1) I mastered making 7-layer dips and EVEN a spinach and artichoke dip. YUM. I also made a few ice-box cakes for to accompany my dips. Very cool.
2) Mati and I got a puppy! Or Mati got a puppy! His name is Cooper. He's a monster, but also the cutest thing under the sun.
3) The Panteras (the rugby team) won the entire tournament we'd been playing in. We were the champions the development league (there is also a "championship league"). So that was a plus.
4) I got my bus ticket to Santiago...the ticket said there were baggage weight limits...
5) I left Argentina October 2, 2011 at around 5pm...I managed to get all my crap on the bus, even with the baggage limits..The man loading my baggage told me I was way over, so I promptly handed him a substantial tip, and bam...didn't have to pay any overweight luggage fees. WOOT. I was on the bus for 20 hours. Not much to tell there. I saw the movie Zoo Keeper (I have to shamelessly admit, that I enjoyed it)...and Bridesmaids..which just keeps getting funnier!
CHILE
I arrived in Santiago Chile Monday afternoon (October 3rd)..I got off the bus andfound a taxi driver..unfortunately, despite being fluent in Spanish I couldn't understand a damn thing the man was saying to me. Chilean Spanish..is weird.
I managed to tell the taxi driver where I needed to go and he took me to Francisca Valdes's house. (She's one of the founders and directors of Mujeres Empresarias)...I got to her house and right as I pulled in (around 230pm) she was coming home (for lunch...people do that here). She's just the greatest. So cool..so stylish, so nice. Alll goood things. SHe also has a giant French Mastiff named Saul. (pronounced SAH-OOL...Marta, feel free to correct me on that one)..He's enormous and the sweetest thing in the world. He weighs 54kg but doesn't really bark or get mad about anything. He is also exactly like the dog in Turner&Hooch (great, old Tom Hanks movie..if you haven't seen it, hop to it). Anyway, Fran's house is absolutely stunning. Huge, decorated beautifully and my room was just adorable and equipped with a flat screen tv...not too shabby. She and I had lunch while watching a telenovela, and we also just chatted getting to know one another. After lunch, I showered, bc I smelled like a 20-hour bus ride and then I went to my room to play with my itouch around 330pm...and all of a sudden I woke up and it was after 8pm...I was le tired. Fran and I had dinner together, watched the news, and then I passed out again and all of a sudden it was morning and I had to start work!
The Santiago office is gorgeous. They just moved into a new space which is in this brand new tall glass building with an amazing view. I met everyone in the office on Tuesday, and they are all super fashionable and smart women! My main work-work while I was in Santiago was doing this Powerpoint presentation for Fran...she needed it to be in English and is going to be presenting it in Costa Rica to some dudes from the IADB that don't speak Spanish...and it's basically asking for money for this big investment fund, so it was quite important.
Fran and I went home for lunch and watched a telenovela..(we had like a 2 hr lunch break) and then went back to the office until like 630. Then we came home, got Saul and went for a run. It was great and I got to know this fancy neighborhood she lives in (called Vitacura)
THEN at night, her husband, Lucho came home and we went out to dinner to a delicious Seafood restaurant near their house. I tried Merluza Austral, a white-fish they eat here...it was yummmmmy. Lucho is great..he went to law-school at American, so he knows DC. He also runs marathons like all over the world, horseback rides, and does a whole lot of other cool shit.
On Wednesday, I walked to the office, because Fran had a meeting somewhere. I had about a hundred meetings with different staff members, so I could get to know them and understand what they do. Then I had to take an adventure to go to a different part of the city (on the metro) to buy a bus ticket to Puerto Varas for Thursday night. I got to the place, (and i went during my extended lunch hour) and of course, it was closed from 1pm-3pm (for THEIR lunch hour)...so I had to wait around an hour until it opened up again. So I walked around a bit, discovered that Santiago has DUNKIN DONUTS!!! amazing. I managed to get my ticket and then I headed back to the office to work a bit more on the powerpoint presentation. Carolina Eterovic, the other co-founder and director, invited me to dinner that night with her husband and another friend of their's.
She and her husband picked me up and we picked up their friend, a French dude who works with Carolina's husband. They work for the Wine Company called Cono Sur...The restaurant we went to was called La Mar...it's a Peruvian seafood restaurant. We drank a bunch of Cono Sur wine and champagne, and I also tried a Pisco Sour..which is like the national drink here. It's kind of like a Caipirinha. I had this rice dish with calamari, octupus, fish, etc. It was spicy and delicious.
Thursday morning I went to a breakfast that Mujeres Empresarias hosts 2x per month in Santiago for all the new members they have. It was very chic and I got to hear a bunch of the "socias" talk about their businesses. People are involved with all sorts of things from private daycare centers, to beauty products, to pet boutiques, to fancy old-folk's homes...very interesting.
After breakfast, I went back to the office and finished up the presentation for Fran. She was also leaving that night to head to Miami for the weekend and then Costa Rica on Monday..I went back to Fran's around 4ish to pack up all my things to get ready to leave on the bus at 930pm. The taxi came at 8 and I got on the bus okay. 12 hours later I arrived in Puerto Varas on Friday morning.
It was super foggy and rainy..AND COLD...so I couldn't really see anything when I first arrived. I was also really sleepy...the bus driver had to wake me up. Barbara (one of the women who works in the Mujeres Empresarias Patagonia office) and Jess picked me up from the bus station and took me to my house...I got there and the house was colder inside than it is outside. Not even joking...The girl who I am living with rents the first floor from the people upstairs (an old couple)..her name is Alexandra, and she works alllll day (cafe during day and bar at night) so she's never home. the house is really old and my room is incredibly damp, freezing, and their is mold all over the walls. ALSO, in order to have any hot water, you have to go to the kitchen and light the water heater which is powered by gas...which is stored in a large tank outside the house (that needs to be refilled every so often)...pretty archaic. So yeah, I am not so thrilled with my digs...I am in the process of finding a different place to live, bc this just won't do in the long-run. It's spring here, but at nighttime it's 30 degress out...and during the day it is normally in the 50s...so winter is going to brutal. I have been sleeping with 3 pairs of pants, 2 socks, 2 shirts, 2 sweaters, and mittens and a hat...just to give you an idea of how cold the house is.
Anyway, Friday morning, I showered and changed after Jess and Barbara dropped me off and then they picked me up an hour later. We went to a cafe for some breakfast and then drove to Puerto Montt (neighboring city..bigger) where we had a meeting with the major newspaper in the region, El Llanique..they are going to help Mujeres Empresarias with advertising for an award we are doing.
After Puerto Montt, we headed back to Puerto Varas and went to the office...Jess started teaching me some stuff, but then we were going to head to lunch because it was Jess's birthday! So, we went to this delish restaurant, where we met up with Francisca Sotta, the ME director. She's on maternity leave, so that's why she wasn't in the office. After lunch, Jess and I headed back to the office and worked a bit more. Then we attempted to get me a phone plan..buttt that also proved impossible. In order to get a plan here, you need either residency, OR 3 months proof of salary...neither of which do I have. So on Tuesday (after the long weekend is over) Jess and I are gonna talk to the Santiago office to see if they can get me a phone in their name...It's hard to survive without a phone..like really. That afternoon I went back home and then went to the grocery store to get some basic necessities. At night time, Jess, Mai Ann, and Ben (the other PiLA here working at another organization) picked me up and we went out to dinner to celebrate Jess's birthday. Then we went out to this bar,...I was exhausted so at around 2 I went home.
Saturday I went to see this other house (possible alternative to where I am living)..and it was so beautiful, but it's really far away from town, such that I would have to take a bus to work everyday...and everyone here in PV walks..Also, it didn't have wifi and was super isolated..so I don't know if that's really gonna work out.
Saturday afternoon I walked all around PV and got to know the area a little better. Then I came home and rested up for the party (Jess's party)...SO, later Saturday night, I went to Jess, Mai ANn and Ben's house and got to meet all their friends. It was fun. It's freezing though, and I still haven't gotten used to that.
Sunday, I slept a large chunk of the day, and tried to go look at places to live, but nothing ended up working out in the end..Today (monday) I will hopefully see 2 places. We'll see.
So yeah, Puerto Varas is beautiful...like stunning, but I really got to fix up this living situation...and work starts up again tomorrow, so I am going to be pretty busy..We'll see!
i want to be part of your chilean life adventures
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