Amelie's First Birthday!

Hard to believe that little Amelie is now a one year-old. I still remember seeing her for the first time, wrapped snuggly in her mother's sling as we stood in line at the airport in Atlanta waiting to board the plane headed for Chile. That was nine months ago. We didn't know each other then; we didn't know we were headed for the same place, on the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program. I remember looking nostalgically at that mother and baby, thinking of myself thirteen years ago. Who would have guessed that soon our families would become very good friends. In fact, now, my daughters feel like Amelie's big sisters and just can't see enough of her. Amelie is an adorable and incredibly fun baby to be around, it's true. In fact, I have on several occasions offered a two-for-one trade to John and Melinda: one beautiful baby girl in exchange for two sometimes sweet, sometimes sassy pre-teen girls.

So we agreed to have Amelie's first birthday party here at our apartment complex on Saturday night because we have this nice sala de eventos. Next to this big party room is the large grill and picnic table area where we have had parties before. We figured if it were still nice out, we could sit outside and enjoy the crisp, fall air and if it got too cold, we could go inside to the party room. Everything was all set: Melinda, party-planner extraordinaire, already had made and sent the invitations to thirty-some guests, the animal-themed decorations were made, the menu was set and started, cakes baked and decorated, etc. Several of the Fulbright teachers were coming in to Santiago from all around Chile for the big event. A Spanish-teacher friend of Melinda's had even made the trip all the way from Boston. Everything was ready to go, but then the plans began to unravel. . .

Walking home from a visit to our park on Friday evening, the night before the party, the conserje stopped us as we entered the gate. He told us we could not get the key to use the party room the next day without paying $166 to clear an old debt from the previous owner of the apartment. At this time we were informed that we would also need to pay a $100 deposit to use that room. When we reserved the room about six weeks before, we were not told any of this. All we were told was that it would cost $20 for the use of the sala de eventos. So, basically, we were now being told that to use the room we would need to cough up almost $300 on the spot. Up until this point we had enjoyed a very good relationship with most, if not all, of the conserjes from this complex. It seemed rather unjust to extort this money from us in this manner.

The strange story of our apartment is a long one, but here is the shortened version. I rented this apartment from a woman named Carmen, who gave me a six-month contract because she did not know what would be happening with the apartment after that. She knew she would be losing the apartment in a remate (I didn't know what that was at the time, but have since found out is an auction as a result of foreclosure) but she didn't know exactly when that would happen. In December three people appeared at my door: a man, his wife, and their lawyer. The man came with copies of legal papers, claiming that he was now the owner of the apartment and that I should not pay Carmen any more money. He left, having assured me I could continue to live in the apartment tranquilamente, but he did not have a contract for me to look over, nor did we discuss the new rent amount. I had rented a furnished apartment, but the furnishings were Carmen's, not his. When rent came due again in January I contacted Carmen about the situation and she insisted the apartment was still hers at that point. I called the "new owner" back and when I told him this he screamed so loudly into the phone that I had to hang up before serious ear injury resulted. I told them both I would pay when they decided who was the actual owner.

I finally resolved the mystery by going to a government office where they have updated copies of all property titles. It turned out Carmen had still been the owner until mid-January, so with the security deposit we had paid up front, she was actually overpaid by about two weeks. The new owner, shown to be some company, did not actually take possesion of the apartment until February 5th. I have no idea who those three people who came to the apartment really were, but we have heard no word from any new landlord since. Hence, we have had no one asking for rent money now for several months (and also no one to call to have a new water heater put in. The one we have is leaking in the kitchen and a warm shower has become an unpredictable event).

It turned out there were outstanding debts on the utilities and on the gastos comunes (like condo association fees) when we moved in to this apartment, and it was the gastos comunes that they were trying to get us to pay in order to use the party room, even though that was a bill incurred before we ever moved in. After talking to the conserje I went upstairs to call Melinda and tell her the bad news. She didn't mind, in fact she said that was just as well, we really didn't need the big party room because most of the family (John's Chilean exchange partner's family) had just called her to say they weren't going to be able to make it to the party. So we decided to proceed with the party the next day in our rather small apartment.

Our Fulbright friends starting arriving, and Amelie was in a great mood, thoroughly enjoying her big day. I remember the doorbell kept ringing, announcing that some guests had arrived downstairs, and we would buzz them up. The apartment was getting more and more crowded until it was about twenty-five people over capacity. Everyone who had been invited had arrived, even those who had called the night before to say they wouldn't be able to make it! Luckily, Melinda always makes plenty of food for her parties. We quickly ran out of chairs but there was no way we were going to run out of delicious food! There were people eating at a makeshift table out on the balcony, the kids were sprawled out on the floor, there were people in the hallway, and even some eating in the spare bedroom!

After everyone was done with dinner, we moved the party, cake and presents out to the park behind us. It was a beautiful evening in the park, and everyone had a great time celebrating Amelie.