A few photos of our San Pedro de Atacama trip (see previous post)
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Gorillas in the dust - the Atacama desert
What a week!
If you have ever been in a desert before, you will know how fascinating they are: they are totally inhospitable places often without a shade in sight to protect yourself from the burning and constant sun during the day. They are also bitterly cold at night. At the same time though, if you pay attention, they can in places be full of life and they have the most beautiful sunsets and starry nights that you can probably find on our planet.
If you have ever been in a desert before, you will know how fascinating they are: they are totally inhospitable places often without a shade in sight to protect yourself from the burning and constant sun during the day. They are also bitterly cold at night. At the same time though, if you pay attention, they can in places be full of life and they have the most beautiful sunsets and starry nights that you can probably find on our planet.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Light at the end of this (house hunting) tunnel (?)
Today was our first day at work, separated :o(
My colleagues were all very nice and helpful and I am looking forward to the big challenges ahead (busy days with lots of learning!).
We also saw a great house! The first one that has potential :o) and we are trying to go for it - though we do not have any of the papers that they supposedly need... so we have tried the poker face and "we can pay in advance" strategy... let's see what they say! :op
My colleagues were all very nice and helpful and I am looking forward to the big challenges ahead (busy days with lots of learning!).
We also saw a great house! The first one that has potential :o) and we are trying to go for it - though we do not have any of the papers that they supposedly need... so we have tried the poker face and "we can pay in advance" strategy... let's see what they say! :op
Saturday, 18 June 2011
Santiago... where the old world meets the new world
HOUSING:
The last couple of days we have been having a reality check. We visited some houses... and let's just say they were not what we were hoping for. They were old, run down, smelly and the Santiago predominant idea of a garden is some paved outdoor space to put a table and chairs and park your car(s/lorry/tank)... We have other plans in mind for a GARDEN: pots, compost, raised bed to grow veg, wormery etc... perhaps even a dog or 2!
The last couple of days we have been having a reality check. We visited some houses... and let's just say they were not what we were hoping for. They were old, run down, smelly and the Santiago predominant idea of a garden is some paved outdoor space to put a table and chairs and park your car(s/lorry/tank)... We have other plans in mind for a GARDEN: pots, compost, raised bed to grow veg, wormery etc... perhaps even a dog or 2!
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Life is a treasure hunt
After yesterdays relatively painless experiences at the the Tax Office and the Foreign Ministry, bureaucracy caught up with us today at the Immigration Office where we were hoping to apply for my (Christian's) temporary residency permit.
The queue in front of us was about 50 strangers long, so we had little choice but to wait and subject ourselves to the crap spilling out of two wall mounted TV screens in the waiting area. Something to do with transforming
The queue in front of us was about 50 strangers long, so we had little choice but to wait and subject ourselves to the crap spilling out of two wall mounted TV screens in the waiting area. Something to do with transforming
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Half way in the system
A successful day :o)
Christian has a RUT number - it took 10mins and the guy there was very helpful and said to us that he loved German rock bands!?
In addition, all the required documents for our visa have been legalised (this does not mean by any stretch of the imagination that we have a Visa yet! - Though we are legal for the next 3 months)
Christian has a RUT number - it took 10mins and the guy there was very helpful and said to us that he loved German rock bands!?
In addition, all the required documents for our visa have been legalised (this does not mean by any stretch of the imagination that we have a Visa yet! - Though we are legal for the next 3 months)
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
Ubuntu - in abundance
Ubuntu is a concept that we came across a few months ago thanks to Sonja Kruse. It is difficult to translate but it means something like: "I am what I am because of who we all are"
"Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity." (Archbishop Desmond Tutu)
"Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity." (Archbishop Desmond Tutu)
Monday, 13 June 2011
Getting to grips with LIFE...
FLIGHT:
13 hours of flight - lots of sleep just not in a horizontal position... which is problematic.
Aircraft meals are at best satisfactory... when you try to avoid animal products the fun really begins... dinner was ok, vegetable paella with some salad and some fruit - BORING but satisfactory
Breakfast was TERRIBLE (thanks iberia)... so, here is the misconception(S):
13 hours of flight - lots of sleep just not in a horizontal position... which is problematic.
Aircraft meals are at best satisfactory... when you try to avoid animal products the fun really begins... dinner was ok, vegetable paella with some salad and some fruit - BORING but satisfactory
Breakfast was TERRIBLE (thanks iberia)... so, here is the misconception(S):
A new life... a new continent... a new adventure
This is it.
For the last 3 years we have been messing with the idea of moving away from Europe to Chile (or actually anywhere else that we did not know much about and was different from the UK).
We... is Christian and I (Patricia), the veg warriors, our joke name because we do not eat any animal products... more on this maybe in a later post.
And finally it happened... in the most random and timely manner. A good job offer (in Chile of all places), enough time to relocate and tie loose ends (eye surgery follow ups done, car sold, work commitments relatively tidied up, enough time to sell furniture and lots of other things that are so unlikely to happen by chance that we are actually a bit scared!)
For the last 3 years we have been messing with the idea of moving away from Europe to Chile (or actually anywhere else that we did not know much about and was different from the UK).
We... is Christian and I (Patricia), the veg warriors, our joke name because we do not eat any animal products... more on this maybe in a later post.
And finally it happened... in the most random and timely manner. A good job offer (in Chile of all places), enough time to relocate and tie loose ends (eye surgery follow ups done, car sold, work commitments relatively tidied up, enough time to sell furniture and lots of other things that are so unlikely to happen by chance that we are actually a bit scared!)
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