Plaza de Armas and it's Cast of Characters

Santiago's Plaza de Armas is the city's 'plaza major' or main square in the old city centro. We went their primarily in search of cheap food, and found ourselves soaking up the atmosphere on a Saturday afternoon. Like the local strays, hot dogs are everywhere! Order a "Completo" for the works, or "Italiano" for guacamole. We grabbed two 'completos' and headed for the nearest bench because there's a lot going on. We just sat and soaked it in:

Portrait photographers with tripods and poneys that every little girl had to be dragged away from, one hand still

pointing at the little pony.

At least one pentecostal street preachers is always pacing back and forth. What he was so passionate about today, I have no idea.

My favorite characters are the old men who fill the tables in the bandstand with their chess matches.

Street Dog of the Day - Under a packed bench in the Plaza de Armas

In the evening we made our way to see 'Shutter Island' at the main cinema near the plaza. Before the show, and after the precolombian arts museum, we stopped at a chain restaurant known as Schopdog for a Bife de Pobre. Steak and sausage piled on top of fries with a sauteed onion all mixed together and an egg to top – What a concept ! Every guy must welcome this pillar to Chilean food when they first discover Bife de Pobre. It's the kind of thing men would put together at home alone if left to our own devices - surely an advancement in the culinary arts.

Bife de Pobre was almost like a New York brunch's Steak & Eggs. The deal was but a platter and get a free picher of beer. As students, how could we refuse? Phot

While Steph was doing her homework, I read that Chileans have a general sense of isolation and being far away from the rest of the world. They admit their cuisine can be considered a little bland. They often complain that they are the last to get new trends, products and movies. OK so our dinner and movie may be a little stale. But in many ways I found these two concerns to be a little unbelievable.

Chile can boast that the internet is both wireless and widespread, from cafes to metro platform hotspots. This is a productive public goal that New Zealand and Australia are a long way from achieving. The metro itself is clean, reliable and an exact copy of line 1 in Paris. It runs Alstom trains that are so swift the network's only problem is now overusage, up 50 per cent in the last 2yrs.

But here's what takes the cake... My only worry this week has been somewhat of a mission to submit to both the French and US authorities without scans of all the necessary documents. To my total luck, two of the greatest Paris friends have really saved my day via skype, email and bank manager transfers. With Charmaine and Priscille's amazing help I was able to coordinate quite a lot while Stef was at school and now can go on few day trips to see what lies beyond Santiago before starting school. Filing taxes is somewhat of a headache for everyone, abroad or at home - I'll stop complaining. And then I read that Chile actually has the most efficient tax system in the world. Had I been a Chileno, the government would have e-mailed me a proposed filing and you need only click the accept buttom online. That does it - Chile has nothing to moan about!