Life is funny sometimes...

Clayton here. In Arica, border town in northern Chile, we made a mistake on the time and missed our bus. No big deal. Sitting in the station, trying to figure out what to do next, and someone makes off with my little back pack. Most of the things I consider important were in there: all my books, journal, traveller's cheques, toiletries, flight ticket, and most notably my brand new video camera, with all the videos I had taken. I cannot describe how angry I was. The worst part being that it was a result of carelessness. The pack was less than five feet from me, but it was blocked from my sight by Piet's pack. Had I sat on the other side, nothing would have happened. Yes, life is funny... but sometimes you have to wait for the funny part, I guess. This adds to my list of things lost: my pocket knife and utensil set were taken by airport security (forgot to put them in checked baggage), my watch that Tyler gave me (in someone's taxi), and my glasses (lost to the pacific ocean; luckily I brought my spare pair, though they lessen my chances of finding Etta considerably). Thankfully I had my passport in my pocket. And to tell the truth, it's hard to stay angry when on such an adventure. There's too much to see and do. I just know I'll miss having the memories to watch and to show to others.
To update you, we are in Santiago, and will be spending a few days here. It is a big city, very modern, and a little more expensive than we are used to. But we are still managing to spend under 15 dollars a day, up from 10 previously. 7 dollars a night was the cheapest we could find for lodging (and you get what you pay for). The rest goes to food, buses, internet, phone and whatever we might need. The weather is still nice, however soon we will be in the far south and will expect some cool nights (I know, "boo-hoo"). What else... I don't recommend 60 hour bus trips. I hope Piet puts some pics of the desert on. For some reason it was strikingly beautiful. Apparently some areas have no record of rain in northern Chile, however, in the rare instance of precipitation, there are fields of flowers waiting to bloom. Unfortunately we didn't get to witness such an event. We did get to see three nights of Carnival celebrations while we waited in Arica, something we didn't anticipate. The music was addicting and the costumes very creative, quite a lively atmosphere. It's something not to miss if you ever get the chance.
That's about all for now. Until next time...