October 28
We’ve arrived! Our flight was smooth, and the baby slept
nearly the whole time. We awoke over the Andes Mountains and arrived to short
lines through customs, which landed us in the airport without a ride. The
driver quickly materialized, although not before a cop warned us from taking a
ride from another taxi driver.
Our apartment is nice – a bit small, but it is literally
across the street from my office. Since the job will be challenging, I’m glad I
won’t be spending any time commuting. (Nonetheless, we’re still waiting on
Wi-Fi, which makes us a little cut-off from the rest of the world…)
The mountains surrounding the city are breathtaking, and
certainly a nice treat for Patrick and me, who are both used to the plains of
Texas.
Our first meal in Chile, we walked to Isidora and stopped at
the first place that caught our fancy: Bariloche. We ordered a Chilean Pinor
Noir (which they served cold and said that they always serve Pinor Noir
chilled). We got amazing ceviche, fried calamari and nice fresh salads with
amazing veggies and melt-in-your-mouth fish. (Once Trip woke up, he ate hot
dogs and tomatoes.)
Our first day was tiring, but we’re excited to be here, and we’re eager to explore. Patrick and I both are enjoying the weather – cool and sunny and dry.
October 29
We awoke way before Trip this morning (poor little guy, I
think he’s really worn out from all this change…), and the family headed to the
OK Market for coffee, wi-fi and breakfast. While we were there, Christy Theis
FaceTimed us, which was a really nice treat.
We headed out to explore, finding my favorite play-park,
Plaza Peru. Lots of kids were playing, and they were having an organic market
with fresh veggies, fruits, eggs and even some organic kids’ clothes for sale.
Trip had a great time playing, and all the kids were excited that were from the
US, asking us if we knew Justin Bieber. (Ha!) I told them that I thought Justin
was from Canada, but they were still excited to include Trip.
We made our first trip to the grocery store, which is about five or six blocks from the apartment. UniMart was nice enough, but Trip was tired and whiny, which made shopping in Spanish even more difficult.
We were happy to find that wine (nice wine, at that!) costs
less than soap. I guess they have their priorities straight in Chile.
(Oh, and we’ve gotten a hang of the currency thing. Mas o
menos, it’s 5,000 Chilean pesos to $10; and they pretty much ignore zeros, so
we just double the prices and we have a good idea of what we’re spending in US
dollars.)
Next, we have to learn metric measurements. We had a hard
time picking out Trip’s diapers because we didn’t know how many kilograms he
weighed. (He weighs about 12 kilograms, by the way, which is size XG.)
On Saturday night, we were invited to a barbeque at my boss’
house about 20 miles out of Santiago in the suburbs. His home is beautiful, and
the drive offered an amazing view of both Santiago and the snow fields, which
are about an hour outside of the city and the main skiing destination.
Trip had a great time playing with my boss’ little girls,
and we enjoyed spending time with Chileans – even if we didn’t understand much
of what they talked about. Most everyone we’ve met has been so nice – very
friendly and accommodating.
October 30
Trip slept the whole night in his big boy bed! (which
probably tells you something about how tired he is, but we were proud anyway…)
We headed out early for coffee and breakfast across the
street from Plaza Peru, and then Trip had a great time playing, while we met
some really nice expatriate families. One told us about an English-speaking
mommy group on Facebook, which we’re excited to join.
We headed to the grocery again, but this time Trip was
sleeping; so it was a little more fun. We loaded up on fun treats and reloaded
our wine supply. Lots of stores and restaurants are closed on Sundays, but the
grocery is open, and we were glad for it.
After a little break, we headed to the mall – and a
mega-mall it is. Parque Aracau is the biggest shopping mall in South America,
and we had a great time running around trying to find what we needed. After a
botched attempt, we bought a new umbrella stroller, hangers and electricity
converters (for our plugged-in stuff).
The mall includes a massive hardware store called Expo, which Patrick thinks is a spin-off brand of Home Depot. There is also an Ikea knock-off furniture store called Homy, where we found some new pillows.
Oh, and get ready: The fashion fad here is Hammer Pants! I
don’t know what they are called, but all the girls are wearing blousy pants
with big hips and wild prints that are elastic at the waist and ankle. Can’t
touch this!
Now, we’re getting ready to enjoy some wine, goat cheese,
the sunset and ourselves. Thanks so much for tagging along, and we miss you!
Update:
We got pizza to go from Tiramazzu, this really sweet Italian
restaurant next to, you guessed it, Plaza Peru. Trip loves pizza, and I think
it made him a little less homesick.
Side Note: Trip’s New Accomplishments
Little Trip turned two years old just before we left for our adventure in Chile, and he’s already learning so much. We know he is homesick and misses his friends and family, but he’s a trooper, and he’s having a nice time.
In our first three days, Trip has already learned three
words in Spanish. He’s saying “gracias,” which means “thank you.” His favorite
word to say (over and over again amid overflowing giggles) is “chica,” which
means “girl.” And he overheard Patrick ask me how to say “sweet;” so he likes
to say “dulce” a lot, too.
