Footbag in Chile

As with most people, my dear readers, will probably not be familiar with the sport of Footbag

Much more often known as "Hacky Sack", footbag is something that I am very passionate about, and as a matter of fact, this very week I will be defending my Australian Championship in the Routines event.

You can see some video of me here: www.youtube.com/footbagact

A search on players registered on Footbag.org shows about 8 players, but there's never a great chance of finding actual other players through there, you never know though.

I am hoping I will be able to attend the South American championships, which are likely to take place in Venezuela at the end of the year.

Rough as guts

I was meant to have a Spanish lesson tonight, but I had a long day at work, then I set off a smoke alarm making my dinner, so thoughts of learning were far from my mind.

I have decided to start flicking through my The Rough Guide to Chile. The Rough Guides that I have read about Australia I haven't been particularly impressed with. I'm not sure if that's because I think I know everything, but it's more that it's mainly written by one person, so it's all just their opinion.

This was at a heavily reduced price though (from $35 to $9.95), so it was hard not to pick it up. I will report back in some days with my findings.

Explora, Explora

We were married at the beginning of this year, but when we go to Chile we will have a new ceremony. We are already married so there's not too much point to go through the whole service again, but we will probably have some kind of ring blessing or something along those lines.

To our surprise, quite a large number of our family will be joining us for a little while in Chile. The current plan is to head down to Patagonia afterwards. Mum and Dad have a very generous plan, to pay for us to stay in a very fancy hotel, the Explora.

I'm not going to have a job for a few months, so I don't think I can say no to that one! It should be very exciting.

I think this website will be a big help for me

This is a link to a bunch of words that I may find in my adventures in Chile

http://cachandochile.wordpress.com/glossary-glosario-chilenismos/

Chileans hate arrogance. Be arrogant and you will have problems; be kind and everyone will try to help you. (WikiTravel)

I am a keen bodyboarder, so I would like to get in the surf once over in Chile. I hear I will need a very good wetsuit.

This picture is from Arica, which is right up the north, almost in Peru. Every year they have a big bodyboard challenge there. It would be awesome to get up there.

My Dad (with my Mum) is coming to Chile just after we first arrive. He is also a keen bodyboarder. Their trip home is going to be via Easter Island and Tahiti, so he should pick up a few waves too.

Let's go...

Hello fine readers, of which I'm sure there are currently none, because I just started this blog.

I am not new to the idea of blogging, I just decided as I am heading to Chile, I should make a blog based around going to Chile. This will serve a few purposes. The main one is to keep me writing, to keep me thinking about things to do in Chile.

Another hope is that through keeping this blog up to date, and following others doing similar, I will be able to build a bit of a social network in Chile once I arrive.

What I hope to write about in here will be general things I discover, whether that be places people recommend to eat, good bands to check out, sightseeing places, chances to get jobs for stupid gringos, the like.

It will also be a chance to practice some Spanish skills, none of which I have shown in this post, they can come in later, but this blog will be mainly written in English.

So first, a little bit about myself, and why I am going to Chile.



Pictured here we have myself and my lovely wife, Francisca. We got married at the start of this year, and this was taken on our honeymoon, we went to the Great Ocean Road.

Ella es de Chile, she came to Australia to do some studies. She studies a Masters in Social Research at the ANU. She got a scholarship, so in return for all the money, she has to go back and work in Chile for a while, so I will be tagging along.

Although we will begin in Santiago, it is most likely we will move down towards the coast. After many years living inland, it's time to live near the beach. Our current plan is to head to Viña del Mar once we get ourselves settled in.

I have a few other blogs, some of which are listed at the bottom of the page. I am currently studying a Master of Arts (Writing) by correspondence, so any writing practice is good for me to be doing. My current plan is to keep this updated at least once per day, that will mean at least once a day I am thinking about the trip, and maybe learning something new myself.