find a yogurt that does not have artificial flavors. organic would be nice too…but, for now, i’ll settle for natural.

i also finaly used hostelworld.com. i’ve heard about it from other travelers, but since i have the luxury (and sometimes hassle) of a car, i usually find it easier to just go on my own and look around at hostels. but it turns out that it can be very useful for negotiations, especially with unscrupulous hostels…because you can use the hostelworld price as a starting point (it is sometimes lower than the quoted price). well, at least i know from now on.