I realized I haven't really posted much about what's happened in the past week or so. Monday, I met Georgie, the lady that usually cleans here. She's incredibly nice - very supportive and complimentary of my Spanish, etc. And, she said that when she first saw me in the morning, she didn't think anything of it - of course, once I started talking, she could tell I was a foreigner, but I was glad to know that I'm looking Chilean enough. The days are starting to run together a bit - Monday, I hung around here in the morning, writing e-mails, getting my camera to work, etc. I took a walk down to the park and lounged around and read in one of the books Shana suggested. Note - I keep getting asked what time it is, and it always takes me awhile to register what they're asking - usually kids on bikes.
Tuesday, I walked to the workshop after A&A had gone, and helped to harvest a little lavendar. The upstairs has been overtaken with drying lavendar at least since I've been here, and there's a mission trip group arriving in the morning, so all the smell-em-good parts had to be taken off and the rest trashed, so all that space could be used as sleeping quarters for the group. Shana's friend Thomasina from Scotland got in that morning, so they were out and about getting things done for her. She's a missionary in the south of Chile doing agricultural- and educational-related stuff - she's been here 8 months, and didn't speak much Spanish on arriving. I'm not remembering what we did in the afternoon on Tuesday after getting back from the workshop - some watering of flowers - oh, playing ball through Alain's window - it was only half playing ball in the house, so I think it was ok.
Wednesday was the big box-o-law-books-snatching caper and encounter with the police. I hung around here and later in the day walked down to a really nice movie theater that's near here - I think it's a chain - Cine Hoyts. I saw Luna Avellaneda (there may be a "de" between those two words actually). I had awhile to wait beforehand, so I sat out in the patio area of a cafe connected to the theater and wrote and read/looked at my guidebook awhile - there are so many things I want to see while I'm here - I know I won't be able to do it all! Anyway - the movie was great - it was made in Argentina (I think it was the only other one out that is not from the States, except for the cartoon that we saw awhile back) - takes place in Buenos Aires. It's about a community of people that spend time at this club that offers different recreational activities, and toward the end they have to vote whether to sell it or not. If it comes out wherever you're at, you should see it. I'd like to see it again some time, maybe with English subtitles, so I can catch more of the jokes, etc.
Yesterday, I went back to the Plaza de Armas to see the Museo de Arte Precolombino, Correo Central, and Iglesia San Francisco and the museum connected with it. I felt even more independent because I decided to take a different metro to the Plaza (which I actually messed up a little on - I got off to make a connection, but didn't actually need to, so got back on - totally fine), I ate at a nice little cafe tucked away in one of the passages between Paseo Ahumada and Paseo Estado (where others were eating by themselves as well - it was a little weird, because it was so tiny, so you were sitting up at a bar very close to other people and kind of staring at the wall - there was a nice painting of a cluster of garlic, so it was ok - plus the food was very good and very cheap - I had avocado and tuna, with rice, tomatoes, and broccoli, with some fresh raspberry juice and bread!), and after seeing the first museum, figured out where else I wanted to go, how to get there, and also how to come back a different metro route. The museum of precolumbian art was really great - I saw a bit of Mapuche stuff (the culture I researched for Gender and Family last year), and wrote down occasional things I thought were interesting, like the display of "coqueros", or guys chewing on big balls of coca leaves that are tucked in their cheeks - some masks and figurines all with a little ball on one of their cheeks. Oh, and another thing about seats and sitting - there are/were some cultures where the political figures and deities have to remain seated and totally still (resting completely, as it were, although I don't think remaining completely still would necessarily do that for me) to maintain the balance of the universe - very interesting. I'm actually kind of liking going to museums by myself, because I don't have to worry about making people wait. The other museum was quite good as well. Not as state-of-the-art-esque as the precolumbian place, but that's to be expected, because it's, I think the oldest church and maybe the oldest building in Chile, or something like that. They have some pieces awaiting restoration. They have a huge collection of St. Francis of Assisi-related stuff. There's a big collection of 52 paintings, a bunch of furniture, etc. Oh, and then in the evening, Paulina and I went out after she got off work and I got back here. I wanted to try and go to either Club de Jazz or La Tecla (both in Nunoa) to hear some live jazz music, but there's no live music right now at La Tecla, and the Club de Jazz opens at 10:30pm, and by that time we were both tired, so I'm going to have to try doing that another time - at least now I know where it is and when it gets going. We instead went to La Taverna, an Italian restaurant on the Plaza - a very nice place that Paulina had been to before. I got a pasta dish - fettucine with a tomato, oregano, chicken (maybe not chicken - I forget) and mushroom sauce, and again the bread was great - pan amasado - handmade at the restaurant.
Today, I made a couple of trips to the vet - we're keeping the cat here through Feb. 17 or so when Thomasina gets back from Jamaica and goes back to the south of Chile - she said she'd take the cat with her. However, we're not sure Alain will be able to part with the cat, so Percey may become a permanent member of the hogar. Anyway - it's going to be staying awhile, so it needed its shots, some real cat food, etc. Then, Shana decided that we should probably bring Patan as well, because he was overdue for his shots, so I stayed there with him while he got his checkup. Yesterday, Adriana went to the doctor as well, so she's got bandages on her ankles where there are sore-type places, she has to walk 15-20 minutes each day, can't eat a list of things, has an extra pill to take in the evening, and some cream for her allergic reaction. Oh - and I've learned how to do Adriana's "in-depth cleaning" now as well - fun stuff. I'm sure you all want to know everything there is to know about Adriana's health - but oh well. Also today, I took Alain for a haircut - it's super-short now. I actually took some pictures while we were at the park, so you'll get to see the difference. The guy that cut his hair was nice - he said he was in Texas for 6 months - in San Antonio and Austin at a Spanish seminary or something like that. I wanted to ask more, but then there was more razor and blow-dryer noise, so I didn't. I need to put on my talkative cap and ask those questions and such, because I don't always take those little moments to chat with people here and there. I did talk a little bit with a family at the San Francisco museum - in the middle there was a courtyard with a fountain, and a little boy had put water on his head to cool off, and I talked to his parents a little bit - the mom had been or had known a diplomat in Texas as well - either since or until 1986, I think - my facts don't always get straightened out by the end of conversations. Anyway - I was surprised when we got back from our little paseo to the park that Adriana wanted to go out again, so we did for quite awhile. It was rather nice - especially the first part in the park - lots of kids out playing.
I need to go to bed so that A&A might also go to sleep. The group from Virginia is arriving in the morning, and we'll go over to the workshop tomorrow to hang out with them. I hope to balance my checkbook and go to church at Shana's church this weekend - and maybe post a few more pictures I've taken - oh and maybe figure out how to do the website thing! I really want to do it, and I have the info. now, so I need to get started on that!
Have a wonderful night everyone! Buenas noches!
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