A Whole New World

So I moved into my new place, and I love it.

Moving day started bright and early at 8:30 on Saturday with biking to my new place and leaving my bike there.  Then it was on the bus back home to pick up my suitcase and new bedding and pillows and back on the bus again.

Then it was off to Bio Bio to buy my bed frame.  Jean (my Chilean friend) helped shop around for the best deal, and he also asked about how to shop for a good quality bed frame.  (Note, to all readers, avoid buying bed frames at Ikea if you can help it, long story that some of you may know!)  In the end I got one for 35.000 pesos (around 65 bucks).

We went to my new place to be there for when it arrived, and it turns out my roommates were both home.  We chatted a bit while we waited, and then realized that since they would be home we could get a start on moving my furniture.

By this time it was about 3:30, and one of Jean's friends offered to help move my furniture in his van.  Luckily we got everything fit in, and it reminds me of what the back of my Subaru looked like on the road trip back from California:

And I present my new room!

You will notice such amenties such as a window and carpeting, both of which were nonexistent in my previous room.  I am still waiting for my bed to be delivered on Monday, but luckily I have a roll out type bed for a few days until then.  Here is the view from my window:

I am in the Ñuñoa neighborhood of Santiago now, and I like it a lot more.  I am within walking distance of shops and restaurants, and I have a doorman at my place.  There are lights in the streets, and poeple will stroll along in the evenings.  I am again not near a metro station, but I am near major bus lines that connect me to metroIrarrazaval, Plaza Egaña, and Los Leones, and they also go to Plaza Italia and to Santiago Centro.

And here are the new roommates:

These pictures were actually taken at Marioly´s (Malu for short) boyfriend´s house, as we were celebrating her birthday.  Both Malu and Cristian are psychology students doing their internships now working at local hospitals.  They are relaxed, socialble, and muy simpáticos.  We are like the Chilean version of Three´s Company.

Here are a few more pictures from the evening:

After getting to know my new roommates and their friends at the party and multiple rounds of Culturachupista (a Chilean game), I headed out with others around 4:30 in the morning.  When I told Malu it was 4:30, she told me "y que?" meaning so what.  Gotta love Chileans.

As Jean put it, I moved from being in Cinderella´s dungeon of a room to living in the Disneyland castle.  The move has lifted my mood, and I feel like I am in such a better place than I was before this move.  And, as the title of this post says, I feel like I am in "A Whole New World".