Matiz Pub

In one of Malcolm Gladwell’s books, he talks about the chance of bumping into random people halfway across the world. One may think what a coincidence or what a small world. In reality, coincidences are part of the natural world; it is a statistic that's bound to happen…

On that note, the strangest thing happened to us…

Here was the plan: leave Santiago, bus to Valparaiso, and meet up with the boys. Obvious problem: we had no cell phones; meaning, we had no idea how, when, or where we were going to meet up with them.

After arriving in the Valparaiso bus terminal, we got directions (via public transportation) to Licanantay Hostel. We stepped out of what seemed to be a sherut looking vehicle and headed to the hostel. Valparaiso is a spitting image of San Francisco, so after climbing hills upon hills and passing bars upon bars, we heard loud (and I mean piercing) voices calling our names. Guess who made those powerful screams? Yep, yep, that’s right- ze Aussies! Coincidence? Small world? Or simply the mere laws of the world? You tell me. On that note, they were sitting in Matiz Pub with a few drinks in hand and having what everyone should always be doing- a great time!

We quickly dropped our bags in the hostel and headed back down to Matiz. We kept on saying, it’s late and we don’t really want to spend money tonight because we’ve been spending a lot so far. Well, we were in for a surprise. A great surprise, indeed. We walked inside Matiz and sat down to order drinks. I shrieked once I saw the prices of the drinks! After converting the Chilean peso back to Argentinean pesos then into U.S. dollars, we came to the conclusion that one drink would cost 1$. ONE DOLLAR. ONE DOLLAR. ONE DOLLAR. So, you can imagine that we quickly reversed our initial plans for the night and stayed out pretty late.

Matiz was one of my favorite bars that I’ve been to during the last 3 months in South America. It was a small hole in the wall bar but with its’ own character. The bartenders were eagerly friendly and with the help of Henry, they played incredible music. (The music was, more or less, on the same level or even better than the music at Sugar…tough call though…). After delicious drinks and more delicious drinks, the song “6 AM” by The Holidays came on (thank you Henry!), and I think I died, seriously. I freaked out, stood on my chair, and danced like a crazy girl. (For those who know me, just imagine!) Ahhhhhh thinking back to that moment really was one of the best moments of my life. I was listening to my favorite song, in a bohemian town, with the greatest people I have ever met to this day! I hope everyone can have a moment like I did and remember it for the rest of their lives. I promise you it’s one of the best feelings, and now I will always be able to think back to that night. I felt complete, and I bet once you experience your own type of moment; you too will also feel complete.

By the end of the night, the eight of us- music snobs- pretty much owned the pub with our specific song requests and intricate dance moves. Cheers to great nights and great moments!