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.  :)