A Collection of Observations (#2)

As I mentioned earlier, I keep a list of interesting observations and write them down as they happen.  Here is the latest collection:

1.  I was reading a book to Elisa and it mentioned the President and his daughters.  I asked her who our President was and after giving her the first letter she said "Obama? I thought ours was different down here!

2.  Summertime!

Summer is almost here!  The ice cream bicycle complete with a bell is here!

There is also the cotton candy option

3.  Based on an informal survey, Renee is apparently the only one in her class who hasn't been to some form of Disney.  Ironic.  The culture down here is very US-based (vs. European) with a lot of Starbucks, Home Depot-esque stores, etc. so I guess that it is not that odd that there is a focus on Disney but there are more interesting places to visit in the US!

4.  Oy!

Signs found in women's bathrooms - guess that on any given day 1/4 of  Chilean women of a "certain" age need to "Maintain their secret" 

5.  When my folks were here they went to a cafe that opened at 8:30 but were told that it opens at 8:30 for the cleaning crew not to serve coffee.

6.  On a similar note, I went to get a watch battery changed at a small store (maybe 6'x6") where one person changed the battery, one person wrote up the receipt, and another person was the cashier.  I am getting used to this division of labor but in this case the cashier was finishing her lunch in the corner and nobody else could accept the payment so I had to wait.

7.  They sold  American-style pumpkins here for a week.  $11 for one that would cost $2 in the States.  I was a sucker and bought it and it yielded 72 pumpkin seeds and rotted before Halloween.  Ah well - it is spring after all.  Perhaps we should have constructed something out of asparagus?

8.  Advertisements - There is a lot more advertisement on what look like private cars here.  My favorite one is one that is usually parked near the kids' school and has a sign that says "Yo tambien soy un Dog Lover" ("I am also a dog lover" but I think it is promoting a brand of dog food.)  The best is that part of the advertisement is a well placed Golden Retriever.  Perhaps if all else fails I'll get a dog sticker for my car instead of a dog?  Less fur to clean up.

I need a dog (are you getting the theme)

9.  I went to do some "tramites" near Rob's work and while transferring between metros there was a band playing as part of a program of the metro system to bring art to the metros.  The band had two percussion players, a trombone, trumpet, accordion and guitar and from what I gather was playing rock music with a Chilean/South American twist.  A huge crowd gathered to watch them and seemed to recognize their music - I love that part of being in a big city.  Google to the rescue again Las Pata e Cumbia.

10.  La edad de pavo (the age of the turkey) - This is the term used to describe adolescence.  Based on my initial observations as we enter that black hole it sounds about right.

11.  I got my first telephone polling call.  It asked if I was for or against homosexual marriage.  Didn't expect that one!