Adding Insult to a long trip

I have unanimously decided with myself that Chile is officially my most unfavorite country in the world. As much as the people so far, in the last two hours have been helpful and friendly, it doesn´t make my whiny baby mood any better after having to pay $131 dollars to enter the country. Only payable when FLYING in, the charge is called an ¨Entry Reciprosity Fee¨ since apparently the US government charges Chileans a lot of money to visit us. Anyway, somehow I got here without knowing that and now I will have to chip away at other budget items, since nothing will make me angrier than going over my budget. I am trying to think of the extra money I have because of my free Guatemalan bus ride, or the economic stimulus money I will get in May from the government who has indirectly made me hate Chile.

Getting here was a pain in my butt too, not just my pocket. I had several bouts of ADD and claustrophobia. First I left the hostel in Xela and walked to the bus terminal. The bus ride was only $7 but thats because I think the bus was used during segregation, reminded me of the bus in the football movie with Denzel Washington. There was lots of construction, in which we sat probably 4 different times for 30 minutes each without moving. That made me really impatient, plus their was no bathroom on the bus and I thought I understood that there weren´t going to be any stops...so I tried not to drink much water even though I am anal about drinking enough water every day. So that was annoying and it was dusty and bumpy, making crosswords and reading not options and my ipod battery was low. (speaking of dirtiness, the pollution and emission standards of Guatemala are nonexistent so at the end of the day my Oxy pad is very black and so are my boogers) Finally we get there in about 6 hours and get in a taxi to find another woman already in the back seat and she ends up going to the opposite end of the city, so I´m really impatient when we finally get to my B&B by the airport after 45 minutes. In the AM, the B&B gives a ride to the airport, where I efficiently used my last $3 of quetzales on a snack. Two hour flight to Miami, then I had a 6 hour layover. I have been actually studying alittle from my CPA book, so I sat at Chili´s in the airport and drank a margarita and learned some things, then paced the airport for some exercise as much as possible without looking suspicious. Plane left at 9:30, sat by one of those guys that thinks he paid for the whole middle armrest...not like i needed the space, its just the principle that made me want to karate chop his forearm. Arrived in Sao Paulo Brazil at 6:30 am and I decided not to ever visit Brazil on purpose as most of the airplane personnel couldn´t understand much English, which just makes me speak Spanish and them not understand me very well even then, and Portugese sounds disgusting anyway. There were massage chairs throughout the terminal and I was uncomfortable from trying to sleep (also, hardwood floors and seats with permanent armrests in the airport not very conducive for the sleeping I intended to do with the pillow and blanket I stole from the flight before) so I got sucked in to a 20 minute, $20 massage...I was thinking..hmm...do any of my friends coming on this cruise give good massages? It was a gamble and I didn´t know the next time I´d con someone for a free massage. Flight left at 9am, 4 hours to Santiago uneventful, good food. Arrived in Santiago, got really ticked off at the world, was rude to several annoying tour salesmen, got the bus to the subway to the stop I had written down for the hostel, asked directions a couple of times and found the place I was looking for. Their dorm beds were all booked so ended up paying about $15 for one night instead of $10, only difference is my room with 6 people in it has our own bathroom. I hope this cruise is worth the effort!