Food, Fashion, and Family

Yesterday I moved in with my family. I live with a senora who lives in the city center of Santiago about a block away from a metro station. She seems really nice, as does her family. Yesterday for once, a small meal eaten around dinner time, her brother, his wife, their two daughters, and another one of her nieces came over. We all sat around chatting for hours. Here in Chile, meals are a very social experience and last a long time.

One thing that I'm still trying to get used to is how cold it is here. It is only about 50 degrees, but none of the buildings have central heat so it feels much colder then it actually is. Instead all the Chileans wear several layers. There is a long-sleeved undershirt, followed by a regular shirt. Then comes a thick wool sweater and finally a warm jacket. Even with all of these layers, the women here still manage to look thin and stylish.

At night when the temperature drops, out come estufas or space heaters. They all have wheels on the bottom so that you can just roll them from room to room, where ever the people are in the house. In Chile, each household is also responsible for heating their own water so yesterday I learned how to use the calefont or hot water heater, so that I could take a hot shower.

At bedtime, I wear long underwear, my pajama pants, a pajama top, and a fleece jacket. In addition, my bed has three rug-like blankets and a comforter. I also get to use a guatero or hot water bottle that goes down near my feet. This has to be my favorite thing about Chile so far.

I'm also enjoying the food here. For breakfast its yogurt, cut up fruit, and a bowl of corn flakes. My madre likes doing things naturally, so I also get a cup of fresh squeezed orange juice. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and it continas a salad, rice or potatos, chicken or beef, and dessert. Once, or dinner, is a small meal of open-faced sandwiches of cheese, salami, other cold cuts, and avocado. The Chileans seem to eat avocado with everything.