July 30, 2008
Contrary to some people’s popular belief, Santiago is not totally devoid of all culture and beauty. 
Sure, I bitch and moan…I’m an expat, it’s what we do. But, this city has it’s moments for me and last Friday was one of them.
I went out exploring with friends throughout Barrio Concha y Toro, Barrio Brasil, El Centro through to Barrio Lastarria. Good times. Of course, I had my new camera with me, but let’s not lie, I was NERVOUS. Carrying around thousands of dollars worth of equipment is more than a little nerve wracking in a part of town that’s featured nightly on the news showing bands of petty thieves. I didn’t want to get caught being the stupid gringa, waving my gear around, taunting fate and thieves with temptation. So I didn’t take a ton of pictures. But, this was my first time using the new cam in low light, and oh my gosh, I think I’m LOVE. Everything that S. and I make from photography sessions, we invest right back into the business buying more equipment. We bought the 40d with money from the past couple sessions we did, plus a generous gift certificate from a friend, and it’s seriously the best purchase I’ve ever made. The camera’s capabilities over what my Rebel XT could do are above and beyond what I expected. Needless to say, I’m thrilled. And I feel like I’m now better prepared to push myself to new levels in photography.
Here are a few smatterings of the photos I took last Friday. Yes, I know I’m slow, but it takes me a long time to edit photos to get the mood perfect. I usually have a specific idea in mind of what feel I’m trying to get and I’ll play around in Photoshop until I get it exactly right.
Note: These pictures are cross posted everywhere. They’re already up on Facebook. I’ll make some of them public on my Flickr, and for the full set, check out my photography blog.
And in other random news, I’m now blogging for TONIC. I’m SO excited about this, as it’s more original autobiographical type content than what I’ve been doing for other blogs and I feel very free writing for them. The theme is environmental issues, and I’ll be focusing on what it’s like to try and be “green” while living in Chile. Leave me a little love on my first post so I don’t feel like the loser new kid on the blog.
PS. Does anybody know how to widen the main column in WordPress and in Blogger? I want to be able to post larger photos here and on my photography blog and I’m HTML impaired.
July 24, 2008
Someday I would like to have roots. The nomadic life has been good to me up until this point, but in the distant future I think it would be amazing to live in one place for more than 5 years and really make a home there.
I feel I’m getting to that point in Chile. I’ve been here for 3 years now. And I do feel comfortable and at home here. The only problem is, I am not in love with this country. I used to feel guilty saying that. If a Chilean asked me how I like living here, I would dance around the question and answer with something like, “Heeeey, ummm, yeaaah. My husband is Chilean and he’s GREAT. I really like living with him.” Because that’s the truth. My husband is amazing and I could live with him in a shack in rural China, or a mansion in L.A. and be happy.
Now, I don’t feel guilty. Just because I choose to live here, doesn’t mean I have to like it. It’s what’s best for my life right now. We save much more money living off of my U.S. salary since it goes farther in a cheaper country. Lots of immigrants live in the U.S. or other countries because they know it’s best for their financial situation, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to go home.
I’ve been in love with a city before and Santiago just doesn’t give me that happy, giddy feeling you get when you really like a place. I lived in Tampa for 4 years and it gave me that feeling every single day. You can’t have a bad day in a place that has so many good restaurants, great culture, physical beauty, nice people, a fun nightlife scene, the longest connected sidewalk in the world and balmy weather. I can’t wait to someday find a place like that, where I want to buy a house and live there and make it permanent. Here, an underlying transitory current runs through my life because we don’t want to be here forever. I can’t put down real roots because I’ll have to dig them up myself in a year.
Today I read this, which made me feel like, maybe Brussels is a city that S. and I could fall in love with. After the homogeneous culture of Chile, I feel that such diversity could be refreshing.
Don’t get me wrong, I know the grass is always greener. Every city has it’s ups and downs. I don’t expect anywhere to be perfect. But, if you’re in love with a city, just like a person, it’s so much easier to accept it’s flaws.
Can you believe that we are leaving from our trip in less than a year and a half?!? I know the time will fly, but I already get butterflies just thinking about it because it’s starting to seem real.
Reading about Brussels just got me so excited for our round the world trip because I know that we’re going to find someplace that we’re both crazy about and we’re going to want to stay there forever. I can’t wait! Finding home might end up being even more exciting than seeing the world.
July 23, 2008
Ever since I’ve been diagnosed with asthma I’ve been making more of an effort to stay away from smoking. And no, I don’t mean trying not to smoke myself. I don’t. In fact, my first and only experience with inhaling was when I lived in Chile when I was 14 years old. I tried a cigarette at a party because I wondered whether people did it because it was “cool” or it actually felt good. It didn’t feel good. After that, I lost all interest.
So basically, the doctor told me that I brought the asthma upon myself, by exercising outside, and frequenting places with people who smoke. I was a bit nervous to bring the subject with my husband. He doesn’t smoke either but literally every single friend he has does. Duh. We’re in Chile. This country has one of the highest percentages of smokers in the world. So when I told my husband that I would no longer be able to sit around shooting the shit with a room full of lung killers, I knew that had the possibility of putting a serious damper on our social life. With his close friends, it’s not a problem. If I say, “Guys, would you mind smoking outside?” They will. No questions asked. But, I was more concerned about acquaintances, not best friends.
Our first test was last Saturday. We went to play poker with friends of S.’s from work from his newest construction site. He had never done anything social with them before so I was petrified to tell them they couldn’t smoke around me. Fortunately, the unthinkable happened. We walked in. One of the other guys began to light up. And the host’s girlfriend sent him outside. I didn’t even have to say anything! I was shocked to put it mildly. This rarely happens in a Chilean residence. Most people don’t even ask before they start destroying their lungs as well as the lungs of everyone else in their proximity.
Note: Let’s just tell it like it is. I think a smoker who smokes anywhere that any non-smoker could possibly be breathing the same air, is a selfish asshole — here, in the U.S., everywhere.
Anyways, later on in the evening, I figured out why the hostess was allowing no smoking. The telling conversation went a little something like this.
Hostess: So you two have been married now for a year and a half, right?
Me: Yep, that’s right.
Hostess (excitedly): You must be thinking about kids then. You’re probably trying to get pregnant right?!?
Me: (Makes face like this). I hate kids, so does my husband. We want to wait another 10 years before we start trying to ruin our lives.*
Hostess: I’m 5 months pregnant.
Me: (Sits in awkward silence) Ummm….congratulations?
Hahaha, and you all wonder why I only have one Chilena friend. This strange friendless phenomenon may be caused by a severe case of foot-in-mouth syndrome.
*Disclaimer: Notice how I said OUR lives. I have utmost respect for people who have children and raise them successfully. That actually kind of amazes me. But, it’s not for us right now. We also really don’t hate children, I didn’t actually mean anything that harsh when I said it. That’s just how it came out. Both of us really like cool, non-obnoxious children.
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