Guest Post from an Expat

Part of the fun of becoming an active blogger is that you have the chance to "meet" other bloggers out there. The blogging community is pretty great and I've really enjoyed reading stories from others out in the world. And I've been quite amazed and surprised by how many people reply to emails and offer help/advice on your travels.

One of the bloggers I've been following is Kyle Hepp. She's married a guy from Chile and is living down there now. I asked her to jot down some good and bad things about being an ex-pat and this is what she sent me to post here on my site.

Go check her site out also: http://www.kylehepp.com

3 of the most frustrating things about living abroad:

1. Life moves on without you. Yes, I know, I’m stating the obvious. But honestly, it’s one of the hardest parts of being an expat. Your grandparents die and older relatives get diseases as old people tend to do, you see your friends get married, have babies, all via Facebook, and you wish you could be there.

2. Friends move on. As an expat, lots of people you meet will also probably be in a constant stream of transition. It’s hard to put down roots places and it’s even harder to make long term friends with people for that very reason – you’re always leaving and they’re always leaving.

3. You’re never really home. Your adopted country may not accept you as an actual local but you no longer fit in in the place you came from. You’re an official nomad!


3 of the best things about living abroad:

1. You make a new life for yourself. And honestly, it’s so very rewarding to know that you’ve stared down a new country and culture in the eye and won! Relocate within a country – psshhh, anyone can do that. Relocate and learn a new language all while dealing with visa headaches that no non-expat can even imagine, now that’s a challenge.

2. The friendships you do make are the important ones. Because life as an expat is so fleeting you start to have a great people filter for knowing who you want to spend the time to get to know. The friendships you decide to invest time into become that much more meaningful. There’s an expat bond I think that will never go away, even when one you of moves away (yes, not if, when it eventually happens).

3. You’re always home. As someone who’s lived all over the world you know what matters – and I can tell you that what matter isn’t where you are. It’s the company you keep. It’s the experiences you allow yourself to be opened to. It’s the mind numbing awesomeness of knowing you are truly a citizen of the world. Cheesy yes, true yes – Home is where the heart is. That’s something you can never take away from an expat.

By Kyle Hepp
http://www.kylehepp.com/

Casinos

I've hit a few casinos in Central and South America, mostly looking for a good poker game. There was an excellent game in Panama City that I played in for two nights while I was there. The players, mostly locals, were incredibly wild. Incredibly wild is usually a good recipe for winning, if you are willing to be patient.

Th first night, I ended up doing fairly well, but lost some of my winnings at the end of the night when I started playing a little too loosely (to wild). In a game with players throwing money left and right, its usually best just to play a nice and conservative game and wait for them to put their money in the pot when their hand is way behind yours. I got up $500 or so dollars that night, but ended up only winning a couple hundred. Dumb play on my part.

The second night I stuck much more to the proper plan. I only played about two and a half hours. One local guy came in both nights I played. Both nights he did exactly the same thing -- bought in for $500 (pretty high for this particular game, most people bought in for $200-300). He then quickly made a series of higher and higher bluff bets shortly after sitting down and usually lost the hands. Both nights he lost his $500 inside of one hour.

That's the kind of guy you want at your table. I usually refer to that type of player as "an ATM." Mmmmmmmmm. Tasty.

So in any case, on night two, I won a couple big hands where I flopped a huge hand and someone (in one hand, two people) made absurdly large bets trying to buy the pots. I pushed all in on both hands and took down some nice money. After two and half hours, I was up a little over $500 and decided to head back to Luna's Castle, have a few celebration beers and get a good night's sleep.

I thought Panama was going to be a good start to a series of Latin American poker games, but up to now, I haven't found a casino with a game running yet. I've been to some casinos in Chile and Argentina, but the only poker I have run across is the video variety and one tournament that had already started by the time I arrived there, in Bariloche.

I did get to play for the first time with those big, plaque poker chips that you see in movies from the fancy European casinos. The ones that are 5,000 or 10,000 Euros.



Of course, I was in Chile, and the plaques were just 10,000 Chilean pesos, but I still felt very James Bondish as I played a little craps, roulette and blackjack. Once again, feeling rich in a country where you can buy 600 pesos for a dollar.

Craps was quite lame. You weren't allowed to back up your bets by taking the odds. There were no odds bets, just the basics, which obviously skews things quite favorably for the house. I actually had one of the longest rolls at a craps table in my gambling life -- probably 20-25 minutes or so. At a normal table, I probably would have won $500-600, just making $5 bets backed up with $10-15 in odds bets. Here, I ended up winning less than $100. Roulette is a horrible game to play, but for whatever reason, I actually have won more money than I've lost over time playing it. Here was no different, as I won a little bit.

And then there is blackjack. I hate blackjack. I am almost positive that I have ended up one time in my entire life of playing (and yes, I play the basic strategy correctly, so there is no sense in the fact that I'm down in about 17 or the 18 or so times I've played). I find the game incredibly boring -- and it doesn't help that I consistently lose at it. I rarely play and I really need to make that rarely a never.

How much do I hate blackjack?? This reference will only make sense to those that know me well, but for them, it should be vivid.

I hate blackjack more than I hate the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Yes. I hate blackjack that much.

Chile and the time zone

OK, crossing over the border from Peru to Chile was the 1st time, I think, that I've ever gone directly south and had the time zone change. Not only did it go forward. . . it went forward by TWO hours.

Its Daylight Savings Time on crack.

Isn't the general concept of time zones that when you move east or west that you adjust the time to compensate? South?

I'm about to go get dinner in Santiago. At 10 p.m. Why? Because I'm not sure there is anyplace to go until 9 p.m. or so. Hell, it didn't get dark until about 9 as it was.

The guidebook says something like, "don't bother to go to the bars until 1 a.m., no one is there before then." Ummmmmm. I'm old. Its official.

And I think Buenos Aires might just be the end of me.