Week in Review

Hi everyone!  Here is a recap of my week:

On Sunday, our visitors from California and Atlanta arrived to help us with some of our processes at work. But before reporting to work on Friday we headed out to Vina del Mar and Valpo to do some sight seeing.  We had lunch at a beachside restaurant and went to the casino. This picture shows what the majority of the drive looks like to get to Vina. 

Monday night when I left the office I noticed a bunch of teenagers hanging around on the corner near the Ritz Hotel. I didn't think anything of it because it was summer, but when I arrived to work on Tuesday morning there were at least 50 people outside once again. The numbers kept growing and growing and eventually we figured out that Selena Gomez (Disney channel star....I think)....was staying there.  The fans were chanting and waiting out in the hot sun for days...they were there from Tuesday till Thursday night. They kept us entertained all day since we had a good vantage point of the spectacle from our meeting room. Our visitors were staying at the Ritz so we were able to get near the building. In fact they even saw Selena at the pool one evening and got her autograph for one of the super fans outside. Dan snapped a pic of me in front of the smaller crowd Tuesday morning. 

Thursday was a monumental day....I rode the metro twice!  It is very nice and clean down there and user friendly. They have random stores that sell everything from underwear to empanadas to jelly. I will try to venture out somewhere on my own soon to see if I can master it. 

On Thursday night, Michelle and I got invited to a birthday part of a fellow co-worker. We had a good time at the bar/night club/restaurant and drank some margaritas.  It was very nice of them to let us in their circle!!  The bar played the most random mix of music...hip hop, Elvis, Beatles, 80s music....it was fun!

Friday night Michelle had to fly back to the US, so after work we went in search of Chilean food. We found it at a 130 year old restaurant...I think the waiter was telling me it is the oldest restaurant in South America...but I am not certain if that is correct.  We had empanadas de carne (beef), shrimp in spicy sauce (that is not spicy at all), shrimp in an avocado, and these little corn cakes that you split open and put pico de gallo inside.  Delicious!!  We also ordered pisco sours but decided they were not our favorite.  Side note: there are passion fruit pisco sours at the Ritz, so I hope to go over there sometime and try one!

After lunch we grabbed some ice cream and then boarded the Touristik bus that runs you around the city and points out the important landmarks.  They are double decker buses like in London. 

This is the Parque Arauco mall...wanted to point it out since the latter part of this post will be mainly about shopping. It was the theme of my weekend.

Before we go onto the shopping...look what I did to my dishwasher the second time I used it.   (The first time I used it I was putting rinsing agent in the machine and not detergent...thanks Michelle for pointing that out!!). The second time I dumped waaaaaay too much soap in there. LOL!!! I know Michelle will laugh at this!  All is better now and I successfully completed a load of dishes today.

Grocery shopping has not been much of an issue at all. The produce in this country is great..and you can pretty much find anything you are looking for (other than jalapenos).  For example, I found Quaker Quadritos cereal that tastes just like the oatmeal square cereal I used to get in the US.

Shout out to Barbara for telling me about Casa&Ideas. This place is like IKEA but smaller and without the furniture. It has tons of home good items for cheap!!!  

My floors in the apartment are wood and tile...and going onto the balcony makes my feet so dirty...so I found a pair of inside and outside slippers at Casa&Ideas. The outside pair looks like green marshmallows..but that is ok!  I am sure they do not pass the Grimmett fashion test....lol!!

At Casa&Ideas I got these picture frames and candle holder so my apartment will start feeling more personalized.  I went back there today and bought bedding, so I will post pictures of that once I finish decorating my bedroom.

I bought these fun hair bands at Falabella.  Look at the shopping bag they came in..it's like a gift bag.  Lots of the shops and restaurants here seem to take a lot of pride in wrapping the goods they sell. Makes purchases that much more fun I guess!

So after hitting up two malls and j\Jumbo, I pretty much laid low the rest of the weekend. Thanks to some expert who posted on the Expats In Chile website, I was able to find a site to watch US tv for free!!! I have been catching up on all of my shows.  

I did manage to get out of the house last night and go for a walk to explore my neighborhood more.  I like looking at all of the painted benches around town.  I posted a pic of one before and will keep posting when I can sneak a pic!  Nothing makes me look more like a gringa than whipping out a camera.....well that and the fact I am the tallest person on the street and have blue eyes. Anyway....all is well in Chile! Can't wait for people to come visit!!!

Chow for now!