House Hunters Internacional: SANTIAGO

¡Hola!

So today, we started off our day very early with a visa notarizing appointment at 9am sharp. We tried to leave as a big group and get through the metro, but were unhappy to discover that it was almost as crowded as our first time, just in the morning instead of the evening. Yikes! Somehow we managed to shove ourselves in several different cars after we let a few trains go by. Once at our special stop today (Tobalaba, a Chilean tongue twister for foreigners) we were all lost for a few minutes until our lovely boss Emily showed up with a coffee and a stress-free face to shuttle us to our appointment. Getting our contracts notarized took about an hour for all 16 of us, but this was mostly due to us arriving before anyone else. Lines can get hours long in these types of places, so our bosses made sure we would have time to do this and get back to orientation.

After a lovely walk back to the office, about 40 minutes in lovely cool weather and warm sunshine, we started on our house hunting (international, for those of you who love HGTV at night like I do!) with our tour guide Emily (same girl as before; she just basically helps us with everything). While I thought I was pretty well-versed in the world of Spanish-speaking apartment hunting (ask my Cádiz friends Laura, Megan, Ted, etc.), I found that I could be completely useless in a different country with different slang. Here is some of the new lingo I've learned regarding apartment or room hunting in Santiago:
~un departamento or un depto = an apartment
~una comuna = residential area
~piso = floor, here in Santiago; like there's a bug on the floor or the room is on the fifth floor; not at all like I want a room in Cádiz slang...
~pieza/dormitorio = bedroom, whereas
~habitación = any room, here in Santiago
~terraza = balcony
~quincho = bbq area
~arrienda = rent
~arrendar = to rent
~ gastos comunes = apartment building fees
~amoblado/equipado = furnished

So far, Jess and I have had no luck finding any rooms to rent from Chileans in apartments, but we're hoping for some information on host families first. Emily is being super-helpful and found my hostel roommate (who, by the way, doesn't speak any Spanish and for whom this process would have been impossible) an apartment within an hour of searching, so maybe if we get some one on one time with her, we'll be all set. I'll keep you updated with our progress as it painstakingly inches onward.

I realized I've been selfish so far on this blog, so feel free to post your reactions or questions in the comments. If you know some Chilean slang I am missing, bring it on! :)