Our New Home

This was supposed to go up Wednesday night, but then we didn't have internet and last night was the riot... so it's going up now. Better late than never! The short of it is that Peter and I moved into our new place two days ago. It's a cold-but-cozy four person apartment for 200 dollars apiece. Given the size of the place and our location that's an insane deal. At least three people in my lab have expressed jealously so far.

Of course the first thing I looked into was the kitchen. It's surprisingly well stocked with equipment, including a nice heavy-bottomed saute pan. I'm gonna be doing a lot of experimenting here. Note the gas stove doesn't have a pilot light. If you want to cook anything you have to open the range gas pipe, turn on a burner, and manually light it with a match. I've gotten pretty accustomed to this but we're gonna get a stove lighter just to be on the safe side.

This is the hot water heater. If we want hot water, we have to turn this on and manually light it. Kinda like the stove. It's not strong enough to feed two systems at once, so I can't wash dishes while Peter showers. This isn't actually as much of a problem as you'd think. The shower system is terrible anyway, so I'm anticipating that I'll be doing fast showers in the late afternoon to get it done with the minimal amount of time and freezing. But when three other people are doing the same it might get a little tricky to clean up after dinner. I was planning on rigging up a brick sauna system but Peter vetoed it. Plan B: Electric kettle + wash rags = 2 minute eco shower!

The master bedroom. This was originally a single bed, but the owners tossed in another to make the place more attractive. It has its own bathroom and everything. Currently Peter's living here, and we'll push a second person in when we get a full house.

My room. Much smaller than the master bedroom. I picked it because I like sleeping in a top bunk. Five years in one can do that to you. Not sure if I'm going to move when the new guys come. On one hand, bigger room! On the other, it could look like we're assigning them to the cruddier room for the cardinal sin of Arriving One Week Later. And I'd have to move my stuff. What'll probably happen is we'll all sit down and hash out a sleeping plan. Maybe we'll rotate rooms. Maybe we'll all go crazy.

The living room. We've been using it as a work room / dining room and are looking forward to seeing it with four people in it. I've already staked my claim on the couch. The TV looks so sad and alone. It will probably stay sad and alone.

Central heating in Santiago is very rare and expensive. Everybody uses these space heaters. This one is powered by propane. It makes a bone-chillingly cold room pretty warm in a very short time. The gas can be a tad expensive, though, so we're only using it early morning and late night. We're supplementing with lots of tea.

Peter's been pretty happy with the place, but it still feels wrong to me. I've gotten used to the quirks and lukewarm showers and gas ranges, but there's something missing. Something vital...

That's better.

I bought it at a hole-in-the-wall bike shop for fifty bucks. It's rusty, it's creaky, and it's got the most insane gear changing system I've ever seen. It is, simply put, the worst bike I've ever ridden.* And I love it. It's crap, but it gets me around the city. With this Santiago is no longer a discreet set of metro stops but a continuous city. I always feel more complete when I have a bike. Now I'm ready to take on the city.

That covers our living situation. Tomorrow we're gonna get a truckload of groceries and meet up with the arriving interns. Should be a fun day!

*FIXIES ARE NOT BIKES