House hunting....gets scary.

In my hunt for a new place, I asked the lady who owns the cabanas to give me some help. She has some relatives who have cabanas a bit out of town so we had to drive. Keep in mind her car has no seatbelts in the back. First we drove out to a number of different entrances at which she would honk the horn alot then when no one answered she would move on assuming she was in the wrong place. Finally we end up in a small neighborhood where she proceeds to drive through honking her horn for someone to comeout so she can ask them where the place is she is looking for. I have been told that honking in Chile is not disrespectful like in the states. Judging from the look on the guys face who finally came out to answerr the beaps, he isn´t from here, because he looked awfully pissed off. Nevertheless, the people and we had passed the entrance. Now things get exciting. She proceeds to pull back onto the freeway (not little road) on the wrong side and start heading down the raod in the wrong direction. I am freaking out and trying to politely explain to her that she is on the wrong side. There are cars coming at us honking. She simply pulls over and then gets back on the wrong side and continues. In the end we did survive without being in an accident. I was glad for the cheap wine after that!!!!

I ended up deciding to go with the first cabana I looked at. I believe it is where God wants us, it is what we need nothing more or less. It is tiny(about 500 sq ft), but fits our needs. It has 2 bdrms one with a queen and the other a full and a set of bunkbeds. It is an excellent price and right by the lake with room for the dogs. I can not wait to move in Monday. No fire place, only a gas heater and stove. This means no more building fires ands getting burns. Figures, I finally got that down to a science. I am an excellent fire starter now.

I am not used to the lack of personal space. People are much more touchy feeling and closer here. I have choosen a meat store, veggie stand, and grocer who are my favorite. I am still experimenting with cheese stands. Found one yesterday that I liked. I plan to do a post on food soon. I am still struggling with not having Ken here, but knowing it should be only another week or so is helping a great deal. Also looking forward to getting into my new surroundings. OH yes it has not rained in 3 whole days, this helps also.

Observations

I was out jogging yesterday when I happen to see steps up the side of the hill. So yes I climbed them. When I reached the top and turned around. There are not words to discribe the beauty and I did not ha ve my camera. I was above the clouds resting on the lake surface. And there sticking up clear and proud was the gorgeous snow topped volcano skirted all in soft white clouds. I was in awe!!!! I thank God for this beauty. This was a picture I will keep treasured in my mind. I hope to take Jesse, Ken and the kids up there one morning and hopefully it will be just as wonderful.

The sun came out the other day so that made it laundry day. OOPs gotta go talk to my honey.

I am up today

Ok so my mood has improved. It is still raining. Started raining yesterday before I made it home. Home, that word is being used very loosely. A few things. I have figured out I do not have enough to do. If I was busier, I would have less time to drell on the fact that I miss Ken horribly. I have figured out that in order to have a HOT shower I have to turn on the cold water in the sink. I have perfected making oatmeal. Made brownies today...no recipe or measuring utensils. They are eatible but taste more like choclate cake. The kids are enjoying playing with Carmen´s grandchildren. Although, there have been some comunication problems. I really need the sun to come out so I can do laundry. Need clean cloths.



The lady I am renting from informed me yesterday that she has rented my cabin to someone else on June 1st, so this week is find a place. This should help keep me a bit busy. I have to find a place and pack our few belongings. Then next week I will be spending it getting settled in a new place. By then the guys should either be here or be really close. I am beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Just so long as the truck is not delayed. I may Have a complete breakdown if that happens. Cross that bridge when we come to it.

Ok so somebody in the internet cafe I am in is smoking, yuck!



I have eaten lunch twice and had pebre. It is sorta salsa. Funny thing is they were both very different. The first one was onions and cilantro with a bit of tomato. The second was almost all tomato with some cilantro and very little tomato. I like them both very much. It is funny, because we had lunch yesterday and ordered a hamburger and rice. We got a cooked hamburger patty and some rice. It also came with a salad, lettuce and steamed cold cauliflower with a white vinegar and oil dressing drowning it. It was not bad just different. I am actually able to go out and order food now.
I guess that is about all I have for now.



We are headed to a friend house later today and will spend a few hours there. Hopefully we can get a paper and try to find a place to rent. I know of one place, but it is 3 hours away.

I am still here

Not much time...computer broken using internet cafe. Rain stopped for today. Cloudy like my mood. I miss mey husband deeply and all the wonderful veggies and cheap meat are not helping. And with all the pastry shops around, this is not the place to be when you are depressed. That is about all I have to report. Perhaps something wonderful will happen to me soon and i can tell you all about it.

Big Leaf

I thought this leaf was huge. It was on a tree in the yard of a friend of my brothers and now mine also. Virginia is loving it here. It was a wounderful day after being locked up with the terrential down pours Sat. The sun came out Sunday and it was beautiful. We spent the whole afternoon and evening with friends . I feel refreshed and recharged. I needed some socializing. Got to go to Pucon and see some incredible mountains. This is such a unique mix of geographical elements.

What a view to wake up to.

This was the incredible view from a friends house Sunday afternoon. This is Lake Villarica. It truely is an enormous lake, surrounded by Volcanoes and montains.

Rain,rain,rain

The weather today...you guessed it, rain. Not a gentle sprinkle. We are talking tropical storm down pours and west texas wind. We are not leaving the cabana today. So what do you do in a small cabana with 2 kids and no toys and very little else, eat. Not a good plan but it happens. What do you eat, bread of course, it is so plantiful. I can feel my thighs growing. We bakes oatmeal raisin cookies this morning. They turned out good. We tried an imprvised pound cake...not so good, but etible. Of course when trapped inside with nothing to do most things are etible. Hehehehe! Good theing I have meat for supper. Weather forcast is better for Sunday and Monday. I will try to get a jog or two in while the weather is improved, if that actually happens. I have a serious ant infestation in the cabana. I will tell Carmen today or tomorrow, doubt she will do anything about it. Not sure what can be done. The kids are going crazy trapped inside. The lighting is so awful I do not want them to do school. Maybe the weather will lift soon. It is interesting to bake and cook by sight alone, I have no measuring utensils. Still no luck looking for housing. Maybe I will let the monkeys play on the computer. Hope it is sunny where you are.

One week down

So I have been here one week. I did fall apart today. I learned last night that Ken and my brother will not be here till around June 8th. This will be a full month since i have seen him. I miss him a great deal, but I got to Skype with him alot today and it helped alot. I needed to talk to him. I am better now. I got out for a jog today and saw some beautiful country out of the town. i do like it here. Things are simple here.
Some interesting things, we buy milk in a small bag and pour it into a pitcher at home to keep in the frig. We buy small amounts of fresh bread everyday or two. It is yummy. I am sure I am going to gain wieght. Wine is CHEAP! eggs are expensive. Meat cheap. I accidentally bought lamb the other day, but it was very good. I will probably get it again. Honey is think and not clear like ours. Pastries are everywhere. It is common to have tea(or coffee) and cake around 4 or 5 then eat supper at 8 ish. Things just run on a different schedule here. I have figured out that in order to have hot water throughout my shower I have to turn on the cold water in the bathroom sink. I am getting better at the fire aqnd not burning myself. People here are very nice and the country side is gorgeous, reminds me of Maryland and Pennsylvania.

In Villarica

So we made it to Villarica early Sat morning. It was raining, but we managed tp walk to the cabana where Carmen welcomed us and fed us a nice breakfast. We sat for a while. Carmen took us to the store. We had no wifi. I took a much needed shower and nap!!!! Kids watched spanish cartoons. Later we bundled and went out into the rain tp find an adaptor for the computer. We also located a larger supermarket. Got a few other things. Back to the cabana, supper in my wee kitchen. And then we all snuggled in together in the living room in front of the fire. Late we got a knock, 2 of the 4 suitcases had arrived. YEAH!!!! Clean underwear. it was like christmas opening those 2 bags. Alot of the items were wet so I laid them all around the living room to dry. FYI, there is a learning curve to tending a fire for heating your home and keeping it going at night and while you are out. I am learning and have the burns to prove it. Life is very simple here. I am enjoying that. Sunday it is still raining. We venture out and try very very hard to find wifi. Dispite getting soaked we were unsucceessful. By Monday moring I am feeling a bit more rested and normal and the sun is shining. We find wifi cafe and a friend of my brothers who is british and therefore, speaks English. YEAH!!!!!!! They hang out with us and treat us to lunch. We also get to see the beautiful Volcanoe which had been hidden by the clouds.
Some other interesting things have occured but I will save them for another day.

My hubby and brother are in Costa RIca trying to get the truck on a ship. Have been told flying the dogs on Copa will not be a problem. Hope they can get the truck taken care of. Please keep them in your prayers.

In Chile....Getting There

The Kids and I have made it to Chile. Thursday Morning we caught a flight out of Dallas to Miami. Our flight was 1h and 45 min. delayed and I only had a 2 h layover in Miami. Needless to say, we missed our next flight. Although I did force the children to run like crazy through the airport. Theodore almost threw up and they were both sheet white when we made it to the airline who informed us it was too late. This was almost 5pm. So back to AA to wait in line forever. I do not know if it was because I had 2 pittiful looking kids with me or what, but AA was very good to us. They put us on a direct flight to Santiago that night at 11:25pm. They also gave us a food vochure for supper. So we arrive in Santiago early Friday Morning. Manage our way through imigration. Get some pecos and a taxi. The taxi of course does not take me to the bus station I ask it to. Anyways we book a bus to Villarica for 10:40 that night. So what does an exhausted woman with 2 kids and some back packs do in Santiago alllllllllll day? Oh I did not have to worry about the rest of our luggage, it did not make it onto the plane with us. We wonder mindlessly for a couple of hours, get a snack, finally find a mall, which I am convinced must have wifi. Finally find the wifi, check email. Hang out experience the pay public bathroom. Then we had some incredible icecream and later a bit to eat for supper. It was getting dark and I had been warned Santiago was dangerous so back to the bus station. Because that seemed so much safer hehehehe, not! We hang out and read and wait, till finally we can get on the bus. I am sooooooooooo completely exhausted at this point, but afraid to fall asleep.

A few initial observations. I HATE SANTIAGO!!!! If I never have to go back there great!
These people have a strange hypocracy about cleanliness. There public bathrooms have a full time person in them cleaning (you do have to pay to use them) but thier streets are filthy. I will say I have not seen a fly or misquito. Lots of places are open air, which you would think would be a problem but there are not bugs flying around. Santiago reminds me of DC only ugly and poor. It is loud and dirty. I need never go back. Also I think they woke up one day and realized they were heavily populated and now they are playing a losing game of catch up.
These people LOVE sugar and ice cream. Although, the ice cream is excellent. It was interesting to order food and not be absolutely sure what you are getting. It has been an adventure.