Settled?

The first week of our life in Chile flew by as we conducted our search for an apartment, Zack was “oriented” to the Fulbright program, and both of us began to regain our comfort with the Spanish language (Zack far more than I!). Living in a foreign country has altered my understanding of success – after the first two days we had found a bed in a hostel, purchased new power cables for our computers, and bought our very own cell phone, I felt an absurd satisfaction with our achievements =). Since then we have signed a lease for our apartment (one photo posted, hopefully more to come), and continued to navigate our new daily life (buying dishtowels and tuperware, learning how to buy internet, etc). It is finally beginning to sink in that we will be LIVING here, not just visiting.

I can speak for both of us in saying that we like Santiago. The city is not as overwhelming nor as intimidating as I’d imagined. The public transportation system is designed well, and is easy to navigate. This may be a strange parallel, but watching train after train pass during rush hour with people spilling out of every door stirred some of the same feelings as my first night sleeping alongside a river – I find it hard to comprehend the perpetual movement of so much mass; it gives me that ever-human feeling of insignificance.

That will be it for now. Plenty more to come, hopefully with pictures!

Anna