Hola a todos 🙂 Time for another edition of life in Chile. We are actually in the USA right now (Chicago/San Francisco/Oregon) wrapping up our now annual visit back to the USA (it’s been 4 years now traveling and living abroad…i could never have predicted that). Perfect time to look back at the busy last 3 months in Chile (Fall in the southern hemisphere) before we took this trip back to the USA on June 1 (our trip in the states has been awesome, more on that next time).
Yes, Renata had some big life events. She turned 1 year old on April 15 and we had her birthday party at our home. Right after that, she had her eye surgery to correct her strabismus (crossed eyes), which went great. And then the very next day after her surgery, she became a walker! Yikes, but so cute.
It’s pretty crazy that we had Rena in Chile and survived the first year with her down there. There were some challenging times especially when trying to figure out how to correct her eyes. But there are great doctors in Chile and the medical system is efficient with great doctors and hospitals.
The eye operation really has changed her life, she was basically seeing just with one eye or seeing double. Then literally the day after the surgery, she took her first steps. Jenine and I had so many reservations about Rena having surgery so young and did a lot of research, and in the end it was a great decision to do the surgery as soon as we could. A lot of the pictures that you’ve seen of Rena before she was 1 were caught in the moments where here eyes would go straight, but this next picture gives you an idea of how bad it was.
Chile seems to be good to Rena. Matanzas is full of young families like us and she has many friends that she sees on weekly playdates. We are very excited to have her learn native Spanish. And there is a Waldorf school just down the road from us and as soon as Rena is potty trained, she can attend classes there (2 more years probably). She absolutely loves the beach and the water. Her best friend is our dog Brisa, although at first Brisa didn’t want a new friend like Rena 😉 The community is special here and we know what a gift it will be for Rena to grow up surrounded by beautiful nature, peace, surf and a unique culture.
Fall in Matanzas means the good surf starts ramping up. There was a great pro contest at my favorite beach just 30 minutes from us and we got to see our local ripper Pimpollo Jara take second place in juniors. Check him out on instagram. He’s sponsored by my surf buddy Dean who makes his and my surf boards. We surf together all the time, even though i’m the scrub in the group.
Kitesurfing season wrapped up too, at least in Matanzas. Winter has great waves, but not so good wind conditions. But we got some epic last kiting days, huge and perfect. Carolus and Lucas are two of my main kite bros in Chile and sadly Carolus is leaving Chile for Germany in August this year. So we squeezed in an epic last surf and kite trip to Pacasmayo Peru together. Thanks Jenine and the ladies for letting us guys go! We will miss Carolus & Nicole and their little guy Fin so much.
The garden in our house is really taking off, lots of winter greens like spinach & kale coming alongside beautiful beets, lettuce and much more. Rena loves hanging out pretending to help mom in the garden. We also tackled a fun project where we canned 50lbs of tomatoes that we bought from a local farmer. Fresh tomato sauce all winter now 🙂 Also, with winter prep come chopping and storing firewood. We can source all the fuel from the thousands of Eucalyptus trees on our property.
Finally, we’ve had some activity on the business front. We sold one of the properties we developed and then Martin and I partnered up on a new house we are building together with our friend Santiago. We started this in March and we hope to finish by the end of the year. If the house sells well, this could launch a nice home building business for us here. Fingers crossed all goes well.
We are back in Chile on July 11 and I am so fired up to see what the next 12 months bring. We’ve got a house to finish and hopefully we will be taking a big step into building our lives and our work in Chile!
Super update! So happy Rena’s eyes are seeing straight. That is what she needed to begin walking. Soon enough, she will be surfing with dad and cooking with mom. I love you all!!
Thanks Aunt Patty, the surgery sure was life changing. Glad we got to see you during our trip
Big love you three. So happy to get an update – life looks good there and congrats on the business front.
We are living in Boston for a year…back in the grind but likely not for very long. 😉
cheers you and please keep the updates coming.
Wow Boston?? Back in the grind agian:) I’m sure another adventure is brewing soon too though. Thanks for the good wishes!
Thank you for the update. So glad Rena is doing well!
Sending love from Austin, Texas.
Thanks Donna, hope life is treating you guys awesome in Austin!!
Are those crocs you’re wearing George!? Great to see the update, hope all is well!
Thanks Brendon!! Haha you aren’t a Crocs guy yet??? Hope all is well with you and the family too! Hope to see you one day soon!
Congratulations on all your milestones! It looks like life in Chile is fantastic!
Thanks!! We are trying to make it work the best we can 🙂
Awesome guys!!
Right on Jimmy! Great hanging out in Chicago btw
such a wonderful update guys! I’m a happy camper where I’m at, but reading this sure makes you dream of the road less traveled. So happy you’re living life this way. Continue to inspire us amigos.
peter and sarah from our new haunt in Palo Alto (come visit if you can squeeze it in)
haha that really is saying something if I can make Pete Dering a little jealous 🙂 Sorry we missed you this go round, hopefully you come to Chile one day
Super huge smile on my face the entire time reading this update. Love to you all!
Thanks Nams! So awesome to hear from you 🙂