Archive for homes

The gardener

29 November 2007 at 11:47 am · Filed under homes, jobs

The official residence of the ambassador of New Zealand to Chile is next door to our apartment building. It is a large home with a large front yard and two gated entrances. It has very well-kept gardens, and we often take a peek through the gate as we pass by.

 Yesterday Rachel saw a sprinkler running inside the gate. “Mommy, why do they have that sprinkler? Don’t they have a gardener?” she asked me.

“Well, Rachel,” I said, “the sprinkler saves time so that someone doesn’t have to stand there with a hose and water all that grass and all those flowers and plants that they have.” Secretly I was thinking that this was a rare opportunity to teach Rachel about one of my favorite North American values: efficiency.

“Does the gardener just play in the water then?”

I can hardly hold back the laughter. “Um, no. I think the gardener can do other things, then.”

About this time we passed the second gate to the house. As we peeked in, we saw the gardener. He was standing there with a hose, watering the other half of the lawn.

“Like hold the hose somewhere else,” I said. My chance to pass on my value of efficiency was thwarted once again.

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Hah! I couldn’t help but laugh. Mark and I have be…

15 November 2006 at 11:46 pm · Filed under homes

Hah! I couldn’t help but laugh. Mark and I have been talking to Rachel about watching out for cars as we walk around our neighborhood. “You have to check all the gates to make sure they are closed before you run by them!” Here every house has a front fence between five and seven feet high, usually iron painted some color that matches the house. Every house.

So today I was telling Rachel that when I grew up at Nana’s house (that’s what she calls my mom) none of the houses had fences or gates in the front. “You could just run across all the grass of all the neighbors all the way down the street if you wanted to,” I said.

Her response, with a confused tilt to the head: “When you took walks with Nana, did you have to stop in front of EVERY house?!”

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When we moved into this house we rented a year ago…

15 November 2006 at 12:07 pm · Filed under homes

When we moved into this house we rented a year ago, we didn’t think we would be moving so soon. It’s a nice looking house with a few minor issues, but this is Chile, right? Well, the minor issues are bigger than we thought. Isn’t that always how it works? And now we are moving.

It didn’t occur to me when we gave our required sixty-days notice, however, that we would have to be showing the house to potential renters and buyers for the next 60 days. In Chile it is common for people not to put a house or apartment in the paper for rent until it is soon to be vacated, or even already empty. However, we seem to have the only landlady in town who thinks it is a good idea to put the house for rent early.

This has two consequences: First, we have to show our house to “potential” renters and buyers a LOT. Almost everyday we have four or five sets of people coming through to consider the house. It’s hard for me to get ready to move when I have to keep the house clean enough for visitors all the time!

The second consequence is that all of these “potentials” are used to the common practice of waiting until the last minute, so they all are looking for places that are available now. This means that they all come and look, but then can’t rent here because they need a place sooner. Meaning I have more and more people coming all the time!

The one time that it would be convenient for things to go the Chilean way!

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What is going on here? That’s the question to ask …

18 October 2006 at 11:06 pm · Filed under crime, homes

What is going on here? That’s the question to ask of this photo. About two months ago, Mark and I woke up to the incessant ringing of the doorbell. It was our neighbor, and the reason for ringing was immediately obvious. Our water meter and the pipes connected to it were gone! The neighbor had seen the culprit ride away on a bicycle. After asking around, we found out that they are stolen for the copper inside, which is fetching an all-time high price. In our neighborhood, there were five stolen the same morning. You gotta wonder what the guy who buys copper thought when someone brought him five water meters! The water company showed up an hour later with their special key to turn off the water at the street, and fixed it later that day. But it makes you think: if someone can ride their bike by at 6 AM, hop my five-foot fence, break my water pipes off at the ground, and ride off without being caught…maybe we would be better off living in an apartment again! Posted by Picasa

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I made a trip today to gringolandia. It isn’t real…

15 October 2006 at 11:09 pm · Filed under homes, people, travel

I made a trip today to gringolandia. It isn’t really called that, of course, but it feels like it to me. The houses are huge, and beautiful. There is a clear view of the mountains, unobstructed by smog or buildings, and many, many gringos.

The only clue I had that I was still in Santiago was the gate guard, who clarified that, yes, I would have to walk around the corner and down the block to catch a bus. He seemed surprised that I spoke Spanish, and even more that I was going to take a bus. That’s how far off my normal route I was!

It turns out I had to walk a lot further, and then call Mark to come get me, because of a lack of public transportation. I was sure I had stepped back into the US!

When I went, I tried to guard my heart against envy of the material possessions that people in that neighborhood have. But I found that I wasn’t envious at all. I found that I felt compassion for them because they live such a spiritually poor life. I didn’t see one church, except a large rock cathedral. I wonder if they even know about Jesus, or if their space and beauty and stuff get in the way of feeling their spiritual hunger.

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