Day 27: Casual Grilling with New Santiago Buddies Nacho and Amelia
Today’s the first Saturday of February, which in Chile means it’s like the first weekend in August in the US — dead. Everyone on vacation. City empty. The feeling in the air is….vacation mode.
Following suit, we spent a very relaxed day having a late breakfast, doing school, taking a dip in our rooftop pool, going for a walk, aka nap ops for James in stroller.
More blackjack 
Math word problems 
Lastarria snoozer 
Time out for biting 
Around 6 pm, the equivalent to about 3 pm in NYC in the summer, we set out via Uber for Los Condes, a neighborhood just to the east of Santiago.
Picture a sparkling new cityscape with glass high-rises, pristine parks — like Battery Park City meets Atlanta.
We were headed there for yet another “friend date!” We’re open to hanging with totally random people these days. All part of the 2019 challenge to ourselves — the more locals we meet in a new place, the better we understand it. Goes against our homebody natures, but we’re pushing comfort zones here…
So we met up with Nacho (aka Ignacio), James’s godmother’s high school friend’s ex-boyfriend, his lovely wife Amelia and their two kids.
First we met up near their apartment at a playground. They have a daughter, Matilde, who’s 6, and a little guy, Aurelio, who’s almost 4 — and a redhead!
We chit-chatted on a bench while they played, then eventually walked back to their apartment for a casual barbecue on their terrace.
Nacho 
Nacho and Amelia own a husband-wife wedding production company. Nobody plans weddings in Chile during summer (unlike the US) because that’s considered sacred family vacation time. Wedding high season kicks in in the fall, aka March. So now they had some downtime, and were glad to host us.
They also had a 3-month-old black Scottie puppy named Frederica who was tiny, naughty and adorable.
The kids spoke no common language but they did dress up, played with the puppy, watched cartoons and more with no problem.
Meanwhile the grownups camped out on their 8th floor balcony with beautiful views of the neighborhood, and in the distance, mountains. Looked like suburban LA?
Nacho speaks terrific English (3 years in NYC and an American ex). Amelia understood most of what we said but replied in Spanish, which I think we caught most of.
Things we discussed:
- Americans expect a “South American experience” when they come to Chile and are consistently disappointed because Chile is so *not* the stereotypical “latin” experience.
- The general stereotype of Chileans is that they are aloof, stiff, formal, conservative.
- They have a super distinct accent that’s immediately identifiable.
- They don’t do rehearsal dinners in Chile. Just the wedding day.
- Where Argentina is more skewed toward Europe, Chile is more skewed toward American culture.
- Lin Manuel Miranda is a genius.
- When you are a husband-wife business duo, you also run your family like a business.
We left at 11 and Uber’d home. Laaaaaaate night for James…. Eek….but worth it.
