Chile... where?

· With only a couple of weeks before I set off on a flight to Santiago de Chile, I would rather like to have more details about the final destination, but seeing that I don't have any, speculation and possibilities abound!
Considering that the country is bordered by the amazing Andean mountains on one side and the Pacific ocean on the other, with a sand and salt dessert in the north, glaciers in the the south and a world renowned wine region in the middle - I'm not too bothered where I get off the plane - just as long as I get on!
Where ever I end up I realise that I will need to seriously upgrade my level of Spanish (which currently stands at an emergency travel standard), so I have started running a Spanish CD in my car, it is giving me useful phrses like "May I see your passport please?" and "Where is the elevator?  According the Lonely Planet: Chilean language fell off the wagon and pepperd with expressions unintelligable to the rest of the Spanish speaking world! Now that sounds rather like my personal version of Spanish, so may be I will be ok after all!
Nevermind the language - this comment from a traveller who recently spent some time in Chile has got me more concerned: Coffee addicts are in serious troube outside of Santiago or destinations not frequented by foreign tourists.
The supportive and understanding students in my class last year can testify that I actually weened myself off coffee last year and while I would no longer fall into the category of "addict" - I would still claim to be a passionate caffeine enthusiast so this comment does rather concern me!
However - remaining mindful of the goal - becoming immersed in the language and culture of a Spanish a speaking country, in order to enrich the understanding of my students language and culture on my return- dreadful coffee is a small price to pay!
There will be many more tales to tell on this journey; funny and infuriating, adventurous and ridiculous, risky and rewarding.
I look forward to journeying with you. Thank you for staying in touch, I appreciate your comments and feedback, please post here or on my facebook which is linked to this site.
Muchas Gracias
Senorita Fulton :)