Chile Forum

definitely Charles is your best resource re the visa. All members on the forum have our own experience, but Charles knows the best way forward for whatever your circumstances...

Dyson, definitely a worthwhile investment. We brought a decent vacuum with us (Nilfisk), and I hope it does not die while we are here, have not seen any REALLY good ones, and there is definitely plenty of dust etc here (at least up here in the north).

Re housing. Personally, I never saw many furnished houses advertised, but then we weren't looking for furnished, so perhaps there was some around. A friend who is moving to Stgo in Jan was there this week and went house hunting and found something (unfurnished) that is available in Jan. so, depending on where you want to live, get yourself involved with either a real estate agent or a REPUTABLE relocation agent (cannot stress the REPUTABLE part highly enough) and they will actually know of people leaving in a few months with available rentals coming up that have not yet been put on the rental listings. It is very hard to do it by looking online, not only because they take 8 pictures of the pool and one of the kitchen, but many of the listings are out of date.

Good luck with the move, sounds like everything is pretty well under control.

trabajo en progreso wrote:

Should I bring my breadmaker?

There are some breadmakers available in CL and I plan to get one next time I am up north. My neighbours bought one in Valpo several years ago and are pleased.

This model looks as though it is currently sold at Falabella so here is the name and model number: Recco Máquina para Hacer Pan RMP838 for about 30.000 CLP. Another model I see is the Recco Máquina para Hacer Pan RPM-1238 (800 watts) for about 80.000 CLP. There are comments that the recipes provided with these machines don't provide the best baking results but others have developed alternative recipes with excellent outcomes. If anyone has firsthand experience with the available breadmakers then now is the time to comment.----

8 pictures of the pool is right lol
thanks ptgx, your info will save me more room for english language books...
Emailed reservation for short term apartment a little while ago, getting excited

eta what's with the lack of pool fencing? do the kids here have a fish gene which means they can all swim from birth? my two don't have that gene

Mostly, the pools are unfenced due to people not liking the look of it, and not being willing to spend the cash on it.

In general, kids here learn to swim very late in life (relative to Australia at least), as unless they happen to live in a house/apartment with a pool (which might be common in some areas but unheard of in most parts of santiago), they have very little access to swimming pools.

There is decent removable fencing available at Sodimac and Easy, (http://www.sodimac.cl/webapp/commerce/c ... br=59336-2), so don't make an unfenced pool a dealbreaker.

Ah Steph just saw your post, sorry, not ignoring you I promise

I just started a thread on Pool fencing and now that I have seen the link to the fencing that you have been kind enough to post I think we will take a look at a lovely looking place in Penalolen (sp?) which has the most amazing fixed wooden cubby and play equipment in the back yard, the girls will LOVE it! I know it's not Las Condes, Lo Barnechea or Vitacura but I'm not sold on those areas - this may change as I have not actually seen these places yet But this is my impression at this stage.

Getting to the pointy end now, we leave this place 13 Oct and we leave Sydney 18 Oct. :salud:

no worries... figured you had missed it

choosing a suburb will be influenced by a lot of factors not the least of which will be the commute for your husband... so I am sure you will be able to sort that out pretty easily once you get to santiago.

In the meantime best of luck with your move!

Dyson, definitely a worthwhile investment. We brought a decent vacuum with us (Nilfisk), and I hope it does not die while we are here, have not seen any REALLY good ones, and there is definitely plenty of dust etc here (at least up here in the north).

I have never owned a Dyson and know that they are like a cult item , but I have a Miele vacuum cleaner (which you can buy here at their shops on Vitacura or at Parque Arauco) and they are fantastic.

Sam, my daughter was 3 1/5 when we arrived and she learned Spanish in less than 6 months at Kindy. She went to Planeta Tierra on Av Luis Pasteur (next to La Caruma, which you will no doubt frequent when you get here!) and we will send little sister there too when she is older. The Principal and some of the teachers speak English, so it helped with the settling in process (like asking for the bathroom etc) in teh beginning.

Steph wrote:no worries... figured you had missed it

choosing a suburb will be influenced by a lot of factors not the least of which will be the commute for your husband... so I am sure you will be able to sort that out pretty easily once you get to santiago.

In the meantime best of luck with your move!

Ah yes, checking his commute time was the second most important criteria after my commute time for Jardin/Kindy The place I like is close to the Metro. As he is setting up the Companys office we have a little flexibility in office location.

Tombi the dyson propaganda is not filtering through - haven't worked out how to do subliminal messages while he sleeps - so a Miele would be grand My current vacuum is so sucky, it doesn't.