Hey y’all!
Hope all is well wherever you’re reading this from! I’m doing pretty well myself. Summer vacation has officially commenced and I’ve been lazy as ever (well sometimes).
This week, FINALLY finally my carnet (Chilean ID card) was ready to be picked up. Of course not on the day they told me to pick it up (good thing I checked), but a day later. I showed up to the Hell-hole that is Registro Civil and waited in line for about 2.5 hours. Usually when I wait in line for things like this, I just take a number and sit for hours at a time. But for this, I had to stand in line the whole time so I got very cranky. The lady behind me had no sense of personal space and I’m convinced she was actually attempting to crawl into my skin. At one point, she was standing in front of me! But alas, I got the piece of plastic I’ve been waiting for for five months and 3 days. My life has gotten so much easier now that Chile actually recognizes me as a person. Now I can have a phone plan, a bank account, ride the eco-friendly bikes etc.
^^ The worst ID picture in the history of ID pictures. It's revenge for having a good license picture.
The following day, I picked up my bank cards. Banks work a little differently here in that most people don’t have savings accounts –just debit accounts. It was quite a relief to finally have a bank account because now my salary can be directly deposited there. For the past five months I’ve been paid in cash and hiding envelopes of cash throughout my apartment. I’m an expert at finding hiding places so if you ever need something hidden, just let me know!
The rest of the week was pretty low-key. I went to dinner with my gringa friend Ann. It was nice to chat and catch up on life –I’m so sad she’s leaving Chile in March. I’ve also been going to the pool a lot to get some sun and read. Summer vacation can make a person very lazy so I’ve been making it a point to get out of my apartment and go for a walk or something. I’ve also been going to my regular Spanish classes which helps to keep me busy. Unfortunately today (Sunday) I had a migraine which forced me to stay in bed all day. When I get migraines its bad –I lose feeling in my fingers and tongue, sometimes vomit and can’t see anything. Luckily, now I have medicine that just makes me sleep through it.
One of my favorite things is to go for walks in the park. I love to just watch all of the different people/dogs. Santiago is an amazing place to people watch. I could sit on a bench all day and just stare at people and their strange habits and activities. Lately, I’ve been packing little baggies of dog food and feeding the stray dogs as I come across them in the park. There is one dog in particular I’ve become attached to that I regularly see and wish I could take him home with me. I named him Buddy because he likes to follow behind people and pretend he’s with them (but not in a sad way) –just going for a stroll with his humans.
This Thursday I’m headed back to the good ol’ U S of A. I’m so excited to be back in the land of fast walkers, gigantic portions and English for a while. I’ll be home for a little more than 3 weeks so friends at home –I best be seeing you! I’ll be putting my American SIM card back into my phone once I land so I will have the same cellphone number as always. Chilean friends, the best way to contact me during this time will be Facebook message.
My birthday is also around the corner, so I’ll get to celebrate my 24th with friends and family at home. I’m beside myself that I get to reunite with my furry friends this week.
Laughable Moments:
Me attempting to go for a run this week resulted in me sitting in the park petting five homeless dogs
I received my Aunt's Christmas card this week, on January 14th (she sent it well before Christmas)
^^ A rare sighting: a window washer taking a selfie
^^ This elevator symbol always reminds me of Darth Vader
^^ I'm not only amused that they have a framed picture of Emma Stone, but also because it's at a store selling Lapis Lazuli, a Chilean stone! Coincidence?
^^ Everybody needs cotton sweatpants with leather pockets...
^^ These people doing yoga in the park all looked dead to me for a second
^^ I was so impressed with this 6-person band on the metro. They had a saxophone, trumpet, guitars and drums. They were so good!!
^^ This empanada was the bomb.com!
That's all for now! I'll see some of you very soon!!
P.S. While home, I won't be doing a weekly post as it won't be that interesting. I'll do one final post at home before resuming my normal Sunday schedule!