Do they know it's winter?

More than a week since our holiday and we are again fully acclimatised to life in Santiago. School and nursery have picked up from where they left off happily for all concerned. Disconcertingly the weather has been unusually mild again which only serves to confuse matters once one has convinced oneself it is indeed winter in June. However a quick round of colds and winter ailments has successfully reinforced the idea that despite soaring temperatures in the afternoon the winter solstice is in fact approaching although without the heart-warming prospect of Christmas or anything remotely similar in sight... I have tried asking people if there is any kind of mid-winter festival or celebration to lift the spirits but apparently not. Perhaps it's because winter here is generally less bleak, shorter and sunnier than the one we previously knew and loved but it's difficult to say. Anyone reading this blog may have noticed more than a passing reference to the incongruity of climate and calendar but I'm afraid I can't help it as it's probably one of the most disorientating aspects of being here. I hadn't before realised just how ingrained the seasons and months and their northern-hemisphere-specific connotations had become as an intrinsic and fundamental aspect of my psyche... At the moment in spite of the deceptively pleasant afternoons, in the mornings and at night it still feels like December and one longs to be able to savour some of the treats we missed out on last Christmas. Which brings me neatly on to a subject I have been meaning to deal with for about eight of the last nine months but somehow never got round to it: Chilean food. I think I'll wait till the next post before tackling that particular can of worms (not literally of course)...

Back to school

After only a week of having returned to the rigours of the school run, I am beginning to understand why Chilean children need such a long summer holiday after all... Getting up and ready in the dark to be at school and in one's classroom by 07.45 is almost inhumane. Luckily DD1 has been so excited to go back to school that she is fairly stoic about having to be woken while dawn has yet to break, though I fear that may not be the case in the middle of winter. Ofsted, if it existed here, would be up in arms about it and many other issues, such as class sizes, cramped classrooms and general levels of chaos. On day one DD1 was one of the few pupils in her class who hadn't been accompanied by both parents, kitted out in their finery, to immortalise photographically the moment of the start of Year 1 (or First Grade as they insist on calling it) of their little darlings. By that afternoon professional photographers lined the street outside the school gates selling the images they had managed to capture in the semi-darkness that morning and were certainly doing a roaring trade. DD1 meanwhile had enjoyed every moment and was (and still is) full of the joys of being in "primero basico". Even the school lunches were a hit with her as watermelon was for pudding on the first day...

DD2 on the other hand has had her first introduction to institutionalised life as she started her "jardin infantil" on Monday. Obviously she had nothing to compare it to which was probably a good thing under the circumstances. She had of course been keen to go and had been talking about her nursery and what a big girl she was, but the reality of being whisked away from me and taken out of sight by strangers who spoke a foreign language was a trifle brusque to say the least. No gentle settling-in period here then: I was allowed to wait in the office for as long as I liked (half an hour) but strictly behind closed doors while being assured every now and then by one of the staff that she was fine and not crying her eyes out... On day two she was reluctant to say goodbye to me but there were no tears at least. Defying the rigid rules I managed to peep in through the window and saw that she was dressed up as Snow White and was somewhat uncertainly holding hands with a little boy while the nursery teacher was energetically leading the children in a dance to celebrate Shrove Tuesday. By Thursday DD2 was actually smiling at nursery and had already produced numerous works of art and indeed had homework to prepare for Monday (attaching her photo to a giant ladybird, painting and colouring)... I breathed a sigh of relief as I realised that despite the drastic methods employed here in Chile, the nursery is well-organised, well-staffed and a stimulating environment which DD2 was clearly enjoying more and more as she got to know it better. Shame she has now come down with a cough but it has been an exhausting and rather overwhelming week for all concerned...

Summer holiday

We made it back in one piece after what seemed like an epic voyage in the end. It is impossible to explore fully a country like Chile without a car so we hired one and took off, practically without any planning and decided to try and see if we could handle a road trip en famille. Surprisingly the moments when we were in the car were among the most restful and undisturbed of the entire holiday, which was definitely a bonus as we covered over a thousand miles in total.

DH, despite having forgotten to renew his driving license, manfully took on the lion's share of the driving while I concentrated on navigating, seeing to everyone's needs and gazing out of the window at the dramatic and ever-changing landscape. We headed north on Ruta 5 and made our first stop off at Concon, a rugged coastal town whose beauty was reminiscent of the Cote d'Azur without the glamour. As we piled out of the car, buckets and spades at the ready, we also realised why it wasn't packed with holidaymakers; there was a strong wind blowing which made for great surfing but not bathing. Never mind, we thought as we enjoyed the sea air and the crashing waves, further up the coast it'll be calmer... It was another 500km and a lot of very barren desert before we stopped again in Tongoy, a small but buzzing town with sheltered beaches which were still crowded at eight o'clock in the evening with a wide cross-section of people and dogs making up its clientele. It was so remote and unspoilt that there weren't even any proper roads in Tongoy itself, just sand and stone tracks which led up and down its dusty mound. We stayed in a compact but well-designed A-shaped wooden cabaña with a view of the ocean and a children's play area which seemed to satisfy all of us... Camping with a roof. The beaches were made up of flour-like sand which was littered with shells, many of which we collected. The children loved it and were busy digging and playing in the sand and water though often the mornings were too windy and the afternoons very hot. Everything was going reasonably smoothly until DD1 overindulged in the jardin del mar (seafood platter) and came down with food-poisoning, which put a slight dampener on our spirits for a few days. However she bounced back enough for us to continue our travels further north to La Serena, Chile's second oldest city which still retains many of its colonial buildings and thus charm. From here we ventured into the Elqui Valley (or the "Milky Valley" as DD2 called it) which the guidebooks and Chileans rave about and which was quite breathtaking especially the further up one went. DH and I felt as if we were driving through the set of a western and tried in vain to impress this upon the children though the point was probably lost on them as westerns seem to have fallen out of fashion in the last thirty-five years. DD1 was keen to dress up as a cowboy with hat and neckerchief though so perhaps she was listening after all, while DD2 kept wondering where all the milk was... Eventually another round of tummy bugs forced us to turn back and we began the long but atmospheric drive home.

The night(mare) before Christmas

A week ago things were not looking good. DD2 came down with a bug which manifested itself as a raging fever and lasted four long days and nights. As we were all stuck indoors while the sun shone outside, cabin fever soon took a firm grip. Plenty of shopping still needed to be done plus DD1 was of course climbing the walls, quite literally often. We were still officially homeless in Santiago and we had no idea what we would do for Christmas Day itself...

Then gradually some form of order resumed as DD2 slowly fought off her illness and we received the unexpected but very welcome news that we had been officially chosen as suitable tenants for an apartment we liked. Thus most of our problems seem to be over... Of course, we are still waiting for our visas, residency documents and all-important tax codes but have been assured that these will arrive soon. All in due course, no rush, we've only been here for three months.

After being snowed under with work deadlines, DH finally managed to organise himself such that he could look after the children a little while I got on with the important business of perusing the shops, markets and numerous street-sellers. It has been interesting watching the locals, many of whom seem to have done their Christmas shopping mainly in the last few days. So much more festive... Wrapping the presents in the sun was certainly a novelty. We have a tree at last too, of sorts: actually it's the terrace plant decked out with all DD1's colourful creations, strategically placed by the terrace window so Father Christmas can have easy access. Deciding what to leave out for Father Christmas and his reindeer was a bit of a puzzle at first, since here there are no mince pies or Christmas cake or any of the usual indulgent winter goodies. DD1 suggested an avocado (one of her favourite things and ubiquitous here) for FC, with a glass of chilled white wine and a carrot for the weary animals. Luckily DH managed to persuade her a few cherries might be quicker to grab as FC has a busy night ahead of him...

As for tomorrow, we've been invited to our American friends' for Christmas lunch so at least we'll have company. Though of course it won't be roast turkey so it still doesn't feel quite right. But I'm not complaining... Merry Christmas!

The mystery of the disappearing mountains

It's been a week of mixed fortunes: getting used to the school run and making some friends, but also three out of the four of us going down with savage colds as the weather veers between powerful sunshine and cold winds... All this has taken place amid increasingly frantic househunting, pretty much done single-handedly so far while DH has been busy with a conference. At least my Spanish is coming along in leaps and bounds, especially the vocabulary associated with houses, buildings, apartments and rooms as I sift through the classifieds, sending off emails and making faltering telephone calls to various baffled estate agents around Santiago. Squeezing in the viewings into the slim margin of time after school and before we have headed back to our current location has required some careful planning and negotiating, but after taking both children backwards and forwards across town and back twice in one day I decided not to repeat the mistake. DH has been kind enough to try and make it along to the viewings in between his important work commitments so that as well as getting the benefit of his opinion I can actually have a good look around myself without running after DD2 all the time on unfamiliar territory, a particularly important point when faced with low balconies on the twelfth floor and other unexpected delights... It has been a steep learning curve and in less than a week I have narrowed down the area, description and orientation to an ideal, though whether we shall actually find it or not is another matter...

Today also saw DD1 attend her first children's party, something we'd all been looking forward to more than usual given the novelty of the situation. I don't think I'll be feeling the same next time, though the children thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the pandemonium, chaos, din and amusements on offer at Chuck E Cheese, a US import with machines apparently offering all sorts of entertainment but which in reality only issued paper tickets with which you could then "buy" something of your choice from the shop. Still, it was worth it to socialise with DD1's new classmates and of course meet their parents who were very friendly, welcoming and hospitable with as much pizza and soft drinks on offer as one could stomach... Even more appealing than this was the location of the venue, obviously on the outskirts of town nearer the better-heeled communities and set amongst a literally breathtaking spectacle of snowcapped mountains looming larger than ever after the rain of yesterday had cleared away some of the omnipresent city smog.