Expatriot Adjustments

We have now moved in to our two bedroom apartment in central Santiago. We arrived Sunday morning, withdrew cash from an ATM that was able to read our Wells Fargo debit cards, unpacked our clothes, and had meals with the founders of Koru, the startup my husband has come here to work for. A few days later, I am figuring out how my life is going to be different here in Chile

1. Cooking
Eggplant, avocado, corn, olives and peaches are the most common fruits and vegetables I have observed for sale. Spices are limited and are cheapest when purchased in a plastic sandwich bag from the market for 200 pesos (40 cents USD). I have not figured out what all the spices are, but I have only seen about 6 different kinds. In my kitchen, I have a kettle, coffee maker, stove, oven, toaster, toaster oven, and microwave. I only have one outlet on one wall and my counter top appliances have short chords, which means I have to rearrange all the smaller appliances if I change which one I am using. I'll need to buy a power strip. The outlets here are similar to Europe. To light my stove or oven, I have to turn on the gas, light a match, and hold the lit match close enough to the gas source to light a fire. I was terrified the first time I lit my stove, but I'm getting good at it now.

2. Eating out
The most common options are pizza, hotdogs, sushi, and seafood. Pizzas always have olives (which I hate). The most famous hot dog is green (guacamole), white (mayonaise), and red (ketchup)to resemble the Italian flag. I haven't had one yet, but have been advised to order one without the white. Eating food from restaurants is cheap. The drinks are what kills your budget ($6 for a glass bottle of coke). The tap water is safe, but does not taste good. Most seafood restuarants are located near Mercado Centraal, which is where they sell a lot of raw fish, eel, and octopus. I thought my ceviche was good the other day, but John's fried conger eel was AMAZING. I have not yet tried sushi. I have also seen it in the grocery store, so the people here must love it.

3. Shopping
I normally try to find decent clothes at consignment stores back in the States, but I do not think I will be able to do that here. They literally pile clothes on tables in giant mounds for people to tug on and examine, only to throw back on top if it is not their size or is stained. I suppose if you did not have a stroller to navigate in tiny spaces and had a lot of time to dig to the bottom, you may be able to find good deals. The prices are cheap. I tried on a few shirts, but everything showed my stomach. I then realized I'm about two inches taller and about two cup sizes bustier than most of the women here. I guess the few things I brought in my suitcase are going to be enough until I figure out where to shop.

4. Laundry
My washer is about 1/3 the size I am used to. It also functions as a dryer, but shrinks everything. It only uses cold water to wash, so I'm probably going to have to get a bucket to soak Graham's diapers in hot water before washing them. I thought having two toilets in the house would be nice, but the toilet next to the washer has to be used to drain the washer water. The toilet could be used, but you'd have to remove the washer hose and make sure the washer isn't being used.

5. Hot Water Heater
The hot water heater is in the kitchen. It still creeps me out to wash dishes because I can here the propane fire directly behind me within it's little metal box. phh Click click boom zzzz. It works pretty well for our showers, but is inconsistent in the kitchen. Sometimes the water turns ice cold in the kitchen until I turn the hot water off and back on.

6. Crafts
There are a bunch of fabric stores and yarn stores. I wish I had a sewing machine here. The yarn stores are about half the cost as craft stores in the States and the window displays include clothing items you could crochet. There's an English Speaking Moms knitting group that meets once a week that I am going to try to join, but they usually meet in the glitzier, wealthier, more ex-pat part of town that would require me to take two trains and a bus to get to.

Of course the language is difficult. My spanish is only good enough to ask where something is. Fortunately everyone here is really nice and helpful. I do not feel uncomfortable or that I am in danger if I speak in English to my husband or son. Santiago is a cool city with clean streets, trustworthy police officers, historic architecture, plenty of activities and places to eat, wonderful weather, many museums that are free on Sundays, and really tall palm trees. I am trying to avoid touristy areas. I am also trying to avoid using my iPhone as a map or camera, to avoid it being stolen. I do want to try taking some video with our GoPro. I don't think that would red flag me as a tourist as much as my dslr would.