The Return

My return to Santiago was happy, yet immediately stressful. After a month away, I walked into my apartment and found everything in disorder, while two of my roomates maniacally scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen. I half expected this, knowing beforehand that I would have exactly two days to move all my shit out before turning in the keys.

Some background: I had planned to put the apartment lease in my name upon my return. I love Barrio Brasil, and the apartment was nice yet cheap. Two of my roomates were returning to France, and the other Chilean roomate had been looking for a place to live solo even before I left. However, the corredora asked me for things she never asked my roomate (documents, salary, etc.), so I moved on to Plan B and asked a friend of mine if she would like to search for a place with me upon our return to Chile.

I didn't realize at the time that the corredora's requirements were "conversable," and after asking my concerge if I was "confiable," she was suddenly willing to renegotiate the terms. But I had already made my decision, and I didn't feel like dealing with a corredorra who did business like capricious car salesman (little did I realize at the time that they're ALL like that.) So that was that.

With E.'s help, I crammed all my things into a bodega and moved into a hostal for a week. That was hellish, to say the least. Why?

1. I specifically chose a place with WiFi so I could apartment search on Emol, VivaStreet, etc. However, due to the bizarre connection, I could only access Gmail and Facebook. Wtf??

2. I was reminded of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, the pyramid that lists basic needs at the bottom and thus necessary to achieve more abstract needs, such as love and happiness. Perhaps an exagerrated comparison, but being "homeless" and paying 16 luca a day to keep a roof over my head were preventing me from concentrating on anything else. I was in a constant frenzy.

3. After a month of being apart, E. and I couldn't have sleepovers. =(

4. The apartment searching itself sucked: furiously looking through newspaper ads, online classifieds, and walking around Santiago more than I care to admit while trying to spot "Arriendo" signs and chatting up concerges for info.

So that weekend I took E. and his family up on their offer to stay with them in their home. They live in a smaller town outside Santiago, about 20 minutes away by colectivo. It was only supposed to be for a weekend, but I was convinced to stay another week. I felt like I might be imposing, but they were quite adamant that staying with them was the best (and most economical) option I had until I found a place. "Puedes quedarte aqui y buscar tranquilita!" E.'s mom had told me. Plus, it was like having the immersion/home stay experience I never had! I learned a lot about E.'s family after hours of lunches and once's. E.'s mom made some great food, showing me a thing or two in the kitchen, and was always offering me fruit and tea between meals. His dad even offered to be my "aval" or co-signer, since most apartments that I found require this, and I am eternally grateful.

All in all, staying with E. and his family was a great experience, and by the end of that second week I had a found a place and moved in.

Back in New Orleans for a month

From mid-December until mid-January, I spent a month back in New Orleans (and a few days in Houston) to see my family and catch up with friends over the holidays. I brought back an obscene amount of Alapaca scarves to regalar as souveniers. How was my return to the motherland? Some highlights:

• Eating some AMAZING Mexican food with Dad on my first night back stateside in Houston: spinach enchiladas with Monterrey Jack cheese, shrimp and crabmeat, complemented by a frozen raspberry margarita and the obligatory chips and queso. Try finding that shit in Santiago.

• Bringing back some alfahores I found in the Arturo Merino Benítez airport and being greatly disappointed! These decieving cookies were beautifully packaged in a little wooden crate, complete with a "Chile" flag sticker, but do not be fooled if you find yourself on your way home and looking for a last minute souvenier. Very dry and too nutty. Ugh.

• Being a huge nerd and reading the entire Twilight series during my break at home. I saw the movie too. Being in Santiago during the height of Edward-loves-Bella mania, I saw it as an opportunity to indulge myself in a little U.S. pop culture. So don't judge me. ;)

• Accompanying Mom on all her daily errands like a good little daughter and patiently enduring all her "This is my daughter...she lives Chile!" comments. But what can I say? I'm lucky she's so proud and supportive.

• Making some book purchases for E. He's an English pedagogy student and he wanted some classic American novels that would be very expensive here. I bought them for about 2 bucks a pop at a used book store in NOLA. Cha-ching!

• Getting ridiculously drunk with my best friend from undergrad while dive-bar hopping in New Orleans.

• Eating and probably gaining at least 5 pounds from the following items: individual boxes of Nerds and Sweet Tarts leftover from Halloween, various Mardi Gras King Cakes, a box of frozen chicken-and-cheese quesadillas that I found in the freezer, and eating out almost every day. I do not regret the oyster poboys.

• Buying "professional" clothes that fit well and aren't made from 100% polyester. I hit the outlet malls for some work essentials and brought back some black pants, a gray skirt and some button-down shirts.

• Buying lots of great lingerie from T.J. Maxx. Sorry Falabella, looks like I won't be needing to make an overpriced bra purchase very soon.

• Reconnecting with my four close girlfriends from high school. No matter how much time passes, we can always get right back into our groove and talk about everything that's going on in our lives.

• Driving. And initially being scared to do so since it had been close to a year since I had last merged onto a highway.

Playing Catch-Up

It's 4:58 a.m. in Santiago and I just got back from a night in with the ladies. Thanks to my friend Renee, I've been inspired to get back into the swing of this blog. We'll see where it goes.

Let's see...where to begin? Well, I'm back in Chile for another year. I made this decision relatively soon after my initial venture here in February of 2008, and having a pololo, a great network of gringa friends, and a tentative job offer made it even easier to come back.

The following is a series of catch-up posts that will eventually lead up to present-day.