Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all you gringos out there!!!!!  We hope that you all have a wonderful day and can be with the ones you love.  

We celebrated Turkey-day last Sunday with some friends in Santiago.  Chileans do not normally celebrate Thanksgiving, but we wanted to keep the tradition going.  I started a "new" tradition for my family which was to create a Thankful Book.  So each Thanksgiving we will have our guests write in the book something or all the things they are thankful for.  It can be something small like your favorite candy or something big like the fact that a surgery went well.  I got the idea from this blog post, which is one of my favorite craft blogs.

Today, and more specifically, Christian and I are very thankful that Dulcinea seems to be getting better.  She has been sick for a week now and spent all day yesterday at the vet's office.  When we picked her up last night she was very happy to see us and has her personality and spirits back again which makes us feel a lot better.  She is on antibiotics and some other medicines, but we expect a full recovery.  Tonight we are still going to get an ultrasound done just to be 100% sure it is gastritis and nothing else, but we already feel much better about her after seeing the progress she has made.  

With that, I will close.  Here is a family picture that we wanted to share.  Hope everyone out there has safe travels and fills their bellies with yummy food!!!  

Love,
Tyffanie, Christian & Duclinea

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Who's Your Dachshund: I Wish It Weren't So

Click here for the more detailed story on what is happening with Dulcinea.

~Tyffanie

Off to the Hospital

We took Dulci to a different and better vet clinic last night (American Vet Clinic).  She is not getting better, in fact I'd say worse so we wanted to get a different opinion.  They ordered an x-ray and took it last night, but it didn't come out good so the doctor said it would be best for her to go back this morning for another x-ray and some observation.  They came to pick her up at 9:30 this morning.  I sent her off with her pink blanky and some filtered water.  The doctor said they would take another x-ray this morning and then call me as soon as they know something.  So here I am, waiting for my phone to ring and trying to focus on work meanwhile.  If the x-ray doesn't result in an answer, we'll probably get her an ultrasound.  I don't care what they need to do or how much it costs, I just want them to figure out what is wrong and how it can be fixed.  I am sick to my stomach worried about her...my little baby, this helpless little thing who is being as brave as she can be....I just want her to get better and turn back into the puppy that steals our socks from us and who loves chewing her bone.

~Tyffanie

Monday, November 23, 2009

The Madness of Last Week...

...and what is looking like this week too.

I have wanted to write lately but there has just been no time.  Last week I was busy every night and then Dulcinea got sick on Thursday which meant I got less tan 3 hours of sleep that night.  She had started to feel better on Friday so we kept our plans to celebrate my birthday with a bbq and friends at the park.  Then yesterday we had Thanksgiving dinner for lunch at our place and in the afternoon went to a goodbye party for a gring who is moving back to the US.  Duclinea seemed to get worse yesterday so we took her to the vet clinic in the evening and I ended up sleeping with her on the floor again.  So apart from looking after my little baby and nursing her back to health, I still have a million other things going on this week and seriously do not know how I will muster up the energy to do them all.  In all honesty, I am not too worried about me...I am more worried about Dulicinea, I have been sick to my stomach too much in the past 5 days worried about her.  If anything, please keep her in your prayers and thoughts.  

Hopefully soon I'll be able to go into more detail about her getting sick, my bday bbq, Thanksgiving celebration and life in general.

~Tyffanie

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wake Up Muscles

Last night was my third dance class since starting back up after over 1.5 years! My muscles and brain are still waking up from what seemed like an infinite sleep meaning that I've been getting quite a few muscle cramps right in the middle of doing a move. We were working on a new piece last night in which I have to do a lift with a male partner. We did the first lift and I got a huge cramp in my back....boy was that fun. And in my first class last week I got a horrible cramp in my hips when we were stretching cuz I overdid it....go figure, right? The nice thing is that it is all coming back...slowly, but surely. I wish it were coming back faster, but whatev. I know it takes time, I just don't have patience and I am super competitive so I want to be the best in my class of course. In the dance we did yesterday, I couldn't get a couple steps which was so frustrating, but I'll get there....and when we have a recital, I'll be sure to let you know so you can come and see me!

Ahhhhh to dance is to live.....

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

I need a Do-Over

I seriously need a do-over of a weekend so that I can actually relax and rest a bit. I am exhausted.....and it isn't even Wednesday yet! In fact, this morning I had the hardest time getting out of bed. Not that we did much during the weekend, in fact it was pretty boring, but apparently I didn't relax enough and now I am feeling it! I guess it also doesn't help that I have been non-stop since the week began, just like I was last week, and just like I will continue probably until after the holiday season.

My hopes of resting this weekend are shot cuz it is my birthday on Saturday and we are doing a Thanksgiving celebration with some friends on Sunday! Although last weekend we were quite busy and I was pretty refreshed on Monday so maybe it will be the same for next Monday.

In any case, I haven't had much time for blogging as you can tell and with that I must go finish what I was doing.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Sleeping with my baby....


Saturday, November 14, 2009

Baby Album

I got an email for a free 7x9" photo book from Shutterfly and of course, I never turn down the chance for a free one of these--even if I have to pay for shipping--and so we have decided to use it as a Baby Album for Dulcinea!

I just got done editing the pictures to fix her eyes because any pictures that were taken with flash make her eyes blue or green. It took a while as it is not as easy to fix a dog's eyes like human red eyes.

Can't wait to see how it turns out.....the pictures are uploading and then I'll put it all together.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Blue & white name tags?

Has anyone else noticed the people in Providencia wearing the blue and white name tags that say "MANTENGASE ALERTA"??? What they heck is this all about?  The rest of whatever their name tags say is too small to read from afar and I am not about to go up and ask them what it is all about.  Seems like something pretty gringo since I have never seen Chileans wear name tags at meetings, let alone on the street.....so my guess is that they are foreigners and that it is something church-related.  Does anyone know what it is related to????!!!

~Tyffanie

P.S. I had planned on posting yesterday but fell asleep at my computer.....

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Missing Mexico

Oh what I wouldn't give to be back in Mexico on the beach again....


...hopefully one of these days I'll get a chance to write a bit about our honeymoon!

The Cutest Bee You'll Ever See

Head on over to Who's Your Dachshund to see the cutest abejita (bee) ever!!!!

Besos,
~Tyffanie

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

First Dance Class in Over a Year

Well I think the title of this post pretty much speaks for itself. Tonight I took my first dance class in almost a year and a half! The last time I took a dance class was in the Spring of 2008 during my last semester at the University of Colorado-Boulder! I have, of course, missed dance like crazy....I've even mentioned it here on my blog. But for various reasons it just hasn't worked out until now that I start dancing again. I don't want to jinx myself, but I did really enjoy the Advanced Jazz class that I took tonight and plan to sign up for the rest of the month. It was a lot of fun, but hard as heck and I am feeling it already. I know tomorrow I'll probably barely be able to walk, but it'll be worth it. It just takes one class to get me going again, to remind me how much I love dancing, how I need to be dancing, how I am truly not living without it.

Monday, November 9, 2009

I've Got Nothing....

I really wanted to write a decent blog post tonight seeing as how lately I have just been posting random ramblings....but unfortunately for you, I've got nothing. While work wasn't overly stressful today, as soon as I got home, I've been working on important personal business which has actually worn me out.

So with that, I apologize. But if you are in the mood for reading about Dulcinea, just pop on over to today's post, A South American Salchicha.








And yes, I will be doing shameless advertising for my posts (and any other awesome posts) on Who's Your Dachshund. It is a great blog and deserves as much attention as possible. Thanks for understanding :)

Who's Your Dachshund: A South American Salchicha

Want to know how we finally decided to get a dog and then how hard it actually was to find her?  How about seeing a video of the tricks that Duclinea already knew at 4 months old?  Well then check out my blog post today on Who's Your Dachshund:  A South American Salchicha!

Besos,
~Tyffanie

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Disappointed with the Doggie Park

Remember how excited I was about Parque Bicentenario a few weeks ago? Well we decided to go again this afternoon with some friends who have a puppy (who we had not previously met) and I have to say that I was thoroughly disappointed. Although the weather was not as hot and sunny as that weekend in October, it was decent enough to be outside for sure. But there were hardly any dogs at the park today.....instead it was overrun by cuico (meant in a negative way too) little kids who were playing all over the dog toys and whose parents were just standing around watching them do it! WTF?!?!?!?!!! It is a D.O.G. park....not a kid park. And besides, the kid toys are like 100 meters away from the dog park so take the little brats over there. It is one thing if you bring your kids into the doggie zone to pet the dogs and whatnot, but they should not be climbing on or in any of the toys.

The best thing about today was meeting a new little puppy at the park named Simón, who is a wired-haired mini doxie. He was so cute! Dulcinea of course wanted nothing to do with him or any other dog, but she is getting a bit better. At least she sniffs the dogs now and then walks away.

This time, when we took out her boomerang to play, instead of brining it back to us, she would walk up to whatever stranger was around. She kept going back to this one guy like 10 times in a row....it was so funny.

I hope the next time we go there are actually dogs instead of children running all around because that is when it is fun! If I wanted to be around kids, I would have one for crying out loud.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

The Joys of Jumbo

Now that we have a car we get to go shopping at Jumbo on the weekends. If you have never been to Chile you wouldn't know that Jumbo is like a Super Target or other large supermarket and most other grocery stores in Chile aren't nearly as big, nor have the variety of things that can be found at Jumbo. I'm pretty sure that even the huge Liders aren't as cool because they don't have the taste-testing stations.

Today we got a late start after Christian had to work a bit from home and while we were starving for lunch, by the time we got done at Jumbo (it took approx. 2 hours) we had eaten enough samples to fill us up! Hahahaha....

Anyway.....I heart Jumbo. Thank god we have a car now.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Sunday Night Dinner

My sophomore year in college and the summer after, I used to go to Sunday Night Dinner hosted by one of my friend's family.  We would head over the house on Sunday evening, help finish preparations for dinner and just hang out.  Their family was big, but they never had problems with inviting more people over.  It was a lot of fun and I remember thinking how cool of an idea Sunday Night Dinner was.  For various reasons my friendship with this girl became distanced, but I never forget how open and warm her family was for always welcoming me into their home.   Sunday Night Dinner was such a new idea for me.  When I lived with my parents we hardly ate dinner together because I was always off doing extracurricular events or in my room or whatnot.  Holidays were our family meal time pretty much.  In coming to Chile, I realized that those sort of weekend gathering are not so few and far inbetween because families here are much more united that families in the United States (sounds a bit ironic, doesn't it?).  My host family would gather with my host mother's side of the family ever Saturday for a huge lunch with the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.  They would literally prepare a feast that would last a minimum of 4 hours.  I really enjoyed going to these family lunches.  At first it was a bit overwhelming, especially when my Spanish hadn't quite caught up to speaking Chilean, but after a while it just seemed normal.  Sometimes I would feel like lunch lasted too long, especially for a Saturday because Saturdays are the days to go shopping and to the beach and whatnot.  If the lunches had been on Sunday, I probably wouldn't have cared.  But that's neither here nor there.  The point is that Saturday Lunches en El Cerro Castillo (where the grandparents lived) was so much like Sunday Night Dinner.

My husband's family isn't quite the same breed as my host family.  See, my host mother comes from an Italian family and they had a huge family that would always get together.  My inlaws, on the other hand, are pretty much the only of the family that live in Viña and so there really aren't people to get together with.  Of course when we go to Viña, we have lunch and most of the onces (afternoon snack that normally replaces dinner for us) with my inlaws and sister-in-law, but it is nothing like Sunday Night Dinner.  

I miss Sunday Night Dinner.  I miss that feeling of togetherness, the hustle and bustle of preparing the dinner, and catching up with everyone.  Not even my own family has the same sort of vibe as Sunday Night Dinner or Saturday Lunches in El Cerro Castillo.  My mom can even attest to that, she went to a lunch with my host family while she was here.  I think it would be fun to start the tradition of one here in Santiago, but I doubt that it could be weekly.  A lot of my friends travel some weekends (as do we) and also have their Chilean in-laws to be visiting.  I also think I might die if I had to prepare a huge dinner or lunch every weekend....although if everyone pitched in to bring something, it wouldn't be so bad.  And of course if people pitched in with the clean-up, that would be even more appreciated.  I think shooting for once or twice a month would be fun.  I would also prefer to do a lunch instead of diner.  Everyone knows lunches in Chile are the principle meal and most of us would have to prepare ourselves for the week ahead, so having the evening free would give us the needed time.  I wonder....anyone interested?

~Tyffanie

P.S. I had imagined this post going in a totally different direction when I first thought about writing it.  In fact, I wanted to arrive at talking about Friday lunches at home, but I just never got there.  I guess I'll save it for another post.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Hooray for the Birthday Month

November is my favorite month of the year because my birthday is the 21st!  

This year it falls on a Saturday and plans for the celebration are already in the works.  My plan is to do something in Santiago on the 21st and then something in Viña the following weekend in collaboration with my cuñada (sister-in-law) because her birthday is the 27th.  I have more of a concrete idea of what to do here in Santiago, but am still throwing around ideas of what to do in Viña.  In any case, I am still excited because I love that birthdays are the best excuse to get all of your friends together.

Plus I am pretty sure that this will be one of the last birthdays to get excited about seeing as how I will be turning a quarter-of-a-century and well.....with the big 3-0 only five years down the road, eek!  Who wants to turn 30?  I love being in my 20s.  I am not looking forward to my metabolism slowing down and all the stuff that comes with age.  The good thing is that cosmetic surgery exists, but I digress....

The only thing I have never liked about having my birthday in November is that 1. it never falls on Thanksgiving, only the day before and 2. I hate the birthstone (yellow topaz)....a yellow stone? I mean...pluuuueeeeeaaasseeee.....the point in a diamond is that it is colorless.  Why would you ever want a stone that is purposely yellow?  A ruby, sapphire or emerald all make sense, but well I am just not a fan of yellow topaz.  It could have been blue or pink topaz and I'd have no problems.  

But back to the fun things about November......birthdays!  Actually, tomorrow we have a birthday bbq for a friend to go to so I guess that starts the festivities!
~Tyffanie

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The Flirting Spring

It is officially spring in Chile and while I feel like that normally equals a dramatic change in the weather from cold to hot, this spring has been quite unpredictable.  We have had days so hot you would think it was January and days so cold you would think it was July.  I'm not sure why the Spring is being so flirty, but I have to say that I hope the cloudy days go away soon.  I know that may be wishing an unbearable summer that is more like an oven, but I am a person who needs the sun to start my day.  I don't really care if it is cold out, just as long as the sun wakes me up in the morning.  That is one thing that I love about Colorado....approx. 300 days of sunshine a year.  Doesn't mean it is frigid outside during the winter, but there will be sun.  So, c'mon Chile, be a bit more like Colorado and let that sun shine....pretty please!

~Tyffanie

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Exciting News!!

Before I let you in on the exciting news of today and possibly the whole month, I'd first like to wish my Dulcinea a very happy 5 months!  Today is her 5 month "birthday" and my oh my does she keep growing.  She is so strong now, it is quite amazing to see the difference in such a short period of time!

And now for the news....I've been asked to contribute to the Who's Your Dachshund blog!!!!  Today my biography was published and soon my first official post will be up.  We (Chris, Dulcinea and I) are all really excited about this as Who's Your Dachshund is one of our favorite blogs....I mean, how can you go wrong with a blog all about salchichas?  You can't!  

So head on over and check Duclinea & me out!

~Tyffanie

Monday, November 2, 2009

Our Car & Driving in Santiago

We have a car!  Finally!  Technically it isn't ours--it is my mother-in-law's, but since she never drives it (and I mean it went from one revisión técnica to the other without being driven) she decided to let us use it since we now have a dog.  Prior to having a car, we would just use the bus system to travel back and forth to Viña, which is quite efficient, cheap and pretty comfortable.  But dogs are not allowed in the buses and of course we would never stow Dulicnea down below!  We "snuck" her on the bus once and didn't have any problems.  When I say snuck, I mean that I walked on the bus with her in her crate (which looks like a gym bag) and simply sat down in the last seat in the bus.  She didn't make any sounds and slept the whole way.  That was for the long weekend back in October and luckily we just had to go the one way because for the vuelta (return) we had the car.  It isn't the best car in the world but it works quite well and is in really good condition for being a 1993.  The only downside that I think it has is that it doesn't have power steering so turning the wheel, especially when stationary, is much more difficult than your typical car.

That said, I thought I wouldn't be driving it at all.  But then I decided I should give it a shot so that I would know whether or not I can really drive it--in case of emergency or otherwise.  So two Saturdays ago, it was my turn to drive to Jumbo.  And it went really well!  The car isn't really that difficult to drive or turn when moving.  It is just when you stop and then need to turn the wheel, or perhaps a tight parking situation, in which things become more difficult.  This was also my first time driving in a big city.  Of course, I have driven in Denver, but I really don't consider it a big city even though it is Colorado's capital.  I find traveling in Santiago kind of nuts...people don't respect the lines on the road, the micros rule the road, there are more one-way streets that there should be, etc.  But Saturday and Sunday were perfect days to drive in the city as there is much less traffic and thus less stress on me.  We don't really use the car during the week since we live so close to everything, but it is so nice to have for the weekends!  

We went to Viña this weekend again and the drive went well both ways.  The car has an old stereo for cassette tapes and in Santiago we can normally tune into good ratio stations, but on the drive to Viña they go in and out and mostly you hear static.  So I think we'll be looking for some cassette tapes to play during our drives.  Christian wants to put in a nicer stereo, but I think it is a waste of money considering the car is so old.  Plus it would be just another reason for people to break into the car and well, in Chile, there are already enough reasons for that so I prefer not to.  I'd be ok with sticking to cassettes....hahaha.

~Tyffanie

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.