There are several little tips that I need to remember while in Chile. I will continue to post about these little tidbits as I learn them.
- When going into the bathroom, it is important to check for toilet paper.
Sometimes there is not paper in each stall, but instead a large roll near where you enter the bathroom. You are supposed to take it into the stall with you. If not, you'll be stuck in the stall, unable to communicate "Toilet paper, please" in another language. You'll find yourself unbelievably grateful that you have the city map in your pocket...
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Finding a house
Getting here was quite the journey. The past year has been filled with unknowns. We are the second family to head to Chile after a very unsuccessful first try. Nobody likes to count that time, so we are often referred to as the guinea pigs. This time they are doing whatever they can to make it successful for both the company and our family.
Greg and I started our journey Friday leaving Phoenix for a 3.5 hour flight to Atlanta, a 3 hour layover in Atlanta and then a 9.5 hour flight to Santiago, Chile. Thank goodness for first class in the states and business class for the international flight. 9.5 hours on a plane would be unbearable without that large reclining seat. Luckily the flight to Santiago leaves at like 10pm and arrives in Chile the next morning. So most of the time is spent sleeping (or at least trying to sleep).
When we arrived in Santiago, I don’t know what I expected really. I’ve been in Mexico many, many times and love it there. However, the places I go in Mexico are really Americanized. Lots of English signs. Chile – well, it’s Spanish. Lots and lots of Spanish. It’s weird. For example, I was at the mall the other day, and I look around and it looks like I’m at a mall at home. There is a Ruby Tuesdays, McDonalds, Subway and even a PF Changs going in. The places and the people all look the same, so maybe that is why I forget that they speak Spanish. I walk by a table and assume to hear them speaking English. When they do not – it’s a little discombobulating.
Our main purpose for this trip was to find housing, solidify schooling, obtain visas and set up bank accounts. I will be here for 10 days and Greg will stay for 3 weeks to begin working here. After that he’ll come home for about a month as we prepare to move. The housing market here is crazy. The influx of foreigners and earthquakes has driven the cost of housing sky-high. Apparently, it’s less bothersome to experience an earthquake in a house than in an upper floor apartment.
We are in the market to rent. We also would love something furnished. We’ve agreed to stay for 1 year with the company pushing for 2-3. We will make a decision after we’ve been here 6 months and have a good feel for it.
We are also looking in a specific area of Chile, Lo Barnechea. It’s close to the only school in the area where we’d like our kids to go. It is an international school with all native English speaking teachers. They are the only school in the area that runs on the same calendar year as the states. That is a big deal for us. Our oldest will be a junior in high school and with graduation/college around the corner we are not willing to tinker around with his credits. Nido de Aguilas is a great school. They have students from 52 different countries. We visited the school and love the people, the campus and the curriculum. We really think it will be a great fit for our kids. I know that they will grow and excel there.
We found 2 houses in that area for rent that were furnished. So we looked at 6 total, 4 unfurnished and the two furnished. The first furnished house was amazing. It had 5 bedrooms over 4 floors. The rooms were huge, the kitchen was huge (not typical here in Chile), the yard was huge. The only problem was the price tag. It was equivalent to $5,000 dollars monthly with an average $1,000 monthly in utilities. Yikes! It also had 10 foot walls topped with 2 feet of electric wire surrounding the house. It makes you feel safe – but not safe. Does that make sense? If I am in an area where I need 10 foot walls and electric fencing to keep thieves out – yeah… not so comfortable with that. I also can’t imagine that it would be very easy to get to know your neighbors.
The other furnish house was a pain to schedule an appointment to look at it, but it was well worth the wait. It’s about 15 minutes from the school and about as far from downtown Santiago (and Greg’s office) as you can physically get. It is in a nice, new neighborhood resting on the side of the Andes mountains. It is a quiet, quaint little home. It has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, with an additional small bedroom and full bath for the servant. Live-in servants is an idea I am not so keen on. I would LOVE to have someone come in once a week and do the chores I hate, but living with us day-in and day-out. No thanks. The rental process here is so different, but we submitted a contract and it was accepted by the owner. Starting June 15th this little beauty is ours! One major hurdle down – a million more to go!
A few notes about the house - It is furnished so most of the things you see in the photos stay. There is an apartment sized washer/dryer, but you'll notice that it is outside. Yes, it's covered by a roof-type structure, but it's outside right next to the kitchen and servant's room. Customs here are much different. The house also doesn't have screens in the windows. The photo out the back window upstairs showing the neighborhood, Santiago valley and the Andes mountains has a safety screen which keeps kids from falling out, but there is no need for screens as there are not many bugs. They don't have any predatory animals either, only a few friendly tarantulas. I guess it is common to find them and keep them as pets... Yikes! I guess it is good to know we don't have to worry about mountain lions or bears. I will have to learn to live with hairy spiders.
Greg and I started our journey Friday leaving Phoenix for a 3.5 hour flight to Atlanta, a 3 hour layover in Atlanta and then a 9.5 hour flight to Santiago, Chile. Thank goodness for first class in the states and business class for the international flight. 9.5 hours on a plane would be unbearable without that large reclining seat. Luckily the flight to Santiago leaves at like 10pm and arrives in Chile the next morning. So most of the time is spent sleeping (or at least trying to sleep).
When we arrived in Santiago, I don’t know what I expected really. I’ve been in Mexico many, many times and love it there. However, the places I go in Mexico are really Americanized. Lots of English signs. Chile – well, it’s Spanish. Lots and lots of Spanish. It’s weird. For example, I was at the mall the other day, and I look around and it looks like I’m at a mall at home. There is a Ruby Tuesdays, McDonalds, Subway and even a PF Changs going in. The places and the people all look the same, so maybe that is why I forget that they speak Spanish. I walk by a table and assume to hear them speaking English. When they do not – it’s a little discombobulating.
Our main purpose for this trip was to find housing, solidify schooling, obtain visas and set up bank accounts. I will be here for 10 days and Greg will stay for 3 weeks to begin working here. After that he’ll come home for about a month as we prepare to move. The housing market here is crazy. The influx of foreigners and earthquakes has driven the cost of housing sky-high. Apparently, it’s less bothersome to experience an earthquake in a house than in an upper floor apartment.
We are in the market to rent. We also would love something furnished. We’ve agreed to stay for 1 year with the company pushing for 2-3. We will make a decision after we’ve been here 6 months and have a good feel for it.
We are also looking in a specific area of Chile, Lo Barnechea. It’s close to the only school in the area where we’d like our kids to go. It is an international school with all native English speaking teachers. They are the only school in the area that runs on the same calendar year as the states. That is a big deal for us. Our oldest will be a junior in high school and with graduation/college around the corner we are not willing to tinker around with his credits. Nido de Aguilas is a great school. They have students from 52 different countries. We visited the school and love the people, the campus and the curriculum. We really think it will be a great fit for our kids. I know that they will grow and excel there.
We found 2 houses in that area for rent that were furnished. So we looked at 6 total, 4 unfurnished and the two furnished. The first furnished house was amazing. It had 5 bedrooms over 4 floors. The rooms were huge, the kitchen was huge (not typical here in Chile), the yard was huge. The only problem was the price tag. It was equivalent to $5,000 dollars monthly with an average $1,000 monthly in utilities. Yikes! It also had 10 foot walls topped with 2 feet of electric wire surrounding the house. It makes you feel safe – but not safe. Does that make sense? If I am in an area where I need 10 foot walls and electric fencing to keep thieves out – yeah… not so comfortable with that. I also can’t imagine that it would be very easy to get to know your neighbors.
The other furnish house was a pain to schedule an appointment to look at it, but it was well worth the wait. It’s about 15 minutes from the school and about as far from downtown Santiago (and Greg’s office) as you can physically get. It is in a nice, new neighborhood resting on the side of the Andes mountains. It is a quiet, quaint little home. It has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, with an additional small bedroom and full bath for the servant. Live-in servants is an idea I am not so keen on. I would LOVE to have someone come in once a week and do the chores I hate, but living with us day-in and day-out. No thanks. The rental process here is so different, but we submitted a contract and it was accepted by the owner. Starting June 15th this little beauty is ours! One major hurdle down – a million more to go!
A few notes about the house - It is furnished so most of the things you see in the photos stay. There is an apartment sized washer/dryer, but you'll notice that it is outside. Yes, it's covered by a roof-type structure, but it's outside right next to the kitchen and servant's room. Customs here are much different. The house also doesn't have screens in the windows. The photo out the back window upstairs showing the neighborhood, Santiago valley and the Andes mountains has a safety screen which keeps kids from falling out, but there is no need for screens as there are not many bugs. They don't have any predatory animals either, only a few friendly tarantulas. I guess it is common to find them and keep them as pets... Yikes! I guess it is good to know we don't have to worry about mountain lions or bears. I will have to learn to live with hairy spiders.
Shakin and Quakin!
Earthquake!
We were welcomed here with a little doosey on Tuesday just before 1am. I’ve never experienced an earthquake, so it sort of ‘shook’ me up. Heehee!
I woke up to the bed shaking and initially thought that I was on a cruise ship and pulling into dock. It’s the same sensation. Loud and vibrating. Then I realized that I wasn’t on a ship and the room was shaking.
I woke Greg up (I can now officially say that he could sleep through an earthquake!) and asked if we were having an earthquake. His response, “yep”. Yep? Should we run to the doorway or something? Should we go outside? What are we supposed to do? “Nothing.”
Really? Nothing? Alrighty then. So we just laid there. It seemed to last forever. Then it just stopped. Our bed, which is on wheels, had moved to the side quite a bit but my razor that was balancing on the edge of the bathtub remained unmoved.
We got a call shortly after from our friends here in Chile asking if we were ok. We were told that that was an unusually long one, but that those were the best kind. Long and slow. They cause less damage. No damage here. The hotel people didn't even come check on us or anything. People in the states were more concerned about it than the Chileans.
Apparently earthquakes happen about one a month with 3 major fault lines here. They’ve had 4 in the past month… Welcome to Chile!
We were welcomed here with a little doosey on Tuesday just before 1am. I’ve never experienced an earthquake, so it sort of ‘shook’ me up. Heehee!
I woke up to the bed shaking and initially thought that I was on a cruise ship and pulling into dock. It’s the same sensation. Loud and vibrating. Then I realized that I wasn’t on a ship and the room was shaking.
I woke Greg up (I can now officially say that he could sleep through an earthquake!) and asked if we were having an earthquake. His response, “yep”. Yep? Should we run to the doorway or something? Should we go outside? What are we supposed to do? “Nothing.”
Really? Nothing? Alrighty then. So we just laid there. It seemed to last forever. Then it just stopped. Our bed, which is on wheels, had moved to the side quite a bit but my razor that was balancing on the edge of the bathtub remained unmoved.
We got a call shortly after from our friends here in Chile asking if we were ok. We were told that that was an unusually long one, but that those were the best kind. Long and slow. They cause less damage. No damage here. The hotel people didn't even come check on us or anything. People in the states were more concerned about it than the Chileans.
Apparently earthquakes happen about one a month with 3 major fault lines here. They’ve had 4 in the past month… Welcome to Chile!
Stepping into the Chilean life...
This journey began almost a year ago but first, a little background.
My husband Greg works in the mining support industry. Essentially they make parts that mines use. He is an engineer by education and custom designs equipment parts for each individual site. Apparently, he's pretty good at what he does and his knowledge is in high demand. He has worked with the same company since college, but that company has been bought and sold 2-3 times during his tenure. Currently, the company he works for, ME-Elecmetal, has been Chilean owned since 2001. In 2009-10, they started a new division of grinding media and Greg was offered an opportunity to help start up this new division. Now instead of making mill liners, he makes the large steel balls that help break up the large rocks and filter out the good stuff. There is a running joke here about big steel balls... but I won't indulge it here.
Greg and I met and married in 1996. In the past 15 years, we've raised two boys, moved from Kansas City, where we met, to Minneapolis, MN and settled in Phoenix, AZ since 2000. We love it there. Almost 1 year ago, Greg was approached by his boss, Xen, about his willingness to move to Santiago, Chile to support the growing business there. His initial response was no. With (at the time) 15 and 13 year old boys, he didn't feel it would be fair to uproot them during these already tough years. He came home and shared the offer with me. Strangely enough, I wasn't immediately opposed to it. Maybe it's been the years of constant recruiting by head-hunters and various oversees offers that has nulled my senses, but regardless the reason, I felt that maybe this was something to consider. Which - by the way - is not at all like me. I'm not a risk-taker. I don't play the lottery, literally or figuratively speaking. I don't walk on open grates on the side walk - too risky. Statuesque is perfectly fine by me. So there it was. We were going to consider the move, thanks to me.
Now I think it is important that you understand at this point the timeline we were working with. We had less than one week. Yes, LESS THAN ONE WEEK to give his boss an answer as to whether or not we'd be willing. Xen would be meeting with the Chileans the following week and wanted to let them know that Greg would be interested if they wanted to pursue it. So Greg found out on a Wednesday, told me Thursday and we basically had to let Xen know by Sunday.
Step one was to pray. When all things big or small come along - prayer is always a good place to start. We were also working on a timeline. We all know that the Lord works on His schedule, not ours, so we felt that if we didn't get an answer by our deadline - than that would be our answer. But following the prayer, I felt immediate peace. I knew without a doubt that no matter which way our family decided to go, we'd be ok. It's good to know that with a solid surety as I've struggled many times along this path. Either way - and we're good.
Step two was to take it to the kids. They are old enough to have an input about a major change like this. We are the final say - but really when you make life-changing decisions that affect others, we felt like their thoughts were important. We really thought they'd be 100% against it. But they weren't. Weird. These boys are as routine as they come. We talked about the culture and people. We talked about the 1 year minimum commitment with the encouraged option for more, and they were both on board.
So we gave Xen the "go" to suggest us moving to Santiago. I think I thought somewhere in the back of my mind that maybe they wouldn't want us, even though Greg said that would not be the case. Within a week we were told that the Chileans were thrilled that we wanted to come and couldn't wait to have us there. Wow. This would really happen. That was July 2011.
Fast forward to now. I sit in an apart-hotel in downtown Santiago alone while Greg golfs near the beach. I don't mind hanging out in the room all day because venturing out means having to speak Spanish - and I don't speak Spanish. I toyed with the idea of getting some lunch from this little cafe/bistro across the street because I know they have an English menu, but I am worried about paying with pesos. I would use my credit card, but I worry it will red-flag because I didn't call to tell them I would be using it outside of Phoenix. They barely approved it in Vancouver and that is practically America.
Greg left me a stack of money on the table to use but there are coins and bills of all different colors. Meals cost in the millions here - and that scares me a little. Typical comida (lunch) is around 6.900 pesos which is roughly $14. First they use a period in place of a comma, so 6.900 is 6,900 Chilean pesos. And you have to order in Spanish and ask for the check in Spanish and pay in pesos - forget it! I'll heat up leftovers... Greg really wants me to venture out. He wants me to push my way in and get comfortable. I want to do that to, but my Spanish is sooooo limited.
I just learned fork - tenador. I learned "agua, no sin gas, por favor" meaning 'water no carbonation'. I can make statements - but when I do I open the flood gates. You say one thing in Spanish and suddenly they speak to you like you can understand, and I can't. I need to learn to say, "sorry buddy, that's all I've got. Just that one little phrase. You'll have to fill in the rest on your own." I wonder if there are any Spanish phrases that mean that. I can say, "no entiendo" meaning I do not understand. "Un poco espaniol" but that doesn't help if they are asking if I want my camaron (shrimp) grilled, fried or boiled. Nope. Not ready to go out alone just yet.
My husband Greg works in the mining support industry. Essentially they make parts that mines use. He is an engineer by education and custom designs equipment parts for each individual site. Apparently, he's pretty good at what he does and his knowledge is in high demand. He has worked with the same company since college, but that company has been bought and sold 2-3 times during his tenure. Currently, the company he works for, ME-Elecmetal, has been Chilean owned since 2001. In 2009-10, they started a new division of grinding media and Greg was offered an opportunity to help start up this new division. Now instead of making mill liners, he makes the large steel balls that help break up the large rocks and filter out the good stuff. There is a running joke here about big steel balls... but I won't indulge it here.
Greg and I met and married in 1996. In the past 15 years, we've raised two boys, moved from Kansas City, where we met, to Minneapolis, MN and settled in Phoenix, AZ since 2000. We love it there. Almost 1 year ago, Greg was approached by his boss, Xen, about his willingness to move to Santiago, Chile to support the growing business there. His initial response was no. With (at the time) 15 and 13 year old boys, he didn't feel it would be fair to uproot them during these already tough years. He came home and shared the offer with me. Strangely enough, I wasn't immediately opposed to it. Maybe it's been the years of constant recruiting by head-hunters and various oversees offers that has nulled my senses, but regardless the reason, I felt that maybe this was something to consider. Which - by the way - is not at all like me. I'm not a risk-taker. I don't play the lottery, literally or figuratively speaking. I don't walk on open grates on the side walk - too risky. Statuesque is perfectly fine by me. So there it was. We were going to consider the move, thanks to me.
Now I think it is important that you understand at this point the timeline we were working with. We had less than one week. Yes, LESS THAN ONE WEEK to give his boss an answer as to whether or not we'd be willing. Xen would be meeting with the Chileans the following week and wanted to let them know that Greg would be interested if they wanted to pursue it. So Greg found out on a Wednesday, told me Thursday and we basically had to let Xen know by Sunday.
Step one was to pray. When all things big or small come along - prayer is always a good place to start. We were also working on a timeline. We all know that the Lord works on His schedule, not ours, so we felt that if we didn't get an answer by our deadline - than that would be our answer. But following the prayer, I felt immediate peace. I knew without a doubt that no matter which way our family decided to go, we'd be ok. It's good to know that with a solid surety as I've struggled many times along this path. Either way - and we're good.
Step two was to take it to the kids. They are old enough to have an input about a major change like this. We are the final say - but really when you make life-changing decisions that affect others, we felt like their thoughts were important. We really thought they'd be 100% against it. But they weren't. Weird. These boys are as routine as they come. We talked about the culture and people. We talked about the 1 year minimum commitment with the encouraged option for more, and they were both on board.
So we gave Xen the "go" to suggest us moving to Santiago. I think I thought somewhere in the back of my mind that maybe they wouldn't want us, even though Greg said that would not be the case. Within a week we were told that the Chileans were thrilled that we wanted to come and couldn't wait to have us there. Wow. This would really happen. That was July 2011.
Fast forward to now. I sit in an apart-hotel in downtown Santiago alone while Greg golfs near the beach. I don't mind hanging out in the room all day because venturing out means having to speak Spanish - and I don't speak Spanish. I toyed with the idea of getting some lunch from this little cafe/bistro across the street because I know they have an English menu, but I am worried about paying with pesos. I would use my credit card, but I worry it will red-flag because I didn't call to tell them I would be using it outside of Phoenix. They barely approved it in Vancouver and that is practically America.
Greg left me a stack of money on the table to use but there are coins and bills of all different colors. Meals cost in the millions here - and that scares me a little. Typical comida (lunch) is around 6.900 pesos which is roughly $14. First they use a period in place of a comma, so 6.900 is 6,900 Chilean pesos. And you have to order in Spanish and ask for the check in Spanish and pay in pesos - forget it! I'll heat up leftovers... Greg really wants me to venture out. He wants me to push my way in and get comfortable. I want to do that to, but my Spanish is sooooo limited.
I just learned fork - tenador. I learned "agua, no sin gas, por favor" meaning 'water no carbonation'. I can make statements - but when I do I open the flood gates. You say one thing in Spanish and suddenly they speak to you like you can understand, and I can't. I need to learn to say, "sorry buddy, that's all I've got. Just that one little phrase. You'll have to fill in the rest on your own." I wonder if there are any Spanish phrases that mean that. I can say, "no entiendo" meaning I do not understand. "Un poco espaniol" but that doesn't help if they are asking if I want my camaron (shrimp) grilled, fried or boiled. Nope. Not ready to go out alone just yet.
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