(These pics may mean little to most of you but they are a valuable part of our adventure.)
This is Cristina Castro. She is the property manager(propriadades) that arranged for our first apartment. (The apartment owner lives in Santiago). Her and her brother, Eduardo, were most accommodating in getting us settled in early September. Eduardo also arranged and signed for our internet installation. Many visits to their office to talk about the apartment turned into Spanish / English lessons. They spoke enough English to get by, especially when talking about subjects related to apartments, etc. "No Problem" quickly became the catch phrase between us. Whatever we wanted . . . "no problem"!
After settling into the Oasis, we gradually came to know the staff. Alvaro, a consierge, was our first contact as he had some English. He learned solely from watching American movies! We were soon consulting him, not only for our needs within the building, but for language advice and questions on life in Chile.
This was one of our many conversations. He appreciated being able to practice his English, and we appreciated the help that Alvaro was able to offer.
It took a long time to get to know Mario (standing in the back), but once we did, he was very friendly. The more we tried to speak Spanish, the better our general reception seemed to be. It turned out that Mario could speak very basic English and was more than willing to speak up once we warmed up to each other. He once approached me with some American coins and wondered how much value they might hold. He was disappointed when I told him that the $00.13 US was virtually useless! (We never got to know the fellow in the foreground)
If you recall the post about the Umboo tree, you will also recall Mario, the gardener. This is him!
(English knowledge - zero)
We are not sure of this fellow's name but we came to know him when he visited to fix our hot water heater. Once again, we noticed a definite attitude change once a connection had been made.
All of the crew at the Oasis were very friendly and helpful. These guys happen to be the ones that we were able to get to know a little better than others.
Outside of the building now, and down to the market. . . In a previous post (October 14 - "A Day In The Life") we talked about a hardware store, vegetable market, and flower shop near our apartment. This is the owner of the Ferretaria (hardware store). He had a little French, but no English. Fortunately, hardware is a universal language!
As an aside, many Chileans seem to have an awareness of French being spoken in Canada.
This couple ran a vegetable and flower shop and seemed very friendly from the first time we visited. As a result, we visited often and gradually came to realize that they had some English. As it turns out, they lived in Norway for 18 years before returning to Chile.
About a block from the market was another favorite spot. Charlene's favorite treat was lemon pie and we bought enough to get to know the staff a little bit! They also had lemon tarts for snack time!
We spent much time at the local print shop getting our posters and business cards made as well as making photocopies of our resumes. The first time that we visited, we were directed to Loreto because of her English ability. We spent quite a bit of time with her at the shop. Aside from being a graphic artist, she also designs and makes jewelery as a hobby. The last time we visited, she had a sample case of her work with her. Beautiful! There was also another fellow in this shop with some English, and he, along with his wife, have since signed up for English lessons with us. You never know where casual meetings may lead!
So . . .these were the people in our neighborhood!! It took the better part of two months to build these relationships, and we will definitely miss them and others from our time in Vina del Mar.
As much as we are sad to leave, we are looking forward to our new home in Valparaiso. In fact, we have now been in Valparaiso for just over a week, and love it. We hope to have some pics and video of our "Castle in the hood" up within the next few days.
A slight divergence from the usual travelogue but an important part of our stay in Chile.
Random notes:
Except for large stores that use computerized tills, virtually every shop will give you a hand-written receipt. Pick out what you want, then step over to the cashier booth . . . then, in some cases, return to pick up your order. Outside of the particular details, business name, etc., these receipts are all identical and will be given regardless of how large or small the purchase is. This one is from the veggie market and is for $1,500 pesos. ($3.00)
The bus system has been very reliable for us. We have never had to wait long, and we have always gotten to where we wanted to go . . . except on the trip to the botanical garden! We have sometimes questioned the mechanical worthiness of some of the buses and some drivers like to drive far too fast, especially on the highway between Vina and Valparaiso. The trips are often NOT for the faint of heart! I took the next two shots to show the ticket set-up on the buses.
You can see 5 rolls of tickets . . . the length of trip determines the cost and therefore which ticket you receive. Exact change is not required. Here you can see the change pots and coin slots below the ticket rolls. The fare from Valparaiso to Vina is $400 clp (Chilean pesos) That's about $0.80 cdn.
While in a department store on Halloween, we were surprised to see a full display of . . . wait for it . . . Christmas trees!! If I remember correctly, we don't normally see the Christmas displays until mid November at home. Yes - no ?? Anyway, as I was setting up to take a picture of the display, security stopped me. Not to be deterred, I tried again later but just as I shot, I noticed another security dude . . . therefore the blurry shot!
Yesterday, we were in another store and were able to gather evidence of Christmas in Chile! Consumerism is alive and well here folks.
We now have four students, and between planning and teaching the lessons, it is enough to occupy quite a bit of our (Charlene's) time. We have also been contacted about more possible students, but unless we can arrange for a group of 3 or 4, we may decide against taking on any more individuals. We'll have to see how that develops before we make any decisions.
We hope that you enjoyed this post. Our new apartment (Castle in the hood) and neighborhood will be the feature of the next edition.
Until then . . .
Amor,
Norm and Charlene
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