A Year in the Lake Districts of Chile and Argentina: The Apartment

It is a bright, blue sky and sunshine filled day here in Temuco. The past 10 hours have been the first 10 consecutive hours of clear sky that we have experienced and we are crossing our fingers that that they are not our last. The locals have joked with us that usually the sun only comes out from behind the clouds in Temuco for the months of December and January, so we are ever grateful for the warmth today.

Sarah thought it would be nice if we shared with everyone some aspects of our apartment and our neighborhood and I thought that to be a lovely idea. So this post is about our digs down here in Chile. We are also including some photos at the bottom of the post that give a sense of the housing scene here. Consider it a walking tour of our neighborhood. We hope you will enjoy!

As we mentioned in the previous post, we are renting a "furnished" apartment. Furnished here means that the utilities are included along with some furniture and cutlery. We were thrilled when we first moved in as the apartment represented a freedom from eating out every lunch and dinner, which in this part of South America means steak, chicken, steak, fish, chicken, or fish and steak. Of course, I exaggerate, but only by a little. One very nice aspect of Chile is that salads and veggies are common and you do not get weird looks when you order them with your wine and they are quite tasty.

What we didn't realize or think of when we signed the lease were all the small items that are needed daily. Things like hand towels for drying dishes, Tupperware or similar containers for leftovers, spices, cutting boards, bath mats, toilet bowl cleaners, hangers and the all important corkscrew. I was about to reread the lease, convinced that these items were guaranteed to us, when I was gently reminded that the only Spanish I know is, "mas cervezas, por favor." Yeah, Sarah was right, it is doubtful that Jaime would have included beer in the lease.

So we have had to make do with almost daily treks to the local supermarket chain, Jumbo. Yesterday, I learned how to ask "where are the napkins?" in the mother tongue, but I have not yet learned how to understand the rapid fire response to such elementary questions. I had to recheck every aisle in the store until I reached the back corner. When out of the corner of my eyes, I glimpsed all the paper products, I realized the young woman had told me the napkins were in the back corner. Of course! Unfortunately, I promptly forgot the word for back corner.

Here is our front entrance from our street Leon Gallo.

Our front door... Our living room/breakfast area...

The Kitchen...please note the dish towels hanging from the oven (Yes, we are proud of them!)

The master bedroom and the second bedroom (mostly used for yoga and siestas)

Now that you have seen the tour our small apartment would you like some tea and sweets? Or perhaps you would enjoy some red wine from the Central Valley? Come on down when the time allows. We don't know how long we will be in this city (most likely through December), but if anyone gets the traveling itch, we would be more than happy to host a visitor. Keep in mind that we cook our own meals, mostly steak, chicken, steak, fish, chicken, steak and fish and, of course, the occasional vegetable...When in Chile...!

The Italian heater that keeps us toasty in the early mornings as well as after the sun goes down. This engine of heat is well worth the monthly price of propane!

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The Neighborhood:

We are situated on the western side of the town in an area that is undergoing some redevelopment. We are across from a school and on either side of us there are private residences and shops of various sorts. We are not in the most expensive part of town, but we are within walking distance. The architecture varies from the new larger two story houses to the older style one story stuccoes. One thing is common throughout the town and that is the exterior color choice of bright colors. We suspect it is to combat the overcast nature of Temuco.

These are a couple of the newer designs.