A Chilean Adventure

We moved into our cabaña on Sunday, Feb. 25, exactly five months from our departure date (July 25). It was the quickest move-in either of us has ever experienced. The most difficult part may have been deciding who’d have which bedroom. One is a tad bigger with a full-sized bed and a desk and the other has two twin beds and a lot of sunlight. Danielle decided she didn’t really need a desk and the extra twin bed would be a good landing spot for things she didn’t want to put away. That settled it.

Despite the size of our suitcases, unpacking our things really didn’t take long. We just put our few articles of clean clothes in our closets and I set out the pictures I brought on my night table. We rearranged the “living room” a little, but that only took about 10 minutes to move the wicker furniture.

It’s kind of hard to describe the cabañas because there really isn’t an equivalent in Wisconsin, but I’ll try. The whole building looks like a big house and has four separate cabaña downstairs and two upstairs. Each one has its own door to the outside deck, a living room space (with a bay window!), a kitchen space, bathroom, and two bedrooms. Also, it’s all fully furnished with all the necessary kitchen utensils (pots, pans, plates, bowls, everything), sheets, blankets and pillows on the beds, a tv, and a wicker chair and loveseat. The only thing missing is an oven. We won’t be able to make any casseroles, desserts, or even frozen pizza. That might be tough to get used to.

Most students attend a university in or near their hometown and they live with their families during college. The few who do go a little further away typically live in cabañas. There are a couple of dorm buildings, but I don’t think they house a lot of students.

And now…for the best part of the cabaña…(drumroll please)… There’s a cleaning lady! Once a week she comes in to change the bathroom and kitchen towels, change the bed linens, vacuum, and clean the bathroom. All of that is included in the price of the cabaña, but if you want her to do your laundry it’s about $5 more per week ($2.50 each). She takes the laundry on Friday and returns it Monday morning.

Our location is about 4-5 blocks from the university and 6-7 blocks from downtown. The rent for a month is about $215 for each of us, not including the gas, water, and electricity. That’s still probably only half of typical Madison rent! I really don’t have any complaints…except that I wish it had an oven.

The first night we moved in, we decided to get supper at the local Italian place because we didn’t have any food yet. It’s probably going to be very tempting to go there a lot because it’s only two blocks away and has some great pizza at a reasonable price. We might end up being regulars there.

It feels good to have a “home” in Chile. A comfortable bed and a place to make hot chocolate when the cold, rainy days come. Hopefully we’ll soon make friends that we can entertain. If not friends, I’m sure Mom and Kayla will find it comfortable when they visit in a few weeks!