July 4th, 2015

Last fourth of July, I spent it with Sadie and the US Embassy party (do you remember my post?).  It was slightly uncomfortable, but they had hot chocolate and hot dogs (yes, it's winter here in the southern hemisphere in July), so it was also sort of like home(ish).  Then for dinner we went to Applebees for 2 for 1 ribs. I was pregnant.  It was awesome.

This year was completely different.  We celebrated with other Americans (again with ribs!) in the comfort of our own home, with America flag flying high and American music blasting.  Our friends made the kids red, white and blue noise-makers and leis, and it really felt like home.  That day just so happened to be the same day that Chile won Copa America, so there were even fireworks that we could just see at the top of our neighborhood.  It was a good day.  The Shaul family even got a SUPER AMERICA photo.

 

A Historic Day for the US

Normally, I don't comment on political issues in my blog (at least I think I don't, I guess I'd have to go back and double check...).  However, yesterday was a VERY important day in the history of the United States.  As I'm sure you know, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage, meaning same-sex couples have the right to get married under law anywhere in the United States.  As I read an excerpt of the decision, I had tears in my eyes.  This is monumental.  Not only do I have many family members and friends who this affects directly, but I also can't help but think about my children and my children's children.  They will grow up not knowing hate for this issue.  They will be more accepting, and no matter what, they will get to marry the one they love.  Love.

So, happy pictures!

 

Sadie's Activity Book

Sadie has the absolute best Godmother.  She spent countless hours crafting up the greatest gift to give a toddler EVER - an activity book.  And, not one of those quiet books that you buy (which, are also great, by the way).  She MADE this from SCRATCH.  Here is a picture of it.  If you are going to a birthday party or looking for a gift for a 2 or 3 year old, this perfect!  A HUGE thank you to my darling friend.

Not sure if you can tell, but it's a good size.  It is basically pages of zipped lock clear folders, each with an activity in it.

Below, Sadie is playing with her favorite, matching pom poms to their colored bags.

Now is the coloring page, complete with plain paper and double-sided Mickey crayons (where did she find these gems??)

Felt faces.  Basically just pieces of felt cut out in various types of facial features (eyes, noses, mouths, hair, ovals, you get the picture).

Two more: (Top) Go Fishing (fish and fishing poles made out of pipe cleaners - all varying sizes).  (Bottom) Velcro colored sticks for building.

Next: (Left) Counting with pom poms (pom poms not shown). Velcro on the pom poms and you can kind of see it below the numbers.  (Right) Stickers and shapes (shapes not shown). Stick the stickers on the perimeter of shapes.

(Left) Coloring pages, explained above. (Right) Lacing with thick foam letters that spell Sadie.

Chilean Bank Account

Trying to get a bank account in the US is easy.  As long as you have a SSN and some money, you can get a bank account within hours.  And, then they practically give credit cards away.  Trying to get a bank account in Chile is much more difficult (does that surprise anyone?).  Even for a Chilean, it's like you have to know someone. Even then, it takes weeks, even months.  So, as an extranjero, we almost wrote off getting a local bank account altogether, but the banking fees were really adding up. Since there was no BOA here every time we withdraw cash we pay a fee.  We are able to use our credit card for most things without any type of fee, but it still doesn't eliminate the need for cash.

To get a Chilean bank account, we needed some kind of "in", a RUT number, and 3-6 months worth of pay stubs.  As well as time.  And lots of emails and meetings with a bank representative.  So, how do we get an "in"?  Well, Steve's company has contacts at various banks, but they are all in Santiago, so unfortunately, we couldn't utilize them since we literally have to go into the banking office - nothing can be done solely via the internet/phone.  We had heard that we needed a "sponsor" to get an "in" - someone who already had a bank account to basically introduce us to the bank rep.  Well, we were getting annoyed with the system, so one day Steve just went to a few different banks and plead his case blindly.  The people he saw all basically said the same thing - oh, we have to contact our head bank in Santiago to see if we are open to taking a foreigner who works for that company.  Well, because this is Chile, I assumed that was just a no.  However, surprise surprise, we lucked out and one person actually got back to us that very same day no less!  Steve had to email her a bunch of copies of things, and in about a week he went in to sign a ton of things, and we had a bank account as well as a credit line.  Awesome, right?  That's what I thought too. However, here's the catch.  Now we have to activate the credit card and the debit card.  They told Steve all he had to do was go to the ATM to activate it the next day before 2pm.  Well, I went at 11am the next day, and it didn't work.  So, I had to talk with the rep and she said oh, something is wrong with the system, it was suppose to be yesterday, you'll have to come back tomorrow.  So, I came back then.  Still not working.  This time I brought both kids.  Still not working.  She says "Email me on Monday since you have kids".

Two weeks later Steve goes to talk to her and finally, miraculously, they are activated. Still missing my credit card, but that's ok.  Now we need to put money into the account.  We wire money from our bank in the US, which is very doable, all you need to know is the SWIFT code (usually easy to find online or on the bank's website).  However, what we didn't realize, is that Chile is a "slow-to-pay" country.  This basically means it is going to take a long time to get your money, and you will have to jump through hoops to get it.  Two weeks later, after filling out another form and having a random man come to our house at a random day and time to make sure it was in fact us who were living at our address, we got our money.  OK, now we officially have a usable Chilean bank account.  WOOT WOOT!

Buenos Aires

Argentina.  The land of meat and wine.  OK, I don't know if that's even valid since I spent one long weekend in one city in the whole country, but it sure seemed like those were two of the biggest priorities.  And, they were amazing.  Inexpensive and superb.

I highly recommend Buenos Aires.  Frankly, both Steve and I liked it better than Santiago.  The food is just SO good, and the feel of the city is unique and welcoming.  The only downside of visiting as an "estadounidense" (I will have to start using that word since Chileans don't like people from the US calling themselves "Americans" since they are technically also Americans...  Have I mentioned this is one of my favorite Spanish words since we don't have an equivalent in English, unless of course you say "I'm United States-ian", and also it took me a good few months to pronounce it properly... I digress) is that we have to pay a reciprocity tax of $160 PER PERSON.  If you ever want to visit, please note you have to do this BEFORE leaving (easily done online) as they might ask for proof of this before you even board your airplane as they did with us in Santiago.  Thankfully, we were fully prepared.  The good news is that Chileans don't have to pay this fee, so only 3/4 of us had to pay.  Good ole Isaac.

We were very lucky to have our amazing friends Brian and Laura meet us in Santiago and fly to Buenos Aires together.  Experiencing a city for the first time with good friends is so much fun.  We stayed at a great house tucked away on the border of the Palermo Soho neighborhood and Villa Crespo that we found via airbnb.com.  If you haven't used this website before, I highly recommend it.  We have had success many times.  Renting homes with a family is so much better than staying in a hotel room!

Before I get into our activities, I have to pause and record where we ate in case anyone ever wants recommendations. The first night we had La Cabrera take out, which I came to find out later was one of the highest recommended restaurants in BA, and it was a very nice restaurant (apparently everywhere does take out).  We had steaks and more steaks with some amazing sauces - the chimichurri was to die for (and very popular in BA).  I'm pretty sure it was in my top 3 steaks of all time.  And it was take out.  (check it out here: http://www.theworlds50best.com/latinamerica/en/the-list/11-20/La-Cabrera.html ). The next night we had someone come to the house and cook us a very traditional Argentinian meal.  She prepared milenasa, which is to the Argentinians like bolognese sauce is to Italians. Meaning, that every family has their own special recipe and way to prepare it, and it's the traditional Argentine comfort food.  It is basically a thin cut of meat, pounded, breaded and pan fried.  It was VERY good.  Laura and I also had a ladies night out and we accidentally went to one of the best restaurants in BA, called Sarkis.  This restaurant was literally 2 blocks from our house and always has a long long line.  We left the house at 8:30 (very early for dinner), and we passed it and there was no line.  We thought, let's just see if it's open (this was a Monday night and nothing is open on Mondays).  It was and inside it was packed except for about 3 small tables, one of which we claimed.  The food was superb.  SUPER fresh and authentic (it's Middle Eastern food by the way).  We had a bottle of wine, a trio of dips with hot, fresh pita, as well as falafel and two different types of kebabs (meat and lamb).  Everything was amazing, and it was under $50 total.  I couldn't believe how cheap it was!  In sum, GO. EAT.

Here are some pics of our house.  Gorgeous 4 bedroom with 3 terraces!

Here are some good pics of the couples.

The first day we did a lot of walking, mostly through Palermo and surrounding areas.  Buenos Aires has some really nice, huge parks.  We stopped by the zoo as well as the planetarium. I have no pics of these because Laura was the photographer that day!

The next day, we spent our time doing shopping at San Telmo.  There is a fantastic antiques market at Plaza Dorrego that runs all the way up to Plaza de Mayo (where Casa Rosada is located).  That's probably about a mile.  On Sundays, it's all closed and just packed.  It was really fun, and we bought a ton of unique things (and no, not all antiques, lots of artesenal/clothes/art items).  There are street bands, and even people tango-ing all around you.

Plaza de Mayo / Casa Rosada. We were actually there during Independence Day, and there were both celebrations and protests going on.  Quite interesting.

The next day we spent our time in Recoleta, mainly the famous cemetery and surrounding area.

Evita's tomb.

Granny and Jo Jo's second trip to Chile!

A few weeks ago, my parents came down to Antofagasta to visit us. We had so much fun with them, and are so thankful they were able to take time out of their busy schedules and make the trek far south to the middle of nowhere.  It was a very relaxing trip - lots of beach time and just enjoying sitting in the sun in the backyard.  We miss them already!


This is from their first day - playing dolls with Sadie.  She had SO much fun!

We went to the beach and Sadie loved playing in the water with Granny and Jo Jo.

Isaac got in on the action!

Sadie and Jo Jo watching Dora.

Being cute...

Both children looking happy at the same time - amazing!

Chilean Driver's License (admittedly, a long complainy post)

After 16 years of driving, I have come to realize that I take my understanding of traffic laws for granted. How often do you brush up on the rules of the road since you passed your test the very first time you got your license?  If I am counting correctly, I have had a driver's license in four states, and I have never had to retake the test.  Just go in with your documents, stand in line, take a picture, and you leave either with your new license or the knowledge that you will be receiving it in your mail box within 4-6 weeks.  (Although, I have heard that to become a Minnesotan from out of state you do have to re-take the test...  Anyone?) 

This month Steve and I have conquered the next step in becoming Chilean: obtaining a driver's license.  Let me just say that if you think the US DMV is bad (and let's be honest, it's terrible), the Chilean DMV equivalent (in Antofagasta at least) is horrific.  I mean drop dead awful.

Here is my story.

First, let's start with the requirements for getting a driver's license in Chile:
- Being a legal resident in Chile
- Having at least an 8th grade education
- Passing a vision test, a series of psychometric tests, a written test, the driving test

Doesn't seem too terrible, right?  Well, it shouldn't be.  But, for a foreigner, there are some hoops you have to jump through just to get in the door.  Specifically, how do you prove your level of education.  Before we moved here, we had to have a bunch of documents legalized and notorized by the Chilean government; this included our college transcripts/diplomas.  I have no idea how this was done, but thank goodness Steve's company took care of this.  We figured we could just use those since they were legalized by the GOVERNMENT.  But, because we live in Antofagasta, and sometimes it feels like it isn't really a part of Chile, that wasn't good enough.  We had to track down the office of a man who has some high place in power in the Department of Education in Antofagasta (literally by word of mouth).  We looked up online where this man works, and the Dept of Education website gave us 3 different office locations and phone numbers, none of which ended up being accurate...  Thank goodness for the expat community, who pointed us in the right direction! We scrambled into this man's office one day 5 minutes before it closed, only to fight with the secretary about why we were there (she was very persistent that he couldn't help us and tried shoo-ing us away).  If you've been following the blog, you will probably remember that one of the most important lessons I've learned here is that you can never take no for an answer since everyone straight up lies to you about what they can or can't help you with.  So, we naturally kept disagreeing with her until finally she let us through to his office.  He at first said he couldn't help but as soon as we pulled out our documents he said oh right I can help you (and let me be clear this was not a language barrier thing - we were very clear about what we needed).  He printed up a letter (that was already made exactly for this purpose - just filled in our names), and we were on our way.  It took 5 minutes of actual work, but 15 minutes of us trying to convince everyone they could help us.  So frustrating!

Now that we had the necessary documents, we could proceed to the Chilean DMV and take the tests.  First, we had to study for the written exam.  The manual is 165 pages (a pdf document) and it's in English (as is the test, which we severely lucked out on since 2015 is when they launched an English option).  What surprised me the most is what you have to know for the exam.  Not much of it is general rules of the road, a lot of it is memorizing number.  For example, if 1/1000 grams of your blood is saturated with alcohol, how long will it take for the alcohol to get out of your system?  If you are going 50 km/hr on a wet asphalt road, what is the braking distance?  You also have to know all about the mechanics of a manual car.  What is a carburetor?  If your car starts doing XYZ, what needs to be replaced?  Of course, I'm not a car person, so this was not easy!  If you ever have to take this test in Chile, I recommend studying by taking the practice exams (which unfortunately are only in Spanish), but they help much more than just reading the manual since so many of the answers to the questions aren't in the manual.

I convinced a good friend to come with me so we could both take the exams.  I will now describe the process and how long each step took.  After you read this, you are never allowed to complain about the DMV to me ever again.

We arrived at the "DMV" at 7:15am to wait in line. Important note: there is only one DMV in all of Antofagasta.  ONE.  There were already about 70 people there.  It opens at 8:15am.  When it opens you stand in line to show a man your documents and then if you have the right ones, he gives you a number.  We then waited for about an hour.  At around 9:30am my number was called.  I go to a desk (similar to in the states), and the person looks at my documents and enters in the information into the computer.  She takes my picture.  Then, I have to go upstairs to a "Caja" where I stand in line, show them my ID card and then I pay.  They give me a receipt.  I take that receipt back downstairs to the same lady who helped me (she is obviously with another person). I give her the receipt, and she says my name will be called.  At about 10am my name is called, and I proceed to take the psychometric tests.  One tests your reactions with fake pedals, and the other two are very difficult to explain.  You hold a pen-like device and have to touch the end of a pen into various circles while a disk is turning and try not to touch the disk at the same time.  The other test is that you have to guide a needle through a curved line, but the needle is attached to these two levers, which you hold in each hand.  The levers only let you move the needle in a certain direction.  So guiding this needle through this teeny snakelike path is very difficult.  You can only touch the outside of the path a couple of times and you have to do it in 60 seconds.  I almost failed.  WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH DRIVING?  I digress.  After the psychometric tests I went back and had to wait for my name to be called again for the vision test.  I waited 2 hours more.  It was finally around 12:45pm and I was about to lose my mind. People with numbers after mine were being called, so I finally grabbed someone and asked what was going on.  She just brushed me off and said don't worry your name will be called. My name was finally called along with about 10 others, and they told us we had to go home and come back tomorrow since there wasn't enough time (the office closes at 1:30pm for the day).  Well, I'm usually not the kind of person to make a stink, but I lost it.  In Spanish.  I probably didn't make much sense, but I was very pissed and basically was not taking no for an answer (yet again).  She finally realized how early I had gotten there, and was kind of like, oh OOPS your papers must have gotten put into the wrong pile.  She went to the vision guy and begged him to let me take the test, which he reluctantly agreed to.  I took the vision test, then immediately after I took the written exam. The written exam was not a great translation, and you could definitely argue that some of the right answers are actually wrong because of how things are worded, but it doesn't matter to me anymore since I passed!  I finally left at about 1:30pm.  In sum, it took 6.5 hours, and I still needed to take the driving test.

For the driving test, you have to line up your car on the side of a main road kind of in line.  I got there at 7am to wait until the teacher arrives at 8:15 to collect the names/papers that show you passed the other tests.  I was third in line.  When the one worker arrived (it's supposed to be two), people just flocked to her and started giving her these papers.  I was 7th, which mean I should have been there for 2 extra hours since each test took about 15 minutes.  I was a little confused, since it all happened so fast and my Spanish isn't great still.  So, I asked the guy that had lined up in front of me what was going on and how I got such a high number.  He said it really wasn't fair, and since I don't speak so well, he went to the teacher and got me moved up to where I was supposed to be.  He basically was my angel in white. Literally (he happened to be wearing all white).  I was so thankful since he saved me 2 hours!  I took and passed the test and now have to go BACK to the DMV with my ID card to pick up the license.  So, I guess technically I don't have my license yet, but I am close.

Jeez.  What an inefficient, ridiculous system!