NEWCOMER'S PAGE
This "Newcomer's Page" is specifically
for those who have only been in Santiago for a short time.
Tell us about what you have discovered in Santiago and
beyond. Recommend various hotels, tour operators, places to
see etc.
Tell us about problems you have encountered and your
solutions. Let's share our experiences of Chile and beyond!
Megan
Szymanski
Website Editor
Dried fruits and
Organic Stuff
For those of you who live close to Providencia - or who
like to travel down that part of town, I wanted to let you
know about a great little shop I stumbled upon yesterday.
Its called La Chakra and it is a vegetarian
cafe/restaurant/shop and stocks natural beauty products and
dried fruits (bananas, strawberries, tomatoes) and organic
vegetables and fruit and teas. They even stock dates and
(while out of stock yesterday!) the thick dark brown sugar
a few of us have been looking for. They also have a
cranberry juice concentrate - great for when it hurts to
pee! I had a coffee and a muffin. Both were realy yummy.
They are located on Mariano Sanchez Fontecilla 534 Las
Condes. This is near the corner of Tobalaba and Presidente
Erraruriz and near the Stadio France. Website is
www.lachakra.cl and the phone number is 234 2138. They
will home deliver. They are open 7 days a week.
They stock products for diabetics, those with coeliac
disease and vegans. Check the website.
Megan
Posted 16.6.08
License
Plate Restrictions Website
If
you turn on any of the local TV channels eg Mega or CHV in
the morning before 8.30am, they will show the car
restrictions and usually the maximum and minimum
temperatures for the day (which I find handy, especially in
winter!). If you have a newer car you should be able to
drive your car on any day that there are NORMAL
restrictions, but NOT when they specifically write CAT and
then a number/s as CAT refers to catolitic converter, which
new cars have.
If you live in apartment building often the concierge will
post the restrictions in the garage for all to see.
You can look at this website for car restrictions at
http://www.uoct.cl/uoct/inicio.jsp
Megan Szymanski
Need
To Hire A Maid And Don't Know Where To
Start?
If you are looking for help with the
legalities of having a maid you should look at the
following website: www.previred.com. Unfortunately it is all in Spanish,
so you may need help if you are newly arrived, but it is
a good place to start. Tell the company you are working
with here about this website too, as many don't have
much information to assist you in completing a contract
with your maid. A contract is a legal document and
should be entered into even with a part-time maid. You
need to know your rights and those of your maid!
Looking For Christmas
Cards?
The Unicef Shop on the corner of Isadora Goyenechea and La
Pastora across from TGI Fridays , in Las Condes, has a
great selection.
Need an English
Speaking Police Officer?
At the police station at Lo Barnechea
there is an English speaking officer. While he is not
bilingual, his English is better than the Spanish of many
of us!! He was also very friendly and keen to help.
His name is Officer Leon and his cell number is 09 0010 777
Lo Barnechea Police Station: 216 6087
Titled Car Ownership
Information
concerning the compulsory annual vehicle technical
revision, http://www.uoct.cl/uoct/mapas_info/rev_tecnica.htm#BO.
Ideas For Things To
Do
If any of you could think of nothing
worse than spending a family outing in the mall and would
rather be doing something fun, different and exciting with
your kids, family and friends then go to
www.ojopiojo.cl where you will find a web page filled
with all the activities that are
taking place in and around Santiago . The great thing about
the page is that it is constantly being updated and filled
with all the information
that one needs (prices, opening and closing times,
addresses etc...)
Have fun exploring Santiago!!
Want Organic Fruit
& Vegetables?
I found this shop with the help of my
Spanish teacher. You can visit them online at
www.tierraviva.net. to get the address and more
information. They open at 11am, but I'm not sure which
days of the week. They have deliveries of organic
chicken on Tuesdays and Thursdays BUT you have to
pre-order. They also stock the best plain, natural, no
sugar what-soever yoghurt in Santiago (that I have
tasted!). It is run by a cooperative of growers who take
turns to man the shop which is a renovated house in
which they have a couple of rooms for the fresh produce,
one room for the reception/cashier and one room for a
casual cafe with a few small tables.
Wendy
Watson
Organic Produce
Home
Delivered
Apio Palta Organico
Camino Las Hualtatas 4572
Lo Barnechea
tel 298.8065, 298.8180
www.apiopaltachile.cl
Organic Chicken
If you want frozen organic chicken breasts delivered to you
ring Ana Maria Flano on 453 6014 or 09-9557 60 99. It costs
$11.000 per bag, and the bag has approx 15 breasts, about
2.5 kgs. The half-breasts are frozen individually, so they
are not all stuck together.
Kirstine
Smith
Need Help Determining
The Local Cuts of Meat?
If you are
confused between the different cuts of meat at your local
supermarket, then check out the following document.
carnessinfronteras
ENGLISH
BOOKSHOPS
1.) SBS
at Av Pdte Kennedy 8020,
Vitacura.
They sell new books on a range of subjects. Their specialty
seems to be English language books for teachers, their
range of general books in English is limited, but they are
very helpful and they have a preferential client/advantage
card.
2.)The English
Reader at Av Los
Leones 116, was a second-hand English book store, but I
think that it closed down late in 2006.
Their website www.englishreader.cl has been deactivated. It had novels
and reference books.
3.) Libreria
Inglesa,
www.libreriainglesa.cl has three sites.
Pedro de Valdivia 47 Phone: 2316270
Vitacura 5950 Phone: 219 3080
Huerfanos 669 Loc 11 Phone: 632 5153
4.) Sedes Instituto Chileno
Norte Americano
Moneda 1467 Phone: 672 7271
Av Vicuna MacKenna 6069 Phone: 221 8168
The AAC house (see above) has a book library, video &
DVD library. The book library is predominantly fiction, but
there is are non-fiction, self-help, health, travel
sections. You have to be a member of AAC to borrow.
English Books For
Less
More than 15 000 quality secondhand titles in English are
available from CONTEK Ltda.
Ph/fax: 7240229
Email: rdelcampo@contek.cl.
Email the owners in English and they will respond to your
query in English. They supply books to over 15 bilingual
schools in Chile.
Anne
Tonkin
Spices &
Nuts
'Tostaduria Talca' on Av Tobalaba 2051, Providencia (Ph 269
9155) has pistachios, cashews, a variety of spices,
sugarfree and gluten free items. There is also another
outlet in Av Miraflores. Get off the Metro at Santa Lucia
and walk up Miraflores on the opposite side of the street
to the Santa Lucia park.
Chocolate
A great place to buy Belgian chocolate is
Damien
Mercier, Las Hualtatas
5176, Vitacura. Ph 219 2702
Damien was the guest speaker at the March 2008 CAC meeting.
His chocolates can be recommended by all who attended on
that day!
Cafe Mozart
on Av Luis Pasteur 5852 (near
the intersection with Lo Arcaya) in Vitacura has a great
range of chocolates, cakes and sweets for Easter, Halloween
and Christmas. They also serve great coffee and really
yummy hot chocolate. www.pasteleriamozart.com
(Recommended by Megan Szymanski)
Help People &
Nature By Recycling
Did you know that Chile has a very good recycling system?
All you have to do is keep all glass, paper, cans, milk and
other cartons and PET bottles aside. Once you have a
carload, drive to one of the recycling points (Portal La
Dehesa has a depot in the underground car park area near
the Easy exit and La Dehesa shopping centre has one at the
Av La Dehesa entrance), where you will find all the various
bins lined up ready to receive your recylables.
What makes this project so good is that the owner of each
bin dedicates the money they receive from the rubbish to a
certain charity. The charities that profit from this are
mentioned on each container. So take the time to do the
right thing and recycle for the benefit of others and the
environment.
Kristel
Leonard
If you live in an apartment, recycling is even easier. All
you need to do is keep your recyclables separate and place
them beside the rubbish shoot on your floor, for the
consierge to collect and keep separate when putting all the
rubbish out on the roadside for collection. Men on push
bikes then ride past and collect the recyclable gear. This
is their job and livelihood!
Megan
Szymanski
Need Cranberry Juice
and Can't Find It?
It is great to have on hand for those times when it hurts
to pee (mild urinary tract infection).
You can now buy a bottle of concentrated juice without
sugar added and then make it up like cordial. It doesn't
need to be refrigerated, so you can store it in the
cupboard.
'Dellanatura Market'
Av Vitacura 6255 Pueblo del Ingles Local 33
Fono/Fax 2187710
info@dellanatura.cl - www.dellanatura.cl
Interested In Latin
Dance?
At "Ti Cinco" at the LIDER Vitacura parking area (a studio
to the right as you enter), Av Buenaventura 1770, there are
classes for Salsa, Merengue and Tango. One class (1 1/2
hours) a week for a month costs $40,000 per couple. Get a
group of friends together and have some fun learning to
dance the Latin American way!
Phone 219 3593 or 219 3594
Fiona
Hartmann
Got stuff to
Donate?
The Salvation Army of Santiago will pick up donations from
your house.
They are wanting:
Clothes of any type
Clothes accessories
All types of shoes
All types of furniture
Kitchen utensils and equipment
Electrical and white goods
Games and toys
Televisions, radios and computers
Books
The items you donate will be resold and the money will go
directly to the Salvation Army and their various charitable
works here in Chile.
Phone 764 1917 or 672 1174
Email: fundacion.ejercitodesalvacion@gmail.com
Address: Gral. Amengual No 409, Estacion Central, Santiago.
This charity will pick up donations directly from your
home.
Fundacion Las Rosas
Contact: Isabel Donoso
Secretary to Gerente General
730-7133
Need a
Masseuse?
Massages done by Lydi Rakotondrabe – fully fluent in
English. Comes to the house – email lyd663@yahoo.fr
or 474-0594 She is a CAC member too.
TRANSANTIAGO
To use the new bus (and train) system you need a BIP! card
which you can buy at some Servipags and all the Metro
stations. Previously, on the Metro you would purchase a
Multivia (a multiple travel card) or you bought a ticket at
the station before you travelled. On the buses, you would
enter and pay as you rode. The BIP! card has replaced the
Multivia and is now able to be used on both trains and
buses. Now, cash not is accepted on the bus. You have to
have prepurchased a BIP! card and you need to make sure you
always keep the balance at over $500, otherwise you will
not be able to
travel.
For routes and the bus numbers and where there is a
Servipag close to you, check the Transantiago website.
Links to Embassies in
Santiago
Canadian Embassy
US Embassy
Australian Embassy
British Embassy
South African Embassy
New Zealand Embassy