Sunday, June 29, 2008

Civil Wedding Pics & Video--March 25, 2008


Made by/Hecho por Christian.


Fotos de nuestra boda civil el 25 de marzo de 2008 en Santiago, Chile.

May 2008...last month in the U.S.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Ay yay yay...what a week

It has certainly been una semana largísima (a long week), and the weekend without plans has warmly been welcomed.

After spending last weekend in Viña, Christian and I returned to Santiago on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, later that evening Christian got sick with a stomach bug. He had to go to the doctor on Monday, who then ordered him to 3 days of bed rest along with various medicines to minimize the symptoms. Luckily, by Tuesday he was feeling better and was able to still rest before having to go back to work on Thurs.

Speaking of work, I had my first day with KPMG Chile on Monday. I started out in HR, filling out paperwork, signing a contract, and I even had to go to Impuestos Internos to get a temporary RUT (similar to a social security number in the States). I already have a RUT, from when I studied abroad here, but since my student visa expired, the RUT did as well. So, I had to head down to get a temporary RUT and then when all of my residency paperwork is processed and approved (1-2 months), my old RUT will be activated.

So I'm working in the IFRS Global Conversion Services which is really cool because it is a HUGE tema (topic) globally. Many countries--Chile included--have to start reporting under IFRS in 2009 which means that they also have to convert their 2008 financial statements to the same system for comparability purposes. Apart from the fact I will be learning a ton about IFRS, how to implement it, and accounting in Chile, I get to work with people from all over the world. The partner in the Santiago office is Australian, there are 2 or 3 German managers, a Mexican manager, a French senior associate, and myself, the gringüita Staff member. Of course, there are also Chileans, but it almost seems that in my division they are outnumbered by extranjeros (foreigners).

The first week of work was bastante long. The typical office hours are Monday-Thursday from 8:30am to 6:30pm and Friday from 8:30am to 5:30pm. Apart from a typical work week being longer than the 40 hours in the States, I worked late 2 nights of the first week. I definitely wasn't expecting to have to work late the first week of work, but así es la vida (that just life). It's been quite the schedule change to wake up at 6:30am every day and get home around 7 or 7:15pm, but the commute could be much worse. Luckily, it only takes me about 25 minutes to get to my office in Las Condes. I'll have to post some pictures of my office building when I get a chance.

Not much else is new...Christian and I finally stayed in Santiago este fin de semana (this weekend). Today we slept in, went grocery shopping, bought a vacuum, and went to the mall/movie theater in Las Condes. We saw "Definitely, Maybe" which I think came out a long time ago in the States. It was a good movie....and a nice change of pace to just zone out for a few hours. Tomorrow, we're going to Skype it with my parents in the afternoon and probably clean the house and of course relax some more. I'm going to post a few pics from the past month here...disfruta (enjoy)!





Breaking open the chanchito that Christian had been feeding with coins for over a year & a half! We had over $80 saved up!!!--which was put towards a celebration of our anniversary.



At Wasabi for a delicious sushi dinner.



At Como Agua Para Chocolate for dessert!!!


In Rancagua, the 14th & 15th of this month with Christian's side of the family. Pictured here in the Plaza Rancagua are Naty, Cata, Patrick, Bernarda, María Isabel, Me, Juan, & Eric.

Our bed with the beautiful, personalized pillow covers that my mom made us and snuck into my suitcase before I left. I found them when I was unpacking my suitcases!!!

What was left of my Pasta Primavera the 2nd time I made it. I found the recipe in Shape Magazine and it is YUMMY and healthy!!!

Friday, June 20, 2008

¡Bienvenida!

I arrived to Chile safe and sound on May 30th, 2008. Christian was waiting for me anxiously at the airport and when we got home after a 20 min. taxi ride, I opened the bedroom door to two presents sitting on the bed :) It was such a nice gesture and made me feel very bienvenida (welcome). The presents were a pink coffee mug & plate from Starbucks and a picture frame with the picture of the tulips on Pearl Street in Boulder (as seen above on the title of my blog). ¡¡¡Qué lindo!!! Now I only use my pink mug for tea and coffee.

Things have been going really well since I got here 3 weeks ago today. I took some time to unpack, wash some clothes, iron everything that got wrinkled while travelling and organize our apartment. Christian added a couple extra shelves within the already-existing shelves and that helped create a ton more space. My friend Becca was also visiting Chile when I first got here and she stayed with us for about a week. It was nice to hang out with her instead of being home alone all day as well as get to show her a bit of Santiago. We went to the vineyard Concha y Toro, which turned out to be an adventure in the rain. Then, about a week after Becca left, two gringa friends of Christian also arrived--la Colleen & la Sarah. They have only been here a few days and both went to Viña to stay with their old host families...so we'll see them more when we carretear (go out) in Viña.

Apart from being a temporary housewife, I have gone on some interviews....and the good news is that I just got hired at KPMG Chile in a Staff position in their IFRS department. It's the newest department to Chile and growing quickly. At the beginning of the year, they were only 4 strong and now...16 including me!!! ¡Bakán po! Finding pega (work) in Chile within in 3 weeks is pretty badass if I say so myself....but of course I can't take all of the credit--I have to thank Stephanie H. at the Denver office for sending my resume & CV to the office here in Santiago. Wouldn't have gotten an interview without her help! Anyway, I start Monday at 8:30am sharp--very excited!

Well, Christian just got home and we have to eat before leaving for Viña. ¡Besitos y saludos.....nos vemos luego!


El diablo in the wine cellar at Concha y Toro.

Disclaimer—La Chilengüita is a blog created upon my personal experiences and which expresses my personal opinion that in no way represents the views my employer, family or friends.