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.

San Pedro de Atacama

Recently, I had a great trip up to San Pedro in the Atacama desert in the North of Chile. It is considered the driest desert in the world. And the little town of San Pedro is a tourist mecca for the adventurous. I am not generally very adventurous, but I feel that I rose to the occasion in this case. During the four-day trip, I climbed down a 200-meter sand dune while barefoot, hiked at more than 4,400 meters, saw flamencos, climbed up some inca ruins, saw a volcano, was nearly kissed by a llama, and the most notable of all - I got up at 3am for the geyser tour.

San Pedro is mostly frequented by Europeans. We encountered mainly French, Germans and Spaniards. A lot of the tourists were on month-long or more trips to South America. Many were also going to Machu Picchu, and/or crossing over the Andes to Argentina or Bolivian. I highly suggest visiting San Pedro to see this other-worldly landscape.

***MORE PHOTOS***

Ski - Valle de Nevado

To go skiing has some sacrifices but it is well worth it. After getting up at 6am and suffering motion-sickening on the 32 hairpin turns up the mountain, we get to Valle de Nevado. The ski resort is at 3,000 meters (9,800 feet)! Due to the high altitude, I felt a little slow, dumb and a little winded, but managed ok. But lets face it, not a the best condition for learning a new high-energy sport. The view up there in the mountains is incredible. Almost worth going just for the view.
Luis and I did pretty good for first-timers. We learned a little in a class. We practiced on the bunny slope. Then we tried a real beginner slope loop. We completed that loop without looking completely stupid or hurting ourselves. So I say that is a success! We hope to go back.

My radio show

Hi, that for staying tuned to hear my next big piece of news. Its not anywhere near as big as the news in the last post. But this is fun for the whole family.
I have a radio show on Santiago Radio. This is a all-english online radio station made in Chile. Its not on the AM FM radio here. (Thank goodness because I would be way too nervous!) My show is Tuesdays from 4pm to 6pm EST. There are many ways to listen, just look at the orange boxes at the top of the page. The orange box on the right-hand page is the easiest, because you can listen through your browser. So try that one if you are having troubles.
So... how did I get this opportunity? A DJ friend of mine told me that the radio station was looking for more DJs and that I should give it a try. But I have no experience and know nothing about how it works. No problem it seems. They trusted in my knowledge of music and my energetic disposition. After 40 minutes of training, and 30 minutes of practice alone. I am ready for the radio. Kind of. sort of.
What's my show all about? I will playing a mix of music that I like. And yes... talking in between! And I will be even doing interviews. This week my guest will be an astronomer. We will be talking about astronomy and alternative energy sources. You can write me with a questions for my guest. My radio email address is elise at santiago radio . cl. (you will need to format this email address to get it to work correctly.)
I did my first show last week. I didn't tell many friends, because I didn't want to be too nervous. My first show went well. I did an interview with a local musician. Which was nerve-racking! But it went well. And we cover some interesting topics, and didn't just giggle nervously.
One cool thing about the radio is that I can see where people are listening currently. For my show 15% of the folks were listening in Chile, 40% from the US, and a large number from Europe. You can see the Live Feed map for yourself.
The best thing about my radio show: no rules! I can say anything and play anything! Which feels so free. I had a dream the night before doing my training session. In this dream, I kept cursing accidently. And no matter how hard I tried, curse words kept slipping out. ha! Well... now that I know that its not a big deal, everything should go smoothly.
Its funny that I feel like I am living out someone else's life-long dreams: Moving to France, having a radio show, etc. Believe me, I can appreciate all things. But I never thought I would be doing these things.
See you on the radio!

Big News

Hi All,
You had almost forgotten about me, had you? I deserve that. Its been a long time since I have updated my blog. But believe me it will be well worth the wait. I am have been cooking up lots of news lately.
The really big news is that I will no longer be Lost in Chile. I will be lost in another foreign country. On another continent, believe it or not.
Luis has accepted a post-doctoral position in Bordeaux, France. We will be moving there on the first of November. And we will live there from 1 - 3 years, depending on how things go.
Luis is looking forward to working with cutting-edge astronomy data from the space telescope Hershel. He is quite excited to be a part if this project. This telescope orbits with the earth to collect images. The satellite Hershel with be able to see things that we are not able to see through the earth atmosphere.
I am excited about more important things. Like living in Europe and be able to travel all over. First stop outside of France will be to go to London to see my good friend there. Then I hope to see Amsterdam and Croatia (for some reason).
However, I am not looking forward to learning my second foreign language in three years. This is a pretty dizzying thought. Also, Luis and I will miss a summer. (This will be the third time in five years that Luis has missed a summer, poor guy). But when duty calls...





I never thought I would live in France. I also never thought I would learn how to ballroom dance, but this is happening too. In Chile, I have had lots of new experiences.
OK, stay tuned kiddies. Because I will have more new experiences to talk about. Things that I never thought I would find myself doing. Hint... it involves me and a microphone.

The coffee question

I received a good question from a friend back home in the US.
Can you get good chocolate or coffee in Chile?
The answer is YES, BUT.

I thought before moving to Chile that I would find excellent coffee because I would be living on the same continent as Columbia. However, good coffee is seen as a luxury here. So most people stick with NesCafé's powdered coffee. If you order a coffee at an average small restaurant you will get a cup of hot water and a individual packet of NesCafé. People say that the powdered coffee here is better than the US, I can't tell the difference. Another thing, is that depending on where you live in the US you might actually be closer to Colombia than I am. I am at the end of the world here. Well, I might as well be considering flight prices.

As for chocolate, I think its good here. I am talking about chocolate that is made here and is inexpensive. My friend here from the UK says that its crap. However, I am sure we can all agree that its better than Hershey's back in the US. I am not so interested in the chocolate here. Because there are amazing chilean desserts. So much better than in the US! My favorite might be Tres Leches. Also there is wonderful ice cream, flan, pastrys and they can put dulce de leche in anything!

So the answer is YES - you can find good coffee and chocolate in Chile. But you may have to pay alot for it, especially in comparison to the average chilean salary. In my experience, the average chilean rarely shells out money for indulgences such as these.
The coffee and chocolate question brings up a related topic - the lack of options in the grocery store and other stores. I, for one, don't mind this about Chile. In the grocery store, there are less choices to be made and very few imported foods. This is a big difference from the Chile to the US. I have learned since living outside, that in the US you can get a huge variety of practially everything(especially if you live in a big city). For example, at Whole Foods you can get chocolate from about 5 different countries. That's alot of options.

Fancy coffee might be in short supply here in Chile, but what other country can boost "Cafe with Legs" (Cafe con piernas)? The traditional "cafe con piernas" is where the women serve coffee wearing short skirts and heels. They are mainly frequented by businessmen and are seen as respectable. Also, there are cafes where the women wear less, much less. Or so I am told.

Regardless of the imported food options, I am in a vegetable heaven here. Not to mention fruits, seafood, home-made bread, and many more yummy things. The trick is to learn to enjoy what is available in Chile. And then life is pretty sweet!

Another note: the weather in Chile is fabulous! For the past 8 months, its mainly been sunny and at least 70s degrees high. Its like year-round summer! OK, possibly an exaggeration there. But, I tell you what I don't miss Starbuck when I'm at an outdoor cafe in winter.

Luis's band to play

There is lots of news regarding Luis's band.
1. First off, they have a name - Ajiaco.
This a dish from latin america. And in Chile it means a mix of the leftover meat and vegetables from a BBQ. The band chose this name because they are influenced by a mix of musical style.
2. The band has a logo. Can you guess who made it?
3. They have a myspace page where you can hear one of their songs. Hopefully more in the future. (You will need to click the play button of the right-hand part of the page to start the song.)
www.myspace.com/bandajiaco
4. And most importantly, they will have their first public show this Thursday! The band is pretty excited. And I think there will have several more shows in the near future.

OK, lets all wish them luck from their first show.

Visit to Pomaire, Chile

Yesterday, we went to a cute little town called Pomaire in Chile. Its about 45 mins drive from Santiago. Sunday is a big tourist day there. Lots of people come from Santiago to enjoy the fresh air and country atmosphere. (And we I say tourists, I mean people from other parts of Chile. I was the only gringo for miles.) We caught a group performing the national folk dance Cueca. The dance involves the couple swirling around each other while both are waving a handkerchief. Everyone is dressed in the traditional costume. Note how the man's dress (complete with spurs) seems that he is ready for the rodeo.






Pomaire is famous for its pottery. They make everything for the kitchen and more. The streets of the little town are lines with the pottery vendors' stalls. I found all the prices to be quite low.




Also, there are lots of greenhouses too. Here is a photo from the biggest one. This old VW truck has a tree growing in the back. In front of the truck are some examples of the town's pottery meant for gardening.




A outing in Chile is never complete without a big meal. Here in a typical open-air restaurant, a grill-master is pulling out a tray of Pastel de Choclo from a wood-burning clay oven. Pastel de choclo is a typical chilean dish served in the ubiquitous small clay bowls made in this town. It consists of mainly mashed-up corn with beef and chicken, and usually an olive and some hard-boiled egg. Its a big meal.




Of course, I couldn't resist buying a few things. I got a big clay pot with a lid. It can be use on the stove or in the oven. Though I may just use it to serve soup or stew at the table with a clay ladel. Its about 13" in diameter and only cost $5.




Also I bought two large plates to cook pizzas on in the oven. And a large basket with a lid. This was from one of the more expensive vendors in the town. There were cheaper baskets in other places, but this was made of a more sturdy material. This lovely creation is about 2' 4" high and cost $24. This basket was immediately put to use a dirty clothes hamper.
Note: the lamp in the background was made by my parents. It is made of real books with a hole-drilled through them. This lamp makes a fun and (dare I say) scholarly addition to our living room.

My bad haircut

If you ever need a haircut in Chile, proceed with caution. I let down my guard a few weeks ago and went to a new salon near my house.
I was hoping to get the shape of my hair cleaned up. Nothing major, just shaped up the layers.
While speaking in Spanish, I told the hair stylist that I wanted layers. And he got to work right away. I quickly found out that he spoke a good bit of English. So that was comforting and we were chatting a lot. Before long all of my hair was on the salon floor. Well... I am exaggerating, but it was huge percentage of my hair.
The stylist gave me what he thought was super, cool hair cut. And maybe a large portion of the young women in Chile would agree.
But I was mortified! I hardly made it home before I started crying. I mean... the man destroyed my hair. I have a photo of the bad hair cut. But I don't think it quite capture how truly bad the haircut was. I think you all remember the haircut I had before. It was the same that I had for years. Nice, pretty long NORMAL hair! Then I became a freak...


The stylist cut one layer in the back (at the level indicated by the butcher's knife in the photo). Then the rest of my hair made one (rather thin) longer layer. The difference in the layers was extreme, about 10 inches. It was if someone put a short bob wig on top of my long hair. Yikes!
On Luis's advice, I kept the haircut for a week. A rather long week. Then I went back to a trusted hair stylist. He was shocked at the disaster zone! And he got me fixed him pretty well. I think my hair now is kind of like Chrissie Hynde from the Pretenders. Or at least I hope. My hair is a lot shorter than before. And it will take me years to get it back to the where it was.
Anyhow, some time had passed. And I'm started to get used to it. I guess, its fun to put gel in it and make a "Pokemon" hair style (as they would say in Chile.)

So I guess you have to laugh it off. To help, here is a video from a chilean children show. It about a little boy who got a bad haircut. And he doesn't want to go to school because his friends will make fun of him. The other school children join in the song saying they will indeed make fun of him.

Me Cortaron Mal el Pelo

My latest concert

Lately, Chile has ton of bands coming to play. Many of whom I would consider going to see: Radiohead, Aha/Blondie, Oasis, Cure, Sonic Youth, and many more. I decided to limit myself to one for the month: KISS. My decision was made on how much fun I thought the show would be. Honestly, I have never been a big KISS fan. I just know that to see them down here would be awesome. Chile love rock'n'roll, in addition they love hair bands and heavy metal. You might even say that some people are stuck in a 80s metal rut, but who I am to judge.

It took a little convincing for Luis to go. But we were not disappointed! We had a great time. The sold out concert was in a new open air soccer stadium. There was probably 19,000 or more people. All ready for a good time! And chilean are so much fun at concerts. Cheering, chanting, singing along, jumping up in down. I think even Paul Stanley was a bit intimiated by the exuberance of this audience.
They band sounded great. And there were lots of stage antics. I mean, ALOT! Many times though out the night, I pointed at the stage and look over at Luis mouthing "OMG" and laughing. (Yes, we were wearing our earplugs).

The show opened with some loud explosions and fire shooting up from the stage. And the band in the normal makeup, leather-studded outfits with their ridicule 5" platform boots. The stage was set up to look like tier after tier of amplifiers. Throughout the night 3 of the 4 members either floated, flew or levitated. Gene Simmons did his trademark spitting blood. Tommy Thayer shot fireworks out of his guitars. And the whole night was capped off by a fireworks display above the stage. I talking really big, loud fireworks.

We had such a great time! I bought a KISS Army Chile t-shirt from someone on the street. Yes... I consider myself a KISS fan now.

KISS - A 35-year tradition of full-filing every adolescent boy's bedroom Rock 'n' Roll dream.

Review of the concert

Chilean BBQ

Hi all,
Yesterday I experienced one of the best things about Chile. Chilean BBQ.

Always, lots of great food and nice people. Very relaxing. I am always learning something new each time.

This BBQ at a house in the country. It was at the house of the parents of one of his friends. I believe this is a typical type of BBQ on the weekend here.

The party had ages from 1 to 70, from the toddler to the great-grand mother. In typical chilean fashion, the first 2-3 hours of the BBQ are spent talking outside with wine or beer. Then there was a big meal with lots of different types of meat and many plates of cold salads: potatoes, corn, peas etc. (My theory with the cold side plates is that you can prepare them in advance and you can sit down and eat for an hour. And everything is the correct temparture. No stress!)

At 8:30pm we turned on the lights to mark Earth Hour. So we ate at a big table with candles. When 9:30 came around, we all decided that it was more fun by candlelight.

After the dinner, they moved all the living furiture out of the way. Even, moving the couch outside on the patio to make a dance floor. Let me tell you, this is a Salsa Family. If there ever was. Also we played musical chairs! I haven't played that in a very long time.

One of my favorite part of our day in the country was see their yard around the house. They have a garden with lots of catci and a fruit orchard. I like the ducks. Well, they have several ducks, geese, a turkey and two hens. I held a chicken for the first time. I was a little afraid to get pecked. But the hens were very nice and like being rubbed on their back.

I didn't eat chicken that night. Now, I really want some pet chickens!

Wedding Photos - Part 2

Finally, the reception photos are ready. Thanks to everyone who contributed photos! Same as last time: You can download a hi-res version if you want to make any prints. Just select the photo you want. Then choose DOWNLOAD and DOWNLOAD PHOTO from the bar just above the photo.

Reception photos

Thanks for your patience while waiting for these photos! It took me awhile to go through all 1,000 photos. I am very pleased with them! It was so generous of our guests to help cover the event with their cameras.

Thanks again to all of our "photographer" friends!

Wedding Photos - Part 1

Hi All,
Luis and I had a fabulous trip to Mexico! We went to Acapulco for a week... I mean, it was the honeymoon and all. Then we went to Morelia and saw lots of nearby towns in Central Mexico. And lastly, we finished up our trip in Mexico City. I will write up a post about our trip soon.

The main reason for my post today, is that I have the first batch of wedding photos ready. They are available on Picasa. These are the photos from the church service. (You can download a hi-res version if you want to make any prints. Just select the photo you want. Then choose DOWNLOAD and DOWNLOAD PHOTO from the bar just above the photo.)

Wedding Photos Church

OK, next I will have photos of the reception. Our reception had three different bands and lasted until 4am. So you will definitely want to see those photos...

Quick hello and... hasta luego

Its been awhile since I updated my blog. The wedding was amazing. It was an event that lasted over a month it seems. And the fun is not over yet!
Luis and I are going to Mexico for the honeymoon tomorrow! We are going to start in Acapulco and then see more of central Mexico.

I will write a full update soon...
Until then here is a sneak peek of some of the wedding photos.