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Originally Posted by Brocktoon
I'd like to hear more about Bob. What brought him to Chile? How long has he lived there? Does he work? Do you two go out socially? Basically what is his deal?
I don't know but can guess that things weren't going well for Bob in Los Angeles where he was living before, because I asked him about LA once and he suddenly had very little to say. It's possible he'll tell me more eventually but it's not a subject I'll be bringing up with him again. Things likely got dark there for a while before he left. I believe he's been in Chile since January or February and has no plans of returning to the US.
He has a job doing web development, probably for a company based in the US, and I've seen him skyping with his boss before. We don't go out socially but we're on friendly terms now, it's just that "going out socially" doesn't seem to be his thing. He doesn't drink, he has zero interest in nightlife (as do I tbh), and actually I've never even seen him go out for dinner. He doesn't seem depressed or anything, but from what I've seen he won't leave the apartment without a specific reason.
This week we both started taking a Spanish class which meets at 8am and it's in another part of the city, so going to class has been kind of like a social outing for us. On Monday we discovered that getting on the Santiago subway during the morning rush is a serious challenge. We got to our metro stop around 7:15 which should have given us enough time, but for over an hour we kept not being able to get on the train. To be fair, we lacked the aggressive sense of urgency of most of the other passengers who managed to squeeze in eventually, and my attitude the whole time was kind of "oh well, this is kind of interesting to watch, I wonder how long until the crowd thins out?". Tuesday we got there 15 minutes earlier and were able (just barely) to get on the first train since the crowd hadn't quite picked up to full intensity yet. Then this morning we were 5-10 minutes later than that, failed to get on the first train as the full morning rush had begun, and based on Monday's experience decided to try to get on a bus, but not knowing the bus routes very well we end up taking a taxi instead. So getting to class has been an adventure.
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You're pre-conceived notion that there's something wrong with having a roommate when you're over 30 is all in your head, you're living in a country that's foreign to you and you don't know anyone else, that combined with the lonliness you've mentioned makes me think a roommate is a great idea.
These are all good points. I kind of knew all this but needed some reassurance. I've got this idiotic inner critic, this immature unreflective but massively judgmental guy who never has anything worthwhile to tell me, but will blurt out the first insult that pops into his head if he catches me doing anything I don't normally do. In this case he was shouting "F@G!". Getting a roommate was actually a solid decision for the reasons you mentioned.
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Originally Posted by Dominic
Why Chile??
Wanted to go somewhere far away. Knew some Spanish. Didn't feel like taking my chances in the third world. I didn't research this in any systematic way (I tend not to do that), but as far as I can tell that leaves Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile, maybe Uruguay (and maybe I'm confusing Uruguay with Paraguay). Spain's economy seems to be a complete disaster these days. The banking situation in Argentina is kind of ****ed. Costa Rica has been the expat destination of choice in Latin America for a while now but the prices have gone up accordingly, although Chile isn't cheap either. At some point I had a look at the
Index of Economic Freedom where Chile beats out all of Latin America and the US too. I don't think the specific destination was hugely important anyway, the important thing was just to get out of my rut, but when I finally got tired of clicking around the internet and decided to call it, Chile had a slight lead.
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Originally Posted by LuckyDevil
Enjoyable read. You articulate your thoughts well. I hope you find/decide your purpose.
Thanks, I'm trying. I couldn't say that when I was back in my home town in Michigan, minimizing my existence and following the same dull routine every day.