Quick Catch Up -- We've Landed in Chile!

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.

Whoever told us that there aren’t any clothes choices in Chile hasn’t gone to Parque Aracau. There were all sorts of brands and toys and gear. We went to the Mac (computer) store, Falabella (which is something like a Macy’s), and others. I wasn’t shopping for clothes, but the things that I did look at seemed reasonable.

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.