picada para la yoga

A new friend of mine just told me about these yoga classes. I'm not sure if it's 1.000 pesos the class or the month, but as soon as I try it out I'll let you all know. There are classes near metro salvador and others near metro manuel montt.

http://www.yogaluka.cl/

TEFL Courses and Work Visas

Heyya, so I'm wondering what you all know about online TEFL courses. Can anyone recommend one? I'm going to take one, I think it would be sooo great. I looked at the "i-to-i" one and it cost between $200 and $300, depending on the material I wanted. I checked out taking a TEFL course at Bridge Linguatec and this other place in Santiago where you go to classes. It costed *cough cough* $1500 for two weeks. Are you freaking kidding me? I s'pose if I had money to throw around I'd think about it. A semester at La Católica in Valpo was cheaper than that, like two thirds the cost, for A SEMESTER. Wow, I guess that's the business to get into, charging gringos for TEFL certification. I imagine, for some people it's worth it, but not for me. Anyway, so I'm looking into the online thing, I've spent many years of my life in classrooms and don't need the extra classroom time for $1200.

The other thing I was wondering...I've been on a student visa all this time, and I wanted to know what kind of visas do you all have? I'm not married. And I'm 6 months short of the 5 year mark when you can request a visa de residencia. So I'm looking at the visa de residencia temporaria which allows you to work and live here. Is that what some of you have? Is it difficult to get? Do I need a contract from a business to get it?

Okay well thanks for having a look at this.

Sex in the Ciudad? NAMESAKE

So I was thinking....this blog as an important title with an extremely obvious reference. This reference is now a movie which will hopefully hurry its ass up and get here to Chile. We should get a group to go, lord knows I need a dose of Sex in the City.
What do you say, ladies? Any takers? Anyone have more info as to when it's coming?

Cheap Books in English!

Hey everybody....get excited....Lori just sent me this link to Better World, which sells books in English for dirt cheap and ships them for just $2.97 worldwide. I haven't tried the website yet, but I'm definitely planning on it!

Just thought I'd pass that little dato along for you :)

check this out

Hey girls,

Anibal and I just signed up for an account with this company. Basically, you can order all the products you want (which you can´t normally get form the US shipped to Chile - electronic equipment, beauty products, etc through various online companies, Amazon, EBAY etc) shipped to an address in Miami and they then reship it to wherever you live in South America. It costs around 40$ maintenance for the year. The website is www.skybox.net

I´m getting my iphone at long last! :)

See all you girlies on Saturday, asado and booze, can´t wait!!

Love, me x

Gringa madness

Looks like we are going to have to rent Espacio Riesgo for the next gringa get together. Hahaha. I can't believe how many gringas there are here and with blogs! Kyle's started a movement. We are coming out of the woodwork or something.

I was at a baby shower the other day for a friend..the baby shower was delightfully co-ed. When have you ever drinken straight rum at a baby shower? I did, and it was a very tasty Venezuelan rum. Anyway, there was this Thai girl there, Porn Pian -I know quite the name, she knows what it means in English and goes by it anyway. We were talking a bit about living in Chile and she said there are only 30 Thai people living in Chile. I was like, no there's got to be more, and she said she'd talked to people at her embassy and they only knew of 30. That's not exactly our situation, is it?

Skype

Hey ladies! Just wanted to inform those of you who haven't heard, Skype has a new unlimited international calling plan for $9.95 a month. It's a pretty awesome deal, so I just signed up. Unfortunately it's only unlimited calling to landlines in Chile, not cell phones, but in the U.S. you can call unlimited to cells and home phones.

Just finished a two hour convo with my mom, gotta love it :)

I have a blog!

Hi ladies,
I just wanted to let you know I now have my own blog and am super excited about now being a serious participant in cyber world! Dorky, I know. But whatever, I figured you'd all get it, and perhaps even read it! I am still trying to figure out how to all the nitty gritty, like tagging and also how to put favorites or whatever. If you have any tips, pass them my way!
We gotta all plan another outing, and soon!

carinyo from an american keyboard

Tagging game

Hi guys (Thanks Emily for reminding me to tell you I'd tagged you!) just wanted to let you know that I tagged Kyle, Emily and Heather in a tagging game on my blog!

Hope you all had fabulous weekends! We got back from Viña last night and let me just tell you, it is FREEEEEZING there. About 10 degrees less than Santiago, so if any of you are planning to visit Viña soon, do wrap up nice and warm! :)

P.s: I'd appreciate any ideas for my blog title photo!

good ice cream in Viña?

Hey everyone, I was wondering if anyone knows of any good ice cream places in Viña, like of the home-made sort, along the lines of the heladerías El emporio la rosa or Il Maestrale that are here in Santiago. Any suggestions?

Books and Booze

I had so much fun with everyone last weekend! We definitely need to repitir sooner rather than later.

So Heather and I were talking today and we thought it would be fun to do a book exchange. I have lots of good stuff to loan out and I'm dying for new material to read...

Maybe we could do a books and booze partay. If we all bring wine and literature I think that would make everyone pretty happy :) This time it could be just us, no parejas, what do you guys think?

WordReference.com

Heyya gringas,

It just occurred to me that you guys may be interested in this online dictionary (WordReference.com), if you haven't already come across it. I found it about a year and a half ago and have pretty much been living there ever since. For example, I just found "dientes de dragón" on it. This is a common stirfry ingredient in Chile but not in the States (as far as I am aware of) so I didn't know how to translate it to English. Turns out it translates as "soybean sprouts". The beauty of the dictionary is that if the word or expression you are looking for isn't in the dictionary than you can post the expression in English or Spanish (or other languages) and people will tell you what it means. There are few words the other members haven't been able to translate for me, one of them is "voguing". But I've had hundreds of words and expressions translated there. And since there are thousands of people logged on during the day, the translations generally are pretty quick.

Also, here are a few chilenismos dictionaries, just in case. This is my personal fave, though it's all in Chilean spanish: http://www.mainframe.cl/diccionario/diccionario.php?palabra=maca&accion=Buscar

Here is another, but in Chileno and English: http://www.quewea.com/slang.php

Here's a list of some phrases and an endorsment for a book: http://www.joeskitchen.com/chile/culture/slang.htm

Feel free to add any other resources you guys have found that help.

Saludos!

Sex in the Ciudad Get Together

Mujeres, some of you have never even met each other...that is unacceptable! We really need to remedy that problem. I'm thinking a big night out at a bar while we all get pissed (yes, Tamsin, I'm stealing your awesome British word) will really help us feel comfortable together :)

And conveniently tonight I was watching the Travel Channel's top 5 bars in all of Latin America. They named Opera Catedral here in Santiago as the #3. Check out the website here. It looks pretty awesome!

Leave a comment on this post and say what weekend you'd be available to go out. I know Emily W. has friends in for two more weeks. But, maybe her friends want to go to one of the best bars in the continent, who knows.

Pokemones

Newsweek has a pretty interesting and highly inaccurate article up about the Pokemones trend here in Chile, which I'm sure you've all noticed by now. Read it here in English. Or if you are a random person reading this blog and want to find it in Spanish, Chile Liberal has the translation.

Get together?

Hi all! This seemed like the best way to get in touch with everyone - as I think the newest here I don´t have e-mail addresses for most of you. I for one would love to meet the girls I don´t already know (and see the ones I do again)...anyone up for a get together of some sort? I can usually do weeknights after about 7:30 or we could try for something on a weekend. Thoughts? Does meeting up in the general Providencia area work for people?

Apologies for what may be the dorkiest blog post ever, if someone has contact info for everyone we can move this conversation into e-mail and I´ll delete this! And I promise to post more interesting things in the future :) Hope everyone´s well and hoping to see/meet you soon!

The Dropping Dollar

Just in case anyone else has been worried about the dropping dollar, I came across this little article that actually has some reassuring news.

The dollar's dramatic slide is scary. It's part of a nasty downward spiral. The weak dollar is sending investors scurrying to commodity markets...oil, gold, grains and more...in hopes of earning higher returns. That fuels inflation, squeezing profits and consumers, discouraging spending and further weakening U.S. economic growth. The buck probably has further to slip with the euro rising past $1.60 and the yen likely to hit its highest level since 1995. But the dollar isn't in free fall. And there's little reason to fear a collapse. The U.S. economy remains structurally sound,though slowed. And if big global investors tried to dump much of their greenback holdings, the rest of their portfolios would crater. In fact, a healthy rebound is certain. The buck is already below a justifiable level. Something close to $1.40 against the euro makes a lot more sense, given the hard facts.

The big question is the timing of a rebound. It’ll take months...and a turnaround may be as far off as the end of the year. The key: Positive U.S. news, or at least a halt in the steady march of negatives. Investors need a reason to quit reacting to every drumbeat by shifting assets out of dollars into other currencies or commodities. Facts are the best antidote to psychology...the best way to fight fears. That should come this summer, with stronger third-quarter growth. Also needed: An attitude adjustment by the European Central Bank. Inflation remains its top concern, not the Continent’s sluggish growth. ECB interest rates won't drop...and they may even tick higher...as long as that's the case. And with the ECB and the U.S. Federal Reserve headed in opposite directions, the gap between the dollar and euro will widen. The Bank of England and the Bank of Canada, in contrast, trimmed rates, and the value of the dollar against the pound and loonie has stabilized. Eventually, inflation worries will ease, soothed by a combination of slow growth reducing demand for commodities and signs of a U.S. pickup. Meanwhile, the Fed is trapped. It can't halt the dollar’s drop. In fact, its efforts to buoy economic growth only feed the decline. Interest rate cuts make the euro and other currencies more attractive and also increase liquidity, fueling inflation and that downward spiral.

Bottom line: The fall isn’t over, but there’s no need to panic.

Via the Kipplinger Letter.

Thunderstorms

Hey girls, what an amazing thunderstorm!!

I hope you're all cuddled up and cosy inside with your loved ones :) We're about to order some Chinese...

Forget Wayo's Gyros

AAAAAAAAAAH! Forget anything I ever said about Wayo's Gyros. Today there was an entire chicken foot in my salad. Asqueroso!

Won't be going back there for lunch anytime soon. Subway it is, I suppose. It's healthy and there are no body parts in my food.

photo!

Thought I'd post a picture of the four of us from last weekend at Kyles birthday party (from left to right: Emma, Kyle, Tamsin and Amanda).

Shame many are missing :( but we can always take another photo again soon.

Wayo's Gyros

Wayo's Gyros are delicious and located right by where I live -- in between Metro Manuel Montt and Metro Salvador right on 11 de Septiembre.

They are so good. In case you aren't sure what a gyro is this guy has a picture of one from Wayo's., it's like a pita sandwich, with lettuce, tomato, garlic yogurt sauce, parsley and your choice of chicken or beef (I think? I'm not sure, I always get chicken). Wayo's Gyros only sells gyros and gyro salads (all of the above ingredients plus Parmesan cheese and olives). A gyro plus a big drink will run you $2,000. They are huge, so I feel like that's a pretty cheap price!

I'm obsessed with this place, I can't get enough. Seriously, I've eaten there for lunch every single day this week :)

And best of all, I just discovered that they deliver. 235 0907

Flaite entero aweonao

So I was walking home from the pool today along Alameda, my 25-foot long shadow before me, and I noticed someone following me. Half of his shadow was in front of me as well. So assuming he would get a clue, without looking back at him, I strongly veered left and his shadow did too, so then I veered strongly back to the right, and his shadow was still following me. So to make it really clear to him that I wasn’t a tourist, completely oblivious to flaites, I turned around, began walking in the opposite direction and looked back at him to make sure he didn’t follow me. At this point I started to get a little freaked out and looked for a paco and started planning what to do in case this dude tried something. Luckily he didn’t follow me. I took a micro back the direction I was originally going and tried to spot the guy. He had on a pink button-up shirt. But I didn’t see him. I would have enjoyed chewing him out, but was afraid he might pull a knife or something. I suppose I did what I could do. On my way to the micro, I ran into a cop, but the sketchy dude was no longer near me so I didn’t even bother telling him. What's the point? Santiago's got lots of flaites.

Anybody else have to deal with this before? Usually a flaite lays off right away if I notice him (or her), but this dude was either entero aweonao or he didn't care.

¡Aloha!

Hi everyone! I must say this is a great idea to have a blog for the long haul traveler. It can be pretty difficult living abroad, though I enjoy it most of the time. Well, I´ve been in Chile for a few years studying Hispanic Literature and am about to finish, God-willing. I lived in Valpo for a couple years which was absolutely awesome. What a beautiful city! (You do have to accept the dirtiness to enjoy it). It’s such a creative, artsy city, has good nightlife (Valpo's full of universities) and beautiful hills that make for great paseos. The ex-cárcel is a great cultural space where people hang out and sometimes there are concerts and other events there. I saw the best human circus of my life at the ex-carcel. It was beautifully silly, incredible and intimate with a sort of existencial ending, not to mention the circus people were sharing this big renovated house in the port where I lived with several good friends I met there. So we got to know the circus performers and their kids for like two weeks before we actually went to their fabulous show. Los mil tambores was another great cultural plus to Valpo. When I lived in Cerro Alegre, I could hear them drumming from Playa Ancha (that’s a long ways away). In Valpo, there are bars and houses hidden in little nooks in the hills and more bars and discos in the port.

Anyway…so my boyfriend Vuko and I have been dating for a few years. He’s from Viña and is the reason I’ve been living in Santiasco for the last two years. That’s when he found a job here and we relocated to Chile’s lovely capital. So I traded this artsy port city with sensational views of the Pacific for molotovs, guanacos and tear gas, Transantiago and smog. But it’s worth it because I get to be with Vuko. Santiago does have it’s good side which includes Vuko, my friends who live here, my capoeira group, hot weather (I´m making up for all those 40 below zero days I suffered in Northern Minnesota), the Santiago library (I recommend a visit—it’s something Lagos got right), the National Library, el Barrio Lastarria, lots of yummy restaurants and fun bars, and the sweet swimming pool I found the other day.

I´m an ethnologist aficionado or maybe a culture addict and a geophiliac. I can invent hordes of interpretations and comparisons of US and Chilean cultures and throw in a splattering of Spanish experiences as well. My favorite topics to talk or gripe about in no specific order are jotes, pedestrians, food, places, dancing, parties, smog, clothing, health and diet, entre otros.

I´m looking forward to getting to know you all and hearing about your experiences.

Bienvenido!

Hello ladies!

Lovely to be here and to be part of this very exciting new group of Chilean-men-(and-Chile)-loving people! Well, my name is Tamsin (or Tam, or Tams, or sometimes even Tam Tam) and definitely NOT Tapsin which is a very well known brand of cold/flu medication here; when I first introduce myself to Chilean people I always get a funny look as they seem to be completely incapable of differentiating the two names. And no it's really NOT funny.

Anywho, I left the UK in January (just as Winter arrived in its full frosty glory) and arrived into Santiago to be with my fiancee, Anibal (prounounced Aneeehbal).

It's been just over a month and I am slowly starting to settle nicely into Chilean life. Lots going on at the moment so life is pretty good. And especially since meeting these fellow girlies. It's good to know I'm not the only loony who packed up, left home all in the name of sweet love.

Do bear with me as I'm still pretty new to the country and will no doubt be posting a lot more in the months to come. . .

For now, I'm going to enjoy my palta on toast (typical Chilean breakfast of avocado on toast, delish) and enjoy the Santiago sunshine on my balcony...

Hasta pronto!

Tamsin

Gyny/Obstet/Paediatrician Recommendations

Hello all!

I'm Rachel from London who came to Chile for a love that's still going strong. Apart from the odd impasse as they say.

It's excellently brilliant to have this blog specially for foreigners going out with/dating/engaged to/married to Chilean men, it's just what I needed when I arrived in Chile 2 and a half years ago to be with my then-boyfriend and now-husband.

Unfortunately I'm only going to 'need' it for 2 more weeks as we're off to a new life in Shanghai, but I'm going to be reading it whilst I'm there. Oh no I'm not, there's The Great Firewall of China that blocks Blogger. I will find a way.

So, before I go, and being a Baby Mama, I'd like to pass on a couple of numbers that will be of use to all of you whether babied up or not.

The first one is the best gynecologist/obstetrician in Santiago/Chile. He is called Rodrigo Hess, he speaks fluent English and is, although quite 'business like' rather than lovey dovey, a consumate professional. He was my surgeon when I had 2 cysts removed from my ovary 2 years ago and left no scars. Then 8 months ago, he was my gyne/obstetrician throughout my pregnancy and the surgeon who performed my C-section when the gorgeous Bella came into our world. He is amazing - don't bother going elsewhere. I did and Rodrigo wins hands down.
His address is 1407 Manqueue Norte (opposite the back of Clinica Alemana) and his surgery reception phone number is 02 201 9661.

The second one only applies to those of you with babies.
As soon as a baby is born here, it goes from being Rodrigo Hess's preoccupation to being that of the paediatrician. I have tried 4. The first 3 were rubbish, handing out medicines left right and centre to our newborn baby just to make my husband (also called Rodrigo like what seems like 50% of Chilean men) and I feel better.
Then Marcial Osorio was recommended to me. He's slightly less 'business like' than Rodrigo Hess, but again, not lovely dovey at all. I far prefer this manner - you can really trust them as they don't pander to your panicky needs as a new mother unless there's a reason to. He speaks a tiny bit of English and loves the Beatles, so if you're English I hope you've been to Liverpool. I haven't and he's never recovered from the disappointment.
He is based in the Pueblo Ingles (again opposite the back of Clinica Alemana on Manqueue Norte) and his surgery reception phone number is 02 218 2395.

Oh and if you want to get your baby's/child's eyes checked out, I've also found the BEST opthalmologist/optician who's a baby/child eye specialist. He's called Eduardo Villaseca and he speaks perfect English (it can be quite reassuring in certain medical situations to know that the communication is easy and clear). He is based at Clinica Las Condes, Building 3, Floor 4. His surgery reception phone number is ... oh bugger I've deleted it. I will try and find it and get back to you. But you have the address for the meantime.

On the subject of all things medical (can't believe I'm an expert in it and not even a hypochondriac). I've been to Clinica Las Condes and Tabancura and Clinica Alemana is BY FAR the best. It is like a 5 star hotel. Having had an operation and a baby there I can't recommend it highly enough and they're far kinder than at CLC. They actually made having a baby easy. And how many people can say that? Go there. Punto.

Right, well, I'll be off. When I think of other things to pass on, I will post them here.

Actually, I've just thought of one. As you've probably realised, clothes shoppping ain't up to much in Santiago. Go to Ripley in La Dehesa. And Zara in Parque Arauco. Oh and Bebe is the best baby-things shop (Manqueue Norte again) and Mimo and Zara baby (both in Parque Arauco) the best baby clothes shops. But I have found that buying everything in England each time I go to be the best option.

I would love to be able to recommend book shops. But they're not numerous, not great and so expensive you won't want to buy the books that they do have anyway.

Hope some of that's of use. Hasta luego folks.

*Edited by Kyle

I thought I'd add to Ray's incredibly helpful post. I've been to two other hospitals in Santiago as well, the Clinica Universidad la Catolica, and Clinica Santa Maria. I would definitely not recommend going to La Catolica, Santa Maria was far superior and only a bit more expensive.

Speaking of costs, if you're moving to Chile and don't have health insurance, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Health care is NOT expensive here. By Chilean standards, if you're making a Chilean salary, yes, going to a good clinica is pricey. But if you have money saved up from the U.S. you'll be fine. I went to the emergency room, had a doctor come to my house, and then went twice to the best throat specialist in all of South America (plus meds, and labs) and all total my cost was under $500.00.

Anyways, just thought since the topic was similar that I'd add the little information I have :)

Welcome to Sex in the Ciudad!

Hello ladies,

Here's the new blog for awesome women living in Chile/married to Chileans/with any random connection to Chile.

Use it to post helpful hints for other expats or if you want to invite everyone to an event, or just to piss and moan about things you hate here :)