Pat's Arrival, and WEIRD Event

It's around 1:00 in San Pedro now, and it's suuuuper hot. Pat's due to arrive within the next six hours or so by bus. The rumor is that Marcelo's coming with him, but we don't know yet for sure. Andy and I are still rocking this city pretty well. I got rid of some excess crap I wasn't using, which cleared up space and weight to help Andy carry around the "kitchen." I'm an expert bag packer by now. This morning we had a weird and temporarily frightening experience: after waking up early and packing our stuff, we walked a short way to a nearby hangout spot away from town that we're familiar with. It's got a ton of empty bottles and wine boxes stacked up, so it's obviously a popular spot. We decided to chop up some veggies and make a pasta, cheese and veggie soup. While cooking, a guy walked up from the nearest hacienda across a little river bed and introduced himself as the owner. He seemed like an alright guy at first, so we chatted while stirring our breakfast. Then, another guy came up from behind us on another river bed and introduced himself as a friend to the hacienda owner. When I asked him his name, he hesitated for a while, then said Hernan. "Hernan" had red stuff all over his hands, which I thought was wine since they were both obviously kind of drunk, but I shook his hand anyway. This guy was aggressively trying to get information out of us for a little while and just staaaaring with this weird look on his face. Watching us cook. Freakin' weirdo. At some point, he made a joke about being a vampire. His friend left back to the hacienda briefly, but was replaced by a scary looking old guy who didn't say a word. He also just started to watch us cooking. By this time, Andy and I used some subtle gestures between ourselves to say "if anything goes down, be ready, because these guys might be trying to rob us or something." The hacienda owner came back with a jug of water just as the old guy left. We then realized that Hernan was washing a whole bunch of blood off his hands, not wine! Oh crap. Then, the climax of the tension came out of his pocket in the form of a long, bloody knife. At this point, Andy and I mentally searched for something nearby with which to crush the skulls of these maniacs if they tried to rush us. Pretty nervous, we both continued to entertain our "guests." After getting his hands and knife clean, Hernan got up and moved around the both of us, then bade us farewell with a smile and a handshake. The two guys walked away up the street, leaving us alone. We were far enough away from the town (since we prefer to camp in privacy and for free) that nobody would have heard a scuffle, and only once person knew where we were camped. Feeling quite paranoid, we both packed our bags, constantly looking over our shoulders of course, and took an alternate route back into town.
I feel that our speaking Spanish to them saved our skins on some level. They knew they couldn't say anything that we wouldn't understand (like "hey, let's rob these Americans, guys. On three...") and I think it helped to affirm that we were savvy enough to put up a fight. It was weird... Nothing REALLY happened, they didn't hit us or approach us, but it was obvious that it wasn't just a friendly chat. Everybody else in this town has been really nice and very genuine.
Anyway, we kept our heads about us and harnessed all the reptilian instincts to escape with no issues or injuries. All I know is, if they'd come upon us while we slept even an hour prior to our encounter, we would have been discombobulated and defenseless, and they very well may have robbed or stomped us. If I see those $@#%! again, I'll make every effort to avoid them or make my contempt obvious. We'll definitely be camping on the OTHER side of town this evening!
However, despite those weirdos and these three penniless Chilean guys that have tried to sell us everything from sandboard tours to weed to bracelets, this town is charming, clean, honest, and fun. We'll probably leave in two or three days to go to Arica. Right when we know or when we go, you, my dedicated readers, will know too.
Con amor y con gusto,
Brad