The First Snow

This is a picture of the Andes from the street corner. It has been raining here all week. I trudged to school in the rain this morning, only to find that the government had cancelled school for the whole metropolitan area due to flooding. The good news was that by 9:30am the rain had stopped and the air was crystal clear. This is rarely the case in Santiago. Smog is a problem. The rain washed the air. I had never seen the mountains so vividly. This was definitely a great day to be a Santiagueño. I am told that in another couple of weeks, all the mountains will be completely white.

I did take advantage of my trip to school this morning, however. Instead of teaching class, I did some office work and then went to yet one more government office to complete the requirements for my visa permit. All I have to do now is to go back to the office in twelve days to pick up my national identity card. The good news is that as of today I have a RUT number. It's like a Social Security number. Thus, I am legal. When I returned to school, the Director of Human Resources gave me a big hug and photocopied my paper with my number. When she handled it back to me, she said, "Now we can pay you!" I like getting paid.

The only bad thing about the rain is that the city is having water trouble. Santiago has great water. But, with the flooding the city experienced, the sewer system is shot. Thus, we are going to lose water in about 30 minutes. Service will hopefully be restored tomorrow morning. This may hurt my house's plans to go out to dinner tonight. Every Friday night, we have a community activity. Last week, we had hot dogs and then went to the movies. This week, we were planning on a little domino tournament and then to head to a nearby restaurant. But without water, I am not sure the restaurant will be up and running. Here's to hoping the rain didn't rain on our parade.