Hada de dientes

Joseph was walking along a cement wall outside our house the other day and fell off somehow. Isabelle came running in the house and with very big, worried eyes told me Joseph was hurt really bad. Since Isabelle has really big, worried eyes at least 10 times a day I told her to just tell Joseph to come in. Then I felt a little bad and went out to check on Joseph and Paul was helping him stumble towards the door with blood streaming out of his mouth. Oops. I guess Isabelle's worried eyes were warranted for once. Since we have no popsicles, I gave him some ice to suck on to stop the bleeding and let him watch Pokémon cartoons to stop the crying. Then I assessed the damage and this is what I found:

 

The bad news is he had a good sized cut in his top lip, an even bigger cut in his bottom lip, some bleeding gums, and two loose front teeth. And a few scratches on his arms and legs.

The good news is that there is a tooth fairy here called the Hada de Dientes. And about a week later one of Joseph's teeth came out.

I was worried the Hada de Dientes wouldn't know we were in Chile so I put 1,000 pesos (about $2) and a bag of candy under Joseph's pillow. That's what I told Paul when he caught me doing it. Then the Hada de Dientes came later and put another 1,000 pesos there too. Sometimes belief can be expensive.

Other news, Becca is still not so sure about Chile. She spends a lot of time wrapped in a blanket with her silky wrapped protectively around her, one corner cuddled to her nose so she can suck her lip. If only she had a mom who would sit and hold her all day instead of take pictures of her.
 Lastly, baby Sam was 3 months old on October 10. Everywhere we go the little Chilean woman go crazy over my pelonito, pelodito, or muneca (little baldy, little baldy, doll). Apparently there are no ginormous white bald babies here.

 

These pictures aren't the best. Taking Sam's 3 month baby pictures is one of the many, many things I intend to do but never seem to have the time. He is the sweetest, most content, happiest, and biggest baby I have ever had. He's not just chubby, he's super long with big hands and a nice fuzzy, soft, round head. He has the cutest little baby laugh and will chuckle for just about anyone.

Pre-Conference Hike

The kids and I have wanted to hike to the top of the hill we live on. Mando decided to go with us this past Saturday morning because we figured we would be laying on the couch for 4 hours that day to watch LDS General Conference.

 Because we live on the side of the hill we followed some little horse trails up to the main trail.

Becca tired out and had to be carried. It was a pretty steep climb.

For some reason making it to the top meant taking off your shirts to my boys.

Doesn't it look like Becca is making the bench sag?

 

Left: Sam in the nerd pack with me. The property extends to the ridge of those hills behind me.
Right: Mando saying what I just said about the property line in a lot, lot, lot more words.

 

 Climbing back down. Isabelle kept stopping to pick flowers and getting behind everyone.

Taking a shortcut back towards our house. It may be hard to see but there are flowers everywhere.

Our house from about halfway up the hill. You can't really see it but it's in all those tall trees. The main road is in that cluster of trees beyond the house. The olive trees are planted on the other side of the road, but will be planted near our home eventually.

And now to spend the rest of the day on our rearends eating treats and watching conference...

Frutillas

You may remember from high school Spanish that strawberries in Spanish are called frescas. But you're wrong. They are called frutillas. At least here in Chile.

William, one of the gate guards, brought us some strawberries and eggs from his family farm our first week here. We ate the strawberries so fast that he brought us more this past weekend. He charged us 5,000 pesos (written 5.000 in Chile), which is approximately $10.

Paul had a few and then I asked him to go get Isabelle to try some. I heard him describing them to her,

"Come try some nice, fresh, big, delicious, juicy, red strawberries!"

 

Did you hear all those adjectives? I must be a great homeschooler. Actually, he was right. They were by far the best strawberries I have ever had. 

 And they were huge. Here is Mando kindly posing with a strawberry to give you some perspective.

 

Don't you just wish you could reach through the screen and eat one?

 

Well Mando just did.

 

They sell frutillas on the side of the road all over the place. Sometimes they will come in something random like a used grape container but they are delicious. William told Mando they are just coming in season and will get even sweeter. I can't wait.

San Antonio

We went to San Antonio, a nice coastal town about 45 minutes away, this week (9/26). Unfortunately for us it was windy and cold, which we've heard isn't normal for this time of the year.

We stopped at the beach first but it was so cold that by the time I fed Sam everyone was ready to go. We'll have to go back when Spring has fully kicked in. The water is never warm enough to swim in, but there are plenty of shells and rocks to play on.

Brrrr...even when you tell kids to not get in the water they always manage to get their shoes and pants wet and then complain they're cold.

 

Next we went to the mall, which is right on a bay and has a fish market right next to it. Per Mando's request we didn't go in any stores, but it was fairly modern, although nothing like the malls we're used to.





Checking out the boats from the safety of the warm mall.

 

After the mall we walked over to the fish market, which was quite the smelly experience. We didn't recognize most of the fish but it was fun to check them all out.

I thought these guys were looking at more pelicans, but I came closer and saw...

 

These fat sea lions were on the rocks right next to the fence and like the Pelicans were not afraid of humans.

 

One waddled right up to us and then barked in disgust when we didn't have anything to feed him, which my kids found very entertaining of course.

 

Some shots of fish and whatnot.

 Mando thought it was hilarious that this woman was only Paul's height. She let Paul hold the crabs, which all the kids thought was awesome until they realized they were still alive.

For Dan & Lexie. See we're not the only people who neglect their dogs! This dog has even more matted fur than Ollie the Collie did.

There are stray dogs everywhere in the towns here.

Standing by the bay on our way out. Notice Joseph is still worried about stinky fish.

 

Goodbye San Antonio.

 

But wait, there's more. We decided to grab something to eat, get some groceries, and head home. So we went to a restaurant that someone Mando works with had recommended, but it was closed. No problem, we asked a random lady on the street where we should go and she recommended two places. We went to one of them and they let us in and showed us upstairs to a nice seating area with lots and lots of glass. Mando asked if they took Visa and they said no, but there is an ATM machine just up the street so I sat down and moved all the glass from our table and waited with all the kids. A while later he came back and said the ATM machine didn't work and the owner said no problem, there is another bank a little further away. So a frustrated Mando left again and we ordered some drinks and ate incredibly hard bread from the bread basket and waited even longer. Mando finally returned about the time Joseph accidentally locked himself in the bathroom and couldn't get out. The other ATM wouldn't work either. So Mando paid for our drinks with his few remaining pesos and we set off looking for a place that took Visas. By now we were all starving and Mando was beyond frustrated. We drove around looking for any restaurant with a Visa sign on the front door. We finally found one and parked a few blocks away since traffic was crazy and walked up to the restaurant only to discover they only took Visas after 7 and it was 6. Mando told them our story and they took pity on us and let us sit down and made us chicken and French fries and hot chocolate (we are from the United States after all). We ate and then went to the grocery store and tried to get cash at their ATM, which didn't work of course. Mando finally called and realized that only cash machines with a certain symbol on them would work. Then I looked online and found banks in the area with ATMs that had that symbol and that Saturday we FINALLY got cash.

 

Lesson learned: always carry cash in Chile. 

La Feria

We buy most of our produce from a local feria, or farmer's market. It's deliciously fresh and usually fairly cheap.

Doesn't this guy look like he loves his job?

We have gone back to his stand a few times.

 

The towns around here usually have ferias weekly. Some are bigger than others, but we have been going to the feria in a little town called San Pedro every Tuesday morning because it's only about 5 minutes away and it's not so big that we're overwhelmed.

 

 

Left: Some delicious tomatoes to make delicious pico de gallo.

Right: This guy loves his job too.

 

 It changes from week to week, but we're starting to recognize some vendors. Usually there are around 20 stands, mostly with produce, but some sell clothing, toiletries, chickens, and our favorite, ice cream.

 Becca checking out the chicks and chickens. (With what looks like a diaper wedgie).

Left: Enjoying some delicious ice cream

Right: Joseph patiently waiting for his ice cream cone.

 See? I was there too!

Church in Melipilla

Unbeknownst to us, we bought our tickets to Chile during Fiestas Patrias, a big national holiday celebrating the establishment of their first government, so all the stores were closed for a few days. Luckily our friend Netto bought us groceries before we arrived so we had food to eat. So when we arrived at our new home on Thursday, September 19th, we just laid around and watched cartoons. We drove around the farm a little on Friday, and finally went out to buy some more groceries and a few things for the house on Saturday.

That was a horrible experience.

The stores were so crowded with after-holiday shoppers and the food was so different we didn't even know what to buy. Chileans eat a lot of pasta and a lot of hard bread. There is no canned food, no chocolate chips, and no spices. But I won't go into that today. For now just imagine a confused tall white woman in a store pushing a cart with a baby seat (it took up the whole cart) while her son follows with a cart full of food and her husband (who may be brown, but is tall) brings up the rear with a toddler and more food. And also there are two other children running around and getting in other customer's way and asking what everything is. And also imagine the store is rather crowded and we have no idea what anything is.

Yes, it was that bad.

After a few painful hours we finally checked out. But when we got to the car, which is a used, shiny, red explorer, we realized we only have like one foot of trunk space and somehow have to get laundry baskets and big cartons of eggs home. Mando somehow shoved it all in and I "ran" into another store to buy a hair dryer. After a few unsuccessful attempts at Spanish I came out an hour later with a bouncy seat for Sam, measuring cups and spoons, and an iron.

We'll revisit stores later because we've learned more since then.

Sunday we went to church for the first time. I know you will be surprised, but we walked in a few minutes late. No worries, church hadn't even started yet. People sort of casually drifted in and children screamed and ran all over throughout the whole Sacrament meeting. I picked up a few words here and there but it takes concentration for me to understand Spanish and I was trying to keep my kids all quiet most of the time.

Although it is warm outside during the day, it gets really cold at night here. In Chile, they only heat the Chapel in the church buildings. The rest of the church is freezing cold, which I didn't know beforehand. My girls were in their Easter dresses and sandals and none of us had coats. I didn't even pack tights and closed shoes for us or sweaters for the boys.

After Sacrament meeting we tried to figure out which class the kids would be in and decided to send the older three all together so they wouldn't be as confused. Now may be a good time to mention that they can't speak or understand Spanish. The Sunday School classes for primary were broken up into three groups: 18 months to 3, 4 to 7, and 8 to 11. Mando went with Becca to Nursery, which was about the size of the cleaning closet at our old ward; Paul, Joseph and Isabelle all went to the 4-7 year old class even though Paul is almost 9; And I hovered in the hall with Sam and peeked in the windows to make sure everyone was okay.

As far as I could tell, they had no lesson. The kids just ran around and screamed. Sharing time was just about the same. I peeked in and saw Paul with his arms draped protectively around Isabelle and Joseph, a horrified look on his face. They did sing some songs and the kids settled down a little so I'm sure at some point they did have sharing time. Isabelle and Becca only made it through the first hour before they were too cold and too scared and joined me in the hall in a small patch of sunlight from the door.

When we got in the car after church I asked the kids how they liked primary. Paul said he thought he learned some new Spanish words. I asked him which words and he replied, "silencio."

But amidst all the freezing and confusion, it was a great experience. I realized that I can carry on a very basic conversation in Spanish and met a few people who speak some English. I also was air kissed on the cheek many, many times by a lot of very nice women. Everyone was very kind and welcoming and I think that with a few additional layers of clothing and a few more Spanish words in our vocabulary, we will all enjoy church here!

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.