We went back to the apartment this afternoon and left a deposit. It is a bit out of the way but in a nice neighborhood and has a parking spot (as if we have a car! - we'll get one, eventually). One of Rob's colleagues lives in a house a few blocks away so that might be nice for him for commuting to work although he intends to use the Metro most of the time. The best part is that the apartment has tremendous views which we will post once we move in on Tuesday.
We actually started the morning by checking out public transportation including the metro and the bus system. We took it "up" (which means towards the mountains) to check out the Estadio Israelita, basically a country club but from the 1950s with a sort-of kosher twist. It is not far from the Estadio Palestino. Rob got drilled on his ancestry, affiliation and circumcision and then we were allowed in. They have a gymnastics center which hopefully Renee will join, taekwondo lessons, an indoor and an outdoor pool, a kosher cafe and a non-kosher cafe, a sepharadi synagogue, merengue classes, and a lot of tennis courts and soccer fields. What more could you ask for?
It turns out that many kids go on a bus from the school (Instituto Hebreo) straight after school gets out (4:00), have a snack, do homework, and then do an activity. We'll have to check it out. Saturdays kids usually have some lessons in the morning and then go to one of three youth groups either at the club, school, or synagogue. I haven't gotten a straight read on the difference between the clubs but I'm sure we'll get it.
Tonight we were moved to a one-bedroom apartment with a pull out couch. The girls get the "big"' bed and the boys get the little - it should be a fun filled night for Mama!
We also tried out the local empanadas that did not cut it with our kids the same way that the Uruguayan/Argentine ones do. The main flavor is pino. A vegetarian staple. Ah well. They also eat a lot of avocado so Rob and I shared a toasted avocado sandwich for lunch (photos to come when we find the cord).
Tomorrow we plan to be tourists before getting ready for school on Monday!
Sounds very relaxing! Wish I was there, well, maybe I'll wait for you to settle in. It turns out I was on all three local news channels that night, and even got interviewed on one, but i taped the wrong channel in my excitement. Maybe we will introduce salchicha races to Santiago
ReplyDelete