Blogs from Vitacura, Santiago Region, Chile, South America

Have you ever fallen in love with a country so much that you wished you could live there forever? Believe me or not, that’s what I felt about Chile after an amazing 10 days journey in this beautiful country. We travelled from top to bottom in Chile, and I enjoyed every moment of it. I know this sounds a bit impractical, but I felt that I blended so well with the lifestyle as if I had been living there so many years. Despite my language barrier, I enjoyed company of the common people, places like Punta Arenas and San Pedro made me feel home, I could watch the beauty of Torres del Paine for eternity. Somehow, I found a mental bond with the country. Spending noontime in a food court in Santiago Mall or asking subway ... read more

So I started writing an entry a few weeks ago, as I really feel this whole COVID situation deserves an entry, but I think I was in a dark place, so when I reread it after writing about 1,000 words I decided that you know, it wasn't really in the spirit of what I had been writing in here...not to say I'm in a "bright" place right now (well it is very sunny outside), but it's less dark, and maybe this will be a bit on the lighter side. Well really, there's not a lot to say on the travel side since my last entry...mainly just travel cancellations...we did get squirrely after spending about 3.5 straight months in the house in a government mandated quarantine (minus a few days in April), and traveled back to Canada ... read more

So April 23rd marks 8 full months that we have been in Chile…it is also probably 2-3 months longer than I think I have ever been away from Canada before, so the topic of homesickness is on my mind. My previous longest stretch was probably 6 months back in 2001, when I spent a semester abroad “studying” in Sweden (quotations author’s own)…admittedly, with this experience I am working harder, and probably drinking less, despite the more reasonable prices for alcohol in Chile vs Sweden, adjusted for inflation…actually, you may not even have to adjust for inflation. Anyhoo… I think I mentioned to someone that homesickness goes in waves. There can be days or weeks where I think nothing about it, and I have no issue with the fact that we are here, and life is different, ... read more

What an existential title right? It was either this, or my second idea for a title was how the f*ck does electricity work anyway, because really, I have no idea. But I figured, I really wanted to hook those deep thinkers in the crowd, or maybe just the philosophy majors. So relating to that title of the post, an important event of the last few weeks was…cue “Celebrate Good Times” from Kool and the Gang…our shipment arrived from Canada! And I have to say, as much as I loved that little leather white couch being our only piece of furniture in our living room, man is it great to have our stuff. About a week and a half ago our things made it through customs and came to our house. Many thanks to Steph and her ... read more

I suppose there a little things about everywhere you go and make you stop and go “wait, are you serious?” And so I don’t know if I mentioned this, but next week is the Fiesta Patrias in Chile (Father Party?) which is to celebrate when back in 1810 Bernard O’Higgins chased the Spanish out of Chile...and maybe they then drank green beer, but I doubt it, but all I know is that the country is shutting down next week for holidays. So its a little bit like St Patrick’s, but without the Irish, and with Chileans, and three times as long (there’s three days off). So that’s not the thing that made me go “wait, are you serious?” - as a Canadian, I think we could probably use three days off to celebrate the birth of ... read more