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So February 7th has come and gone, as a matter of fact, February has come and gone!

Life is busy, sometimes strange, and always full of surprises. We have been in Chile for 2 months now, working and relaxing, though mostly working…

Our parents decided to visit us here, arriving just over a week ago. Unfortunately they were delayed in getting here by a day or so, and I had to leave for Calama the day after they arrived. But we did make the best of it, and while I have been working in Northern Chile, Melissa and the parents have been living high on the hog in the South, touring around to all the places I want to see! They worked their way down to the island of Chiloe, which is the end of the panamerican highway. We all returned to Concepcion this Saturday, and enjoyed a jam-packed Sunday, visiting with friends and touring around the area.

The friends we have made here have invited us into their lives and homes. Yesterday we visited a friend whom I know from the casino. We started with lunch at her mom’s place, with homemade soup, bread and salad in typical Chilean fashion. Then her Dad decided that we needed to go for a drive, so off we went to Talchuano, where we took a boat ride around the harbor and saw the ships, sea lions and fog. Then it was off to a provincial park that is managed by a family friend. The park is situated where the Bio Bio river meets the ocean. Surrounded by 1400 acres of trees, gardens, beach and coastline, it is truly a slice of heaven. After visiting with the manager (a Canadian/Chilean who lived in Canada for over 30 years), we went to see the sunset on the coast. From our vantage point on the hill, we could see the rocky coastline, sewn in with fog. As the sun went down, we also spotted the sillouettes of whales, fishing right of the coast. I have checked out many things in and around Concepcion, but this is by far the coolest place! We all agree that we will go back there during the day, to walk around, take photos and get some fresh sea air.

What a great break from the work in Calama, which is 2000 kms North of Concepcion. Surrounded by the Atacama desert, Calama is an oasis in one of the driest places in the world. It’s raison d’etre is a large copper mining industry just out of town. I didn’t have enough time to go exploring around, but we are planning to visit San Pedro de Atacama when we go back. San Pedro is one of (possibly the oldest) Spanish settlement in Chile. It is here where the Spanards came over the Andes from Argentina and created an outpost in the desert. It is also a tourist mecca, and rumor has it there is a large amount of Americans, Canadians, and Eurpoeans visiting there all year round.

There is also a train that goes to Bolivia, leaving from Calama. This piqued my interest, as I will take any opportunity to collect another stamp on my passport! The town is less than 150 kms from both the Argentinian and Bolivian borders.

The Big News

So we’re travelling on the company’s dime, what could be better, right? Well, through a strange series of events, I have been offered a job with my company in Buenos Aires, Argentina. And you know what, we accepted the offer! That’s right, yet another delay in our grandiose travel plans!!!

The position is more or less what i’m doing now, supporting customers in Latin America and setting up new ones. This means lots of travel within South America, and having your home base as Buenos Aires really can’t be beat! To sweeten the deal, we are also getting paid Spanish instruction courtesy of the company as well. This will be a 2 year posting, with who-knows-what for possibilities after. La vida extrano, por supuesto!