Wrap it up

I've got a few little things that aren't worthy of entire blog posts but that I do want to share, so here goes:

- My chin has healed amazingly well. I originally had a little crescent of a scar right on the underside of my chin. It was barely visible to anyone looking at me unless I tilted up head upward, and it definitely wasn't noticeable, so I was pretty happy with the outcome. For the first week or so I was pretty religious about using the emu oil, but then I started slacking off, even though the doctor has suggested using it until the scar was no longer pink. Well, whether it was emu oil or my body's healing powers, I now have even less of a scar. It still feels a bit bumpy when I touch it, but visually it's almost completely back to normal. Yay!

- I think my San Francisco post almost concludes my California posts. I do still want to put up pictures of our trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium because we saw so much cool stuff, but that might take me a while to get the photos organized. The fact is that although we were busy, I don't think that our activities were particularly blog-worthy. We spent a fabulous weekend in LA with friends, but I won't subject you to the hundreds of pictures that pretty much fall into one of three categories: girls ready to go out, girls by pool, token shot of boys because oh yeah, we like them too. I met my cousin's baby which was awesome - she had turned 2 weeks old the day I met her, and I can't remember ever holding a baby that small. We went to REI, and Rodolfo thought he had died and gone to heaven. He kept holding things up going "this is literally twice the price and poorer quality in Chile!" Hopefully his gloves, hat and hiking boots will tide him over until our next trip.

- Happy hour with Chris Guillebeau of The Art of Nonconformity was fun! He's a pretty inspiring guy to have a drink with. Although our passions differ - and in a lot of ways I'm still trying to figure out what my passion is, at least professionally - there's something special about sitting down with someone who is basing the entire structure of his life around doing what makes him happy. And his passport is damn impressive - twice as thick as mine and full of visas from all sorts of crazy countries I'll probably never go to. On top of all that he said he liked my writing, which coming from a professional writer was a big compliment!

This past week has felt rushed. Between getting back last week, going back to work straightaway and then spending the weekend at the beach, I hadn't really prepared to start a new week when Monday rolled around. Then I had two happy hours and a dinner - I know, woe is me - so I didn't exactly have much time in the evenings to get my life back on track. Today's to-do list has things like laundry and dishes but also, I'm ashamed to admit, unpack. Yes, that would be from the trip I finished 10 days ago. Oops. But my suitcase was full of summer clothes, so I haven't really needed them here, and that greatly reduces my unpacking motivation. I am happy to report that my suitcases are now empty and ready to go back into the closet where they live. Sometimes a busy, productive weekend day feels really good, and today is one of those days. As a reward for my hard work, tonight we have the wedding of one of Rodolfo's good friends. It should be a lot of fun since the whole group of guys will be there to celebrate the first of them getting hitched, and I'm looking forward to a night of drinking and dancing!

Visa frustrations

I guess I should add something to that list of things I forgot. In Chile - ok, in life, but especially in life in Chile - the best defense is a damn good offense. I blame my latest moment of wanting to kill someone on my trip home.

I have a visa sujeta a contrato. Basically, I am allowed to be in Chile because I have a contract. I now know that had I gone the route of a visa temporaria for professionals (ie. people with a university degree) I would have already had my permanent residence and would have been able to switch jobs to my heart's content, not that I wanted to, but I didn't know that in 2007 when I applied for my visa. Live and learn. With the visa I have, you have to wait two years before being granted permanent residence AND if you switch jobs before that, you have to reapply for the visa. Rather than just submitting your new contract you have to go through the whole hassle again and pay again, which is a bit of a headache, but it's one that I brought upon myself so I have no real complaints.

I came home from California to find that my visa had been approved. Yay! This meant that I had to pay and then make the trek to Extranjeria to get my visa stamped into my passport. Extranjeria, also known as "the place where foreigners hate their lives and seriously consider moving home." Long lines and big crowds do not a happy gringa make, but this time I was zen about it all. On Tuesday I brought a magazine and my iPod, woke up at 6:15, got there by 7:45, suffered in the cold until they opened the doors at 8:15 and was finally seen at 9:30, one hour after they opened. Unfortunately, I had to leave visa-less.

Why? Well like I said, I forgot that here, my best experiences have come when I have thought of everything that could possibly go wrong and made plans A-Z to deal with any of those potential hiccups. The notification of my new visa contained a catch: I needed to bring an apendix to my contract with a clause saying my employer will pay the appropriate taxes. I shot an e-mail to the person who gave me my contract and submitted my visa papers, and she said that such a clause was already in the contract. Figuring that she knew best, I guessed that perhaps the person who reviewed my documents had skimmed over this part and went with a copy of my original contract, ready to show exactly where it made mention of taxes.

Except, of course, the person who I so naively assumed knew what she was doing in fact did not. The woman at Extranjeria explained that while the clause said pretty much the same thing, the visa instructions say that it must be written exactly as shown. She checked with her superiors and tried to help me out, but in the end she said I'd have to go back another day with the appropriate appendix. "Mad" doesn't begin to cover my emotion - I was furious. How could someone have just brushed me off like that and not given me the document I asked for without being sure that I wouldn't need it? And how could I have been so silly as to blindly trust the person "in charge" of these things without double-checking against the instructions straight from the source and then demanding an appendix "just in case"? I know that when in Chile mode I would never have accepted "you don't need that, it already says something similar" because I know that bureaucrats don't tend to be big fans of "similar" as opposed to "same." But my mind was still in a place where if people don't know the answer they tell you so or check the instructions. This life lesson might not have been the most fun to learn (what lesson is?), but I do think it's something valuable that will help me throughout life - not every situation will work out for the best unless you do the preparation necessary to make sure that you've left no other option BUT for it to work out that way!

The upside is that next time someone else will be standing in line for me - luckily someone else at my company has to go next week anyway, and I think the woman who made me waste two hours of my (very early) morning felt bad about making me go again. And hey, it got me back in my Santiago mindset. Small-town California was fun, but I'm back in the big city - time to watch my purse, stop smiling at everyone and remember that what can go wrong without a doubt will unless I do something about it.

Alcatraz!

Rodolfo's friend who lives in Spain is going to be here any minute, so here's a photo recap of our super fun day in San Francisco, up to Coit Tower and out to Alcatraz. The trip we took was the night tour, which is slightly more expensive than the day tour but gives you the beautiful sunset. And I didn't include many photos of the inside, just one cell shot because it seemed silly to go to a prison and omit that. But with the gorgeous San Franscico skyline on a clear day, I'm much more interested in photos from outside. Enjoy!

Well, despite the fact that we just got back from a vacation, we're off again! This is more of a mini-vacation though: we're going to the beach to see Kyle, S and of course their dog Papi, Lola's best friend. Although I've mostly gotten over my sadness that two of my closest friends are about to flee the country for several months as they start their trip around the world, I'm definitely trying to take advantage of every minute before they leave. Hence this trip, since they've already given up their lease on their Santiago and are hanging out at the family beach house until they leave.

Ideally we would have gone for the whole weekend and had plenty of time to relax, but Rodolfo's team of high school handball players had a game today. Plus we hadn't seen his family since before we left for California. But now we're on the road, albeit an hour later than planned, and since I may perhaps have slept in until 12:30 today, I think I can handle a late night. Hey, after our trip and then having to go straight back to work, my body needed a good rest!

Hoping for no rain so that we can barbecue tomorrow and hoping that everyone's having a great weekend.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

The things I forgot

Even though I call Chile home, I've lived here for a total of over two years and I feel pretty comfortable here, there are some things that I forgot while I was away. The same happens to me with California and England, although I can't think of any particular examples off the top of my head, but I did notice a few things yesterday and today that have made me stop and think to myself "oh yeah, forgot about that!"

First, let's get the bad news out of the way.

I forgot how much men STARE. Yes, creepy man on the sidewalk this morning, talking to you. Actually, I kind of just forgot how much Chileans stare in general. Men, women, children, whether it's because I'm tall or gringa-looking or a woman or just because I'm a human, everyone's looking at me...and everyone else around them. I'm pretty accustomed to it, but after spending the past two weeks in California I could definitely feel the eyes on me today during my commute and even in the office elevator.

I really did forget just how cold it gets. My apartment, although it warms up nicely with the gas heater, is a freaking ice box in the mornings after the long, cold night. I got so cold going from the bed to the bathroom that I had to jump back under the covers before getting dressed because I was freezing.

That said, there are some good things that I've been reminded of too.

I always keep in mind how cute my little Lola is, but I forgot just HOW cute. When we left she was starting to get her winter coat, but now it's fully in and she looks like a shaggy little teddy bear. She got under the covers last night and licked our faces this morning, and I'm so happy to be back home with her.

I am also constantly reminded how great Rodolfo's family is. His brother not only picked up a bed for us while we were gone, he brought Lola back yesterday with all her things and was genuinely excited to see me. His dad called yesterday morning to make sure we'd gotten in ok and last night to ask how Lola was doing. These people are under no obligation to like me, I'm just some random girl their brother/son happens to be quite fond of, and yet they never fail to show me how much they care.

Now I'm off to meet Chris Guillebeau of The Art of Nonconformity. He's making his way to every country before he's 35, which involves some pretty crazy travel schedules, and he's in Santiago for a night. Having just completed a much less epic journey, I can tell you that while I admire his passion, I don't envy the hours he's logged on planes and in airports. I think for now I'll just live vicariously through his adventures.

Going going back back to Chile Chile

LAME post title, sorry. But since I should be packing and am just getting in some final procrastination, I didn't have time to think of something supremely creative. I really do have fun posts and fabulous pictures on the way.

First there was our trip to Alcatraz, which was really interesting and allowed for some amazing pictures of sunset over the Bay and the San Francisco skyline, two things which I love dearly. Then we went to LA for the weekend. Although those pictures may be less exciting to a disinterested audience - mostly it's just pictures of me looking really excited to be with my friends - I do want to document the fact that we are ballers and therefore took a limo filled with 20 of us out to bars on Friday, a fact which then required that we do nothing more strenous than sit in the sun and make frequent trips to the kitchen for replenishing supplies on Saturday. Yesterday we headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is COOL. Rodolfo and I had fun playing with the aquarium setting on my camera and trying to get a picture which would fully capture the cuteness of the otters. We couldn't, so you'll just have to go in person.

So there's all that, plus lots of commenting on other peoples' blogs, and if I were going to have wifi for the next 15 hours during which I will be trapped in a metal tube, I'd probably be just about caught up. Instead I will watch movies I never particularly wanted to see, read magazines whose saving grace is that they look marginally more interesting than Skymall and try to sleep enough to be able to actually work tomorrow. Exciting.

It's been a fast, busy trip home this time, and while I wish I could stay longer, I'm thankful that I at least got to pack as much in as possible. And although last night I got a little moody and sad, today I'm excited about the thought of seeing my puppy and...ok, that's mostly what I'm excited about. But with glorious summer and more people to see here and winter and work there, can you blame me?

Still alive

I have some awesome pictures from our trip to Alcatraz, but you can't see them quite yet. It's 11:30, a crazy busy day is coming to an end, and my boyfriend is patiently waiting for me to get off the computer so that he can discuss Michael Jackson's death with his friends over MSN Messenger. Tomorrow we go to LA for UCLA reunion weekend 09 (title: Champions' Weekend), and I cannot freaking wait but still need to pack and organize my room because I swear there's a bed in there somewhere under all the clothes. So I'm sorry I've been a crap blogger and will continue to be so over the weekend. But I can promise really good posts after that! San Francisco! Coit Tower! Alcatraz! LA! Pictures of sorority girls in matching shirts they made because they still think they're in college...oh wait, maybe those will only be interesting to me. Oh well.

Just wanted to check in and say that I hope you all have as amazing a weekend as I'm planning on having and that although I haven't managed to do everything I'd hoped for in California - and won't have time to do it all - I've decided today to ignore the things I didn't do and focus on all the fun I've had. That I promise I will soon blog about, just give me a couple more days to pack the last little bit of fun in :)