Apartment

I found one! I'm very happy with my choice. It's located in Providencia, a neighborhood I like a whole lot because it feels safe, it's very pretty, and there's always a lot of art and cultural events going on. It's a studio apartment, small, but everything in it is very new and nice quality, and it has everything I possibly could need as far as furniture and kitchen stuff goes. It's on the 14th floor, with an awesome view of the city, the hills. I'm sure I will definitely feel an earthquake, and it will feel a little stronger up there; but I figure, if nothing happened to the building after the huge earthquake this past February, I should be just fine. Some nice extra perks: the building has a gym, a pool, security, and a rooftop deck. There's a park nearby, and a nice little market just next door that sells all kinds of vegetables for very low prices. Also there's a library just around the corner and I love libraries. So I'm all set! I couldn't ask for more. I'm moving in on Monday, since it's a holiday here (Chileans love their holidays) so I don't have to work until Tuesday.

Last night I went out with my cousin and some of her friends. Not surprisingly, there is a street that is filled with bars, and they all look pretty much the same; all serve the same basic drinks for similar prices, all of them have mostly outdoor seating, and bathrooms that are pretty appalling. The bathroom I experienced last night was especially terrifying, I have never seen an indoor bathroom in such a state. It was so bad that when I got up to go with the bathroom, my cousin was like, oh I better go with you. And I was like, it's okay I can find it. But she insisted, and now I know why. I would describe what I saw but it's just too disgusting. Afterwards, my cousin was like, well now you know why the beer is so cheap here. Apparently they cut costs by not paying anyone to clean the bathroom. Interesting.

Towards the end of the night we were all hungry so we went to a shop to get completos (hotdogs, Chileans LOVE their completos). Since I don't eat meat, and my cousin doesn't either, she told me she'd buy us both completos falsos, one with tomato and avocado for me. Now I was expecting like a veggie dog or something in place of meat. I took a bit, and I didn't taste anything under the tomato and avocado, so I took a few bites thinking some kind of meat replacement must be in there, maybe it was just smaller than the bread. I was about halfway done eating when I finally realized a completo falso is just bread with the topping that would go on the meat. It seems even funnier to me with all the condiments on it that some people put on their completo falsos, like mayonnaise, mustard, and ketchup.

I'm heading back to Rengo for the long weekend. Then next Friday, my parents get here, and Saturday is my mom's party. I'm getting very excited! It's going to be so good to see them. And we've started preparing for the party, there is going to be A LOT of food, beer, wine, and balloons. And a lot of family. Everyone is looking forward to it, and I'm sure my mom is going to have a great time and she'll probably get a little emotional at times and I can almost guarantee that at least one of my uncles will make a speech. I can't wait!