September 24, 2008
Hey everybody! For those of you that missed out on the last post about group blogging, we’re going to do it this Friday and the topic is How Chileans Perceive Gringos (or how we think they perceive us). If you want to participate, as always, just leave a comment on my post and I’ll put up a link to your blog.
And if you’re living in another country feel free to change the topic so it fits for you. I can’t wait to see what everybody writes…especially the Chileans! I have a feeling they are ready to get their revenge after hearing all the things we had to say about them. 
September 23, 2008
I’m so excited to present Helen Conway as the JMCS interviewee for the 2nd edition of Expat Interviews (if you’re interested, you can find the first edition here). Helen has a love for Chile that I’ve never been able to muster, as well as an optimism you just don’t find every day (especially in a Brit ). Aside from that she’s smart and motivated, and like many of the amazing women that move to this country, she has an entrepreneurial spirit and a knack for survival. Check out her translation business online here!
Please give us some background on you and your situation in Chile.
How old are you? 41.
How long have you been here? 4 years.
How long do you plan on staying? The rest of my life.
Where are you from? Britain.
Are you married? Divorced, now living with someone.
What part of Chile do you live in? Concon
2. Tell us your story. What originally brought you to the country?
I am a 41 year-old British woman who came to Chile as a tourist in early 2004 and was struck by the unexpected and seemingly irrational urge to come here to live. At that time, I was recently divorced and looking to put down new roots somewhere but never, even in my most fanciful imaginings did I think that Chile would become my new home. When I went back to the UK, I sold most of my stuff, left some boxes containing my most precious possessions with my mum and headed here on a tourist visa, hoping to find a way to make my living.
Almost four years have passed and here I am, living in a sleepy, windswept village on a headland in Concon. I live in a small, flimsily built house with the most awe-inspiring sea views. I share this space with 7 street dogs, who drive me spare with their antics but give me the most incredible, unconditional love I have ever experienced and, touch wood, have protected me from break-ins, so common in this area. Recently my partner, Wolfgang, came to live here too. He’s a 48 year old lawyer, a lifelong batchelor who has adjusted slowly and with difficulty to having a gringa in his life.
3 What do you do here? Describe a typical day in your life.
I have a translations company which is just starting to be successful after two very hard years where I worked very hard, spent most of my savings and supplemented my income with some English classes.
It’s difficult to describe a typical day, as they vary a lot. Typically I get up at 7 a.m. and check my email straight away, as a translations company in Germany is one of my most important clients and with the time difference there are usually emails waiting for me. I rarely finish before 9 p.m. My business is at that stage right now where I really need to hire someone to help me but don’t have enough profits yet to pay them.
Right now we have in four very big jobs, where work has been split between different translators and I need to project manage very carefully, which takes up a lot of time. I also send quotations to customers for jobs, proofread most of the Spanish to English translations and I translate myself too. There is a lot of administration and there are always some tramites I have to do, which means hours away from home queueing up in some office or other.
On a good day, at some point I go out for at least a little walk with some of the dogs, but often I don’t make time even for that. Lunch is something quick and easy; I get an organic box of vegetables every week so I eat pretty well.
4 How does a typical day in your life differ from what life used to be like for you in your home country?
Well, about 100%! In the UK, I never had a dog now I have 7. I lived many years inland, though I yearned for the sea now I can see the sea even from my bed! I lived in the city – here I am far from the madding crowd I always had paid jobs working in offices but thought about being self-employed and working from home. There I was a super-organized woman, had my whole life in a filofax, had everything planned months in advance. Now I live with a man who resists any attempt to organize him and rebels against plans! I used to go away a lot and now I barely leave home but then, living in such a beautiful place, I don’t feel the need to!
5 How much do you spend on living costs i.e. rent, groceries, bills etc.
Maybe CLP$400.000 per month. I haven’t analyzed recently.
6 How has your standard of living changed since moving here?
Good question. Well, on the plus side, I live in a more beautiful place, the climate here is wonderful, I love the fruit, the vegetables, the wine etc. We are privileged to have access to such a tremendous range of ingredients. I live a simpler life, partly by choice.
On the downside, like most people here on the coast at least, it’s a struggle to earn enough. Travel, especially abroad, means saving hard for a long time. The houses are not well constructed and get very cold in winter, which I find difficult.
7 What do you love about living here?
The weather, the sea, the dunes near my home, the pelicans and sealions; the fruit and vegetables, especially avocados, chirimoyas, cherries.
8 What has been the hardest adjustment for you in moving abroad?
I miss my friends. And making friends here has been difficult.
I don’t like the whole philosophy of distrust. Nobody trusts anybody, so they don’t extend themselves for instance inviting people they don’t know well to their homes, that kind of thing. And, for whatever reason, more people behave dishonestly here than in the UK, so in the end we all become more careful. I hate that, that I’ve become more cautious, more selfish and closed.
9 If you could change anything about your life in Chile, what would it be?
I’d bring my friends here.
A huge shake-up of the banking system and all state institutions so that only necessary bureaucracy was left.
10 If you could talk to other women considering moving to this country, what advice do you have for them?
Beware of Chilean men; they seem to have a magnetic effect on gringas. Give it time, it’s not easy adjusting. Everything takes longer here than you think, so take it easy, give it time. And don’t be shy to ask for help, advice, company from others.
September 22, 2008
Our tickets are booked and S. and I are headed to the U.S. for Christmas! Here are just a few of the things I’m looking forward to for this trip:
- Hugging my family
- Catching up with old friends
- Roller coasters at Busch Gardens amusement park
- Chili’s boneless buffalo wings
- Spending all day (actually I’ll probably need a few full days)at Barnes and Nobles reading photography books
- Lying on the beach
- Swimming in the Gulf of Mexico
- Buying clothes that are actually in style, reasonably priced and decent quality
- And then returning them, hassle free if I so choose
- Taking pictures of my owncountry, which isn’t something I get to do often
- Long walks at night on Bayshore
- Visiting my alma mater
- Stocking up on Cheezits and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- Shots
- Driving places (not after taking shots)
- Making conversation with random strangers in line at the supermarket
- Line dancing and listening to country music radio stations
- Actually traveling with my husband rather than away from him
- Road trips
- Wendy’s frosties
- Doing a third photo session with one of the first families that ever hired me as their photographer
- A surprise party for a family member
I just hope we have time to fit it all in. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back (I think I last went in May or June of 2007) so the list of things to do, places to go and people to see just gets longer every time!
What are your favorite things to do when you back that you just can’t do (or eat in some cases, hahaha) in Chile?
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