Dogs

Day 2: There are roaming dogs here everywhere, and they know when to walk with crowds and to cross on green lights. Today, we saw: 2 cats, 1 llama and 29 dogs. Took the metro and walked/rode the funicula up to San Cristobal to see a giant statue of the Virgin Mary. The food here is fantastic; rich milk and yogurt, and we could eat the empanadas non-stop. Dave and walked for about 2 straight hours this afternoon while the kids rested; we're still looking for a good place to live. Went to the supermarket; they sell live sea urchins in the seafood aisle!

Tonight, we ate at an unbelievable Italian restaurant and Molly ate brain for the first time. Tomorrow, Mass in Spanish; Max can recite the "Lord's Prayer" in Spanish already.

Detail of the day: It is customary to tip 10% in restaurants, etc., not 15-20% as in the USA.

We're Here!

Just flew in this morning. Very strange to fly into a "winter" climate after sweating like crazy the day before. Good to be in the same time zone; no jetlag.

I love a big city, and Santiago is a big city. Our temporary apartment is in the heart of downtown; lots of lights, traffic, tons of people. The city is just so ALIVE. We rode the metro today, went grocery shopping (homemade bread and excellent wine!) and are just trying to learn Spanish.

Detail of the day: The stop signs here say "Pare" but are in the same shape and color as our stop signs. The highway signs are just like the blue autobahn signs in Europe and the roads are excellent.

Going Away Party ("No Mom, it's a Get Together!"

So Max invited about 15 friends over this afternoon as a "going-away get-together" party. Nice mixture of about 8 girls and 8 boys. Too much pizza and sodas consumed, but in the big picture, Max has a wonderful group of friends who support him and like to hang out together. All polite, kind and generally a great group of polite and caring teenagers.

Molly is hanging out with her girlfriends at a separate "get-together" with her girlfriends. I like the way both kids refuse to say that they are having "going away parties." It's easier to say "get-together;" makes it less difficult to leave your dearest friends and confidants behind.

Church

So far, I've had no major twinges of sadness - until today. Molly and I went to Mass this morning and sat with the Englands; Max and Matthew were altar boys. All of a sudden, tears. No Kleenex! Damn!

Our families have been through a lot together this last year and we really support one another. I draw a huge amount of peace and sense of community from our church. Our new experiences in Santiago will be terrific, but it's still painful to leave my friends. Email and cell phones just aren't enough.

Countdown

Dallas, Texas: 5 days until the big move to Santiago, Chile. My last few evenings have been spent with my dearest friends over many dinners and numerous bottles of wine. Today, the kids want to know why we can't leave sooner! I'm just wondering how I'm going to adjust going from 104 degrees in Dallas to 45 degrees in Santiago. The idea of winter coats and boots right now is just wrong.