Clubbin Santiago Style

The last couple weeks have involved exploring the bar scene in Santiago. So here’s a little rundown of the good, the bad and the ugly in Santiago, having only skimmed the surface.
Jazz Clubs: There are a surprising number of jazz clubs in Santiago, well, maybe not a lot. But enough. The most official jazz club in Santiago is The Club de Jazz, which is this spiffy little place down in Nuñoa. The nice thing about it is you can go and here jam sessions outside before the actual show starts, but given that winter is starting the being outside is not so hot anymore (literally). The atmosphere around the jazz club is too hip but in a way where they just don’t care about you. Not like they look down but they are just too hip to notice you. It’s also one classy joint and offers jazz for a relatively cheap price Thurs., Fri, and Saturday. The other qualified jazz club (that I’ve been to) is in Bellavista, called something like the Pereseguir. Two Fridays ago, we saw this amazing trumpeter and trombonist. They basically just rocked, but in kind of a sketchy Chilean way if you know what I mean. This jazz club fell within the preppy/yuppie hip stereotype, kind of the style that the host family I lived with last quarter would appreciate. Clean and smooth. We went to one last jazz show last week. It wasn’t exactly at a jazz club, but at a multipurpose café, the type that plays artsy movies on certain nights, has slam poetry sessions and occasional jazz shows. So it was mainly talking and sharing pitchers rather than listening to jazz. It was also the most touristy of the three, because I’ve read about it in all my guide books, and because that’s the type of crowd they seem to cater too (we, a group of about 11 loud Americans, met some Canadians there.)
Bars: Last Tuesday, Stephen’s host sister and brother took us to the opening of this bar somewhere on the border of Bellavista and Patronato. It was superhip as well. The almost unfinished industrial look with the fake crystal chandeliers, grapes and peanuts everywhere, an open dance floor, and free daquiris. What more could you ask for? Well, it was also kind of empty, being opening night and all. So we went to Bar Central, which Stephen’s sister told me was the best place around. I can verify this because we watched the bartender do tricks the rest of the time. He also made a great Caipirinha. There’s place down the street which also tries to fit within the supercool category. But their drinks are overpriced and they kept insisting on talking to us in English and offering English speaking menus, what’s up with that? Dom and I also went to a bar on Manuel Montt called Ramblas. Dom told me he had broken a table there once, so we vbought each other beers and ward off drunk men who kept coming up to talk to us. The one dive bar on that strip is Cyclo Pub, they have comfy chairs and really greasy fries. A guy there also offered to buy me a beer once in English and when I turned him down in Spanish he tried to explain to me why he had asked me to buy a drink in English and forgot the English word for beautiful. Aubrey on the other hand has found this spiffy bar/discotheque called Background. Which is actually lots of fun and pretty laidback. First half is a bar, second half is a dance floor. So we danced. Which was wonderful happy goodness.
Discotheques: Discotheques are slightly expensive here. And I feel like a lot of them can be really hit or miss. Often more miss than hit. In terms of the last couple of weeks, we hit up Subterraneo for Troy’s birthday and El Tunel for Mishan’s. Subterraneo was fun, but super high cover without the free drink. Also, it was one of those places to see and judge and be seen and judged, which puts a little bit of edge on the dancing. Sad Panda. El Tunel, per us., just kind of has a no strings attached kind of feel. And crazy dancing is done and people have good and crazy times. Co-op party music with a neon-light dance floor. Sweet! And that is the quick update on the crazy places I’ve been visiting for the past two weeks. Not much else has happened besides making cookies with my host brothers. And now back to culture and schoolwork. Oh, but first to San Pedro.