We found out yesterday that we need to give up our passports for three weeks so that they can be sent off to the Chilean office that will issue us our semi- permanent work and spousal visas. We understood the situation, but being without a passport in a foreign country is not a prospect that sat well with either of us. To remedy the situation, Evelyn suggested making notarized photo copies; for most purposes in Chile, these will act like the real deal and make it easier to replace our original passports if something goes horribly wrong.
To expedite this process, which would be quite hard to do without a Spanish speaker present, Evelyn accompanied us to the notary. The most amusing part of this story -- after poking her head into the notary’s office, Evelyn declared it was “too busy”. Her elegant solution was to walk two buildings down to the SECOND notary office. If this line had been too long, apparently, we would have headed to a THIRD. This row of notaries, unlike anything I’d seen in the US, really nailed home the Chilean love of documentation. At the end of the process we each had a photocopy of our passport with two stamps and an embossment. I considered this to be lucky, as each office had about 100 different stamps and several embossing tools. The fact that none of these places actually had a line of any sort, just a gaggle of people waving paperwork at the counters, was rather an amusing juxtaposition to the orderly and necessary stamps on all our documents.
Other than buying some international stamps and getting our passports notarized, we had a quiet day. We did a little shopping and exploring and then came home to our apart-hotel. Yes, the Gran Pacifico Apart-Hotel. We’re not sure what’s up with this, it seems to be a very Chilean thing to use English words in key places (the Tobacco Shop in the grocery store or The Coffee Shoppe in the mall). An even better idea is (apparently) to combine English words however one likes. We get the impression that the Chileans thought that if a place was half-apartment, half-hotel that Apart-Hotel would work as a descriptor. We’re not quite sure why they didn’t use Apart-otel, Apartel, or the ever popular Homent.
Besides the semi-odd name, we like our place. There is no central heating, just a space heater. The heater has a tank of gas hooked up to. To run it, we pop open the tank, click a button to create a spark, and turn a dial to ramp up the gas. Ceramic tiles capture and re-radiate the heat. The space heater works really well to warm cold feet and the charm of having a metal canister of gas in your home never fades! The real joy was when the very helpful maid left it on while we were away; we were just glad that Puck didn’t catch his tail on fire. Up to that point, we really hadn’t planned to use the thing, but realizing that our house didn’t explode in the 5 hours it was left unattended, we decided to go with the flow - the gas flow that is.
The parents have asked for a “tour” of the place, and so to oblige, we took pictures. Entering the apartment, one immediately hits the kitchen, which is so small it can’t fit a half refrigerator. It has charming curtains which dangle directly into the gas flame, but we have resolved that as best we can. In all seriousness, it’s a fine kitchen to cook simple meals; all that we can really do with our modest “set” of pots and pans (Set being one pot and pan, respectively). In a way, it’s really nice - even if David totals the kitchen it only takes five minutes to clean up! Honestly, I’m just happy to be able to cook at all; eating out every night would be no fun.
To expedite this process, which would be quite hard to do without a Spanish speaker present, Evelyn accompanied us to the notary. The most amusing part of this story -- after poking her head into the notary’s office, Evelyn declared it was “too busy”. Her elegant solution was to walk two buildings down to the SECOND notary office. If this line had been too long, apparently, we would have headed to a THIRD. This row of notaries, unlike anything I’d seen in the US, really nailed home the Chilean love of documentation. At the end of the process we each had a photocopy of our passport with two stamps and an embossment. I considered this to be lucky, as each office had about 100 different stamps and several embossing tools. The fact that none of these places actually had a line of any sort, just a gaggle of people waving paperwork at the counters, was rather an amusing juxtaposition to the orderly and necessary stamps on all our documents.
Other than buying some international stamps and getting our passports notarized, we had a quiet day. We did a little shopping and exploring and then came home to our apart-hotel. Yes, the Gran Pacifico Apart-Hotel. We’re not sure what’s up with this, it seems to be a very Chilean thing to use English words in key places (the Tobacco Shop in the grocery store or The Coffee Shoppe in the mall). An even better idea is (apparently) to combine English words however one likes. We get the impression that the Chileans thought that if a place was half-apartment, half-hotel that Apart-Hotel would work as a descriptor. We’re not quite sure why they didn’t use Apart-otel, Apartel, or the ever popular Homent.
Besides the semi-odd name, we like our place. There is no central heating, just a space heater. The heater has a tank of gas hooked up to. To run it, we pop open the tank, click a button to create a spark, and turn a dial to ramp up the gas. Ceramic tiles capture and re-radiate the heat. The space heater works really well to warm cold feet and the charm of having a metal canister of gas in your home never fades! The real joy was when the very helpful maid left it on while we were away; we were just glad that Puck didn’t catch his tail on fire. Up to that point, we really hadn’t planned to use the thing, but realizing that our house didn’t explode in the 5 hours it was left unattended, we decided to go with the flow - the gas flow that is.
The parents have asked for a “tour” of the place, and so to oblige, we took pictures. Entering the apartment, one immediately hits the kitchen, which is so small it can’t fit a half refrigerator. It has charming curtains which dangle directly into the gas flame, but we have resolved that as best we can. In all seriousness, it’s a fine kitchen to cook simple meals; all that we can really do with our modest “set” of pots and pans (Set being one pot and pan, respectively). In a way, it’s really nice - even if David totals the kitchen it only takes five minutes to clean up! Honestly, I’m just happy to be able to cook at all; eating out every night would be no fun.
Our tiny kitchen is so small...
...the refrigerator has to be in a separate little room!Next to the kitchen is an empty room. It looks like it could have been a dining room, but I call it the “refrigerator-cat room”. No, we haven’t chilled Puck! We put the cat’s stuff here, as there isn’t a lot of room for it otherwise. The only other thing in the space is the refrigerator that won’t fit in the kitchen.
Next we enter the living/dining room.
The living room
The dining roomThe table is just fine, although the chairs are strangely low, making eating a little uncomfortable. Still we enjoy breakfast here every morning. The living room has all-wicker furniture, again, not a favorite, but certainly good enough for sitting and relaxing. The view (which is the picture at the very top) is certainly nothing to scoff at.
Going upstairs, we have a fine bathroom, a “master” bedroom, and a “kids” bedroom. Right now the kids bedroom is being used for our clothes and luggage storage. Meanwhile we are spending most of our time in the master bedroom. It’s the most comfortable room in the house, with a nice view of the ocean.
Going upstairs, we have a fine bathroom, a “master” bedroom, and a “kids” bedroom. Right now the kids bedroom is being used for our clothes and luggage storage. Meanwhile we are spending most of our time in the master bedroom. It’s the most comfortable room in the house, with a nice view of the ocean.
The very clean, modern bathroom 
The master bedroom (and Radar) Generally, I judge places on their bathrooms. Nicely appointed bedrooms don’t mean much to me if the bathroom is gross. If the bathroom is clean and new, I can forgive poor decor, old carpeting, etc. The bathroom in our apart-hotel is clean, modern, and nice. A few odd things (both David and I can see over the shower curtain bar in the bathtub) but overall, better quality than our bathrooms in Cobblestone. Oh, Gran-Pacific Apart-hotel, your sins have been forgiven!
The view from our bedroom
Puck loves the second bedroom!
From the outside, looking in
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