Dead politicians and co-working spaces

I had a couple new experiences in the last week. First, I tried Empanadas. They are similar to Hot Pockets, but much more authentic. I tried two different kinds, one with just cheese inside (and more of a flaky crust), and another, called Napolitana, with tomato, ham, and cheese. They were quite good, and they generally only cost about $1.50, which is a good price for a lunch.

Last Wednesday we got a deal on day-passes for an high-end co-working space called JustPeople in Las Condes (a Santiago neighborhood, think Chicago's South Loop with more office buildings if that means anything to you). It was extremely nice. We are considering signing up for a membership, depending on how good a deal we can get. I've included some pictures below.

Will and I visited the young entrepreneur we are "mentoring" (I put that in quotes because I suspect he would do just fine without our advice). He is kind of a meta-entrepreneur. He and his team have started an agency that basically acts as a technical team-for-hire, but instead of being paid in cash, they take significant equity in the companies they work with. It is a very interesting business model. He and his teammates are all delightful people and we are looking forward to hanging out with them again this coming week.

During some random wanderings, I found some random things. I got a picture of the (one of several, I would imagine) statue of Salvador Allende, whom the United States helped assassinate (because freedom, or something). I also found a statue of Abraham Lincoln that had been vandalized with the words "Operation Condor" (look it up), so there's that (no picture). To round out the political part of this post, I walked past the French embassy the other day and got a quick photo of the notes people had left in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings.

Finally, on Saturday Jen and I explored a very large park in Las Condes. It had a beautiful rose garden and some very interesting architecture. It was quite hot that day, so we spent some time sitting in the shade near the roses, but we made sure to walk around the entire perimeter. We also found a small Thai garden at one end. The asian influence is interesting. I think because we are actually further east than the east coast of the US, it is easy to forget that we are actually on the west coast of South America.

Two anecdotes from the park. First, you'll notice two statues made of greenery. The second one is pretty clearly intended to be Pope John Paul II (who visited Chile, to much celebration, during his tenure). As Jen and I walked up to it (from the side) she mentioned that it was interesting. I responded that yes, it appeared to be the Pope. She said "Oh, I thought it was some kind of wizard!"

Next, you can see that Jen made another canine friend this week. They seem drawn to her. Last week our friend left us when we started going up too many stairs. This week's dog appeared to loath the sun, so once we left the shady section of the park he stayed behind.

Work and more work

Will and I have been working furiously this week to get to a point where we can start to demo the product to people. Today we worked all day, then came home and, as of about 11pm, are still at it. We took a break to go to our first Spanish lesson (Jen is taking them as well). It was pretty fun, and the teacher is very enthusiastic and friendly, which helps a lot. I kept having flashbacks to Spanish classes in school. If I ever have the misfortune of reproducing, I will enroll the child in language lessons very, very early.

Last weekend Jen and I wandered around a couple very nice parks in Santiago. Jen made a stray canine friend who followed us for over a mile. Animals just can't resist her. For awhile there were actually two dogs following us, but one go distracted after not too long. Check out Jen's blog post for a video of her friend frolicking in the sprinklers.

Last week I found a pretty nice bakery and brought Jen some treats for dessert. Luckily they weren't very busy either time I went because communication was rather slow, but at least I got the job done. Now that I have learned the pattern for buying baked goods it is much easier. You generally tell someone what you want, which they write down. Then they hand you the slip of paper with your order on it and you go pay for it. While you're paying they get the item out of the case and package it up. The cashier gives you a receipt, which you take back to the counter, at which point you receive your items. Very complicated, but that is just how Chile operates, lots of bureaucracy.

Speaking of bureaucracy, Will and I went to the SII (some kind of government entity related to work and taxes) to finish the long process required before we can pay ourselves. As Chilean bureaucracy goes, it was really quite pleasant. However, I noticed as we were leaving that I had a horrible stomach ache, the kind caused by stress. I think that if I had to stay here for too long I would end up with ulcers. Paperwork is not my friend.

Super hot

The weather lately has been hot. Very hot. Not quite as bad as the midwestern US since there is very little humidity here, but still hot. Jen and I have been going for walks in the evenings since it gets quite cool at night, usually in the 50s or low 60s. Tonight we wandered down a nearby street lined with apartment buildings and a few offices. I took a couple neat pictures I thought I would share.

I don't know much about this building, but it looks like it might be a church or community center of some kind. Either way, it is very pretty. It is on Nueva Providencia a few blocks from our apartment.

Just after I took the photos above, I noticed that you could see the Costanera Center (tallest building in South America) down the street. It looks pretty cool in the sunset. This is Nueva Providencia looking east.

This is Pedro de Valdivia street, looking south. For whatever reason this street is completely lined with beautiful shade trees (for at least a mile) all of which are lit up, I would guess for the holidays. It is really beautiful. We walked pretty far down this street the other night. There are at least three or four universities along Pedro de Valdivia and many of their buildings are quite pretty, both old and new.