It's true. I'm one of those people that still doesn't have a Facebook or a Myspace page and this is my first post on a blog that I have been meaning to start for a while now.
I will do my best to be a savvy blogger with all the cute graphics, etc...but....I apologize in advance if the layout is less than stellar.
So...where to begin...!!
Matt and I are having our first baby in the end of September and are super excited! It's a boy!
I don't have the picture taking gene in me..and I know that will have to change once the baby gets here..so take in account that most of the pics in this blog are of me very pregnant. Pre pregnancy..there aren't many pics. Seriously. I'm that person that never carries a camera with them and has people email them pics. Never again. I'm attempting to turn over a new leaf...but old habits are hard to break...
Next big news....
We have been living in Santiago, Chile since March and will be here for at least 3 years. Yes...I will be having my baby here. Some people have actually asked if I would be flying back to Houston to have the baby....(???!!)...My doctor here is great and I am not nervous at all about having my first baby here. My Spanish is slowing coming along. Chilean Spanish is very different from the Spanish from Mexico in that there are lots of slang in the Spanish in Chile and they talk very fast. They also leave out syllables in several words and Chileans tell us that they are horrible Spanish speakers. I am understanding more all the time, but it will take time before I don't have to pause between every word to think of how to conjugate the next verb.
So...there has definitely been some big transitions to deal with in the past several months. We are here because Matt got a job as a mechanical engineer for the European Southern Observatory. They have several different observatories in Chile...and the one he works at is in the Atacama Desert in the north of the country. He flies back and forth from Santiago. Most observatories are in the middle of nowhere since lights and pollution interfere with the astronomers being able to get a clear picture of things. I'll try to attach a pic of the place..but if I can't..there may be a chance that someone reading this may have seen the latest James Bond flick..Quantam of Solace (or something like that?)..Well, in the end of the movie..the villain's lair is in the middle of a desert in a modern looking compound that gets blown up. They filmed that at the Residencia where the staff lives while they are working in the desert. Matt is up there for 8 days and then is down here for 6. At first I had images of dorm life in college, but no..he's got it pretty good up there. Everything is indoors since they are in the desert and they have things like a pool, tennis courts, etc.
We live on the outskirts of Santiago in a municipality called Lo Barnechea. It's in the foothills of the Andes and is a definite contrast from the weather in Houston that I've been used to. It snowed last week here and the temp right now is in the mid 60s. Not bad for the middle of winter. It was really cold in late May/early June..but apparently it's been a really mild winter. I'm so glad that I'm pregnant in this weather than having to deal with the 100+ temps that I've heard about in the States. That's horrible!
I'll blog later about the food here...but I have food on the brain at the moment...and want to share a few things that I miss in the States that you can't get here. When I go back in Christmas..I'm going to go nuts!
1. Dr. Pepper - Coke is king here and they have a Coke Light that tastes much better than the Diet Coke in the States..but no Dr. Pepper anywhere.
2. Chipotle..and just Tex-Mex food in general. Don't think that I haven't already located the nearest Chipotle to the DFW airport when we fly in.
3. Curly fries....I think about those a lot.
There aren't nearly the amount of restaurants here than there are in the States, so I eat at home alot...which is good. I have a feeling that if I was still in Houston, I would be a whale at this point.
