Quickies

April 27, 2008

Quick update, just so you know I haven’t died and gone to Patagonia.

Random happenings
*We went to Dunkin Donuts on Saturday and they were all out of….donuts! How is that even possible?
*On Friday I went to the gym. I was happily working out, jogging on the treadmill with my iPod on, oblivious to everything around me. All of a sudden I hear someone shouting, “Oye, oye, Kyle!” I turn around and my trainer, plus all 5 of his little trainer friends were standing behind me cracking up. My hair was standing like a foot up off my head because of the static. I didn’t even bother to try and fix it, I just told them it was the new Gringa style and kept running.
*I got the new Skype plan ($9.95 a month for unlimited international phone calls). That means I’ve been calling my mom at least 4 times a day. She used to complain that we didn’t get the chance to talk enough, but now she doesn’t answer my calls when she sees my number show up…again.
*I found an old friend’s blog (Hey Nashy!). I won’t link to it because I’m not sure if she wants random people reading it, but I will say this. Her son is SO cute. I showed the picture to S. and said, “Look at him, doesn’t that just make you want to have babies right now?” Needless to say, S. ran screaming out the door and didn’t look back :P

Goals reached
*I forgot to mention this earlier in the month, but in the beginning of April we surpassed our quarter of the way there financial mark in our savings for our year long trip around the world…and that’s even after we increased our original figure to more. By the end of May we’ll be almost halfway there!
*I also made a personal goal a while back to earn as much or more than my husband. I’m happy to announce that this month I more than tripled his salary. That’s what I’m talking about!
*I’m going to be on Chilean TV. Well, actually that wasn’t a goal. I had thought about doing the reality show Peloton and then forgot about it. But, if you even remember reading about that, that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m doing a focus group on, “Como Somos Los Chilenos?” or “What are we (Chileans) like?” They’re taping it and putting it on some morning show on national television. They asked me to be the critical perspective. Oh jeez, I just can’t wait to give the people in this country another reason to hate me.

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El Rey de la Casa

April 22, 2008

“El rey de la casa,” or “King of the house,” is what my S.’s grandma called him when he was a little boy. Irma would have his sister bring him trays of his food, she would cook his favorite meals and make his bed while he was at school. If his shoe was untied she even though she was old and decrepit, she would bend down and do it for him.

Fortunately, she didn’t live with his family for very long so the extreme machismo didn’t quite stick, but to a lesser extent it’s still perpetuated within S.’s family. His mom heats his dad’s dinner when they both arrive home from work (and they work the same hours at the same job, mind you) and then serves it to him on a tray in bed. The dad has washed maybe 2 plates in the 3 years I’ve known him. And keep in mind that when I say washed, I mean just quickly rinsed, and if it looked clean enough left it somewhere to dry, for someone else to put away.

This all is really funny to me, because on one hand, the mom speaks very blatantly about feminism and what she believes and what she wants for her children. But, at the same time, she doesn’t realize that she’s practicing the opposite of what she preaches in her home. By she continues to exonerate the dad of all possible household responsibilities, while doing everything herself (and with the help of a nana, of course, like many lucky Chilean women).

And the mom, while she is the one with all the good ideas about what to do with the house and any business ideas that she might have, all must be approved by the dad, who will sometimes just veto her without even listening to the argument.

I feel really lucky that S. somehow managed to escape the death trap of machismo and doesn’t mind sharing cooking and cleaning duty. He’s exceptionally uncaring about the fact that his wife far out earns him and seems to like making major decisions together. And when we are parents we’re planning on S. being a stay at home dad.

Maybe it’s just the fact that he’s part of a younger generation that have given him a broader concept of a partnership than the way his parents see it. Either way, it’s a good thing, because I would not have married him if he wasn’t the way he is.

Yet, I’m never failed to be reminded of the S.’s background. Last week when he had to stop by his parents’ house to pick up the car, he was immediately ushered in to eat some of his favorite desserts, specially prepared for the Rey de la Casa’s visit :)

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Photography Update

April 13, 2008

http://kyleheppphotography.wordpress.com/

As if I needed another place to write, I made myself a photography blog. I had a session today, I really wanted to post it so the clients could see, but I didn’t want to bore you guys with my pictures if you read this blog more for information on Chile, than for the photo update of a couple you don’t know. So there’s the link if you’re interested :)

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