buying cars, making friends, first steps

So we have been told that our "stuff" is supposed to arrive on November 19th. That is assuming that the slow boat it is on isn't captured by pirates, and that the dockworkers at the Panama Canal don't go on strike, and that the truck drivers here in Chile feel like getting it to Santiago. The chances of all these things working out in the next 10 days? I'm thinking pretty unlikely. And I'll probably have a full body cavity search just so they'll unload my dishes, because security here is NO JOKE. Every house has a gate, every apartment building a doorman, every parking lot an attendant. We had to do fingerprints to get a cell phone. But I wonder-does everyone have to do that, or just sketchy-looking Americans with cute blonde babies?

Speaking of, cute blonde baby decided that it's time to start walking! Yesterday afternoon she took about 8 steps, then 4 more later. Today she's decided that was enough, and crawling is still much faster, but it was pretty exciting. We got some video, no pictures, and did lots of clapping for her. We go to the park and hang out w/ other babies and the other moms ask me if I'm sure she's only 9 months old. She's still very big for her age, with 8 teeth, but I figure it's okay. She'll go to pre-school and stomp on the other kids and I'll be called in for a conference. Cute blonde baby the bully.

So-enough bragging about the baby-back to our drama with buying things. To buy a car, you have to go and look at cars, figure out how much $ you need, go to your bank and beg for a loan for that much $, go back to the dealership with a check for the money (but only after the bank people have had a meeting and decided whether or not to give you any money), give the dealership half the money, then go back to the bank and get the other half, give that to the dealership, and then, 3-5 days later, go pick up your car. There's no going to the dealership and picking up your car the same day. But, it is what it is. I like to notice the differences, because it's how I feel I get to know a place.

There are more social events here now that we've settled a bit and we know people. That's been helpful for feeling like we belong here a bit better. A lovely British woman gave me a lesson in how to make tea properly, so if we have people over I won't have to heat water for their tea in a microwave. We went to a food festival at the International School, which was nice (and delicious-especially at the Turkey booth. Say what you want about the Turks. They may, historically, have been barbarians, but they can cook). And we went to a bbq (no sauce:( at a park in the wine region west of here.

Halloweeen was an interesting event. Kids of people in the wealthier neighborhoods dress up and trick-or-treat, but everyone else mostly views Halloween as an American holiday that is not part of their culture. The poor cannot afford to do it, and older people don't "get it." We tried to dress Vivi up as a ladybug, but she screamed, but she was willing to wear an orange shirt, black pants, and a pumpkin hat. We went to the park and saw all the other kids dressed up, but go not trick-or-treaters.

One of the best things about Santiago has to be the parks. There are open spaces everywhere, and people spend time outside, sitting, eating, and kids playing. I like that part of the culture, and I worry that when we move back to the US, Vivi will become more of an American kid (watching tv and playing video games instead of playing outside). Of course, we can encourage her to play outside, but she will want to do what other kids do....That, and the fact that the International School here is very good are making me start to think that it would be nice to stay.

But we'll see what next week brings...