The Fortress

Although Chile has very little violent crime, theft is a real problem, especially if you are American. This makes sense to me after seeing how expensive electronics are here. We haven't told our kids about this because we don't want them to be scared, but there have been robberies on the farm, even when people are at home.

So we decided to live in a small house which would be less of a temptation to robbers and would be closer to the office where Mando would be working. I took most of these pictures with my ipad because I only brought my old camera and one lens (I didn't want my new camera and wide angle lens stolen) and it can't take pictures in narrow spaces. So sorry for the crooked lines and grainy pictures.

This house looked very different when Mando looked at it several months ago but the employees did an excellent job remodeling it. When I walked into the house for the first time I felt like I was on vacation at some sort of remote cabin. They also added quite a few security measures including: a VERY loud alarm system that goes off if any window or door is opened once it is activated, a remote control panic button that also activates the alarm if held for 3 seconds (I have one in my room and one on my keys), a security fence around the property complete with 6 strands of hot wire on the top, 4 cameras on the outside of our house that feed to a monitor in a room off the kitchen, and a security guard that has a route around the farm which includes the perimeter of our fence 24 hours a day. It's like living in the White House. I feel more safe here than I felt in Utah. The fact that I have that panic button makes me feel safe because one of the kids could go push it, which I've instructed them to do in case of an intruder. But enough about that, back to our house.

Walking in our front door.

This hall is about 10 feet and then to the left is our kitchen, to the right is the hallway to the bedrooms, and straight ahead is the dining/living room.

Our kitchen looking from the living room.

The front hallway is to the left and the laundry room and extra room are to the right. The extra room was for the nanny or housekeeper, but unfortunately that didn't come with this house. (And yet somehow Mando got a gardener...) Don't let this picture fool you. Everything is similar to what we have at home, but on a much smaller scale. You may notice the drying rack by the sink. That's right, no dishwasher. And the water dispenser because we can't drink the water.

Help! A giant invaded our kitchen!

Okay, I'm a little chubby but not that fat. Joseph took this picture for me so I could show you the actual size of the kitchen. The counters aren't even as tall as my legs. The oven is very tiny and barely fits a 9x13 pan. And I have to light it with a lighter, which is tricky and frankly a little frightening. I still haven't figured out how to use the heat exactly - instead of degrees (which would be in Celsius) there are three settings - I, II, and III.

 Trying to cook bread on our little oven. The bread in the stores is all hard.
 

And here's a picture of our little Eskimo sleeping in the kitchen because he's so stinking cute. It's pretty chilly in the mornings here.

 

Our dining room/living room from the front hallway.

There are sliding glass windows to the left behind the table and the right behind the couches. Yes, those are fabric covered chairs. I'm sure we won't be leaving them in the same condition we found them. The couches are pretty awesome with recliners on either side. And that is a telephone with a Utah number straight ahead. All those wires are for the internet and whatnot. We're pretty high tech.  

 

If you turn right after going in the front hall you go to the bedrooms. First is the girl's room. I didn't take a picture but there is a big built-in wardrobe with sliding doors on the wall opposite of the window.

 

The kid's bathroom. Plug your nose because it likely smells like pee. See those little buttons on the top of the potty? They are how you flush the toilet. I'm not sure which does what so I just push one and hope for the best. Fun Fact: the bathtubs here are deeper and narrower.

The boy's room. It also has a wardrobe, but the sliding doors don't work exposing all sorts of messes. All the bedrooms and the living room have a little heater/AC on the wall so they stay warm on the cold nights.

 

Sam and my room. Mando sleeps there too. The bed and pillows are made of something like memory foam. At first it was weird to sleep on but now I love it. 

My three boys talking about something important like Pokémon. The window in my room has a sort of window seat, but not really a seat so much as a wide sill. The kids love to play in there, especially after someone takes a shower in the morning and there is steam to write in.

Our bathroom. When the doors are all opened the mirror distorts you as you walk down the bedroom hallway and makes you want to never eat Oreos again. So you just close the doors and keep eating them. See that large black box on the counter that looks like a boombox from the 90s? It is a power converter. The plugs are different here, but so is the voltage. This contraption converts both voltage and plug shape so I can flat iron my hair. The things we do for beauty. We have a small walk-in closet as well.
 

Left: The extra room off the laundry room which has an extra freezer, some cupboards for food storage and a monitor that shows what the four security cameras around the outside of our house see.

Right: Our laundry room off the kitchen. It used to be a covered patio. There is lots of room for storage in here too. These 2 rooms are always cold because the heat doesn't reach them.

 

Below: Some shots from outside the house.

 The gate to our security fence. Doesn't it look pretty official? There is a doorbell and intercom on it so if someone comes they can call us. We have a phone that connects to the intercom in our bedroom and in the kitchen.


Awesome play house in our front yard.


Swing set and play house in front yard. I can see these from my front kitchen window. Isn't this much better than going to school all day?

Left: Our owl. We've seen him flying around at night but he sleeps in this tree all day.
Right: BBQ pit and outdoor clay oven. Mando made some chicken thighs in there and they were delicious.

 

Our family car. It's used and has a few quirks but is in fairly decent condition. I feel lucky to have such a nice vehicle after seeing what most people drive around here.

 

That's where we live! Aside from the mini-appliances in the kitchen, it really feels like a vacation home. The kids constantly want to go outside and I love watching all the different birds from the kitchen window. It really is a beautiful place and I think we will enjoy our time here.