First glance at life in Chile

Wow, I don´t know if I have a horseshoe up my @ss or what but things so far in Chile have worked out great!
I caught a bus at 07:30 on January 18 from Arequipa to Tacn (both cities in Peru). Tacna is about 15 minutes from the Chilean border. The 5 hour bus ride went by fairly quickly. There was an unexpected stop where everyone had to get off the bus and put their bags through a scanner. This wasn´t at the border though, it was at a what looked to be a random spot on the highway. I asked the attendent why we stopped. The response....¨frutas¨ FRUIT?? My Spanish couln´t be right, a fruit checkstop. (I know the last few sentences are probably setting myself up for some comments but I couldn´t think of a different way to say it). My tranlation was right, they were inspecting the bags and disposing of any fruits being brought into the next region. Apparently, some species of larva are a huge problem.
As my bag goes through the scanner, I realized I have bananas and plums in my bag. Great...I am going to jail! For what??? smuggling fruit...I could have at least made it worth while. They said nothing and handed me my bag back. Once I got back on the bus I had figured I should get rid of the evidence some how...so I ate it all...6 bananas and 2 plums.

Once the bus pulled into Tacna, I grabbed my luggage and hurried across the street to the other station to book a taxi - a 1983 Crown Vic - to cross the border (the buses do not cross). I was told I had to wait until 4 other people bought tickets to fill the taxi before it would leave. Luckily, it took only 5 minutes for this to occur.

My 4 border crossing mates were Lily, Jonathan, Christor and Sebastian, a mom and 3 boys. We communicate through ther broken English that they had to learn in school but received just enough credit to pass, and my broken Spanish that I haven´t been using as much as I should.

The officer stamped my passport at the border and I was in Chile! As we were waiting for our taxi driver to finish his smoke to continue our drive, Lily asked if I wanted to be a guest at their house on my way to Santiago? They live in Iquique, a 4 hour bus ride in the direction of Santiago. I figured what they heck!? I have known these people long enough...33 minutes. What is the worst that could happen...they steal all my stuff, hide me in a basement and hold me for randsom.