Sorry mate, while you’re sunning yourself on a beach in Brazil, we’ve drunk all your fine Australian beer.
But don’t worry, we’ve replaced it…with Cristal, our favourite.
Love Douglas, Gaaitzen, Ian, Matt and Mia
This knife-wielding maniac window popped up this morning as I logged into my computer.
It strikes me that this number is fairly unrealistic don’t you think? Given that the computer is off for at least 8 hours a night, this would imply virus threats are upon me 75 times per minute, or, just over one a second. Or maybe thats why my internet connection seems so slow sometimes?!
Stranger still… I haven’t activated or updated my free trial of Norton Internet Security since it came pre-packaged on my computer! So, I’ve avoided the hassle of updating my virus definition files every week and the program has remained remarkably quiet until now.
I’m sure they’re rubbing their hands with delight at my gullibility. Because I might just click yes and pay the $49 to remain protected against what must be one of the greatest threats i’ve encountered in a long time! Its the equivalent of buying house insurance for a volcano in Scotland! Maybe I should pay to avoid being disturbed for another year? Or maybe they just want to con me into feeling safe and secure while I (and the computer) sleeps soundly every night!
Not only does Chilean slang pose great problems of interpretation to foreigners like us, but also of pronounciation. It occurred to some of us in a restaurant last week (ok, more honestly, it occurred to Dave, our resident expert on chilenismos) that slang words beginning with “f” were particularly challenging.
So here they are to admire, learn and avoid using for fear of getting the wrong one!
Filete (1)= noun. a fillet of fish or of steak.
Filete (2)= adj. “a fine piece of meat” (normally referring to a women of fine appearance and good character)
Flaco/-a= adj. meaning slim or thin
Flato= noun. a fart, “to pass wind”
Fleite= sounding like flighty. Adj. meaning gay.
Flete(s)= noun. a removal guy or company. Not dissimilar to scots verb “to flit yer hoose”
Flojo= adj. meaning lazy or disinterested. “A couch-potato”.
Wahaay - The VLT astronomers are now officially famous! The BBC news magazine, the favourite procrastination source of so many ex-pats, has finally recognised our contribution to world peace and happiness.
Take a look at this.
Phew! It has finally arrived.
Last week, the Santiaguinos were complaining that if it didn’t rain soon they would die… from two causes; the smog and failing that, a drought. As we’ve complained about before on this website, it has rained at some point during just 6 days since we arrived here in Santiago in December!
Two nights ago, everything changed, with three claps of thunder in the early hours of the morning followed by almost 2 days of continual rainfall! Average annual rainfall levels were reached in a matter of hours.
Yesterday, chileans looked in horror at TV coverage of some of their own people being rescued from swollen rivers, from houses left isolated at the top of mud-slides and even from city streets. At some times yesterday, Santiago resembled a network of canals!
Today it is really foggy- we can see just 120 metres from our flat!
And so…what a nice sight to greet our friends Paul, Joyce and their 2 year-old, Gabriel who are visiting us this week from Antofagasta! They’ve seen just 10minutes of what resembled rain in Antofagasta and didn’t even bring rainproof jackets to Chile! We’re hoping it’ll improve today and tomorrow so that they will come back!