You Shook Me All Night Long

There are a few things I definitely miss about New York. Good pizza comes to mind, so do bagels. And since I was apparently the only one who didn't feel the Virginia shake 3 weeks ago, add 'no earthquakes' to the list of pros for the Big Apple. At 4AM this morning, Chile decided to welcome me with a reminder of something I will certainly have to get used to quickly. I was sound asleep, probably dreaming about pizza and bagels, when my bed started to do this...

My eyes snapped open and for a second or two, because of the confusing conditions I woke up under, I had NO clue where I was. I mean none. Couldn't tell you if I was in a bed, a couch, northern or southern hemisphere. All I could think was, "What the F is that!?!" It turned out to be a 5.9 tremor, not to be confused with the Kevin Bacon film Tremors, which scared the bejeezus out of me as a kid. Now, a 5.9 should officially be categorized as an earthquake, which it is, but as I am finding out quickly, 5.9 is but a mere tickle to everyone here. I asked my aunt the next morning if she felt it, she said she did and carried on with her business. I beg to differ as I heard snoring immediately after the shaking and swaying stopped 30 seconds later, while I scrambled to get my phone and brag about it on Facebook.

Yikes.

While I had felt two tremors before, this was definitely the biggest I'd experienced and hopefully it stays that way. I fell back asleep, just waiting for aftershocks, which happened, but I didn't feel them. Woke up at 9, showered, got dressed and headed off to meet my uncle who was going to help me solve my Big Boy Bank Account issue that I wasn't able to take care of myself. We met at 10:30 and at 10:45 I was finishing up opening an account. Simple. As. That. I couldn't believe it was that easy this time compared to my first experience at the other bank. It turns out the other bank is considered a sort of bank of the people, which basically means you're a nobody to them because of the massive volume coming in and out constantly. At this new bank, the moment we walked in an executive stood up and greeted us, my uncle by name, even though he had only been to the branch twice before. We explained my situation, he asked how much I had in savings and said, "No problem at all, I just need proof of your savings", which immediately made me cringe at the thought of contacting HSBC in New York, having an official letter printed, having to ask my mom to do me a huge, annoying favor of taking it to the consulate to have it notarized and faxed over. I reluctantly asked how to prove my worth. The answer: just show me any statement. I said, "Ummmm, I can go online and you can print the screen I guess." He said that'll do, got up and told me to go ahead and bring it up on his computer while he photocopied my Chilean ID. He disappeared and for all he knew I could have brought up a homemade website with fake numbers and a bank logo, but it was all he needed. I think telling the story of the process took longer than the actual process, it felt too easy. By next Wednesday I should have a debit card in my hands. It should be sooner, but Chilean Independence day/month/season is upon us.

We'd love to have your money, errrr, have you as a customer!

I'm sure there are many countries with more holidays than Chile, but I don't know of any off hand. Chilean independence day is officially the 18th, but celebrations go on officially for a week, unofficially more like two. Two weeks of eating all sorts of meats and empanadas, drinking all sorts of wine and ciders. Just when I thought I was going to start working off the 10 pounds I gained during Summer of Hans, it wasn't meant to be. I have to show my Chilean spirit and partake, its my civic duty. Now the decision is, where to go? We need to pick a fonda to go to. Its tough to describe a fonda, but I guess the best comparison would be to some sort of state fair, if that state fair centered around national pride and there were hundreds, maybe thousands of them going on all at once all over every city in the country. My homework now is to find a good one. Oh yeah, and to find a place to live. Let's not forget that. Fortunately, I have two apartments to go see tomorrow, followed by meat eating for a birthday at a steakhouse of some sort. Life seems to have gotten a little easier today, all it needed was a little shake. I leave you with dusk from the window in my bedroom/aunt's living room. Buenas noches!