Chile adventure: So different but still the same in some ways.

So much to talk about today. I guess I'll just let it flow as it comes to me. Firstly, the trip to work on the metro from my new apartment went much smoother than normal. I live at metro stop U. de Chile. It's almost right in the middle of this diagram. All I have to do now is take the red line east and arrive at El Golf. I arrived at work in about 30 minutes. That's about half the time it took me last week. Schwoof. I'm glad I figured that out.

Metro Santiago de Chile

I was the first one to arrive to work and was greeted by one of my coworkers when she got there. Because there was no one else for her to talk to, she was nice enough to talk to me for a bit. We discussed how she has and ex boyfriend who lived in Sheridan, WY and what she did over the weekend. I mentioned to her that I found a place to live and the commute to work was much more comfortable. We talked about that for a bit. Then she said something about the book "50 Shades of Grey". I thought that was just a North American thing. What was odd is that I had seen someone reading it on the metro this morning. I had no idea it was so popular here though. She told me how all the world is reading it and that her family is sharing a copy between three of them. Whoever wrote that book must be feeling pretty good about themselves right about now. I'll just stick to my "Freakanomics" for vocabulary practice.

Yesterday when I was out and about learning the town, I was listening to people talk just like always. I actually thought to myself "Wow, these people have a word for everything" Duh. It's just another language, not caveman talk. Mastering a new language is complicated. I got to spend a lot of time listening to native speakers on Saturday. For the most part, I was able to keep up with the conversation. It took all my brain power to absorb the ideas in my mind. There was no energy left over for conjugating verbs and producing grammatically correct sentences. Also, when I was lost, I was super lost. They might as well have been speaking Germanese. At least I did better than last time. Slowly but surely, I'll get it.

The accent is very distinct here. Also words can have several meanings. The word "entendí" can mean "I understood" or "do you understand me?" depending on how it is employed. The actual words are spelled different, but it´s hard to tell the difference when it is spoken. Here´s another vocabulary word for the day: Monada - Stunner, cutie, beauty. I learned that word from my friend pictured below. This is us last week at Patio Bellavista.

Juan Pi Dampi and I

Also at Patio Bellavista, I found this high chair in the corner of an open air restaurant. The wording on it was really interesting so I had to take a picture. It says "'Law of the chair' n. 2,951 that establishes rest in a chair to the employees." That's such a good idea. Go Chile. They take care of their employees.

Ley de la silla - Law of the chair

Check out these cool Coke cans. I´ve found three different "Summer 2013" patterns so far. Why don´t they have these pretty things in the US?

Coca Cola light - Summer 2013

Now that I'm living here and I'm starting to figure stuff out, I figured I should get a phone. This little number below cost about $20 and came with $20 worth of talk time. That sounds like a good deal, right? If you can see the brand at the top of the screen, you'll notice that there are some asian characters. Asian products are big here. There are some car brands from that area here that we don't have in the US. I just learned of a new brand called Ssang Yong. It's from Korea, I've been told. They make some cute cars. A friend has the Korando. Anyway, back to the phone. I joke with people that it's my iphone 7. It's a very simple phone but actually quite handy. It has a camera (a bad one), an mp3 player, and even a flashlight. Plus I've only charged it once since I got it. It'll probably last a week or more with my use. It's very light and small. Whatever happened to those types of phones? Chileans are moving toward the huge smart phones like the US started to do a few years ago.

Notice the plug. Devices have two (or three) circular prongs. Outlets here are 220v. I have to use an adapter with everything electric that I brought, but there has been no trouble.

New phone

Finally, some pictures of my new home. Check out the rooftop view and the gym. I'm working on getting even more pictures for the next update. Stay tuned.