Great News!!!

Just a quick update today because I have some great news to share. I have my Temporary Visa to live and work in Chile for one year!!! I went to the office of PDI this morning, and was able to complete the interview alone! I'm incredibly happy and relieved to have this step of the process behind me. There is still one more step before I receive my Chilean ID card and my RUT, which is like a social security number, but I'm almost there! This is cause for a celebration! Cheers to all and I send big hugs from Patagonia!

Where does the time go?

Seriously? Where does it go? It seems that the older I get, the faster the time passes. My days are filled with the simplest things in life...walking along the coast, working in the garden, studying Spanish, baking, climbing, and working in the pub. So it's safe to say that I'm staying busy, but I have to wonder how three weeks has passed since I last posted on my blog!

I guess the biggest news is about the garden...we broke ground at the beginning of the month, and it's great! We have a lot of work to do with removing the grass and the roots, but the soil beneath is rich with nutrients. I've planted lettuce, carrot, and cilantro seeds in the house, and the sprouts are coming up after only one week. I also have pepper, squash, parsley, onion, and few other veggies to get started this week. It's super exciting for me to have a garden in the back yard of my house in Patagonia! The plan is to move the plants outside some time in November, depending on the weather.

Chile's Independence Day is coming up on September 18th, which will be a humungous celebration. My friends have been talking about it for weeks now, and the town is preparing for the festivities. Flags now line the main streets in town and there will be a carnival of sorts with games and food. I'm confident that it will be an amazing experience to celebrate this very important holiday with the locals, so I'll be sure to report back after the party!

There is big news from the brewery that I work at as well...we won a bronze medal at the Copa de Cerveza (the big beer competition in Santiago). This is an incredible honor, especially considering the size of our brewery versus the size of the competitor's breweries. The publicity from this will bring business not only to the pub, but also to the entire town of Puerto Natales. This past weekend the pub ran a two for one special to celebrate the news and spread the word around town. Fun was had by all!

I made another trip to the park with a few friends this last weekend as well. We ventured to Lago Toro, which is an incredibly large lake just south of the park. One of my friends is a geologist who is interested in creating a 'Paleo Park' near the shore of Lago Toro, which is littered with fossils. The only catch is this...you have rappel down three different rock faces before bush whacking through a jungle of bushes and trees covered in thorns. On top the difficult terrain, it was raining, which made for a very long, wet day. Still, it was an amazing adventure until the end, even as we were racing the light to reach the top of the cliff. My friend Sverre, who is one of the scientists I introduced in a recent post, accompanied us on this particular adventure. She is convinced that her friends back home won't believe the story, so I'm her 'eye witness'. Sverre, just have your friends send me an email if they don't believe you :)

Today I'm off to visit the PDI, which is equivalent to the Social Security Office in the United States. I'm in the process of applying for a temporary work visa right now. This visa will allow me to live and work in Chile for one year, where as my tourist visa only allows me to legally stay in the country for three months. My Spanish is coming along quite well, however, it's still intimidating to have meetings like this one. Wish me luck!!!

After the interview with PDI, I think I'll waste away the afternoon working in the garden and planting some new seeds. It's a pretty tough life down here in Patagonia, but somebody has to do it! Big hugs to all of my friends and family! I miss you and think of you everyday!