If I sit next to a window in Renee's room I can get a weak internet connection. Somebody is supposed to come today to put in a phone and internet sometime between 9-1 - it is 12:40 - we'll see. One thing that we have noticed is that everybody underestimates time and distance. We have been told that something is just four blocks away and after walking 4 kilometers we get there or we are told that a meeting will take 20 minutes and it takes closer to an hour. Just something to get used to - I guess.
So we are in our apartment - its only taken a week to get it - not bad. It has the most amazing views of the mountains - have I mentioned that yet? ;-) Unfortunately, this is the first day that I have really noticed the smog. Santiago is noted for the winter smog and it is quite something. The grossest part is that a layer of black dust covers a lot of things. There are cushions for the porch furniture but we were told not to put it out until early spring because they will get dirty. Everything has a layer of soot on it - the floors, the furniture and I am sure that we do too. Time to finally get Jonathan to take daily showers!!!!
Rob and I went for our parent interview at the school this morning. They don't have the results from the kids evaluation yet but seemed "certain" that they can start tomorrow. Everybody has been really nice and I have found that my Hebrew is coming in handy at times. Everybody has to eat lunch at the school so we tried it out yesterday and it was actually pretty good. I think that once we get settled in we'll get a lot of invitations to people's homes. Unfortunately, many of them live far from public transportation (up in the hills) so we'll have to get a car eventually or just take a lot of taxis.
As we set up the kitchen we were told not to place glasses on the second shelf of the cabinet because they may fall during the tremors - something that I am not looking forward to. Apparently they happen pretty often and nobody thinks twice about it. Hmmmmmm
Sarah!
ReplyDeleteI did not realize you were already blogging - talk about dedication! Jean brought me up to date. It sounds like the typical painful move, with the added trauma of having to situate three kids.
So pleased to hear that you have arrived in your new apartment. Is it far from the school? I wonder how the kids will react to their first earthquake. The whole idea makes me nervous, one of the reasons I never wanted to move to California, but I know that would not stop you. Perhaps exposure makes you more relaxed about these things; being from the prairies I have VERY limited exerience. Cheers, Tammy