Depto

Here it is folks!

                                El living

                                          El living desde la cocina

                                           La cocina

                                           El balcón

                                             El dormitorio desde el living

                                            El dormitorio

Streetdogs and Mother Mary

I can't remember if I've talked about the streetdogs before. They're everywhere. They're sad and peaceable (not hostile and vicious like their Thai kin). Apparently people buy whatever breed's currently in fashion (no doubt as puppies), and when they get sick of the dog or have to move house, will just let it go on the street. Or the dogs might be left to wander around the neighbourhood while their owners are at work (this happens less nowadays) and, as a result, get themselves in the family way. So you end up with lots of dogs that aren't exactly mongrels but sort of look like one particular breed, or a bizarre mixture of two or three.

I was puzzled by the dogs' good humour - apparently it's because people slip them food and water, so they're not actually starving afterall. And here's an interesting Chilean thing - people may not take responsibility for their dogs, yet they feel a tender pity for the creatures and if ever a politician were to suggest a humane, large-scale solution, the uproar would pretty much spell an end to his career. The Chilean heart breaks for the underdog, be it an actual dog, a disabled kid, or a women who has suffered great tragedy. The desire to mother runs deep and strong and is viewed as one of the purest, most noble virtues. And yet sometimes this pity seems to be less about actually helping the suffering and more about almost enjoying the melancholy emotion, and having this pity reassure you that, despite it all, you really are a caring soul. There may also be the opportunity to complete your Christian duty by a performing a - quick and concrete - good deed. Perhaps my assessment is a little too hasty and cyncial - time will tell. I'm certainly not saying it because I think Australia's got the wrap on the good virtues...

What I found out buying things for my flat

• There's no storage room out the back, so if they've run out of the red lamps you just have to go and see if they've got them in another store.
• While there are a lot of commonalities between different stores of the same chain, each will also have its own unique things. So if you see the stone pot you've been looking for, you should buy it there and then because you may never find it in any other stores and if it goes out of stock here there's no guarantee it will ever come back in.
• When they tell you they'll have more bar stools in by Thursday, it's more a general expression of hope for the future.
• Fridges, coffee tables and beds get delivered on the exact day they told you they would (though you never know at what time), and you get a phonecall afterwards to ask how you found the service.
• There don't seem to be computer systems saying what's in stock at other stores - the shop assistants just say you'll have to go have a look... except that one time a shop assistant did look up red lamps for me, so maybe they do have them...
• Even if they do have such systems, there doesn't seem to be the option to reserve a red lamp.
• If a shop assistant very kindly says she'll put a doona aside for you while you sort out your credit card issue, she won't think to tell her colleague where she hid it before knocking off for the day and her colleague won't think to ask.
• Occasionally, when you are photographing tablecloths so you can work out later how they'd look in your house, the staff will come and tell you off - but usually they leave you be.
• Shop assistants (and staff generally) aren't distributed with a view to efficiency. There will be one guy run off his feet at the wood-cutting counter and groups of people hanging around in other parts of the store. 
• Sometimes these aimless-looking assistants will ask if you need help; sometimes not. Sometimes they'll hurry over to sticky-tape together the curtain poles you've been struggling with; sometimes not.
• The shop staff usually have very specific responsibilities - so the lady who just sold you a sofa and is now without customers can't step across and serve you as you stand waiting the return of the bed section lady (except that on this occasion she did!).
• While you do get the odd person who is across all the details of the microwaves, vacuum cleaners and kettles they have to sell, most of the time shop assistants can't answer basic questions about their products.
• No-one thinks you're weird or rude for carrying great armfuls of stuff on the train or through town or piling it all into a taxi. That's just the way it is if you don't have a car. 
• Sometimes people will take pity on you and let you return the curtain ties because you realised you didn't really need them or come out to your place to find a way to get the fridge through the kitchen door; and other times they'll stick closely to the rules and refuse to cut you a small bit of wood or exchange your fridge should it fail to make it through the door.

Friends

A missionary who is part of my church and who works with adults with intellectual disabilities (like these two women) just got back from a few weeks away. She writes:

I was happy to see the folks from Crescendo who had come with me to church, disappear to sit with their friends, leaving me fend for myself.  It was wonderful!  Please continue to pray for our church, Iglesia Cristo Redentor, as we seek to share the love of Christ with all persons regardless of barriers created by ability or social status.

La 508

Sorry for the sporadic posts - I've been busy buying up big for my new apartment. It's almost in the middle of the city, so it's pretty noisy and the streetlights shine in at night but I love it all the same. It's pretty big and soaked with light during the day, there's a sweet little balcony, there are always things going on and people bustling about, and it's a short walk to some parks and funky barrios. I might post some photos once it's all 'done', though I'm having second thoughts about whether that's a good move, security wise, this being the World Wide Web and all.

Anyway here's a video out the bus window on the way into town from my old place. I love Santiago's buskers - well when they're good, which these ones sure were. I'm fairly used to living here now, but the traditional tunes had me sit back a moment and think 'Oh my goodness, here I am, sitting on a bus in South America!!".