July Wrap Up

Some time has passed since my last blog. Whilst my plan was to write my blog in the recent school holidays, sickness and a dinosaur of a computer has prevented this from occurring. So, I sit here at school one of my MANY hours of free time to inform you of the happenings from this part of the world.

Copa América

Let’s rewind to the Copa América. I can proudly say I did not watch a single game completely of the Copa América! I had been prohibited from watching game that could influence Chile’s chances of progressing to the finals as I am a jinx. This meant many a match lying in bed and listening to the countrymen cheer on the team and scream at the losses, the cars honking their approval and Rubén screaming at the TV before opening the door and informing me of exactly what happened and his opinion of the event then retreating to continue watching the game. This happened on loop for every ‘event’ in the game.

In the end, Chile were champions. They won the cup for the first time in the 99 years it has been running. The Chileans were ecstatic. Cheers and songs were sung from every street corner and windows. Rubén was in tears in the lounge room. I was overjoyed just to leave the bedroom!

The last game went FOREVER! 90 minutes of a game. The score? 0 - 0. Another 30 minutes of playing. Score? 0 - 0. Chile then won in the penalty shootouts.

To counteract the cabin fever suffered from the ridiculously long final I dragged a fairly drunk Rubén out into the streets to see how the people were celebrating. We just walked around our area, and there was plenty to see.

60km/h hanging out the window? Don't mind if we do!

Decided to walk by the losing team's hotel long after they had returned. A few Chilean supporters were still remaining there for the heckle.

I am pleased we didn’t venture out into the hot spots though. When the celebrations settled, delinquents took over. Bus shelters destroyed, Street signs dismantled… even a traffic light was stolen! Good ol’ Chile!

School Holidays

I took the last three days off school with a medical licence due to a horrible cold that turned into  awful symptoms. A visit to the doctor gave me the three day medical licence and 5 different types of medications to take! The timing was quite convenient as it meant a 2.5 week long holiday. What else was I going to do in a freezing cold winter then stay in bed all day anyway?!

We didn’t go anywhere, or do anything special. I did meet the man for lunch in the park one day at work and saw the pretty flamingos though!

We also bought a new hairdryer after Rubén dropped and broke the last one.

The freezing cold holidays finally bought a lot of rain and a touch of snow on those beautiful Andes which surround the usually smoggy city.

And of course, we indulged in the Chilean tradition of eating sopapillas whilst it is raining. Rubén did a great job of cooking them.

Getting House Ready

We also went to visit our place being built. Our previously multilevel hole is now an above-ground construction. The first pillars are starting to peek over the top of the fence.

To get mentally ready for the transition of renters to owners, our evenings are now consumed by at least one badly-dubbed house renovation show with lots of pausing to look at all of the features we like. Thankfully, Rubén and I have very similar tastes in house decor!

View of the mountains from our street. The roof view will be phenomenal :)

Advertising

I am always astounded at advertising here in Chile. Not only do you walk through the shops and it is plastered with 'Sale' 'Winter Fashion' 'End of Season' and full adverting in English, there also seems to be a slight problem with appropriateness...

Not sure how this ad works here in Chile... Not sure anybody would actually know what Bullshit is.

Or this ad: For a new Telephone company...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACf7V8mxAeo

With the accompanying massive billboard outside the most iconic mall in Santiago...

Now you're not in bad company...

Back to life

And now we return, back to the second week at school of a new semester. I’m hoping that this semester is a whole lot easier than the previous, with significantly less new things to learn. I’m in the process of applying for my permanent visa to stay here in Chile indefinitely. Here’s hoping for smooth sailing ahead!