Chile Adventure 2011

Well, I have been an utter disappointment to the blogging world. I was pretty sure that I would not be very successful before I even started, and my inclination has proven to be true. Once again, I am going to give it a shot. The Cabrera family has embarked on a new adventure that I would love to document and maybe blogging is the way to go. We'll see!

Two weeks and two days ago, on September 9, 2011, we arrived to Chile for an 8 month stint. How we got to this point is another post, but here we are. We are now in a two bedroom apartment in Santiago, we're driving a 4-door Mazda 2, and we're ready to see what God has in store for our next 7.5 months.

Although I do want to document the really important stuff, I also just want a place to put the funny things that I come across on a daily basis.

What has impressed me the most so far?

ANSWER: Parking garages!

These people have parking garages down to a science!

• They are all under ground. Under the mall, under the city streets, under the hospital, under whatever (I mean, they even have a turnpike that is under a river!)
• Every parking spot has a sensor above it. When there is a car parked in the spot, a light that hangs above the end of the spot turns red. When the car pulls out, the light turns green.
• At each intersection there is a sign that indicates how many available spots you can find in that row. When all the spots on that row are full, the sign turns into an X.
• There are pedestrian walkways in the parking garage: Instersections where you cross, lanes that you walk in, etc. (This makes sense b/c people drive crazy and you could easily get side swiped if you're not standing in the right spot)
• There are car washes in the parking garage. If you need a car wash, oh...just park in the car wash corner! For an extra $4 you can get your car washed while you shop!

Not to metion other cool things like the magnetic grocery carts that you take up an down the moving sidewalk ramp. Or the grocery store/wal-mart entrance that you have via the mall. Talk about a one-stop-shop! The mall, dinner at a restaurant, the grocery store, oh...and a car wash....all in one!

I'll take pics and post!