Back Online! The cable guy arrived on time but it took awhile!! These photos were taken during our trip down South to a town called Curacautin near the National Park Conguillio. The volcano in the background is Llaima (most active in South America) and the lake is called Lago Conguillio. After our return to Concepcion, Dave returned to Texas and I started all the "back to school" hustle and bustle. Uniforms are a new experience for the boys. So is walking. We don't have a car yet so the boys are trucking in some miles!! BTW: our mailing address is Barros Arana 1327 Dept 94 (yes..top floor). Concepcion Chile.

Visas registered at Police (1 hour), ID cards obtained (3 hours (various fingerprint retakes), Notarized letter obtained for emergency travel without both parents (2 hours), and apartment contract signed, keys to be given tomorrow (1 hour). . . . Phew.

Today, a wonderful summer day, was spent by all at a friend's "campo" near Concepcion in celebration of his parent's 50th wedding anniversary and his daughter's birthday. Several selections of meat, veggies, and cakes were worked off by watering the 20 or 30 trees recently planted by the family in their efforts towards preservation and biodiversity.  The children spent the day eating plums, climbing in a tree house, and playing tag and hide-and-seek (new words, along with ven conmigo and ven aca).  Dave sustained several conversations in Spanish, and the kids disappeared for several hours into the woods allowing me time to reconnect with friends and forge ahead with my recollection of Chilean slang.  Since we have been so active, and the sun shines bright, we have been consuming a lot of bottled water.  Throwing away plastic water bottles feels like a mortal sin, but we have only found recycling centers that take glass.  Fernando uses plastic bottles as a sort of "drip system" for his trees, so it is good to see some environmental concern and one can only hope recycling quickly comes to such a gorgeous, mountainous country.

Two full days on the ground exposed to Spanish and these are the phrases/words the boys have already picked up:  me gusta pizza. manzanas. quieres jugar conmigo. como se llama el juego. jugo. departamento. bicicleta. queso. pan etc etc. They aren't even in school yet! Dave is right with them. I sent him out to buy bus tickets and he did it right all on this own. Life is good.

How fortunate I am to have friends here on the ground in Chile. Without them, I wouldn't have a home to stay in (instead of a hotel), nor a ride from the bus terminal with 6 bags, nor an apartment found and rented for next week that will be our new home (address forthcoming). Gracias Carolina, Monica, Fernando y Mono!! Because of all of this, we are going to take care of paperwork on Monday, securing our national ID # and visa registration (which will allow me to buy a car at the end of the month), and take off for the hills to enjoy the mountain air, thermal hot baths and pools, and horseback riding with the kids before Dave has to return to the grind.  Check it out!  http://www.suizandina.com/

Well after a near disaster on the flight to Dallas, where they informed us there was no overhead room and we would have to check ALL our carry-on bags through to Santiago (yea, right!! and entertain kids for 11 hours and feed them and change their clothes should mishaps occur), we managed to charm a New Yorker with our Texan charm and finagle the bags on board.  No one slept, so after a beautiful sunny day in Santiago, where we forced the kids to walk a few miles to get "used to it," we are heading to bed. Glad to be here safely!