Far, Far Away

Mom's Visit and Return to Houston

2008-07-02T15:51:00.005-04:00

Just a few days after my trip to Buenos Aires, my Mom came down to see me in Santiago! She spent about ten days with me and we returned together to the States.

We had a good time seeing the sites of Santiago and eating at some great restaurants. We visited museums, Santiago's general cemetery (interesting but not as well-maintained as BA's Recoleta cemetery), shopped in the Patronato garment district near my apartment, and got caught in a downpour in Valparaiso.

We had also planned to go to Machu Picchu during her visit, but had to cancel our trip when I became violently ill with food poisoning just two days before we were scheduled to fly to Peru. The culprit? Some undercooked eggs at the expat-run Cafe Melba, right around the corner from the British Embassy in Santiago's Las Condes neighborhood. I've never been so sick in my life. It was definitely disappointing, but we felt like adding high altitude to a weak immune system was a bad idea. So we made the most of our remaining time in Santiago instead. I took my Mom to Cafe Ona, my favorite little place in Lastarria, we had fish and cazuela at La Vega Chica, and one day we took a trip out of town to the Undurraga Vineyard. They make great wine. Unfortunately, they're not yet selling their stuff in Texas. But they're working on it!

It was really difficult to leave all my friends in Santiago. I had a goodbye party at a salsa club a couple of nights before my Mom came down, and the night we left we went out to dinner with my housemates and my friend Linda. I didn't want to come back to Houston, honestly. But being back has been pretty good--I've gotten to see friends and family, attend weddings, relax, etc. And I'm definitely not sad to be missing the nasty Santiago winter. But there are other things I do miss: the people I knew, Lastarria, speaking Spanish all the time, my little corner store, the sense of being somewhere different and yet feeling at home there.

There's a chance I may go back. We'll see. I'm looking into a lot of different options right now, in a lot of different places. I've also found a summer job with a staffing agency, so I'll be working offices around town on various assignments.

So I guess this marks the end (for now) of my adventure blogging...sad! But stay tuned. I might turn this into a more personal blog at some point, so check back for updates whenever you feel like it.

Thanks for reading!

Adios, mis amores.

Helen

Pictures of the past month: http://picasaweb.google.com/helen.bunting

Buenos Aires

2008-07-02T13:31:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone...

Long time, no update.

As promised, I am finally posting about my trip to Buenos Aires that I took in May.

I went with my friend Cathy from Glasgow and we had a great time. We stayed at a hostel in the neighborhood of San Telmo, near the center of the city. It reminded me a bit of Santiago's Lastarria neighborhood except it was a lot bigger.

Buenos Aires (or BA, as the foreigners refer to it) is a really amazing place. It has a completely different feel from Santiago--more open, more laid-back, more European. The architecture is really beautiful, although many of the buildings are not well-maintained. There is also a conspicuous lack of stray dogs. Interestingly, though, I noticed far more dog poop on the sidewalks in BA. I think it's because so many people walk their dogs (or get professional dog walkers to do it) and don't clean up after them. The professional dog walkers are definitely fun to watch. The ones I saw had about ten dogs with their leashes all looped together, happily trotting along and wagging their tails.

As for pollution, I'm sure the air in BA is just as contaminated as it is in Santiago, especially since the population is about 2.5 times the size of Chile's capital. But it doesn't feel (or look) that way because the city is located near the sea instead of in a narrow valley between two mountain ranges. This also makes for a much milder climate. Cathy and I were frequently cool in the morning, but quite warm by the time the afternoon arrived.

We spent our days doing lots of walking, eating, and shopping. We probably spent about half of our time in the Palermo neighborhood, wandering around the different shops and boutiques. We also traversed the famous Calle Santa Fe, which supposedly has the best shopping in the city, but were a bit disappointed (although I did score a great pair of platform wedge heels). All in all, we had far better luck in Palermo. Both of us conducted an exhaustive search for the perfect pair of leather boots and our persistence finally paid off. Sadly, I won't be able to wear mine for a few more months because it's currently summer in Texas...

One night we headed over to to the Armenian Cultural Association for a tango class (random location, I know). The place was packed with older, more experienced dancers, younger Argentines, and foreign tourists. After learning the basic steps we paired off with other people there and occasionally switched partners. The best guy I danced with was an elderly Argentine gentleman who, despite the giant cataract in one of his eyes, guided me around the dance floor with the greatest of ease--that is, once I got over my tendency to back-lead.

Cathy left after the weekend because she had to work in Santiago, but I stayed on for another few days to finish out my week. More shopping and walking ensued. I also went down to Puerto Madero and toured an old frigate that was retired in the 1960s, and got to hook up with a couple of friends from my Navimag boat trip (Paula and Kevin) who happened to be in BA at the same time. It was great to see them. I met a few fun people in my hostel, too: A girl from Alaska, two sisters from Northern Ireland, an Irish guy, a Chilean guy, a Canadian guy, a Welsh doctor, and a few Americans. BA is full of expats and foreign kids, just like Santiago.

One of the most interesting sites I saw was the cemetery in Recoleta, BA's old money neighborhood. There's nothing quite like this place. It's beautiful, eerie, and slightly absurd all at the same time. The city's upper crust has been laid to rest there for generations, and they may be dead but they're still showing off. Think ostentatious displays of wealth in marble and granite form. Despite that, it's still a rather lovely place in a strange way. It's well kept-up and the inscriptions on the tombs had me wondering about the people who were buried in them. And not all of the mausoleums are ridiculously huge. Some of them were actually quite moving. The weirdest thing about it to me, though, was the enormous McDonald's just across the street from the cemetery. That sight was definitely a bit jarring.

Other observations: judging by the restaurants, Argentines are obsessed with steak and pizza; milongas (informal tango get-togethers) are fun but awkward if you don't know what you're doing; and the rumors are true--the men in BA really are taller and better-looking than the men in Santiago. Sorry, Chilenos.

Also, a bit of advice: do not schedule your return flight on the night of a major soccer match. You'll have a difficult time getting to the airport.

I loved Buenos Aires...hopefully I'll get to go back someday!

Much love,

Helen

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/helen.bunting

Crudo, Nature, and Beer

2008-05-30T01:04:00.006-04:00

I'd heard a lot about Valdivia. People told me it was beautiful, almost like a Venice of South America. Or maybe that's what the guidebooks said. Anyway, it's a nice place. But it's not quite the dazzling wonder I expected.

Perhaps it was the near-constant drizzle, but I was not particularly taken with the city itself. Sure, the center is nice and the people are pretty friendly. And yeah, the sea lions that hang out at the docks are awesome. But there were really only three things about Valdivia that stood out to me: the beer (the city is home to the Kuntsmann Cerveceria), the food at Cafe Hausmann, and the beautiful surrounding countryside.

Valdivia is in Chile's Region de los Lagos, or Lake District. Hence, lots of water and trees. I can imagine that the area is gorgeous in the summer. It's also what I imagine the English countryside to be like, but of course I'm mostly basing that assumption on the two most recent film versions of Pride and Prejudice. Anyway, it's beautiful.

Cafe Hausmann, near downtown, is a true gem. It's packed with locals too, which is always a good sign. It's a family-owned place with a homey vibe. They serve up delicious cakes, burgers, the local Kuntsmann brew, and the area specialty, crudo. Crudo is basically a thin meat paste spread on a slice of bread. It sounds weird but I actually really like it, especially with mustard or spicy relish. Not normally the kind of thing I eat but it was so good.

Kuntsmann, the German artisan brewery in Valdivia, makes some of the best beer I've ever tasted: their "Miel," or honey-flavored beer. The brewery itself is more of a restaurant than a museum. You don't really get to see any of the brewing process like you do at the Austral factory in Punta Arenas. But the food and beer make up for it. They serve sandwiches literally the size of your head. And since it's out of town a bit, you can easily go for a nice walk after your meal to see some of the countryside.

I'd definitely like to go back to the Lake District someday, perhaps during the South American summer. And I suspect that Valdivia gets more exciting then as well. The city plays host to an international film festival every year during the spring.

And that, my friends, is the end of my southern Chile travelogue. I will try to post about my trip to Buenos Aires as soon as I can.

To view photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/helen.bunting

Much love,

Helen

P.S. I just killed a cockroach. I am mostly definitely back in Texas.

Bliss

2008-05-30T00:35:00.002-04:00

Most people I've met who've been to Puerto Montt don't think it's the most exciting place. And I'd have to agree--it's really not bad, but it's not fantastic, either.

However: When your boss has a holiday home 25km outside the city, and he has no problem with two of your friends staying there for several weeks to take care of the place, nor does he mind if you join them for a few days...well, that changes things.

Such was my luck after disembarking from the Navimag. I had already planned to visit Alex and Mark for a night or so before continuing on north to Valdivia. I spent the day piddling around town with a couple of friends from the boat and then met up with Alex and Mark that night to go to Steve's house. The place is gorgeous. Big windows, wood beams and floors, a fireplace, a lovely view. There's even a little tower on top that's accessible from the second loft-like floor by a ladder. The place is on a nice piece of land with a work-in-progress blueberry patch and some of the coolest pets ever: Toby the dog, and sister and brother kitties Romeo and Juliet. There is a path that runs from the house through some woods and down a hill to a pebble beach, where plenty of delicious mussels (and a few clams) await collection and cooking.

The place is really incredible. So it's no small surprise that I ended up spending about four days there instead of one. At the beginning I still thought I was going meet my friend, this time in Pucon, but at some point those plans fell through for good. So I decided not to hurry. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. We spent our days cooking, drinking coffee, reading, admiring the view, hitchhiking into town when we needed something, and just generally soaking up the tranquility of the place. It was wonderful.

Next stop: Valdivia.

More trip updates

2008-05-29T23:44:00.006-04:00

Hola a todos!

Well...I'm back in Texas. My mom and I arrived this afternoon. The last few weeks have been really nuts. But I want to go ahead and finish out the posts about my travels.

So without further ado: THE NAVIMAG!

I was never supposed to take the Navimag. It wasn't part of my original plan. But then, when you're traveling, sometimes things just don't go the way you think they will. I left Torres del Paine thinking that I would take a bus back to Punta Arenas and fly to Puerto Montt to meet up with a friend. But when those plans fell through, I thought what the heck, maybe the Navimag still has space. Several friends I'd met in the Park were taking the boat from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt and I had been somewhat disappointed that I wouldn't get to go with them. So when the chance came up to go, I jumped at it.

We boarded the boat on the night of my 24th birthday, after I'd spent the day kicking around Puerto Natales (not the most exciting birthday, believe me). But that first night on the boat was great. Those of us who'd met in the Park (and a few others) spent the night talking, drinking and playing silly games. By the time we finally left port the next day--they were trying to fix the hot water on the boat and it took a while--we had become quite a jolly little group of friends. We spent most of our time on the deck, gawking at the stunning scenery (channels, fjords, etc), sitting in the sun, or playing each other at "Extreme" chess and checkers. Nights were spent in the cafeteria, just hanging out and passing around the boxed wine (three cheers for Gato Negro!). The only "bad" part about the whole 5-day trip was the 12-hour period we spent in the open ocean, when everyone got sea sick. But even then it was really lovely to sit on deck in the fresh air and look at the water lit up by the moon.

One other slight annoyance: the over-enthusiastic guide on the trip, who, while a very nice person, interrupted us on the loudspeaker every hour or so with announcements about a) group activities; b) meals; or c) whatever point of geographic interest we happened to be passing. The phrase, "Passengers? Your attention please!" is forever ingrained in my mind.

Also: Does anyone know how I could start a translation service for the tourism industry in Chile? There were signs posted everywhere on the boat in Spanish and English, but the English was often somewhat awkward because the Spanish had been translated literally, when a general interpretation of the sentence would have been better. I did a lot of article translations for the paper and at the beginning it was really hard for that reason. I was trying to translate each phrase directly into English, and it wasn't until my Spanish improved that I was able to move away from that. But yeah, my inner writer/editor (control freak?) kept wanting to fix all the signs.

We were all really sad to get off the boat in Puerto Montt. A couple of us are already planning a Navimag reunion, probably in the UK somewhere, since four people from our little group are from there.

Next up: the house by the sea. Or, what perfection looks like.

My Trip to the South, Part One: Torres del Paine

2008-05-03T20:35:00.005-04:00

Hello all!

It's hard to believe that a month ago I was in Puerto Natales, getting ready to go into the Torres del paine National Park. So much happened on my trip that it feels like yesterday, but I also felt like I was gone for a really long time.

I flew down to Punta Arenas on April 2 to begin my trip through Patagonia. Punta Arenas is one of the world's southernmost cities and is also home to the Cerveceria Austral, one of Chile's main artisan breweries. I didn't have much time there but I still had a nice time exploring and touring the Austral factory. Actually, I had a private tour because I was the only one who showed up! It was great and the tour guide was really nice. We had a good chat while I tasted the different brews. Unfortunately, the skies opened up on my way back to the hostel and I got soaked. Southern Chile is known for its unpredictable weather, and it rains quite a bit in the fall.

The next day I continued on to Puerto Natales, about three hours north. It's a port town with pretty mountains just across the water. It's also the only town of any consequence before Torres del Paine, so it's packed with hostels. I stayed at a great little place called Erratic Rock, which gets so much business that it actually has to turn people away. The amount of tourists all going the same route also meant that I spent far more time than usual speaking English.

After an unfortunate mixup with bus times and tickets, I was able to get a ride into the Park on the morning of the 4th. I had decided to stay in the refugios and get my meals there as well because I went alone and didn't particularly like the idea of camping by myself (and carrying all my food), especially having heard about the unpredictable weather. This turned out to be a good move.

I started out on my hike up to the Park's famous torres, or towers, on the morning of the 5th. The beginning of the hike was quite easy--relatively flat and I only had a day pack with me, since I was returning to the same refugio that night. But the land soon sloped upwards and I found myself rather out of breath, questioning my physical fitness. The scenery was gorgeous, though. Sweeping flatlands rising up to snow-capped mountains, icy blue rivers, lush greenery, and in some places, trees bent at strange angles due to the famously brutal Patagonian winds.

After the first leg of the hike, I spent quite a bit of time hiking through forest. It was beautiful, but the silence was sort of unnerving. I have never had a problem being alone but I guess I am just too accustomed to the noise of Santiago. So I was very grateful when I ran into a tour group near the start of the final ascent to the towers. They were so nice--one of them even lent me a ski pole to replace the rather large stick I'd been using to help me climb. The rocky ascent was pretty difficult, I must say (although the descent was worse because my hiking boots are slightly too small, a mistake that I didn't realize I had made until it was too late). But the view at the top was fantastic. The towers are several giant granite slabs that look like some giant shoved them up through the ground at a 90 degree angle. They border a lake that is an unearthly shade of turquoise. I was actually really lucky to see anything! People coming down from the lookout point an hour before I reached the top told me that it was snowing so hard when they went up that they saw nothing at all. How awful!

As I said before, the descent was rather painful. But eventually I made it down and began the long hike back to the refugio. At some point I realized that coming down from the top had taken far too long, and that I was cutting it way too close to sunset. So I began to move as quickly as possible, staving off panic by praying and singing loudly and off-key. I reached the main road to the refugio as it got completely dark. But I couldn't remember (or see) how far up the road I needed to go. But thank God, a Park van soon came by, and I was able to get a ride back to the refugio. I arrived exhausted, sore, and a bit shaken up--but intact.

The next day I started out the hike to the Cuernos refugio with two friends I had met the night before: Dan from Block Island, Rhode Island and Rodrigo, a Chilean from Santiago. I have two things to say about this hike. 1) The people who said it was "flat" were lying. 2) It was WET. It basically rained the entire day, and by the time I arrived at the refugio, everything I owned was drenched. Plenty of other people had the same problem, as the inside of the refugio was strewn with wet clothes hung up to dry.

The next day I set off again with Dan and Rodrigo, but at some point we got separated. The weather hadn't improved; in fact, it got worse. What had been rain turned into sleet, snow, and hail. And the winds were vicious. I arrived at the halfway point, the Campamento Italiano, and tried to take my lunch out of my pack to eat a bit before I continued on my way. But my hands were so cold that I couldn't undo the zippers! Fortunately, someone I had met at Cuernos was there too, and gave me a nice-sized piece of chocolate. Then by a massive stroke of luck (or divine Providence), I met two other people who were also hiking alone. So the three of us decided to continue on together. One of them was a cheerful German man who looked to be in his mid-30's or so. The other was a hardy Asian woman who had camped at the site the night before. They spoke little to no English but somehow we managed to communicate. And they were wonderful. The hike went so much faster with them than it would have gone had I been alone. And good thing too, since the weather was brutal. We cheered when the lodge at the end of the trail came into view. I don't even know their names--we never asked each other--but I don't think I'll forget them. They were a bright spot in a long, difficult day.

Next post: the Navimag ferry!

To see pictures of my adventures: http://picasaweb.google.com/helen.bunting

Much love,
Helen =)

Patagonia

2008-04-15T18:13:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone! So sorry it's taken me so long to update. I just wanted to post a short entry to say that yes, I am alive and well.

I arrived in Punta Arenas on the 2nd and since then I've gone up to Puerto Natales, through Torres del Paine National Park, back to Puerto Natales, and then on to Puerto Montt via the Navimag ferry, which takes about 4 days. It was unbelievable! I might be going to Valdivia tomorrow. We'll see.

Hope all of you are doing great!

Much love,
Helen

New Camera, New Hair

2008-03-23T19:46:00.009-03:00

Hello everyone! Happy Easter!

Hope you're all doing well. Sorry for the recent lack of updates. Every time I think of updating, I'm either doing something else or it's super late and I need to go to bed.

So, what's been going on? Well, the biggest thing is that I officially finished my internship at the Santiago Times about a week and a half ago. Since then I've mainly been hanging out with friends and working on travel plans. Also, I FINALLY got a new camera! AND I chopped all my hair off!

Here is a picture:

This is on the day I had it cut, so it's blown out and a lot straighter than it normally is. But I love it! It's so easy! And light! The hairdresser thinned it out a lot for me...I had no idea I had so much hair! Now I can be even lazier about my appearance...haha. Don't worry Mom, I usually wear nice clothes ;)

A couple of weeks ago I survived my first big Santiago rain storm! It was pretty crazy--I had to go out in it twice, and the first time I didn't have an umbrella. I hadn't seen rain like that since I'd been in Texas!

It's been unusually warm here. I think normally it's a lot cooler by this time. The nights are somewhat chilly but the days are not. We had a few days recently when it actually got kind of cool during the day--maybe after the rainstorm? But that didn't last.

Ok random observation: My apartment faces a river. Well, I guess you could call it that. I believe when I first arrived in Santiago, I said something in one of my posts about this "river" being no more than a glorified gutter. Well, it's still true. It's still a disconcerting grayish brown, it still emits a foul stench. But what disgusts me most is that couples actually go sit in front of it to make out. Hello? It's not exactly romantic. It's ugly. It's gross. AND IT SMELLS LIKE THE MOUTH OF HELL. I mean, I know that specific part of the river borders a park and there are nice benches and things. But still--every time I have to cross the bridge to get to my house, I want to gag. Honestly, if someone took me on a date there I might actually be offended. The other thing that gets me is when people just sit on those benches by themselves, admiring the "view." Once again, I do not understand this. 1) Said "view" is the graffiti'd wall on the other side of the river. 2) It smells! No!!!

On to other things. Tomorrow I am going to Mendoza, Argentina for the second time. I need to renew my tourist visa and decided to make a little trip out of it. My friend Leigh and I are leaving around 12:30 in the afternoon and should be in sometime tomorrow evening. We're meeting up with some other friends who've been in Buenos Aires and Uruguay. Can't wait to be in a place with a better exchange rate! I hate the dollar right now.

In about a week or so I am making the trip down to Torres del Paine to do some trekking, then I am going to travel a bit northwards to meet up with my friend Linda in either Valdivia or Pucon. She wants to hike Volcan Villarica. Should be fun! I'm going to spend my birthday in one of those two places...I'll be 24. Crazy.

The saying of goodbyes continues apace...on Friday Brent from Oregon, one of my roommates, left to go back to the States. He went to Ecuador for 2 days (where he studied for a few months before coming to Chile) and on Monday he is leaving South America for good. I will miss him a lot. We became good friends while he was here. But now I have another reason to go visit the Pacific Northwest again! My friend Alejandro from France (his name is really Alexandre but he goes by Alejandro here) is leaving us in about a week. Que triste! He's doing a bit of traveling and then an internship in Ecuador for 2 months.

This is a picture of everyone who lives in my house.

From left to right: Christoph from Germany, Lily the owner, Brent from Oregon, Yvonne from Holland, and me. A Spanish guy from Valencia is moving in at the end of the month to take over Brent's room. Hopefully he'll be great too!

Here is a picture of me with Alejandro at his goodbye party (yes he is really tall!):

Ok amigos, I need to get going. Love you all so much!

Cuidanse,
Helen =)

Salsa!

2008-03-03T01:32:00.002-03:00

Hello all,

Hope everyone is doing well. When I last updated, my Aussie friends had been delayed two days because Aerolineas of Argentina is a mess. They finally were able to fly out two weeks ago, thankfully. Those of us who are still here miss them very much! Thank God for the internet!

The past two weeks have been pretty good. I've had a lot of fun hanging out with my friends, both from the office and elsewhere. Last weekend several of us went to a "despedida," or goodbye party, for my Weekend Edition co-editor Alex and her boyfriend Mark. They left about a week ago to go exploring in southern Chile. Hopefully I can meet up with them again when I go down! After the party several of us went salsa dancing at a great place in Bellavista (a neighborhood near my house) called Maestra Vida. It was so incredible! I'm definitely going back.

I spent last Saturday scouring the internet for jobs and came up with a rather long list. They're everywhere--the States, London, other places in Europe, I think? I was telling a friend earlier that it seems like I change my mind every two weeks on whether or not I want to come back to Chile in July. This past week I was thinking that if I can find work teaching at an English-language institute, maybe I could move down here for the long-ish term and do some volunteering and freelance journalism on the side. But today I started to feel like perhaps I would like to be back in the States for a while. I have no idea! It's so frustrating! Guess I should just enjoy what I'm doing right now and see what happens. Easier said than done, though.

Late this past week we got two new roommates! One is a German guy from Munich named Christoph. He'll be here for a year, studying environmental engineering. The other is Yvonne from Holland. She's here for a semester to study international relations (I think). They're both very nice and fun! Can't wait to hang out more with them. Christoph has already told me some hilarious stories about Romanian lumberjacks....

Hope this first week of March (it's March already!!!??) is great for everyone.

Cuidanse (take care),
Helen

Goodbyes

2008-02-16T15:13:00.002-03:00

Hello everyone!

Hope you're all doing well. I'm happy to report that my computer charger and cable arrived earlier this week. They took about three weeks to get here, but it was well worth the wait. I can use my laptop again!! Hurrah! Again, thanks to my mom for sending those in the mail.

Let's see, what's been going on the past couple of weeks? Work continues apace. Our staff is pretty small right now but things are going fine and we have fun doing what we're doing. One of the other interns came back last week, so now we are five girls and Ben, one of the editors. I think the other editor, Matt, is coming back this week from his vacation in Ecuador. Steve the publisher should be back at the beginning of March.

I did go to Pomaire two weekends ago, with my friends Alicia and Linda. We had fun scouring the pottery shops, and I tried another Chilean specialty at one of the restaurants: cazuela, which is basically a lot of veggies and either chicken or turkey in a tasty broth. It was good. I still haven't been to the beach since I've been back but that's alright.

Last Friday Alicia and I went to Valpo (my third time there--I love that city) to see the ex-carcel (the former jail), which has been turned into an artistic center of sorts. Like the rest of the city, professional graffiti artists come here and decorate the walls with their creations. It was so neat to see a place that was probably miserable for a very long time be transformed into something completely different. I think you can take tours on the weekends, but when we went there were no guides so we just wandered around by ourselves. It was especially cool to recognize some of the artists' work because I had seen their paintings in other parts of the city. Alicia has pictures of everything (I don't have a camera yet) so hopefully I will be able to share those soon.

This week has been nuts. In addition to work, my Aussie friends Julia and Jeremy came back into town from Mexico, to enjoy a few days here before leaving Chile for good. They've been here for a year and haven't been home at all. Monday I hosted another Tex-Mex feast, and that was a lot of fun. We had about 15 people over here, and tons of food. Tuesday a few of us had dinner at my French friend Alejandro's house, and Wednesday we all got together for drinks at Alicia's place in Barrio Brasil. Thursday night (Valentine's Day) about 20 of us all went out dancing at a club called Subterraneo for the big goodbye, because the Aussies had a flight for Friday. It was insane and a lot of fun. Friday, Linda and I went with them to the airport....and we found out their flight was canceled. A word of advice: don't ever fly with Aerolineas of Argentina. They are horrible. My friends can't leave until at least Sunday. We talked to some other people in line, and this one poor girl had been waiting to fly out since Wednesday, so she could go back and take some very important exams for school. But Aerolineas canceled her flight then and for some reason didn't put her on the one for Friday. So both she and all my friends and probably a lot of other people are staying in the hotel across from the airport (and the airline is paying for it, as they should). They didn't tell anyone in advance that the flight was canceled, either. In fact, they called my friends and told them that it was leaving earlier than previously scheduled. Horrendous. At least we get to see them for a bit longer, but still. What a hassle.

In other more uplifting news, I've finally found a church I like. It's called Santiago Community Church, and it's actually not too far from my house. I've known about it for a while but avoided it because it's English-speaking. But a couple weeks ago I decided to give it a try, and I'm glad I did. I'm looking forward to getting involved there.

I'm hoping to go camping at a place called Cajon del Maipo, maybe next weekend. It's up in the mountains, not too far from the city, and everyone says it's gorgeous. I can't wait!! I'm also super excited about traveling down south next month. Nothing is set in stone yet but Linda and I are hoping to go to Torres del Paine National Park and several other places along the way. One of my friends just got back from there and said it was phenomenal--everything everyone says it is. Just looking at pictures of the place makes me teary-eyed. It is that beautiful. Can't wait to see it in person! Here's a link to a website about the park complete with photos: Torres del Paine

Well, I should probably go. We're all meeting up at Linda's house pretty soon for some traditional Mexican mole and rice!

Much love to everyone,
Helen

Technological Woes

2008-01-30T19:01:00.000-03:00

Hey there, amigos. Hope everyone is having a nice Wednesday afternoon/evening (or night if you live in Europe like Bruner).

Let's see, my last update was on the 18th...and today is the 30th. 12 days between posts. Not bad, considering my previous track record.

Things here in Santiago are going well. However, I have two frustrations to report, both of which involve technology. While frantically packing before my departure on the 12th, I forgot to put my new laptop's power cord and charger in my bag. So basically I have not been able to use my lovely new laptop since I arrived here 2 1/2 weeks ago. After an unsuccessful search for the right part, I asked my wonderful Mom to mail the one I left behind. It should be arriving any day now. Thanks Mom!

My second technological woe involves my digital camera. It broke about two days before I left to come back to Chile. It would be ridiculous not to have one while I am here, so I am going to buy a new one soon. I think my roommate knows of a good store...I will miss my cute little Samsung, though. It went lots of places with me. RIP.

Things at work are going fine--the new interns are jumping right in. Also, I am now officially the intern who's been at the paper the longest. That will change soon, though. A few people who arrived before I did are coming back sometime in the next month, after being away for a while. Speaking of returns, two of my Aussie friends are coming back to Santiago in a couple of weeks!! They are in Mexico right now (I think). Before that, they went with several of my other friends to Peru and Colombia. Yes, that's right--Colombia. They loved it. Actually, I think that is where they spent Christmas. After a few of them returned home, the remaining three continued on to Cuba and then Mexico. I can't wait to see them when they get back! Sadly, all of my Aussies will be leaving en masse on the 15th of February. I am not going to be happy. But I guess that just means I'll have to go to Australia at some point!

Speaking of departures, my wonderful friend Anne went back to Denmark on Sunday. I was not happy to see her go--we were like two peas in a pod for a while. She went traveling in souther Chile with her parents over Christmas, and then one of her Danish friends came in right before New Year's and they traveled through northern Chile, Peru and Argentina together. She came in straight from Mendoza, Argentina on Saturday and stayed at my place in Santiago. We had a good time with a couple of friends, making quesadillas and guacamole, then going out for a drink. Then on Sunday I took her to the airport, and was subsequently quite bummed. Hopefully one of us will be crossing the pond soon for a visit!

This weekend I may be going to some sort of hippie beach and/or Pomaire, the little town famous for ceramics and one-kilo empanadas. Hopefully it works out! I haven't even been back that long, and I already want to get out of Santiago.

Saludos to everyone! Much love from the other side of the world.

Helen

Back in Chile

2008-01-18T21:01:00.000-03:00

¡Hola a todos!

Well, after 3 lovely weeks in Texas I am officially back in Chile. My visit was wonderful and it was hard to leave, but I'm getting back into the swing of things now. It is definitely summer here in Santiago--the metro feels like a sauna.

This week has mostly been taken up with work, unpacking, meeting new people, and hanging out with friends. I've started contributing a bit to our internet radio station, just reading the news a couple days a week. On Sunday I am going to record a piece about the anti-femicide march I went to back in November, and Tom (our radio guy) will edit that and some other things together. We also started our Santiago Times Weekend addition back up again this week. My new co-editor Alex is really great. She's from Connecticut. Actually, we've had 4 or 5 people from Connecticut in the office the past few months, including a new girl named Julia. Our other new girl, Vicki, is from the L.A. area. I have a new housemate who is from Oregon. And, one of my Aussie friends started working at the paper recently. Lots of new people!

I had my first experience with a Chilean cockroach recently. It was disgusting. Don't worry, I dispatched it quickly.

Next weekend a few of us might go up to Caleo, a little town about an hour and away, where my boss has a house. He rents it out to people but lets the ST staff stay there for free when it's available. It's a beautiful place--we all went out there for our Thanksgiving feast. Hopefully we can go out there! I would also really like to go to the beach sometime soon.

Nothing spectacular planned for the weekend, just grocery shopping at the market, catching up with old friends, and hopefully finding a church to go to on Sunday. My landlady, Lily, finally returned from her trip to Europe to see one of her sons. It's great to have her back!

Time to go make some dinner.

Ciao,
Helen

Happy 2008!

2008-01-04T03:24:00.000-03:00

Happy 2008, everyone! I hope your holidays were wonderful.

I'm still in Houston, hanging out with family and friends. I'll be here until next Saturday the 12th, then it's back to South America for another 4 1/2 months or so. I can't believe I've only been in Texas for two weeks! It feels like a lot longer. It's been wonderful to see everyone, and to get a taste of cold weather! But the summer heat will definitely be nice (even if it means dealing with some nasty pollution....yuck).

Here is the tentative plan for the next few months:

January 13th: arrive in Santiago and start back to work at the ST.
End of February/mid-March: end my internship at the ST.
Mid-March to the end of May: TRAVEL!
May 29: arrive in Houston.

I'm not really sure what will happen after that. It's possible that I will be in Houston for about a month, and then go back down to Chile at the beginning of July--if I find a job, that is. As of now, that is what I'd like to do. But who knows. I may be ready to move back after a while. Or something completely random may happen. I have no idea. Prayers appreciated.

Much love,
Helen

Home for Christmas

2007-12-16T17:29:00.000-03:00

Hello amigos!

Sorry for the lack of updates these past few weeks.

So how is everyone this holiday season? Hope things are going well! I just arrived in Texas on Friday morning at about 6 a.m.! It's so nice to be back. I'll be here for three weeks, so let me know if you want to hang out. However, I accidentally left my cell phone in Santiago, so email me/Facebook me your number if you want to see me, because I don't have anyone's memorized.

The past few weeks in Santiago were pretty good. About a week after our Thanksgiving celebration, Anne and I took a bus to Mendoza, Argentina for the weekend. The city is about six hours from Santiago, or three hours inside the border. The drive is spectacular whenever you go--night or day. Some of the mountains we went through were so high that they still have snow on them. Actually, I think we may have gone past the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas: Aconcagua (22,841 ft or 6,962 m). Or if we didn't, it was very close by.

We really enjoyed Mendoza. Anne had been there before, but it was my first time. It's a very nice, laid back city. And everything is so cheap! The current exchange rate is about 3 Argentine pesos to 1 USD. Our first night there, we had a great meal at an Italian café in the center, with a wonderful waiter to boot. The second night, we went to this incredible all-you-can-eat place, with a massive grilling station and buffet. It was amazing. We also had lunch at a vegetarian buffet place (very yummy) and a Mexican place, which wasn't up to my standards, but still not too bad. Besides eating and shopping, the thing that took up most of our time was a bike and wine tour we did Saturday afternoon. Hilarious concept, if you think about it. We visited two vineyards and a chocolate/liquer factory...amazing.

About two weekends ago I cooked a Tex Mex feast for 10 or so friends...it was so fun! Everything turned out really well, thankfully, and Anne saved the day (and my sanity) once again by chopping everything and getting the beef ready for the enchiladas. The only bad thing was that the next morning, I had to clean everything and it took about 3 hours, since we don't have a dishwasher and I had to do all of it by hand. Oh well, at least there were leftovers.

Last Friday I went with 3 of my girlfriends to Valpo for the day, and it was so nice. I love that city!! We did lots of wandering around the hills/picture taking, which is always great. We spent some time in La Sebastiana, one of Pablo Neruda's homes, and even went on a tour of the bay! Great fun. The next day I went with my friend Alex to a little town called Pomaire, a couple hours south of Santiago. Pomaire is famous for two things: ceramics and giant empanadas. We definitely bought lots of pottery and each ate a one-kilo empanada.

Recently I've spent a lot of time saying goodbye, unfortunately. My friends Alicia, Jeremy and Julia (from Australia) and our friend Linda (from Mexico) are traveling through other parts of Latin America right now, and Anne the Danish Viking Goddess is traveling with her parents. I'll get to see them all again for varying amounts of time, but not for a while.

One big thing that happened recently is that I experienced my first earthquake! Last Sunday morning I snapped awake at 6:30 a.m. because my bed was shaking underneath me! It was the weirdest feeling. A few nights ago I was standing in my living room in my apartment and noticed the stereo on the shelf was shaking, but I couldn't feel anything. Then a little while later there was another tremor, and this time I felt it. So odd. None of the recent ones have been big at all, more like tremors than earthquakes. They're pretty disconcerting though, especially since I'm not used to them.

Well friends, I'm going to sign off here. Hope everyone's holidays are great!!

Helen

p.s. The pictures on http://picasaweb.google.com/helen.bunting are actually organized now, and more will be up shortly--I'm getting a new computer tomorrow!!!

Springtime in Santiago

2007-11-24T14:56:00.000-03:00

¡Hola amigos!

I hope everyone is doing well on this lovely Saturday. The last few weeks have been pretty busy, what with a couple of trips, a concert or two, the earthquake, a protest, Thanksgiving, and regular work.

I'll start with the concerts. A few weeks back, I went to a gypsy concert with several friends at a club in the Bellavista neighborhood, near one of Pablo Neruda's homes. The three bands that played were a ton of fun, especially the first and the last. There was good crowd and we all had a great time. There was even a mosh pit during some of the particularly fast-paced songs. Random, I know--people don't usually mosh to gypsy music. But whatever, they were having fun. The next night, Anne and I made the super-long trip out to a stadium on the edge of Santiago to see Bjork in concert. Bjork is an Icelandic singer with a very unique style, and she is one of Anne's favorites. The concert was really fun, even though our seats were pretty crappy and we were freezing because the stadium doesn't have a roof. It's still a bit cold here at night sometimes.

Work is generally going fine, although certain things are frustrating. But that's alright. I'm getting some good experience. On another subject, I absolutely love where I live. My landlady, Lily, is so great. For the first two weeks I was there we also had a German couple living with us, but they moved out recently to go travel. So now it's just me, Lily, and Laura from Oregon. We also had a girl from Hong Kong (named Helen!) for two weeks, but she moved out last weekend as well. She was here taking a crash course in Spanish, and now she's traveling around Argentina and Chile for a couple of months. She was so sweet! I think a Brazilian girl is moving in sometime in December. Hooray for international roommates.

Last weekend Anne and I decided to get out of Santiago and go to Chillán, a town about 5 hours south of here. It's famous for a nearby ski resort, but we just wanted to go to the public hot springs. We left Santiago at 12:30 Thursday night and got into Chillán at about 5:30 in the morning. Not having booked a place to stay beforehand, we then proceeded to walk down a nearby street and knock on the doors of a few hostels (actually, Anne did the knocking because she has more guts than me). Anyway, one sweet lady finally let us in and gave us a room. After sleeping for several hours, we wandered over to the open-air market, which was quite good. We also stopped at the Escuela de México, which has some really cool murals on the walls of one its rooms, and the new-ish earthquake resistant cathedral. One thing about Chillán and the surrounding area that I really liked was that most people had at least one rose bush, no matter the size of their house. That night we had a great time at Bar Torobayo, where the pisco sours are strong and the people are friendly. We had this ridiculously huge dinner too: french fries, chicken, beef, onions, peppers, carrots and mushrooms piled on top of a wooden grate. And yes, we ate the whole thing.

Saturday we got up early and took a bus out to the springs at Valle Hermoso, which lives up to its name (Beautiful Valley in English). The drive was lovely too. When we got to the hot springs, we were the only ones there. But we were soon joined by a group of older couples. The ladies absolutely loved the water, and the stinky mud that you can put on your skin to make it soft. One of them got in and kept staying "está riiiiiiiiiiiica, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiica!" in a very high-pitched voice. It was hilarious. After a while we decided we were hungry, so we asked the hot springs employees how long it would take to hike down the hill to the nearest village. They told us half an hour. Well my friends, half an hour it was not. This was a bit of a problem, especially because a) it was cold b) it started to rain and c) Anne was wearing flip flops. But lo and behold, just when I started feeling a bit miserable, a car pulled up next to us and a lady asked us if we'd like a lift. We said yes, of course. (Random observation: Chileans are really nice people once you get out of Santiago.) They dropped us off in the tiny village of Las Trancas and we decided to see if we could get some food at a nice-looking hostel. The owner was really busy with preparations for a luncheon, but he fed us anyway, and he was really excited when he found out that we work for a paper. After our meal, we started our trek back up the hill. After about 20 minutes, a passing tour bus stopped and the driver asked us if we needed a ride. So we got on and chatted with him the whole way up. He was so nice! Hooray for Chillán! That night we went to Torobayo and fell asleep early...and of course the next day we went back to the open air market. We didn't want to come back to Santiago. Our drive back was beautiful though, with a view of the Andes to the east the whole way. Unfortunately, as we got close to Santiago I noticed a nasty brown haze in the air up near the tops of the mountains. Disgusting.

Let's see, what else. There was a pretty big earthquake last week, near Tocopilla in northern Chile. They had some sizeable aftershocks as well. At the last count, two people were dead and 115 injured. A lot of media outlets reported that we could feel it here in Santiago. I think one network even said it "shook the capital strongly" or something like that. Um....not so much. We didn't feel a thing. Maybe people in really tall buildings felt it, but we didn't notice any movement.

The last two days were pretty nuts. In addition to my usual weekend edition editing that I do on Thursdays with Anne, I also covered an anti-femicide march with two other staff members and baked a pumpkin pie. The anti-femicide march was organized by the Chilean Network Against Dmoestic and Sexual Violence. I went with Matt (one of our editors) and Trey, who took pictures. I think there were probably about 5,000 people there. It was amazing.

Thursday, as you all know, was Thanksgiving, which Chileans do not celebrate. But my boss is American, so on Friday he had us all out to his house in the country and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. Hence the pumpkin pie baking on Thursday, which turned out to be a complicated undertaking. It seems that pumpkin pie filling does not exist in Santiago. So on Thursday I went to La Vega, the huge open air market here, and bought a wedge of fresh pumpkin (or squash or something). A friend of mine had told me that it was possible to make the pie from scratch, so I decided to give it a shot. Then I found a recipe online that looked pretty good...since Thursday was so busy, I didn't really get started baking until late that night. Anne came over to keep me company and we finished at about 4 in the morning. But it was all worth it in the end. The pies turned out great, and I was able to share a bit of home with my friends at the paper, many of whom are European and had never celebrated Thanksgiving before.

Next weekend a few of us girls are going to Mendoza, Argentina, just across the border. It's supposed to be beautiful. And cheap!!! Argentina is cheap! Hooray shopping!!! We are also thinking about taking a wine and chocolate tour....oh yes. AND Argentina is famous for its steak. I cannot wait.

I'm flying home to Texas on December 20th and I'll be around for a couple of weeks, then I'm coming back here. If you want to hang out, let me know.

Much love to all of you!!!
Helen

New Site

2007-11-21T13:29:00.000-03:00

Hello everyone!

Just a quick update to give you guys the link to our new site: http://www.santiagotimes.cl/santiagotimes/. Lots more free content, bettern design, and much more user friendly. Also, many of you may have heard about the big earthquake in northern Chile last week. There was quite a bit of structural damage, and the government is working to distribute aid and rebuild houses. I think the worst damage that occurred was when a large part of a hospital collapsed. Miraculously, there were only two deaths (and they weren't at the hospital). Several media outlets reported that we felt the earthquake in Santiago, but none of us felt anything at all. We didn't even know about it until another news service in the States called us for a comment about half an hour after it happened. So don't worry. I am fine, we are all fine, everything is fine.

I promise I'll try to update this thing in more detail soon. AND, my computer is partially fixed so I've transferred most of my pictures and I'll be able to upload them with my next post. Hooray!

Much love,
Helen

Finally Settled

2007-11-03T20:05:00.000-03:00

Hello everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. Things here have been pretty busy, and a few things have happened that impeded my computer usage.

The most important thing that's happened in the past few weeks is that I finally moved out of the office. Hooray! After nearly three weeks of living there, I moved into a temporary place across the river for about 11 days. At that point I had already decided to take one of the rooms that I had looked at, but due to some frustrating miscommunication found out later that it would not be ready until 10 days after I originally thought. So not wanting to live in the office any longer, I decided to move to a temporary place and then move again to my permanent apartment. This worked out well because two new interns were due to arrive the day I moved out.

My temporary place was pretty cool, if a bit noisy at night due to the location. The girl who rented me the room (Maren) is friends with one of the editors and a few of the interns at the ST. She got her masters at the University of Texas and is now working here for the UN. I think she's originally from Miami. Anyway, we didn't see each other much because she works a lot and I was usually gone all day as well. Also, her apartment doesn't have internet at the moment so I wasn't able to get online while I was there.

About a week before I moved out of the office, my publisher's son found a stray puppy and she ended up being adopted by the staff. She's a really cute yellow lab something or other, and we named her Mina, which means "babe" in Chilean slang. Anyway, she lived at the office for a while....and barked A LOT at night. Then she went home with Dan for about a week, but his wife got mad at her so she had to come back. So guess who took her home? That's right. Me. She spent a couple nights with me at Maren's place. That was definitely an adventure. The first night she was hyper and wouldn't calm down, and the second night she was much better, but decided to pee on my bed right when we got home. Yeah, lots of fun. A couple of other people took her home for a night or two as well. Now she's living out on my publisher's farm because he was finally able to take her there last weekend. She was a handful sometimes but I miss her.

Let's see, what else has happened? I've been having a lot of fun with the other interns, and my Spanish is definitely improving, although speaking and understanding are still difficult in certain situations. Oh! I've gotten to cover a couple of really cool events. About two weeks ago or so, my friend Anne and I reported on Chile Fashion Week, which was held out at the ritzy Parque Arauco mall in Las Condes (one of the rich parts of town). It was really fun. We got in free because we're members of the press, and we got to see all kinds of runway shows and even interview a few of the designers, including Chile's most famous designer, Rubén Campos. It was so awesome. The event lasted three days and we brought a photographer along for two of them (Kris from Holland on Thursday, Trey from Georgia on Saturday). We had a really great time. Last week I got to to a press breakfast with my friend Sara at a nice hotel. The event was held by an organization called Humanas, and they presented the results of an annual study they do on women's political participation in Chile. Chile has a female president right now--Michele Bachelet--and she's been doing a lot to bring attention to women's issues here. The results of the study were really interesting. A lot of the women surveyed said they wanted to get more involved in politics but felt like their opinions were brushed aside.

Last weekend I took a bit of a vacation and went to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso, two coastal cities right next to each other about 2 hours away from Santiago. My friend Jessica Taylor from A&M has a friend (also named Jessica) who's studying there right now, and we had been communicating over the internet for about a month before I went there. I was able to stay with her host family, and it was so nice. I had a really great time. Jessica was great, her host family was great, and I really liked Viña and Valpo. It was wonderful to get away from Santiago for a few days. I have to say, I liked Valpo better even though Viña is cleaner and a bit more upscale. Valpo just has a certain something to it. I think it's actually a UN World Heritage Site because of its very unique colorful houses and tradition of artsy grafitti. Jessica and I had a great time trudging up and down the hills and exploring the little winding streets. Hopefully I'll be able to get pictures up soon.

The day after I got back from my little trip, I moved again to my permanent apartment. It's right down the street from the office and I really like it. My landlady, Lily, is Chilean, so it's a good opportunity to practice Spanish. There are three other young people living there--a German couple and a girl from Oregon. Everyone is really nice, and I hope I can get to know them better.

The one truly frustrating thing that's happened lately is that last week or the week before, I opened a bottle of coke and it exploded all over my computer, and now it's sort of messed up. I tried to clean out some of the keys and wait for it to dry to see if that did any good, but nothing is better. So I have to find a place to get it fixed. That's one big reason why I haven't updated as much. There are computers in the office but right now we have a lot more interns than computers, even though several people have their own laptops. Hopefully I will be able to get everything sorted out soon so I can talk on Skype and upload pictures to my heart's content!

Well friends, I need to get going. Have a wonderful week. Ciao!

Besos y abrazos,
Helen

A New Link

2007-10-13T16:47:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,

Just a short update to give you a better link to the Times: http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/

I guess someone gave me one before that wasn't very up-to-date. Anyway, that one's a lot better. We have a weekend edition now too. Hooray!

-Helen

¿Donde está el agua caliente?

2007-10-01T17:14:00.000-04:00

Hola queridos,

Sorry for the lack of updates last week. Things have been really busy. I can't believe I've already been here over a week and a half--although sometimes it seems like longer.

So, when I last left you, I was planning on going to a birthday party for one of the editors at the office. Well, I didn't end up going, but I did hang out with Michael's Chilean friends Veronica and Javier (and their friend Mavel). They are WONDERFUL. We went to the big, shiny new mall in Las Condes, which is probably the nicest mall I've ever been to in my life. After a stop at the attached "hipermercado" (hypermarket), we strolled around for a while and ended up having coffee at a place inside the mall. Then we went back to Javier and Veronica's apartment, and they let me stay the night because I started feeling really sick. Apparently the water here takes some getting used to.

On Sunday the 30th, I had my first official staff meeting, or "pauta" as our publisher calls it. The meetings usually consist of Steve (the publisher) going through what's in the news that day, and Matt (one of the editors) assigning stories to translate, or features to write, or events to cover. People usually start out just translating business stories because they're supposed to be the least complicated. I've done that several times, and it's not usually very exciting. I now know how to say "budget" and "surplus" and some other random stuff in Spanish. However, I did get to do some cool things last week. On Sunday Steve said he needed two people to go cover an environmental event, and I decided to jump right in and volunteer. So Monday morning, I went with another intern named Trey to El Palacio de La Moneda (La Moneda for short), which is the seat of Chile's government. The directors of several environmental groups were meeting there to present their anti-nuclear energy plan to President Bachelet, and our goal was to interview them and see the exchange between them and Bachelet if possible. Well, the police didn't let any members of the press inside La Moneda, but we did get to stick a mic in their faces. That was pretty cool. Trey took pictures, and I got to interview the lady who put it all together. And by "interview" I mean that I asked her one question in Spanish and she talked for 5 minutes--which was exactly what we wanted. On the way back to the office, Trey and I stumbled a labor protest/strike, so we took pictures of that and talked to the president of their organization. Again, one question and a nice long answer. Perfect. Those people were having a lot of fun--confetti, good music, free coffee, all kinds of things.

On Tuesday night I went with Anne, the only other female full-time intern, to cover an event in the Plaza de Armas. The UN declared Oct. 2 the International Day of Non-violence, to draw attention the philosophy of non-violent resistance. There were politicians who gave speeches, people giving out free hugs, anti-war organizations, and two really amazing dance groups that totally stole the show. One of them was a children's group that danced la cueca, which is sort of Chile's national dance. They were great. Then later there was a 5-member indigenous women's group that performed several numbers. I think they might have been from Bolivia? Anyway, they were AWESOME. They had these really colorful costumes, with full skirts and hats that had feathers on the top and long, thin streamers coming off the brim. I got some cool pictures too:

The rest of the week mainly consisted of pautas, translating business stories, getting to know the staff, and trying to find a place to live. Which brings me to my next topic: I am currently still living in the office. But I have moved within our office space three different times. First I was in the main office, then Steve signed a lease on the apartment across the way so we could expand, and I moved to the front room over there. Then I moved to the back room for a couple of nights, and now I'm upstairs where our newsroom used to be. And yes, it's getting a bit old. However, I do have several leads on places to live in the area. Hopefully I will find something this week. I looked at two apartments today and I've got at least one appointment tomorrow--possibly more if I can get in touch with a few people.

Some of you may be wondering about the title of this post. In English, it means "Where's the hot water?" I had it my first few days in Santiago, but for most of last week it was quite elusive. Then a day or two ago we discovered that the gas canister that heats up the water for the shower was empty and needed to be replaced. So Steve and I went upstairs and hauled down a new one. Last week I also learned how to fix a toilet, thanks to the new place across the hall. Probably a good skill to have, no? [I just tried to remember what I had see my mom do several times when I was little, and it worked. So thanks, Mom :)] Hopefully whatever place I move into when I finally get out of this blasted office will be just a bit more upscale. Something tells me that won't be too difficult....

My Spanish is coming along alright, depending on who I'm talking to. Chileans speak incredibly fast and don't exactly articulate a lot of their words. Sometimes things go really well and sometimes I'm saying "¿cómo?" every five seconds. It's especially hard when I'm in a big group of people who are speaking rapid-fire Spanish and using plenty of "Chilenismos." I guess I feel kind of like this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngRq82c8Baw.

This past Friday, Anne and I went to this great street near the Plaza de Armas called Bandera that is lined with second-hand shops. We had a great time working our way down the street, sorting through the weird mish-mash of clothing that ends up in those places. Pretty much everyone on staff is a lot of fun. I've really enjoyed getting to know them. Javier and Veronica have been fanstastic as well. They've introduced me to a lot of their friends and on Sunday I tried their church for the first time, which I really liked. I even met two English-speakers: a Chilean guy named Fernando, who works for a couple of language institutes, and George from Nebraska who's been living here for almost two years now.

Also, here is the link to the Santiago Times website: www.santiagotimes.cl/santiagotimes. Some of the content is free and some it is subscriber-only. But don't worry--there's always some free stuff.

Hope you're all doing well!

Un abrazo (a hug),
Helen

Tarjeta Bip and New Friends

2007-09-29T12:40:00.000-04:00

Well, the last two days have been really busy. On Thursday night I hung out with some of the other Santiago Times staff members here at the office, and then went to sleep (I slept a solid 8 hours too--very nice). Then Friday morning I went with Steve to look at an apartment in a new high rise just a couple of blocks over. He and Dan (our radio guy) are looking into renting one in the building so they can stay late if they need to, because they both live kind of far away. After waiting around for a quite a while, we were finally able to look at a one-bedroom on the 15th floor (not the one Steve and Dan are considering). It was very nice, with a full modern kitchen, tv, big bed, wireless internet, fold-out couch, etc. The building also has a bbq area and a pool on the roof. The apartment we looked at is perfect for one person, but I think it's kind of expensive so I don't know that I'll take it. Afterwards I helped Andrea (another staff member) deliver some fliers that we make for tourists. We give them out to museums and other touristy spots (they're printed in English). It was nice to see a little bit of the city.

Later in the day I took the metro for the first time to meet a couple here that knows someone that my friend Laura Bruner knows. They're Americans who have been involved in ministry here for 18 years. Getting to our meeting place (a Starbucks, haha) was a bit of a challenge...first, I couldn't find the nearest metro station, and when I finally found it, I went to the counter to buy a Tarjeta Bip (reloadable metro and bus pass)...and of course I had trouble communicating with the lady at the desk. Finally, I got my card and got on the metro, which is incredibly clean, by the way. Unfortunately, the lady I was meeting had given me some incorrect directions, so when I got off I had no idea what to do. After asking for directions several times, I went back the other way on the metro, got off, and walked down Ave. Apoquindo to the Starbucks. Her husband was there too, so I got to meet them both. We talked for a bit and then I ended up going with Lori to pick up her daughter from school, and then back to their apartment in Las Condes (one of Santiago's neighborhoods). It's a really nice place, with a gorgeous view of the Andes. Afterwards, I took the metro back to the office (during rush hour--yikes) and was just going to hang out here but Dan invited me to come stay with his family. So I went. And it was great. He and his wife Pamela (who is Chilean--Dan is Ameican) have two little boys, ages 2 and 4. Dan's wife's cousin is staying in a room off their kitchen, and they also have a nanny (Mary) who's from Peru. Mary is my new favorite person. When I arrived last night, she made me some dinner, and then we sat and talked (in Spanish!!) for a long time. It's perfect, really, because I'm working on my Spanish and she's learning English. Her friend Claudia from Peru is staying there as well, so I got to talk to her quite a bit. This morning Pamela's mother and aunt came in town, so I met them too. Eventually I made my way back here to change clothes and rest a bit, but I think I am going to spend tonight there again. Also, I am going to a birthday party in a little bit and later I might meet up with some Chilean friends of Michael's...craziness!! Ah well, it's been good--except that my stomach has been acting up the past couple of days. Hopefully it will settle down soon.

And now, I must go change for la fiesta.

Ciao!
Helen :)

Estoy aqui en Santiago

2007-09-27T17:28:00.000-04:00

I'm here!

Today has been completely overwhelming. After a super-long flight (that was delayed a bit), we finally arrived in Santiago around 8 or maybe a little after this morning. I got to watch a bit of the sunrise from the plane, as well as get spectacular views of the Andes all the way down to Santiago....it was breathtaking. I've never seen mountains so big or so dazzling. Customs took a little while to get through, but there were no suprises or glitches. Then I got my bags, and realized that I had left my camera on the plane. So I talked to an American Airlines rep, and then waited for the cleaning crew to see if they could find it....which they did. Thank God. Then I gathered up my things, got a ticket on a little transportation van, and arrived at the office, and met my publisher (Steve). Steve has been living here for 20 years. He was here for the last 3 years of Pinochet's dictatorship, working with a Catholic human rights organization. CHIP (the Chile Information Project) and The Santiago Times sort of grew out of that. We had coffee at a little cafe called La Signora and talked for a while, then later I attended my first staff meeting. We have several Americans on staff, plus a couple of Brits, a French guy, a Dutch guy, a Danish girl, and a Chilean or two. A few people have been here for a while, but most of the people my age have been here two months or less. Afterwards I went to get my first emapanada with Rob, one of the British guys, and then I took a nap for two hours. I've chatted with several people here and they all seem really nice.

The neighborhood we're in is very eclectic--lots of different ethnic food and shops. The area across the river is a bit more posh, but I like where I am. I think there are plenty of apartments to be had around here too. Hopefully I can find a place soon, and maybe even live with Chileans. That way my Spanish will improve really quickly....which it needs to do. Honestly, I am not feeling very qualified for this job at the moment, but I think it will get better.

One thing that I noticed on my way in from the airport was the shantytowns. Hal told me about them this summer, but they still kind of shocked me. Definitely not something I'm used to seeing. Oh, something else that I'm not used to? We can't flush our toilet paper here at the office. Not fun. So yeah...I'm looking forward to getting my own place with better pipes.

My accomodations here at the office are better than I thought they would be. They're not very private, but that's ok. I've got a fold out couch if I want it, a mattress and boxspring, a full bath (the non-flush toilet paper one), and a kitchen. There's also a back patio with a lattice over the top that currently has jasmine blooming but will later have grapes. The shack in the back of the office is just off the patio, but it was turned into a radio station about a month and a half ago so I'm not sleeping there. All in all, it's a pretty good setup.

Here is a sunrise picture:

And a picture of the lovely patio:

I need to get going. Much love to all.

Helen

2 Days Out

2007-09-24T13:10:00.000-04:00

Well, in two days I'll be on my way from Dallas, TX to Santiago, Chile. My mom and I will drive up from Houston, and I fly out at 9 pm CT and arrive in Santiago at 7:45 a.m. I'm really excited...and yes I still have a lot to do before I leave.

Can't wait to start posting on here from Santiago!!

Love,
Helen