** QUICK NOTE: I am at a hotel in Buenos Aires, after arriving on a direct flight from Mexico City. It's beautiful here, but there's no time to sight-see.
The quake hit Saturday -- three days ago -- and still foreign journalists are finding trouble getting in to Chile. Santiago's airport is still not operating normally. (I had spent much of Sunday at the airport in D.F. trying to get on any possible flight to the region. Terminal packed with Chileans, Argentinos, Brazilians, all stranded in Mexico...)
Tomorrow I head to the city of Mendoza near the Chilean border and plan on crossing over land into Santiago. I'll be feeding to L.A. Times.