Look Mum, no hands

Today Mum and Dad and Alison arrived in town. They are staying in Bella Vista, right next to the furnicular, so we headed up there today. They were all pretty jetlagged, so we took it reasonably easy, though it's a bit of a steep climb (particularly after long hours in a flight) from the top of the train up to the top, where this statue of Mary is at the top. Doug and I went there in the early days in town, I would like to start walking up there regularly, maybe every week or so, maybe once a fortnight. A good hill walk is always good.

We had a fun/not really visit to a government office before meeting the family. We were following up on the progress of our marriage certificate- of course we got the usual bureaucratic response from any place, oh it takes this long to get here, another month and this and that. And of course, it had been sitting in a file in that office for close to two months. So that will be ready on Friday, we will be legally married in Chile.

After that, we're going to have a second wedding ceremony- the very next day actually. It will be yet another stage in what has been a pretty amazing year all around.

Us in the water taxi after the first wedding.

So it's a bit weird to have the family here pretty well immediately. Not quite as immediate as Doug, who arrived the day after us, and will be back in town in time for the wedding, but people asked if I missed them, and honestly there hasn't been enough time. We've been here for about 3 weeks and it's been time to eat sandwiches, tomar cervezas and meet new friends and family.

I got my first Chilean rejection letter today, and it was actually very positive. I applied for a job writing for a website called "This Is Chile", which is run by Santiago Times. They said they liked my work and mentioned specific things, and said they would keep me in my mind, the usual stuff.

However, seems both of us have stumbled into some work, and not just any kind of work, but the kind of work that could really, if all goes well, define our careers and really be the "next stage". It will be to plan a conference in the Atacama Desert, with a mixed focus on lighting, urban planning, architecture, astronomy and tourism.

If I say sometimes just by the thought of it I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, that would not be a lie, however, particularly if things go well, that will make us very employable anywhere in the world, if things go well, it would also be a big boost for Chile, particular up in the north, and that would be pretty amazing to be a part of. Let's see what happens...

This little piece of graffiti sums up the title of my post, as a matter of fact it also says- look Mum, no hands.