Our First 24 Hours in Concepcion

An entire contingent of the Concepcion Mission office, along with the warm & loving PEF/Self Reliance director Rosita Hernandez-Munoz, met us at the airport. it was 1:10 in the afternoon, after a flight of ten hours following the flight from Salt Lake City to Dallas Fort Worth. I'm sure we looked even worse than we felt.

Toward morning we were able to see the Pacific Ocean off the South American coast.

I don't know what these bands of clouds are called--altocumulus? But they were spectacular.

A frozen lake in the Andes

Terraced farming north of Santiago

We landed in the Santiago Airport, went through customs, paid a $160 cash "reciprocity fee" (they wouldn't accept three of my $20 bills because they were roto y sucio), and then waited to be herded onto two large buses to take us to the Linea Area Nacional de Chile flight to Concepcion. They didn't weigh my carry on baggage as I had been warned, so I was thinking of all the extra stuff I might have added to my already heavy bags. Oh well. Each of our four checked bags came in at 22.7 kilos.

The outskirts of Santiago

We have been changed to the Concepcion Mission from the Concepcion South, which means we will be working within the city itself rather than spending time in smaller cities roundabout. Hermana Hernandez found us a nice little apartment in the middle of the city on the 13th floor of Calle Orompello 129. It is within walking distance of many interesting places, which is nice because if you park on the street you will have to pay a parking fee to one of the attendants hanging out on the street side.

By the time we got to Concepcion I was too tired to take any pictures. In spite of our sad condition, there was no toilet paper or food in our apartment, so we went exploring and found the nearest Jumbo and got money out of an ATM machine. Our wonderful non-ATM fee UBS credit cards worked with everything. (The Capital One card did not.) 

After a shopping trip to Lider and Sodimac, the Walmart and Home Depot of Chile. The concierge Galvarino (who alternates with Mauricio) lent us the apartment's shopping cart to carry everything up the elevator. You will note the Tanax flea spray on the counter. We don't have fleas yet but you never know.

The Concepcion Mission office couple, the Kimballs, rescued us Saturday morning by bringing us a cell phone and taking us shopping so I could buy adapters for all my electronics, since nothing I had worked with the Chilean system. Make sure the three-prong round plug-ins are the small variety, because the more substantial European-type prongs I brought were too big. We also got a blender, a chair, a trash can, dishes, some bread which Clint says is Really Really Good, (too bad I'm allergic to bread,) hooks (for Clint's clothes) and a rug and a clock (which doesn't work).

Clint in the Concepcion Mission President Arrington's office looking at the current district missionaries

 View from our balcony to the north

View from our balcony to the west, toward the coast

Now I have a comfortable chair to add to the furnished couch. The big puff blanket I got cheap at Ikea in Florida. (I guess they didn't realize no one would buy big blanket puffs in Florida.) I tied it up with baling twine and brought it all the way to Chile. The temporary setup using the teeny-tiny chairs perched on the ottoman will have to do until I can find a small computer table.

Clint taking a well-deserved rest. From what we hear, the good mattress is a rarity. The Kimballs gave us the bed pad, which you use to heat the bed before you get in it, and then turn it off. The hot-water-furnace on the wall behind the clothes drying rack is for decoration purposes only. There are room heaters but it is less expensive to wear more clothes. Fortunately we are going into the summer season!

Tomorrow, we go to church and to dinner at the Kimball's. We have survived an entire day in Concepcion.