Unintentional Sick Day

Everything is an adventure.  That is the positive way to word and look at all of the crazy things you learn unintentionally when trying to live in a country that isn't your own.  A country with a sistema all its own... oh yes... an adventure.

We will take this story in reverse.  I went to work this morning and was immediately informed (ok, not immediately, first they asked me lots of questions stemming from clear confusion as to why I was there in the first place) to go home.  It was apparently illegal for me to be at work today.  After a few "buts" and "are you for reals", I put on my coat and did my commute in reverse, as if in rewind.

I was sick.  Nothing dramatic, your typical virus of this time a year, magnified by foreign germs and foreign ninos in close proximity.  I made the decision on Tuesday that I would have to, after 8 months, try to navigate the health care system.  I called and made an appointment (yay me... because Spanish on the phone is a whole different language) and set off for what I (even knowing better) hoped would be a somewhat painless experience.  What I mean by knowing better is that nothing... absolutely nothing... is easy here.  Every time I think that I have all the information, that I have prepared adequately for a task, I am slapped across the face by the giant hand of Chile (te acuerdas donde estas weona?)... yeah... si... Chile... lo siento... te cacho.  Needless to say,  there was something with my insurance ( has pagado 3 meses... no yo creo que he pagado por dos meses... ahhhh si, entonces no lo tienes... no entiendo, por que?... SLAP duh es CHILE biatch)  Eventually our conversation led to me saying... ok, can I just pay you to see a doctor, like with cash?  Fifty bucks later (that is without insurance people... my co-pay was that much), I saw a doctor and she gave me 3 days licencia... which translates to 3 days off of work.

When this morning came and I was feeling better, silly me, I went to work.  I didn't see the reason to miss another day of work if I didn't need to, but the Chilean government thinks otherwise, and thus my unintentional sick day.

In other news, I earned my "Hair cut in Chile" merit badge today (thanks to my free day). You guys, I have been mentally preparing myself for that for weeks.  I told the nice ladies at the salon that I had been afraid, and so they joked with me by motioning that I wanted my hair cut above my ears... jajajajajajaja.  Not cool ladies.  Not cool.  Michael started working a little while back in an intercambio department of a University (a job he is enjoying immensely), and we also managed FINALLY to secure a fully functioning Chilean Bank Account each... so this past pay check, I didn't have to transport my entire salary in 10,000 peso bills from school to the drawer beside my bed.  The bank account debacle was just like anything else in Chile, regardless of my preparation, and included a trip to one place to sign the papers, a trip to another place to pick up my card, which included a line of 100 ish people, that I found out AFTER I waited in it, I didn't actually need to wait in it, but actually another line that as soon as I got in that line, the girl went on her hourly texting break and I ended up back in the original line just the same.  (run on city you guys..).  Also, we are playing softball in a league of mostly gringos, but some desperate to understand the rules of baseball Chileans.  It is very entertaining.

Also, it is freaking cold, and it isn't even winter.  My school is in the mountains and there is no heat, so I will be spending the winter months playing the role of a Popsicle.  Luckily, winter vacay here means a trip to visit the good ole US of A during summer.  I can taste Rosa's already!

 

Oh, Hey Fall!

The weather is changing.  The leaves are changing.  We are entering our first fall since 2011.

Santiago got a bath the other day in the form of a day of rain, clearing the smog away, making the air almost sweet to breathe at least for a few hours. From my school, you could actually see the city.  There were suddenly more Andes than I had ever seen in the other direction.  The cordillera is now sprinkled with snow, which admittedly caused me to become almost giddy.

We have also reached another milestone since moving to Santiago, and that is the feeling of actually being settled.  In our first 6ish months, we were guests in someone else's home, travelling and at least I was constantly over stimulated.  The small act of a conversation or going to the grocery store was both a little daunting and exhausting.  Now, we have settled.  We have NORMAL days.  Days where not much other than going to work, making dinner, and going to bed happen.  We have fun days that  feel normal exploring our new area of the city.  I can go to the "Veggie tienda" (as I have named it) around the corner and function just fine, even if I have a question. The public transit that seemed so new is now every day.  We are settled, and it feels nice.

Today, we took our Sunday afternoon, rode our bikes and enjoyed the sunshine and people watching at the park.  On our way back, we stopped at the grocery store for the makings of a Cinco de Mayo feasty feast where all of Santiago seemed to be.  (Note to self... Sunday afternoon... Jumbo... NO!!)  Side note: I definitely sarcastically  permiso-ed the crap out of this young Chilean couple that thought the packed to the brim supermarket was the place to stop in the middle of the aisle for a more than PG 13 rated make out session.  Yeah... though I said permiso... I said it with more of a tone of ... Get out of the (#*&$@(#& way!
Needless to say, Spring Fever exists in all seasons here... wallering capital of the world.

Regardless, Fall is in the air.  Days are shorter.  It is without a doubt getting colder.  Cinco de Mayo in Fall.... That's new.  :)

Grape Stompin' at Casa Marin

A couple of weeks ago, we headed out to Casa Marin with the SHHH (our running group) for the second annual (I think) winery hash.  We loaded buses in the morning with plenty of familiar faces and even more strangers for a day of fun complete with smog free air and wine.

Running through a vineyard.... check.  Picking or cutting grapes.... check.  Plenty of other debauchery... double check.  

Hills... omg... hills....

Preparing to start our labor of love... somehow we PAID to work... not sure how they managed that.

After about 10 minutes... "Wait... we REALLY have to fill this thing up?"

Michael sporting his fancy scissors

We are being watched...

Picking... eating... Picking...

After we picked grapes which will be used to make a fancy wine that will be out sometime next year, they gave us a tasting before our typical Hash nonsense.  Was this a good idea?  It was a delicious idea.

These grapes in these buckets are covered with Raid to keep the bees away and stinky man feet... Just guessing, but Stinky Raid wine probably doesn't jump of the shelves, even in Chile where wine is cheap and everywhere.  

The circle was a nightmare... but it was a nightmare in an idyllic location.

"Yeah... you want to stomp grapes?"... "Umm we should stomp grapes"

Greatest and most bizarre and disgusting feeling ever, all at the same time.  Sometimes being here definitely opens doors to bizarre and fun things.