Okay, seems I am blessed with the best luck in history. Or something. It’s been less than a month since I arrived to Canada, and when I first got here, things looked pretty grim. Remember?

Now, let’s go through this quickly. To get a life there are certain things you need.

- Get an ID (check)
- Get a job (check)
- Get a home (check)

All that in less than a month. Incredible? More like the best luck this century!

I scored a basement apartment for 500$CAD a month. And am working as a Web Designer for 13$CAD the hour. No benefits but heck it’s a job right? My working hours are from 11am to 6pm too, which is crazy amazing for a nocturnal person like me, it means I don’t have o get up at 6 in the morning!

And if I don’t like how it’s going, in two months I can apply (and practically ensured contract) at Peel Police as Help Desk Analyst, with any training that may require for free, and an entry 18/hr plus benefits of working for the government are the best.

I cannot believe how lucky I’ve been XD

So I’ve finally made it to Canada. I arrived early on the 13th after an 11 hour trip from Santiago, gaining one hour and feeling very stiff due to the lack of stretching and moving on the cramped flight. That same day I was tottered around Hamilton due to a friend of my aunt’s being on her deathbed.

The next day we went to try and get my papers done for my Social Insurance Number and the OIP, Ontario Health plan. Only to discover I couldn’t do either of them because I don’t have my Canadian Citizenship card.

That’s the one that got lost ages ago by my mother. The replacement can take up to 10 months, even a year. And I can’t work without it. I am now facing the possible outcome of having to leave Canada for Chile again, work over there till I get that paper back and then come back.

But I definitely don’t feel like doing that. I’d feel like I had… lost before I even started.

My secondary backup plan is to work ‘under the table’ or on the net to make enough money to pay my aunt for my maintenance while the papers are looked into. I’ll need I’d say at least 300 dollars a month to help out with expenses, plus some money for myself.

Finally, last week we left Santiago and it’s oppresive heat for northern Chile in the two motorhomes made by dad. The trip was rushed mostly because dad wanted to be in Antofagasta as quickly as possible, and we all felt the strain. It was still fun though, my aunt and grandma travelled in one with me as helper, and dad with my half-brother in the other. The motorhomes behaved wonderfully, and we went listening to all types of music. I did sleep prolly more than any of the rest but I slept less than I’m used to on long trips like this one.

The trip took a total of two days, we left Santiago early, around 10am, and arrived the next day close to midnight to Antofagasta, stopping to sleep to one side of the road (and too close to a train track) during the night. We stopped at Bruce Trench’s place before lunch on the second day and I had quite a bit of ostiones (scallops) straight out of the water with a bit of lemon. Mmh, just thinking of it makes my mouth water XD

Once we arrived to Antofagasta it was a bit crowded till this morning. Since my dad’s place is too small, we slept in the motorhomes for the few days my aunt and grandma were with us. Yesterday things began calming down and falling back into routine and I was even able to work on Atacamaexpedition.com, uploading more images of the motorhomes and changing the layout.

I want to work on my art now, since I have a commission to draw a bunch of pet images for Espers.net.

Full View Side

Originally uploaded by My Starseed

Finally almost ready to roll, these are two trucks made MotorHomes by my dad and a few other people. The art on the side was made by myself, and viewable on my DA (right side bar for link). The colors look slightly duller in real life, but it still is very attractive and I’m happy with the results. The stickers have some details when looking at the edges and around the details (the other side specially). But overall they look great and everyone loves them!

Click here to see more pictures of the MotorHomes!