Santiaguinos

by Hilary Lamb

The whole time we have been in Santiago I have been blown away by the kindness of the people here. I had heard they were kind and helpful, but it's really neat to observe Santiaguinos helping each other (and helping us gringos) out. There have been numerous times that someone on the streets will notice we look confused or lost and they will ask us if we need help. And they always are on the lookout to remind people about pickpockets. The first week we were here, one of the metro workers told our whole group to be more careful with our bags so nothing gets stolen. Recently, I was walking from the Plaza de Armas to Universidad Alberto Hurtado and I got stopped 3 or 4 times during the 20 minute walk because people kept telling me to watch out for my backpack. I was looking out anyway, but it was so kind of them to still stop me and tell me to be careful because they genuinely didn't want anything bad to happen. I hope when we return to the United States in a few weeks we can bring that kindness back with us.