Acclamation

I keep my bedroom door shut sometimes, not because I'm being antisocial, but because Chileans like to keep the doors that lead to the yard open, and it's less than 60 degrees Fahrenheit out.  My hands are perpetually frigid, even in the summer, but this is not doing me well.  

I couldn't bundle up enough here.  Seriously, I can't, because I didn't bring a coat or boots.  I thought, "Oh, their winters only get as low as 55 degrees? That's nothing! We get below 30 here, plus snow!"  But in the States, we also have indoor central heating.  Here, the temperature outside is also the temperature inside, as well as the temperature of all things in the house, like the furniture, clothing, toilet seat, etc.  I can't wait until it gets warmer out!  But I think I can survive the cold of August (gee, doesn't that sound strange...).

I also think that I may come home with a bit of extra weight.  Now, I'm not good at gaining weight (or losing it, for that matter)  I have remained at a consistent 135ish pounds for the past few years, whether I'm on a work-out kick, whether I'm sick, eating lots of sweets, eating lots of salads, what have you.  However, here my diet has changed completely.  Despite all the fresh produce that comes from the central valley of Chile - where I'm living - they don't eat many fruits and veggies.  Lots of avocado, but that's about it.  

I'm used to my real mama's dinners consisting of meat, starch, veggie.  I like that.  It's a healthy balance.  Here, it's bread, bread, meat, starch, dessert, bread.  Dang, do they carbo-load!  Even their 'juice' is practically Kool-Aid.  It even says juice on the package, but it probably doesn't even have any fruit in it.  I have to practically beg for some greens, and when they do hook me up with a salad, they pour lemon juice and oil on it, which I'm not accustomed to.  It's quite a sour dressing, but I gobble it down because I don't know the next time I'll see a green!

Those are the two customs I'm struggling with.  The cheek-kissing greetings, the Chilean slang (they practically have their own dialect here; it's definitely not the language I've been learning at school! hehe), the late lunches and dinners, having a maid do the chores (Mom, you hear that?  I don't have to do dishes, wash clothes, clean up anything!), the public transit (yes, I'm finally catching onto this one too), I don't have problems with.  For me, as expected, it's the cold and the lack of vitamins.  Typical Meghan.