Quick test: would you spend a two-hour bus ride sitting next to someone’s else’s kid?

I’m willing to bet most people wouldn’t. I mean, kids can be annoying, messy and they always have sticky hands, no matter how many times you wash them (as a parent, I swear we enforce hand washing!). Beside, in North America, I noticed many men even feel uncomfortable around children because at one point, society decided guys were all potential child molesters and shouldn’t be trusted near kids.

But Latinos don’t seem to care, which I find pretty cool.

We arrived at the Terminal Rodoviario Valparaíso at 11:30 a.m. and the next bus was at 11:40 a.m. There were seats available but none together and the following bus was at 12 p.m.

“Alright, 26, 28 and 30, then,” we said.

I didn’t feel like waiting around at the bus station. Best-case scenario, someone would be willing to switch seats. Otherwise, well, we wouldn’t be far from Mark.

I was across the aisle from Mark, who was sitting next to a twentysomething Chilean guy. He smiled when he saw Mark. The man next to me was one the phone. If people don’t offer to switch, I don’t ask. We’ll be just fine.

“Eat your sandwich first. Your cake is in the brown bag, in front of you. You can put the Sprite bottle there. Have fun with the tablet, I’m gonna sleep.”

And so I slept while Mark played with his tablet and his seatmate played with his phone.

I woke up two hours later, when we arrived in Santiago.

Mark definitely travels better than when he was a baby and also, the tablet was a great investment.

We’re back in Chile’s capital city for a few days, trying to figure out where to go next. Santiago is the perfect place to relax. We know our way around, the weather is reliably hot and dry, cost of living isn’t too high.

Yeah, I’m still very much in love with Santiago, which is why I spend twelve hours a day exploring the different barrios. So far, we accidentally stumbled upon Chinatown close to Estación Central, we had a drink late at night (yes, with Mark) in a bar in Bellavista, we walked pretty much every street in Barrio Brasil, we cooled at Parque Quinta Normal and Mark ate all the pizza slices we could find on the way.