Los primeros días en Chile - first impressions

I've well and truely arrived folks! Been here two and a half days now and it feels like a week or more. I've travelled to places more 'strange' than this and it's not been a big deal, but knowing that I'm going to be living here changes everything. There are so, so many things I could tell you about but I'll begin by just mentioning a few things that come to mind.

We flew in over the Andes and it was already clear that I was a long way from home. I thought there would be one straight line of mountains but they were all banked up one behind the other, longer than the eye could see and wide. The highest mountains were white with snow and the fact that we were flying over them didn't diminish their awe.

As we came in to land, the ground looked drier than I imagined it would, something like a desert, with the occasional cactus. It's the end of summer and the whole city's dusty and dry. I'm told that in winter green hills will appear, but for now streets and buildings all wear a sandy layer.

Now I understand how rich Australia is. I've been to poor Asian countries, but I expected them to be poor. Chile is one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America and yet the money middle-class Australians have to spend on plants for their gardens, appliances for their kitchens, coordinated interior design, travel and all the rest is the sort of money only the upper-class have here. Although being white and English-speaking, people will already consider me upper-class, I will have to watch myself if I'm not to look like a complete snob.