Brief anecdote.

One night in Valparaiso I went to dinner with a guy I had met at breakfast in the hostel. We had dinner in a nicer restaurant than I generally allow myself. We were there for a very long time, and eventually there was only us and another couple of guests, and the restaurant was closing. Valparaiso is very relaxed, and as is the custom down here, dinner is enjoyed late in the evening. But we were still the last guests. The chef, maybe owner of the restaurant, was on friendly speaking terms with us, and he started asking if myself and my dinner companion were a couple. And since we were not, why not? Did I have a boyfriend? Well of course my dinner companion and myself were ending up together, we'd been sitting there deep in conversation for 5 hours. He was so open about this possibility, something that is generally shrouded in dating mystery until someone makes a move. He wouldn't let the topic go and had a lengthy conversation about the subject with one of the other guests who spoke better Spanish than I.

I was thoroughly delighted by this Chilean man who was quite a bit more nosy than any American restaurateur I have ever encountered. Who was so open with his romantic expectations of these two travelers he just met.

He also had the most beautiful Chilean accent. I find them exceedingly difficult to understand, but completely delicious.