Rocket Love

Nate just read the "pictures of our apartment!" entry and said, "Good. That's funny. But you didn't write anything about what we've been doing. Write another one." So here I am again to write about what we've been doing. And don't worry--it's not that I am super acquiescent to his every little whim; it's just that we're in an internet cafe right now, with unfettered restriction to an extremely fast internet connection. So, you lucky ducks, you get another entry.

The longer we're in Santiago and the more we settle in here, the more boring our lives inevitably become (at least to outsiders). That at least partially explains why we haven't been keeping up with the blog entries. Another reason is that the internet we steal while in our apartment comes and goes, and it's not nearly fast enough to upload any pictures. The last reason should be obvious. We're lazy! But you already knew that.

The past couple weeks have been much nicer than before we left, mostly because we had a big, fat paycheck waiting for us when we got back to Santiago. This has enabled us to go out for beers with friends, eat meals that don't include lots of rice and water, and see an occasional movie. We've gone to an asado at a Chilean friend's house, gone to that big pool on the top of the big hill (see entry about parties, pools, and poison ivy), and hiked around the city in our hiking boots, trying to break them in before our big trip to the south. The latter activity results in lots of stares from Chileans, who sadly shake their heads and whisper to each other about how weird gringos are. We don't care. We're not going to be caught with blisters and cuts all over our feet when we should be enjoying the splendor of Patagonia. I also got to go out dancing all night with some girl friends while Nate happily stayed home, content with the fact that he was not being forced to dance and/or socialize with girls.

Oh, we also went to a place called Schopdog a couple times; once to watch the KC Chiefs lose, and once to enjoy beer in their Rocket. Schopdog has this crazy contraption that looks like a huge bong (see picture below), but is really a magnificent holder of 9-10 beers. What makes this thing exceptional is that there is a tube of ice in the middle of the tube of beer that keeps your beer cold, and you can pour your own beers out of your own little tap! It's awesome. Other gringos have since told me they have these all over the United States, but I refuse to believe it. The rocket makes drinking beer even more fun than it is normally.

I love this thing!

That's about it. Work is going well for both of us. We bought tickets to the south (Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego), and we'll be heading down there mid-February for two and half weeks to engage in camping, hiking and backpacking adventures. My parents are coming to visit in two weeks as well, so that means we get to show the city to them and possibly eat nice meals at nice restaurants that don't sell hot dogs. Don't worry though, Mom and Dad. We won't deprive you of the wondrousnous that is the Schopdog Rocket. You can count on that.