It's been a few days since I commited something to the aether, largely because it's been all the usual sorts of mundane stuff going on. There's been two days out of three in the field (I hesitate to use the word "bush", because there aren't any), the usual entertainment of braving the various shops around town, cooking for myself, ordering a pizza, wandering the streets etc.
As per previously, I've got a few learnings out of these experiences;
- My worries about becoming addicted to my Blackberry are proving to be unfounded, largely because it is proving to be impossible (so far) to get set up to receive emails. This is despite valiant attempts by Lizette and a bevy of Entel (a local telecoms supplier) personnel both at the local office and via the telephone. Thanks to everyone who has tried!
- There is snow on the Andes that is not too far from Copiapo! You only have to get a bit of elevation and you can see it on the mountains that are behind the mountains that are behind the hills surrounding Copiapo. Although it might sound a long way, it is probably less than 20 or so kilometres.
- Chileno's not only speak very fast, but they also mumble and leave off the ends of their words, making it difficult for gringos who "learn Spanish from a book" (remember Manuel from Fawlty Towers)...
- My attempts at translating a local newspaper into English, which seemed like a good idea at the time, have ground to a halt due to the rather despressing local content. Admittedly it is much the same sort of stuff as Australian newspapers, but I don't have any great interest in local politics or petty crime.
- I am quite confident the entire country will come to pretty much a complete halt whenever Chile play any games at the World Cup. That would be soccer, for those of you who don't pay much attention to these things. It seems that everyone is planning their lives around when the team will play. It will be really interesting to see how things go after each game, whether they win, lose or draw.
- Just because you rent a furnished apartment that comes with a stuff, it doesn't mean that it will actually work! I've discovered, (or, more accurately, Gloria - my cleaner - has discovered) that the vacuum cleaner doesn't work. Perhaps it was meant to be some kind of modern art or a weird kind of decoy? Anyway, I've braved Jumbo again and bought a vacuum cleaner. The brand name is "Thomas", and is rapidly becoming a favourite in the apartment. He joins his relatives Thomas the Kettle, Thomas the Hand-Mixer, and Thomas the Toaster. Yet again, I fell for a different type of questioning regarding the type of identification I'd be using with my Australian credit card, despite me having my passport out and waving it at the poor checkout chica. Both of us just ended up smiling and giggling at each other, and then asking "habla Ingles?" (do you speak English?) to all of the Jumbo staff nearby, all of whom refused to get involved. I had no idea what she was asking for - how does counting from 1 to 4 in Spanish add up to "What is you identification number?" Equally, she had no idea what the silly little blue book was about and why the crazy looking gringo was waving it about. Eventually one of the supervisors turned up and it all worked itself out, with "muchas gracias" all round! Perhaps they'll be famous last words, but "I'm not going to fall for it again"...
- I've managed to find the crispbread/biscuit thingies known in Australia as "Ryvita's". Not that they're called that here (of course), but the ingredients and picture are identical. Being a big fan of them, smeared with margarine/butter (thinly) and vegemite (thickly), I'll be a happy little camper.
- In the not-so-extensive cheese section of the much larger "refridgerated items" area, I nearly fell over to find Bega sliced cheese staring back at me. Hard to imagine why it's Bega cheese slices in particular that find there way here, but here they are.
The weekend ahead doesn't currently hold any great plans at present, which suits me just fine. A sleep-in is definitely on the cards for Saturday morning, and depending on the weather, a walk in the hills, a drive to a "local" beach, or a drive along the Copiapo River Valley might be in order. We'll see what turns up.
So, now that I've covered the last few days, it's time to spend a moment covering the most exciting thing that has happened so far. It happened at 11:55pm, Friday 11 June (local time). It lasted for 30-45 seconds. Nearly an hour later, I can still feel the buzz I got from the event. There has just been an earthquake! The building shook back and forth, one of the doors rattled, the leaves on the small potted ficus next to my desk shook, and I couldn't stop smiling. I initially thought "Cool!", then it kept going, then it got a bit stronger, then it slowed down a bit, then it got a bit stronger again, and then it faded away. Each time it got a bit stronger, the more worried I got. I got up and headed for the doorway at one stage and then pretty much decided that there would be no running for it from the 6th floor of a 7 storey building, so I'd just enjoy the ride. One of the things I was really looking forward to in coming to Chile was experiencing an earthquake, and now it has happened, I'm looking forward to the next one! I only hope that they are all like this - no damage, just a gentle shake - not like the one earlier in the year. I'm still smiling and my pulse is racing just thinking about it. Wahooo!
OK, so I'm a bit odd. Does that surprise anyone? Really?
Take care!
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