Minding my own business beside the Mapocho

I've been very busy with work again the past couple of weeks. I'm grateful for the opportunity to knuckle down and focus on something other than the frustrations I've been experiencing with HSBC in Hong Kong, who have taken six weeks to take my situation on board and appoint a case manager to help me solve it. Polly has been wonderful: I would love to have seen her in action. Finally, I have a replacement ATM card (the correct one, this time!); well, it's safe in HK with Polly. I'm still working on getting the replacement security device activated.

I finished off the film festival by seeing "Kinkdom Come" (about Dave Davies) with Ingrid; the Martin Scorcese documentary about George Harrison, "Living in a Material World", and "The Sacred Triangle" (about David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed).

I've had dinner a couple of times with Selma and Murray, New Yorkers I met in the Lastarria barrio one afternoon. I enjoy their company here and hope to catch up with them back in New York. I also had coffee with Carlos, whom I'd met in Valparaiso at my hotel.

I've been running mainly in the old part of town around Plaza de Armas and the nearby pedestrian streets in the morning, though on Boxing Day morning I had an hour's run out past El Golf with Max, another transplanted Chilean who returned to Santiago after living in North Dakota for many years. He's from "Fargo" country and was around when the film (one of my favourites) was being made.

I'm back in the first apartment on the river, after moving to another apartment in the next-door building for the week before Christmas. Back here on Xmas morning before lunch at new friend Nat's with Ingrid and a couple of other expat waifs and strays. Next week I move for the last time, to Providencia.

Dinner with Ingrid this week, and met her gorgeous dog Lily. Then a birthday dinner for Veronica with Nat, Daniel, Ron and Ingrid. Leo made dinner last week.

I've hardly done anything "touristy" in Santiago: I regret I haven't seen more, but I've had other things on my mind, and not much disposable cash. I'm very grateful to have met some sympatico people. I'll really miss them.