A Rookie No Longer

This morning I went to Lider (Owned by Walmart) and bought a standing fan for $7000 pesos, roughly $10. It is nearing the end of the summer; this is an amazing price for a fan, but when I really needed a fan during these past two sweltering months I could not find one for under $40,000 Pesos at Easy, Fallabella, or Lider. I could not justify paying sixty American dollars for a fan, so we moved fans from room to room and borrowed another fan over the vacation, and sweated it out the rest of the time. It has taken seven months, but I am finally starting to understand how to shop in Chile. You need to buy home goods out of season. So, now is the time to buy camping air mattresses, pool accessories, and coolers. The trick is not to buy something when you really want it, but instead to buy things that you will need.

Fruit, however, is the opposite. You can really only buy it in season. When I went to the market this morning I bought watermelon, peaches, and grapes. Though I really wanted cherries, they are gone and blueberries are now twice as much as they were the last two weeks. Imported food or food out of season is really expensive and often unavailable, but I can get an entire watermelon right now for a little over two dollars. At home, I knew where to get the best deals. Here it is about when to get the best deal.

We have been in Chile since July and have been back at school for one, long week. All four of us have had such an easier start to the semester than the first one. When we talk to teachers who have been here for awhile, they nod knowingly that the beginning is incredibly challenging, harder than most international school transitions. We have had a number of aha moments when we realized that we were not alone in thinking how tricky it has been to set up life here. Human resources, while helpful, is more hands off; after-all, Chile is not a third world country, and the expectation is that teachers can negotiate it all on their own. When we were in Brazil, we received a finished apartment. Our bills were paid for by Human Resources. In Chile, we found our own place and houses come without refrigerators, dryers, curtains, and light fixtures. Chilean law regarding notarizing contracts with nannies and landlords is strict. Knowing Spanish is important because otherwise one cannot set up phone lines, internet, doctors’ appointments, and furniture deliveries.

The reminder of how far we have come in our transition seemed the clearest to me by attending a ping-pong tournament on Friday night at the same house where there was a newbie party in July. That July evening I barely noticed the beautiful, mountainous backdrop or the large pool surrounded by various fruit and almond trees. At the first party, though I appreciated the welcome gesture, I did not really enjoy myself. It was cold and dark for most of the party, and aside from shivering in the wrong clothing, I was worried whether the kids would make friends. I spent the night in a number of awkward conversations, though I understand now that the school sponsors this party knowing how hard the beginning is for newbies. This weekend, Rich and I had fun playing ping-pong (neither of us moved on to the 2nd round), and we had genuine conversations with people that we know, rather than making introductions and feeling like we were complaining about our challenges. Max made it to the semi-finals of the kids’ tournament; Mia spent the evening building an outside fort with friends and gathering fruit and nuts for their feast.

The kids are also enjoying not being new faces at school. Mia came back from her camp experience transformed; she seems older and more mature. I am not sure how much is directly tied to being on her own for eight nights at camp or not. At home now, she is able to make pancakes practically on her own, even doubling the recipe. She washes her dishes. She admires a sixth grader named Uma who introduced herself by saying, “I am a positive person” and who wears t-shirts with inspirational messages like, “This girl does not stop.” Don’t get me wrong; Mia still could use a little help. Her suitcase from camp came home with all of the clothing still neatly folded and untouched. She never showered, changed her underwear, or used other socks. She cried at the train station out of joy in seeing us and gave Max the longest and tightest hug I have seen. She was homesick at camp, but after the camp director told her to choose to stop crying and enjoy the experience, she did. Now at school, 6th graders come over and give her huge smiles and shoutouts. They have inside jokes from camp. We are amazed by how many people know her at school.

Similarly, Max seems to have found his groove. He was a football birthday party this morning with his buds and has another laser tag party next weekend. At the ping-pong tournament, he was the kid hanging with the adults in this game called Rondo, which is the ping-pong version of knockout. He has adults at the school that he discusses American sports with regularly. Though he still plays online chess with grandpa and Skypes with his best buds Sam and Landon from home, he is also getting super excited to host his uncles, grandparents, and friends when they visit us in Chile. The Tingers will be joining us here in a few short weeks. Lucky for them, we are no longer rookie hosts either. We are planning on showing them a great time! I found myself saying to Mia the other day, “How did you help the three new girls in your class today? Remember, you know what it feels like to be new.” She nodded wisely and gave me an example of how she was kind. I smiled and realized that in a few short months we will become “Twobies”- which means in our second year. Phew….that sounds much easier.