The kids have to be at school at 7:45 at the latest so I usually drive them up there about 7:10 because if I leave later the traffic at the school is crazy. It is next to two other schools that all start at the same time and the traffic is insane. If I get there early enough I can usually find street parking otherwise I just park on the sidewalk the way Chileans do. We drop Rob off at the metro on the way up.
J. and R. usually walk to their classroom but I walk with Elisa to her's to get her settled in for the day. Then I am off!
I am trying to volunteer at the Centro del Padres (loosely the PTO) bookstore at least once a week, usually on Friday because they have challah in addition to the coffee/tea and cookies those mornings. I have to talk just in Spanish for two hours so it beats paying for more lessons. I stay there until about 10:00. I am working towards taking Spanish classes twice a week so on Mondays and Thursdays I drive home through massive traffic in order to get on public transportation to go downtown for my class. The traffic is crazy near the school because it appears that everybody drives to work because the metro doesn't go up that far and because they can (they own cars....). It appears that rush hour is between 8-9:30 here in the morning and 6-7:30 at night so I hit it when I don't stay up at school to volunteer. They also have a lot more parent-teacher conferences here than in the States (or at least South Bend- which last year had none unless you asked for one). They have four rooms set aside to meet with parents and they always seem to be full. I have had one so far with each teacher but will probably have more as things settle in.
The other mornings, Tuesday and Wednesday, I head over to the Estadio to do a Pilates or Spinning class with my "friends." I am getting to know some women here who mostly have a connection outside of Chile - either they lived or are from the States/Canada, Israel, or Argentina. As would be expected, they are much more welcoming to a transient foreigner having been one themselves. I have yet to have a coffee after Pilates or Spinning but it will happen. In fact, I have talked to both the women from the bookstore and those from spinning about going downtown to the veggie/fruit market/shuk to check it out. An Israeli woman from spinning apparently does her weekly shopping there on Thursdays or Fridays so she knows the best stands. There is also an outdoor clothing market where one of the women knows the best bargains as well. All in time.
Then....since our fridge is pretty small by U.S. standards, probably every other day I go shopping usually at one of the big chains, Jumbo or Lider, and sometimes just at a smaller local store if I don't have to buy too much.
I have also started to do some work for Notre Dame and, of course, I have homework ;-) Our Nana comes twice a week so I am also doing a lot of the normal domestic stuff during the day as well. The washing machine is also about a third of the size of ours at home so I am doing a lot of laundry. Electricity is really expensive so I am trying not to use the dryer too much but with five people, a small washer, and the weather not so warm yet, I am using it a lot. Oh yeah, and I blog ;-)
The kids get out of school on MTTh at 4:00, on W at 1:30 (I think for teachers' meetings), and 3:30 on Friday so I usually have to leave the house an hour before to pick them up or else I end up parking blocks away. I usually take my Kindle with me and just sit around the school reading until they get out. Elisa usually gets out 10 minutes early and then the others follow. On TWTh, I take the kids straight to the Estadio for a snack and their activities. If they had their way they'd buy stuff at the Estadio cafe everyday but I usually just bring a snack. Last week the kids started trying out an Estadio bus that takes kids on Tuesday and Thursday from school to the Estadio and then I meet them there which will save me an hour those days. Unfortunately, their activities do not all overlap so I usually stay with whoever isn't doing a sport and do homework with them or just read. Renee and Jonathan are both doing homeschooling math on the computer so we try to fit it in then. I have yet to see a Chilean kid at their school or at the Estadio just reading a book for pleasure. I am starting to appreciate the Read 20 minutes a Day campaign in the states.
So at around 6:30 on TWTh I head home with whomever is done to eat dinner and get ready for bed and then Rob picks up at 7:45 the remaining kid(s) and heads home. We haven't quite figured out the logistics yet but the kids, especially Elisa, is so tired that we are trying to get at least her to sleep on the earlier side. Since the work day is much later here, Rob can just come home from work and go straight to the Estadio rather than come home and then take public transportation back home. This is all happening during rush hour so it is a pain to drive back and forth to the Estadio which is really just 8 minutes or so from home but can be 35 during rush hour. I will not miss this part of living in a big city!
So quick dinner, finish homework, go to bed and it starts all over again. I left out the part when Renee asked if she really has to go to school the next day. Hopefully this too shall pass ;-)
Did I mention yet how gorgeous the mountains are when the sun is shining? ;-) Here is the view right now from my window:
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