Here we have the Australas Familias Maximus.

Are these people for real?

We moved into our new apartment today.  It’s amazing what you can accumulate in a month.  Linen, towels, school uniforms, maps, library books all add to our earthly possessions.  Moving house involves shoving it all into a suitcase and backpack and making several one kilometre trips to the new apartment.

While traipsing back and forth we saw art students dotted about various streets sketching, presumably, the perspective of the buildings.  Taking a photo is all about freezing 1/60 of a second or even capturing 1/800 of a second.  Drawing a picture though is so much more forgiving.  It doesn’t matter if someone blinks or a car drives by at the wrong moment.  The artist doesn’t have to think in fractions of a second.  Though the pen may not be as accurate as film, I think that sometimes it can capture more.

We’ve moved into a one bedroom apartment.  There are several ways of looking at this.   Winter is approaching and we’ve heard that it can be bitterly cold here.  Having us all in one room will conserve heat loss.  Many a David Attenborough film shows a furry family bedding down together for the winter.

We do have views of the harbour and the more ramshackled side of town.  It’s a bit further away from the school but we’re near a working ascensor and for only CH$100 a person we can cut out 50% of the whinging when we go into town.  The building we’re in was built in at the beginning of the 1900s and shows the classic signs of Valparaisian architecture.  Corners do not have to be at ninety degrees.  The left side of the room can be higher than the right side and ceilings will be impossible to reach.

I am impressed with this little fellow’s desire to share the view with us.  It seems wrong to evict him seeing as he must have worked hard to get here.  If he doesn’t pay his share of the rent I’ll have to ask him to leave.

Remember the days of the old school yard?

There is something iniquitous about waking up, looking out the window and the city is as dark as when you went to sleep.  We didn’t wake up that early but the sun doesn’t break the horizon until after 7:30.

Today was the first day of school for both Indiana and Truce.  They seemed to share the same level of excitement and enthusiasm and neither child let on if they were feeling apprehensive.  The truth be known, and you’ve probably guessed this, Talluah and I were more nervous than our girls.

Everyone involved in their enrolment has made sure that we feel relaxed and we were given a tour of the school and allowed to peek in on Indi in her classroom.  She was engaged in conversation with the girl beside her.

Talluah had to go to work (more on that later) so only I could pick up las gringas.  Truce is in Pre-Kinder and finishes half an hour earlier than Indiana, this changes next week when Indiana’s school day goes to six hours.  Because it was Truce’s first day I was allowed to go in and pick her up ten minutes before the rest of the Pre-Kinders went out.  She insisted on keeping her back pack on even when I said that we had to wait for thirty minutes.  She even wore it all the way home.

She said that she had a great day and was happy to go back tomorrow but like all children couldn’t give any accurate recollection of the day apart from, we did some drawing.

We waited for Indiana and I saw her blonde hair long before I saw her face.  Indiana came out with the biggest grin on her face.  She pushed through the crowd of parents to me and said that she had had a fantastic day.  They're really taking the Spanish in their stride.

Indiana said that she had a crowd of students around her at lunch time and they even have English lessons twice a week.  She finds that very funny.

The best part is they both can’t wait to go back tomorrow.

Talluah was asked to help out today at a B&B and checked in a French couple who are in Valparaiso for just one night.  Their Spanish was better than Talluah’s Spanish but their English was worse than their Spanish and the husband would translate Talluah’s English into Spanish for Talluah to confirm he’d understood then he would relay the information to his wife in French.  There was lots of miming.

They also needed to park their large 4WD in the parking lot.  The streets of Valpo were never designed for large vehicles.  Driving down a dead end street is an act of faith in your abilities to be able to reverse out again.  Talluah guided the Frenchman out with his left hand drive car, which really changes your perspective on giving directions when you come from a right hand drive country.  He had to do a 17-point turn and with the undulating geography of the streets the 4WD often had only three wheels on the ground.  But for CH$2.000 a night for parking you can’t complain.

 

This one's for you Tez.

Chile is one of the more expensive South American countries but if you shop like a local you can save yourself a fortune.  We’ve been buying sliced bread (pan de molde) at the shops and it is about CHP$1.100 a loaf and weighs around 300-400 grams.  We’ve found a great bakery (panaderia) up the road from us and they sell the best bread by the kilogram.

There are two main types: amasado which is slightly more expensive at CHP$1.000/kg.  It is left to rise for longer than the second type: allullas which is sold for CHP$850/kg.  This works out to about CHP$50 per roll.

amasado

allullas

They bake all day and invariably the bread is warm when you buy it regardless of the time of day.  I told the shopkeeper how it’s the best bread around and asked if I could take some photos.   She walked me outside and told me to take a picture of the sign first.  Everybody likes a bit of free advertising. 

I must have made a bit of an impression because I was shown the oven.  Perhaps she was suffering from Hansel and Gretel syndrome?  We chatted for a bit and I told her I hadn’t bought any of the amasado so she gave me one to try – it was warm and perfect.

If you want to meet most of the population of Valparaiso, go to Jumbo on a Sunday.  It would appear that Sunday is the day for hitting the supermarkets.  We won’t make that mistake again.  The main reason we went out shopping was just to buy a needle and thread.

Karen has managed to source just about all of the uniforms that we need and on Saturday while I organised the rent and beds for the new apartment, Talluah, Karen and los niñas went shopping for the remainder of the items needed for school.  One of the dresses that Karen found for us needs a little bit of needlework on it. You’d think in a city this size it’d be easy to find needle and thread.  You would think...

Sunday is flea market day and we split up to search for needle and thread.  Talluah found what she needed.

There was one last preparation for school tomorrow.  It’s an all girls, Catholic school, complete with nuns who live upstairs.  I asked Truce if she knew how to make the sign of the cross.

She said yes and put her two index fingers as an X.  “It looks a bit like a T,” she said.

We’ll do some practice on the way to school manaña.

Valparaiso in 60 minutes.

We joined the library today.  Our library back in Oz lets us borrow 30 books per person.  Our new library here lets us borrow three books at a time.  Three books in Spanish are more than enough for us at the moment.  We’ll read them a few times each until we get the full gist of the story.

I went for a photographic expedition this morning and while walking through a different part of town a lady asked me if I spoke Spanish and then told me in English that I was in a dangerous area and to put my camera away. 

162 steps.

Just up the road there were three young boys playing soccer and here was a woman three quarters my weight and size, walking by herself telling me that I was in a dangerous part of Valparaiso.  Crime is more about opportunity than a subculture of masked bandits waiting around corners for passing gringos.

When free advice is given out it’s best to follow it.  Today's snaps show the variety of Valparaiso in an hour long walk.

Happy Birthday Jim.

We set an alarm today so we could be at the school in time to find out what’s happening with Indiana and Truce’s enrolment.  By chance, Karen (the patron saint of Australian travellers) was walking down the hill from the school as we were heading up to the school.  She listened to our tale of woe and immediately turned, “Vamos.”   She went with us to the school to make sure that we were pointed in the right direction and sat with us while we chatted with the Vice-Principal. 

The school has agreed to enrol the girls.  Indiana did a little air punch Yes! And the Vice-Principal told us that was one of the main reasons they had said yes – because Indiana had shown that she wanted to be there.  From what we can gather Truce’s teacher knows a little bit of English but the school and we both agree that we must all become fluent in Spanish as quick as we can.  They start classes on Monday.

This is the first time the school has ever had students who don’t speak Spanish.  We’re imagining what the school photos will look like with two little blondies in a sea of dark haired girls.  

Karen has once again taken us under her wing and will show us the best place to get uniforms and see if there are second hand ones available.  We’ve been so lucky having met the people from The Yellow House and Karen.  They have made our journey through settling in so much easier.

We’ve noticed a practise that takes place in the super markets.  For a two hour period around midday the supermarkets are usually very packed.  If a family or friends are out shopping they’ll split up and line up at several checkouts.  Which ever person is in the fastest line calls out when they’re about to be served and the other members of the party regroup in the fast lane.  Talk about cheeky.

Our current apartment.  We're on the top floor.

I walked into the SII building with photocopies of everything I thought I’d need to get my RUT.  With my Latin American phrase book I approached the counter where I thought you went to have your RUT processed.  The line said Entregar Cedula RUT, my translation of this is “deliver ID cards”.  I later worked out this means, this is where you pick up the finalised cards.

I spoke to the first lady and she pointed me to where I was supposed to go. I asked her where do I get the number for the queue.  She spoke to a second lady who spoke to a third lady who then pointed me to a forth lady.  I handed over my passport signed in two places and she printed out my number on a temporary card and told me to come back in three months for the plastic version.  I thought I’d heard her wrong, “Three weeks?”  “No,” she replied “Three or more months.”  The funny thing is that we’re not supposed to stay in the country for more than three months at a time.

So we’re getting through our list of things to do.  Run through the checklist with me. 

Fly to Chile – yes

Find an apartment – done

Get a RUT – check

School for the girls – yes

Find a job and or work visa – hmmm.  Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Trying to get into a RUT.

Every Chilean has a RUT (Rol Único Tributario) or simply, a tax identity number.  If you’re coming here on holidays you don’t need one.  If you’re coming here to work and live for any period of time it is vital to get one.  Even using prepaid internet on your computer requires a RUT.  Transactions like buying a car, house, electricity or phone connection is impossible unless you have a RUT.

A RUT is the first step for obtaining a work visa.  Anyone can apply for a RUT, it doesn’t grant you any special privileges or mean that you will be given any types of visa. 

The RUT application form is a piece of paper that is a foot long and completely in Spanish, legal terms Spanish.  This was more than Google Translate could handle. 

We caught a trolley bus over to The Yellow House (best B&B in Valparaiso) and asked them to help us with a bit of translation.  It turns out the form isn’t so scary after all. We’ve been warned that we’ll need copies of passports, birth certificates, school certificates, record of employment and one other thing that we won’t have on us and is difficult to find.  Tomorrow is a trip to the SII (tax office) building and wait in a long line and see how easy it is to be lost in red tape.

When Talluah left the school yesterday it was agreed, in English, for us to come back at two o’clock today to be told if the teachers would take the gringas.  We did so and had a frustrating conversation through an intercom system with a lady we hadn’t met.  She eventually came to the door but we were out of our depth and between the two of us could not explain to her that we had an appointment.  She told us to come back tomorrow – the first day of school – and talk to someone then.  In South America, when they say meet me tomorrow at two o’clock, it means: at some point in the future we will speak again.   

The library.  We love the high ceilings.

I think I just stepped in a Catch 22

Did a bit more job hunting today and finally spoke to someone higher up the food chain than a receptionist.  All the information we’ve read has said that you find a job and then your boss helps you get a work visa.  I was having an informal interview at this flash university that offers ESL and this is the new information: Most places won’t hire you unless you have a work visa but you can’t get a work visa until you’ve found a job.  Can you spot the flaw in this process? 

Now that we have long term accommodation, Talluah has been out hunting for suitable schools.  One particular school was recommended to us and Talluah met with some of the staff today.  The school has never had any students that can’t speak or understand a certain level of Spanish so there was some initial confusion trying to ascertain what it is that we want.  At first they thought we just wanted the girls to sit in on some lessons.  The Vice-Principal spoke English and once it was established that we wanted to enrol Indi and Truce in for full time schooling she said that she’d would have to ask the teachers if they’d be prepared to have the girls in their classes.

Talluah pressed the matter that Indiana and Truce had been sitting patiently for 45 minutes and showed them Indiana's report card.  As an aside, as soon as the Vice-Principal came out to speak to them after waiting for nearly an hour Truce decided it was time to start climbing like a monkey.  In hushed tones, Talluah reminded Truce that now was a time for impressive behaviour.  

The teachers that Talluah met with were worried it’d take Indiana and Truce too long to learn Spanish.  Children learn languages much faster than adults.  They looked at Indiana’s report card with disbelief.  They asked where were all the numbers and subjects.  Culture shock is a two way street.

Talluah got a good vibe from the school.  While she was waiting a student in her early teens struck up a conversation wanting to practise her English.  At the end of their chat she told the girls that if they do end up going to the school and if they have any troubles they should find her.  For a student to offer that sort of generosity is hopefully a reflection of the school’s ethics.

When we told everyone that we were coming to Chile the initial reaction was, “That’s cool.”  Pause.  “Why Chile?”  Hence the name of our blog, ¿Por que Chile?  We’ve found that people here ask us the exact same question.  Why are you here?

We have a standard list of responses about learning another language and culture, dropping out of our comfort zone and giving  our family the taste for adventure but after a month here Talluah has come up with a new answer, "To buy pretty things."