Moving Into Casa Voz

The purpose of moving to Labranza was to start full-time work with Voz, the indigenous Mapuche textile start-up I interned for last quarter. That said, I am currently renting a house with the Voz founder as well as another friend involved in the industry.

The house still needs a bit of work, but we're getting settled in. When I first visited in January, the house did not have much furniture. Now, however, my roommates have had more time to dress it up and the house is starting to look more lived in.

Washing clothes takes a bit of planning...dryers are extremely rare in Chile because they're so expensive so we stick to air-drying our clothes on a rack, which takes about 2-3 days in the house. (since it rains a lot here, leaving them outside is pretty risky) Earlier this year, there was no hot water either- that was fixed just before I moved down, although the heating system is still a bit more foreign to me. We have a gas tank outside that we can either attach to the gas-stove or the hot water heater, so we can't shower and cook at the same time. (maybe it's time to invest in another gas tank)

As reflected by my sudden stop in blogging over the past few weeks, the house still does not have Internet either. To get access, I have been frequenting a local Internet Cafe a 2-minute walk away that charges the standard rate in the area, $1 an hour. Considering the fact that most of the other customers are on Facebook or playing online games, the owners chuckle at how often I end up stopping by to get some real work done for my Voz internship.

Last week, I tried to get wifi in the house, but it turned out to be a wild goose chase. Since I'm not a Chilean citizen and do not have a working Visa, I do not have a RUT and therefore cannot take out an Internet plan. (Don't worry- I'm not illegal, technically I'm classified as an "Estudiante de Gira" or foreign student.) After visiting about 6 different places, the best plan I could come up with was $80/month for a low-quality, USB modem. Plan B is to get the owner of the house we're renting to take out a plan for us, but it's going to take some time.

Anyway, that's life in Labranza. Although moving in has been a bit of work, I like the area- my daily routine is a lot slower and much more grounded. Here are some pics from move-in day.

Home

The View from my Window

My Room

...just kidding, the picture above is just about as tidy as it will ever get. Here's a more realistic image.

...and my roomates