Bad Belmont Lights

So, I´ve been smoking a little bit for the past few weeks and I need to stop. It started with all of the stress of moving and then didn´t stop there.

I´ve never been a heavy smoker, but I smoked for almost a year in high school and quit. Then, I switched to stress and social smoking in college. I´d sit with one of my roommates and smoke one cigarette after another over coffee during exam time. I´d also always smoke a cigarette or two or three or four or five on a night out with friends.

Then, I was never worried about it because I was stupid. But also because it would often be after a long day of hiking or snowboarding or doing something active and it was always isolated to a few days out of the month. I never felt the effects of it. Now, I´m living in smog city and not getting the amount of exercise I used to and it makes me feel disgusting.

Simple solution? STOP SMOKING!!!

But it´s not quite that simple for me because I´m weak under peer pressure. We´re going to my suegra´s house tonight where smoking never hurt anyone and going to the gym doesn´t exist. If there´s alcohol involved in our San Jueves (Saint Thursday--their name for a night of drinking, cards, and smoking) that means double the nicotine inhaled and double the number of times I´ll have to say no because boy are they all generous with their smokes. It´s a constant test of my will power. At least my mom will be here on Tuesday which will give me the perfect excuse to stop again because everyone except Italo pretends they don´t smoke when my mom´s here so they´ll be inhaling cigarettes when she´s not around which means I most likely won´t be around either.

OK, now why am I posting this? Because I´m going to report back here after my weekend and if I have an audience, I think my results will be better. So, I promise to be honest and if I smoke, please feel free to chew me out. Once I´m over this few day hump, I´ll be fine.

no phone, no internet, and no tv....

make Isabel a dull girl.

Don´t worry, I´m not about to chase Italo into the bathroom with a knife or anything, but I am going a little crazy feeling totally disconnected from everything and everyone. And it also explains why I haven´t posted in forever.

Our new building only allows VTR (our previous provider)to install cable and internet, but no phone so we have to use Telefonica. And let me just say that I hate telefonica after this. We called and they said that because of our comuna, it will take 14 days to come and install everything. That is absolutely absurd, but the bastards know we can´t do anything so they CAN take their sweet ass time heading over to install everything. When we called VTR, they were there within a few hours. Then, we called them again to come install cable and they were there first thing the next day. It may be a fluke, but I love VTR.

The no TV thing is fine, but the no internet and phone thing is killing me because I feel totally cut off from my family and since I don´t like talking on skype in internet cafes where everyone is listening, I´m a lonely girl in my new apartment when Italo´s gone.

The good news is that I absolutely love my new place and my new barrio. It makes me happy to walk down my street to run errands and my favorite restaurants are all
within walking distance. Hell, I could shout my order from my apartment to my favorite sushi place.

Also, my mom and her friend are coming next week and I cannot wait. I am so excited to show my mom´s friend around because she´s never been here. This will be my mom´s fourth time in Chile so she feels like a pro, but I have a bunch of new places to take them both. I just wish my father and my sister were coming, too. Maybe they can take a trip together later in the year (hint, hint!!).

Anyway, I´ll keep reading everyone´s posts, but my blog will stay dull for a while. I need the time to sit down and explain my moving fiasco, but I promise thatit´s coming.