What I did on my summer vacation

Hi All,
Its been a long time since last I updated my blog. I have been waiting for an opportunity for a truly interesting blog post. For my first summer living in Europe, I went on an amazing trip. You could say "Trip of a Lifetime". But I am planning on doing it this again... I have been taking full advantage of living in Europe.

This trip consisted of 14 cities, 5 countries, 5 different languages, 4 planes, 1 train, 3 rental cars, 11 different hotels and endless taxis, buses and subway rides. It cost approximately 2,500 euros per person (i travel, hotel and meals.)

Luis's parents were visiting from Chile. They were in Europe for a total of 6 weeks. This was their first and probably only trip to Europe. So it was our job to show them Europe! While of course, discovering a lot for ourselves. We went Paris, Rome, Athens, Edinburgh, Callander, Glasgow, Bilbao, Madrid, Barcelona, Girona, and Carcasonne.


All photos here


Most amazing things:



Acropolis, Athens, Greece



Saint Peters/Vatican, Rome



The Winged Victory of Samothrace, Louvre, Paris



Egyptian Collection, Louvre, Paris


Please consider subscribing to my blog. You will get an email when I update my blog (no spam, I promise). I will likely make a new post no more than twice a week.

Apartment Photos

I am happy to report that we are all moved into our apartment! Our place is great! The location is fabulous, including an amazing view of the river. Our place has old-world charm such as rustic wood floors, insanely tall ceilings, a unique though non-functioning fireplace, and three fabulous windows that are large enough to sit in. Of course the summer will find Luis and I sitting in a window gazing at the river, sipping champagne, and eating snails. Well... we will see about the snails.
I won't get into the details but we did have some factors against us such as a rare 2-inch snow fall on moving day and four, yes, four flights of stairs to move up. But the view is worth it.
Luis is getting settled in at work. Mostly all of his co-workers speak english, though he has requested people to speak to him in French so we can learn the language. I am doing my part by going to the highly-respected language school, Alliance Francaise. I am enrolled in some intensive (and expensive) classes. Next step, I will be seeking out some graphic design projects locally.
Please enjoy the photos of our apartment.




Living room with large sleeper sofa


View of the river from the large living room window










The painted wall was as we found it. Its kind of funny, but will repaint it.




What I call our "Manhattan bathroom" = very small bathroom

First photos of Bordeaux

Hi All, I have some photos for you from centre-ville in Bordeaux. Bordeaux is absolutely beautiful! With gorgeous buildings, churches and monuments around every corner.






One of the University of Bordeaux buildings with nearby cafe


Saint Catherine street with cafes. This shopping streets has many famous stores: Zara, Sephora, Body Shop, H&M, Lacoste, etc.

Our first days in France

Hi all,
Bordeaux is going great so far! And yes, I know that I need to change my name and header for this blog. But at the moment we don`t have an internet connection where we are staying. Also, I am having to type on a french keyboard (yes they have differnt keyboards). So as you can see, there are several factors working against me here.
I will get straight to what you want, the photo:





The house where we are temporary staying. This house is on the observatory grounds.


Above is an image of the observatory grounds. The telescope are not used for science any more. We have seen a family of deer several times grazing near these telescopes.

In general, Bordeaux is going very well. And the French are helpful and patience with the language. We are working on finding an apartment.

FInal Radio show - Halloween

My days are getting few here in Santiago. Tomorrow is my last radio show. I have been working on this one for months! Its my Halloween show. Full of weird songs, horror movie themes and scary sounds. Please join me for this online radio show.
Tuesday 10/27 3pm - 5pm EST (4pm - 6pm chile time)

http://www.santiagoradio.cl

You can listen without downloading any software - by clicking in the orange box on the top right. The photo here is from last week when Luis came in to do an interview.

UPDATE day after:
The show went well. My guest Mark was fun and full of fun bits of trivia. Somehow in the recording of the show, an echo effect appeared on all the voices. This was not my intention. But its not bad for a halloween show. Here is a link to the mp3 of the show. Enjoy!:
http://www.elisemiley.com/outgoing/SantiagoRadio/Halloween/

Chile a Sudafrica

Its been a long time since I have updated my blog. I would like to think that the reason is because I have been too busy with news-worthy activites. But also I have been lazy at times too. We have less than two weeks before we move to France. All the preparations are going well. I am pretty studying French, though Luis thinks he can get by with only knowing "Magnifique" and "Tres bien".

I have spent the 1-1/2 weeks with my in-laws (spanish = suegros). My suegros are lots of fun to be with! Always laughing and making joke. (even sexually ones at the dinner table no less!) They love to have guests over and cook lots of food and drink champagne. The guys are masters of the kitchen. They can whip up a made-from-scratch meal for an army in two hours. So we have been having fun with them and have watched the chilean national football team last two victories of the season. A week ago, Chile qualified to go to the World Cup. This is big news! Only 4 of the 11 or so teams get to go. Chile celebrated up and down the length of the country. I went to the big celebration spot in the capital (Plaza Italia) on Wednesday night. It was the single biggest celebration I have every seen with approx 25,000 people! It was pretty peaceful, with some hooligans but with even more families. Chile flags of all sizes everywhere. And people climbing on the bus stops, flag poles and the main statues. The coolest thing that I saw was in the subway. A train was leaving the station and one of the car was waving back and forth from the fans jumping up and down. Oh... and singing! Chilean soccer fans, even the tough young guys, love to sing in large groups. Quite endearing.

Also a month ago, Chile celebration its independence in its traditional way: meat, homemade wine, folk dancing, rodeo, meat, kites and more meat. We celebrated the holidays at Luis's parents' house in Isla Negra near the ocean. We had a lovely time grilling out and drinking champagne in the sun. The weather was sun and breezy, which is great for flying kites. Chilean boys are experts with the kites. Luis got his kite over 300 meters into the air! We actually measured it. You know, scientists love that kind of stuff.

Right now, my in-laws are preparing lunch. Lunch is the most important meal for them. And they are trying to get in as many lunches as possible before Luis leaves in 12 days. They are pretty emotional now, though not giving us a guilt-trip about leaving. His mother has expressed her views several times. It seems she is split down the middle: sad that her baby boy is leaving; and also happy for Luis! Excited for his future and proud of his accomplishments. I will try to update the blog once or twice more before I go. But until then, I will leave you with a foto of his adorable niece Florencia. She is a 1-1/2 years old. Her favorite pass-times include: dancing, opening drawers, handing you her toys, and waving hello.

Yo hablo francés, huevon

Hi All,
I wanted to give ya'll an updated. Luis and I have less than 2 months before we leave for France. I am bursting at the seams with excitement! We have our plane tickets, and we are very close to having both of our VISAs. Luis will have a "Scientist VISA". And I will have a "Scientist's Wife VISA". No kidding, it is that specific!

We are in some intense French classes. The professor is from France and is very knowledgable about language learning. But here is the catch, the classes are taught in Spanish. This is a challenge. Half-way through the class, I don't know what language is being spoken. Its all a blur! Luckily, my hearing comprehension of Spanish is very good. And at this point, my spoken Spanish is a solid intermediate. As we improve as a class, the Spanish will be phase out. I think it will get easier for me once the class is all in French. Then all 6 of us will be at the same level!

Here are some of my thoughts about learning a language and moving abroad:
There will be no moment when you are going to say to yourself, "I know this language now!" Point two: You are never going to convince the locals that you are a native speaker. (well, not within 5 years or so.) So don't going into it with that impression.
Also, remember that your language skills don't need to be perfect to start speaking. Just dive and start speaking right away. At first, you just need to make yourself understood. As time goes on, you will learn and correct yourself.

Before leaving Chile, Luis needs to spend lots of time with his family. That means parties and BBQs every weekend! Its a tough life ;) Next up… trying to cram all my clothes and shoes into two suitcases.

I leave you will an image from Condorito, a 50+ year old chilean comic book that is still very popular today. I like Condorito as a chilean astronaut, complete with a soccer ball, a whole chicken and a carafe of vino.