I had heard Christmas starts showing up in Chile as soon as their September Independence month ends. But this week when I went on a grocery run and was greeted by a stuffed elf that was a full story tall, I realized Christmas in Chile was on its way. Granted I’m sure Costco and Lowes […]

What started as a pile of 1.5 gallon water bottles that needed to be recycled, turned into “Carlos” our Halloween decoration. Originally, I had wanted to craft someone a robot costume or make the bottles into layers of ribbons for a skirt and head dress to resemble those from the Kari-Kari dancers we saw in […]

Since being in Chile, we’ve found a couple cool Chilean brands that we really love. There are loads of amazing Chilean outdoor brands here, much like Patagonia and North Face who have some of their roots in Chile. We just haven’t needed anything like that thus far, and since we’re going nomadic soon, we don’t […]

Jane’s got some quirks. She keeps an untidy room that she claims is part of her creative space and process. She unwraps packages and leaves the wrappings on the floor where she stands. She stuffs used water cups into dresser drawers instead of bringing them downstairs. She regularly starts projects and leaves them unfinished, usually […]

Jane’s using her time in Chile to amp up case for getting a mammal for a pet. It seems she’s quite set on a rabbit, though she’s bounced around a bit. At time she’s wanted a mouse, gerbil, guinea pig, or dog. She’s now onto rabbits, I believe the dutch bunny in particular. She has […]

Chileans in general seem to be all about the nightlife. Dinners happen late, pre-partying starts about 10pm, and nightlife really gets going after midnight. We’re long past spending nights in bars, alcohol-fueled parties, and discos (which are abundant in Santiago), partying until the sun comes up. We view the nightlife out our windows, and we […]

After choir practice on Saturday, we biked to a festival in Vitacura at Lo Matta cultural center. This is the same place where we attended the piano and strings concert. The festival included live music, crafts, games, food vendors, and a petting zoo. It was like a fall festival at home in October, but it’s […]

In Chile, we’ve been giving our kids more individual accountability and responsibility as gain confidence in the community and establish our lifestyle here. At first, we were hesitant to let the kids outside of the walls surrounding the courtyard of our home, but now they can buzz themselves in and out of the gate. We’ve […]

So as Jane and I were going for a walk yesterday, we noticed the maintenance people out in full force at the apartment complexes. Spring has sprung, and they were diligently getting flower beds ready, fertilizing the grass, sprinkling poison, and placing foot long black tubes around the perimeter of the apartment’s gate. We decided […]

This bookmark the kids picked up at the library has an Einstein quote in Spanish. Translated into English, it means “Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible.” It struck me as strange that Chilean’s gain inspiration from an Einstein quote in Spanish, as I’m quite sure the man didn’t speak Spanish. It […]