Sabbatical in Santiago--the adventure begins!

We are in Santiago!  Now that we’re ensconced in our Providencia apartment, and have gotten the basic lay of the land (meaning that we walked to a restaurant and we know where the closest grocery store is!), I’ve been reflecting over the final push of getting ready to leave Pittsburgh.  Hands down, the highlight was taking 10 minutes out to have an improv jam session with the girls.  We were sending Bear’s cello back to the rental company because when we return from Chile we will be purchasing her next cello.  So just before we boxed up her old cello, she wanted to have one last play.  Bugs joined in the fun with her violin, and it was an absolutely sweet oasis of calm and fun amidst the rest of the madness of packing, cleaning, lists, and deadlines.

Although we didn’t have anything catastrophic happen on the trip, we did manage at least a tiny dose of drama.  Before we boarded our first flight in Atlanta, the airline informed us that we needed to have actual proof that we were going to be leaving Chile at some point during our stay (the max tourist visa is for 90 days and our stay will be just longer than that).  We knew we would need to leave and re-enter the country at some point, but didn’t realize that we had to have proof of our plans in advance.  We have been planning all along to make a long weekend trip to Buenos Aires, and thus naturally break up our Chile stints into two segments that were each shorter than 90 days.  However, the airline led us to believe that they wouldn’t let us on the Santiago flight unless we had documentation.  So about 15 minutes before we boarded the Pittsburgh-Atlanta flight, Jonathan was frantically buying e-tickets for our Buenos Aires trip.  I don’t think we’ve ever, in the history of our marriage, planned an international family vacation so speedily and concisely!  At any rate, I can now announce that we will be in Argentina from March 12-17!  As it turns out, no one even blinked or bothered to ask us anything about this issue—not boarding the Santiago flight nor at Chile immigration.  However, we now have one less thing to arrange for later!

Here is our embarrassingly huge stash of luggage:  5 checked suitcases, a huge box with the digital piano, two big packpacks with all our trekking gear, four small backpacks, a carry-on suitcase with all my music, plus Bugs' violin.  Since we normally travel with one carry-on suitcase plus a small backpack apiece, this just felt absolutely ridiculous!

Have instrument, will travel

On the 10 hr flight to Santiago we were in the center section of the plane, but because the plane was not very full, we managed to score two whole rows of seats:  Jonathan and I had 3 seats, and the girls--right behind us--also had 3 seats.  I’d love to be able to say that this translated out to us all sleeping ALL NIGHT and arriving in Santiago feeling rested and refreshed. 

However, that would be a lie….

Despite being tired on arrival, we blasted through customs and immigration, got our monstrous mountain of luggage and made it to our apartment in record  time—so soon that the landlady wasn’t expecting us for another hour!  She is a very friendly and sweet woman and was happy to let us crash on the couch while she finished turning over the apartment for us. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent finding food, and of course taking a dip in the pool in our apartment complex.  We haven’t quite figured out the best place to buy groceries, but we did find a place that was able to supply us with enough for dinner last night and breakfast this morning.  Jonathan did the grocery run and his assessment was that although the store was the biggest anywhere around, it made our tiny Giant Eagle in Squirrel Hill look like a Costco.  Haha!  I have a thing for small grocery stores, so I will probably love it.  However, we may have to actually take the metro to a bigger store to get certain things now and then.  Today we’ll get a better feel for what’s around so we can hopefully fall into a rhythm.

Our apartment is tiny and perfect.  It would be great if there were more hooks to hang things on, and more strategic storage, but the space is plenty big enough for us and all our stuff.  We got completely unpacked and our luggage miraculously fit into the various closets so that we don’t have empty suitcases cluttering every room. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the heat.  Oh my!  It is so hot here that the girls nearly died when we walked into Bellavista (our little neighborhood) to find a late lunch.  Between the heat and being tired from the flight, they both fell dead asleep at the table while waiting for the food!  I nudged Bugs when the food came.   She sat up immediately, downed her whole plate of penne pasta in about 2 minutes, and fell straight back to sleep.    Thankfully it cools down considerably at night so we were completely comfortable and even used blankets.  Jonathan headed out for a run this morning while it was still in the 50s, but it’s heading up to 91F  later today.