So law-abiding, but yet so innovative.

When we first moved here, several things called my attention. Latin-American culture is different from United States culture and this is a well-known premise. Having already lived here for a couple of months some years ago, I am still impressed by a few aspects of North American culture. I will not attempt to make a full analysis on the differences between Americans and Chileans; instead, I will try to describe an Austinite paradox.

So law-abiding, …

Have you ever driven through Austin’s streets? You may find some traffic Austinites complain all the time about, but you would be mostly amazed by how polite drivers are and how traffic signs are almost always respected. I have a legitimate Texas driver’s license, which means that I had to take the same test as Texans and let me tell you that it’s not a difficult test. So the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) does not represent a true filter to keep reckless drivers off the streets. Austin’s drivers have a genuine concern for driving responsibly and making the road a pleasant place. For example, for merging into a highway, you only have to signal left and people will welcome you in. No need to stress about forcing your way in or requesting the right of way by pulling down the window as I was used to. Here, I can count on people waiting patiently with me for a left turn, because I am confident that no one will skip the line using an illegal move.

Austinites are so punctual. They don’t settle with arriving on time to a meeting, but they also leave on time as instructed. I was amazed to find birthday invitations for Juanito with starting and ending time. We usually establish arriving time adding an extra 30 minutes to ensure people will be there when the food is ready. However, we would never dare to indicate the time when people have to leave. It is assumed that they can return home whenever they feel like it, forcing them out would be considered rude. But Americans shouldn’t have the problem of annoying guests that just won't leave (not even when the lights have been turned off and the floors have been swept) because ending time was established from the beginning.

Event organizers know they can rely on the honesty of Austinites. They don’t spend much money on security because history has taught them that if there is a fee to pay, it will surely be paid. As I narrated on a previous blog, we attended Bat Fest on August. In the entrance, there was a table with people collecting the fee, but you could choose not to pay it by just going inside. Nobody was guarding the entrance. The same phenomenon happens with public transportation. Allegedly you have to show your UT ID when stepping into the UT Shuttle, but I have ridden the shuttle for 3 months now and no one has ever asked for it. I would imagine that everyone has one so it would be a waste of time and resources to oversee this compliance. In Chile, many people consider it is almost their right to try and not pay the proper fee into a festival or a bus. They will try several times to get in without being seen by the guards. If they are successful, they tell everybody of their accomplishment proudly; if they are not successful, then they will either surrender and pay or just leave because they didn't have enough money to pay for the ticket to begin with.

… but yet so innovative.

Word on the street is that Austin is going to become the new Silicon Valley. Many blogs are talking about how technology firms are moving to Austin (v.gr. roadshow.slate.com). Big companies like Dell established their headquarters in Austin. Startups that began in California are now moving here because operating expenses are lower. There are several local incubators, like the Austin Technology Incubator or Capital Factory, that help startups grow into companies. Like Silicon Valley, Austin also has a casual culture, freedom to experiment, and a collaborative environment so that startup teams get all the support they need.

I am familiar with the youngest side of Austin. I have witnessed how young people in every store and restaurant find every means available to be successful. Since employees of most stores and restaurants earn money according to how much they sale or serve, the workers put all their effort in maximizing this amount. This may sound obvious, but as I told you in an older post, that is not always the case. I think all these workers are also entrepreneurs. They have to make money based on tips, so they invent different innovative strategies to flourish. They are so kind and diligent, that  we always tip them accordingly. They don’t just wait for fixed payment or settle with minimum tips. They will tell you jokes, worry about the stroller, fetch you a high chair, or even select a sweater that matches your outfit without me having to ask for it.

Trying to understand how people that can pass as very square minded are so innavotive, I have come to a possible explanation. Maybe this well-organized environment, where children are taught from the beginning how to respect other people by showing up on time and paying for the tickets, is the perfect surrounding for new businesses to prosper. When you know exactly what to expect from taxes, payrolls, and regulations, then it is easier to work and start a business. What I admire, though, is that this disciplined atmosphere has not inhibited Austinites’ ability to create new solutions and products to old problems. Fortunately, Austinites have the energy to figure out solutions by themselves, even when they had been told repeatedly that they can’t do certain things.

Not everything smells like roses here in Texas

I never quite understood why we were moving. Sure! He wants to study and she has to come with him, but why did I have to come along? I was perfectly happy where we were. My room was always warm, the minute I woke up somebody had my bottle of milk ready and then I could sleep in for as much as I wanted. I had a big room of my own, full of toys and a soft floor to practice my crawling. She was always with me and we understood each other pretty well. Some days she would get creative and invent the most funny ways to play; while others she would be tired, so I would play a little bit more on my own or go on longer expeditions around the house to find new playmates so she could rest.

Life this way was easy and great. I was the star. I felt like the biggest attraction in a zoo, like Alex in Madagascar.  All my needs were covered, the people I loved were always with me, and I was growing fast and healthy.

But, some damn day, he told her he got accepted in the program. So, moving plans began and happiness as I knew it was over. The money wouldn’t be enough, so before moving to our final destination, we would live with great grandma. She is so old that she yells all the time as if we all were as deaf as she is. My new room was like living inside a library (and not in a good way) because everything was filled with dust. The curtains hadn’t been opened in years probably. I missed the fresh breeze that visited my old room. The only upside there was the food, we had a lady that cooked so my mom wouldn’t have to cook for me anymore. Don’t get me wrong, her food was OK, but these dishes were just delicious. I could never get tired of them. The lady cooked something different every day.

I was almost beginning to like that place, when it was time for our final move to the US. Here, I can’t understand a word. She is now so full of activities that I go to school twice a week. Can you imagine? I am only one year old! They make me walk everywhere and I even have to eat on my own. I don’t know what happened to she carrying me on her arms everywhere. That, I enjoyed; walking, not that much. One day she even dared to suggest it was time for me to say goodbye to my pacifier. Thank God she came to her senses before committing that crime. There is also the weather subject. At first, it was hot as hell. I didn’t have any summer clothes, so I had either too much clothes on or too little. But these days have been cold as death. Is wanting a longer transition period too much to ask?

I had to forget about the soft floor and settle with a dirty rug. They go to bed so tired at the end of the day that I have to scream at them in the mornings so someone brings me my milk bottle, which some days is not even warm. And immediately after finishing the milk, she dresses me up for school. Not cool! Sure, I get to be alone with her the other three days of the week and I enjoy playing with my dad on weekends, but don’t forget that back home we could do this every day, not just three days a week. And lastly, the food. She cooks vegetables for me. But each dish can last for two or three days, it can get really boring. Damn you Costco and your huge packages.

I guess the good old days are over.

The Point of View of an Austinite Mother

The Point of View of an Austinite Mother

www.utexas.edu/law/faculty/lw9727/

The assignment for this week was to interview a true Austinite. I needed some answers to questions that were starting to grow in my head, so I took advantage of this opportunity and talked to Lucy Wood, mother of two children and a professor at UT. Since Juanito was born and I quit my job, it has not been easy to decide if I want to be a stay-at-home mom or develop a career as an entrepreneur. Or maybe, I could manage to balance both.

I think that balancing my role as a mother and my role as a professional is not easy. I asked Lucy if this had been difficult for her to see if I am the only mother that feels this way. To my relief, she answered: “Yes, yes!  I haven’t done it well. I think I just don’t eat right, I don’t sleep very well in the night and I don’t exercise. But I do a good job at my job and I do a good job with my children. But I don’t have any sleep time as a result, so I have to work on that. I think I’m a good mom and I think I’m a good worker, but I probably need to take better care of my body: sleep and eat better and relax a little bit more.”

 “When I was growing up it was very common for a woman to stay home. Most of the mothers in my neighborhood in Philadelphia stayed home. I was raised at a home where none of the mothers were working. In Austin, almost all the women I know work”, Lucy told me while comparing her childhood in Philadelphia with her current life in Austin. I even feel that work is an unspoken requirement people demand from us. And of course, many need to work to support their families. However, leaving the money factor aside, women that are mothers need to be excellent workers and excellent mothers at the same time. This is not easy and many mothers have to rely on people they don’t know to educate their children for them, although I imagine most of them would prefer to be at home with their children. I believe they have such social pressure for accomplishing professional development, that they don’t feel free to spend every day at their homes.

Here we are signing the Partner's Agreement for our
inflatable lifejackets business in Chile. 

Maybe this subject has been analyzed too many times already, but I didn’t know what was really at play until I had to experience this dilemma on my daily life. For instance, being away from Juanito means that I could miss an important stage of his development, like his first word. Or, as Lucy said, watching your children learn and enjoy new experiences and discoveries is one of the most remarkable things of being a mom. Of course, being at work means we are going to miss some of these things and that is the decision every mother has to make when trying to balance professional development against staying at home with the kids.

In my opinion, the hardest stage for being away from children is during their first two years of life. Every baby book says that this is the crucial part of a person’s development because it is when brains grow the most. About this, Lucy mentioned the importance of connecting to her children so that they know she is there for them, to see them grow and develop. So when we add the social pressure to work plus the importance of being there during the baby’s first stages, all we get is stress.

Juanito's first steps and his first trick-or-treating ever.

To top this off, maybe mothers were not satisfied with the already high amount of stress and pressure on themselves because they came up with multiple occasions to compete against each other. This can become really insane. Mothers compare every stage of development of their children with other kids. Here in the US, I have noticed that people are really frantic about whose kid begins walking first. For example, the guy who rode with me during my driver’s license test here in Texas told me he had bought a book titled Teach Your Baby to Walk Early, poor baby walking when she was only 7 months old!

Anyway, Lucy gave me a solution for each of my concerns. When we were almost done talking, I asked if she could give me some advice, since she is already an experienced mother. She told me wise words: “Be easy on yourself. Be kind to yourself. Just realize that it goes fast and that you are doing a great job and try to give yourself positive energy.” I think I’m going to do just that.

Juanito's Austin sightseeing

The best part of arriving in a new city is beginning to discover its secrets. As a family, we love traveling and we have visited many places; but moving to a different city is nothing like traveling. Now we get to experience Austin as locals, at our own pace and not hurrying up with a checklist.

 The third weekend of August, my husband and I organized an outing to South Congress Avenue. We started in a place everyone should visit: Hopdoddy (www.hopdoddy.com). This burger bar was established in 2010 and they pride on their all-natural menu. You have never tried french fries until you try this Parmesan and Truffle Fries. They are a real piece of Heaven. They made us forget the hour and a half we spent in line waiting to get inside the restaurant. And they sure know how to serve customers! Everyone treated us as if we were their most important customer. Juanito sat on a booth for the first time and they brought him a water cup as if he were already a grown up.

 

Astonished, I couldn’t help but to compare the service with Chilean restaurants, where the waiter would give us his worst face just for entering the dinner. I mean we would ruin his day just for showing up. Imagine if you add an impatient baby, a huge stroller, … you get the idea. The waiter would be happy before with no customers and plenty of time to check his Facebook page.

Back to our outing, our next stop was a cute store called Uncommon Objects (www.uncommonobjects.com). It is an antiques store where you can find everything. It was established in 1991 and, though it is not big, we spent almost one hour staring at every unique piece. We almost bought a beautiful light blue wardrobe, but it was pricy compared to Ikea, so pragmatism defeated beauty. But Juanito did get himself a present. We bought him the prettiest baby boots and a belt with a huge longhorn buckle. In December, we are going back home to my sister’s wedding and I want him to go dressed as a handsome cowboy.

Our final stop was Congress Avenue Bridge were we waited for the bats to get out to hunt. I need to add that I hate bugs of all kinds, so I have found a new best friend in bats, which make it their life’s goal to eliminate bugs from mine by eating them. Around 7:30 pm, a black cloud came flying from under the bridge. Thousands of bats made their way trough the entrance of the cave. It was a breathtaking show. Juanito loved it. Amazed, he didn’t know where to look in order to not miss anything.

On our way home, he felt asleep immediately on the car seat, exhausted after everything we had done that day. We discovered great things about this city and it was only one street! If Austin keeps this pace, we won’t be able to unravel all its mysteries before we have to go back.

Juanito 10-12 months

Austinites in ACL

Last Sunday I went to ACL. I was reluctant to buy tickets at first because I didn’t know what we were going to do with Juanito. Also, my mom was visiting that week and her plane left Sunday afternoon so I imagined a complicated evening and I wanted to avoid it. My husband, who was really passionate about going, believed that we would have a great time: that we could manage to leave my mom at the airport and still get to enjoy Turnpike Trouvadours. I need to add that the only available tickets left were for that Sunday. I argued that in Chile we never bothered to go to events like this (Lollapalooza is held there every year), but he convinced me by saying that for that exact reason we should go to ACL: we made a promise to take advantage of every moment of our lives here in Austin.

Well, as you may imagine and as I said before, we did go to ACL last Sunday and we had a blast. We left my mother at the airport at 3:30 in the afternoon even though her flight wasn’t until 6 pm. Then we met some friends at their house and we took the bus to Zilker Park. Between my husband and my friends we managed to load the stroller and Juanito was thrilled in his first bus trip. The temperature there was perfect, but I had dressed him as if it was the middle of December, so I undressed him and he crawled freely on the grass.

What amazed me was that people around us found this so normal. There were maybe dozens of strollers with babies even younger than Juanito, and I couldn’t believe I had been so concerned before. Now I understand that in the US, since only few people have help in their homes, everyone takes their babies with them everywhere; otherwise having a baby would mean being a prisoner until the baby is old enough to go out. People were so relaxed laying on the grass, smiling at the baby, laughing and drinking beer that I soon got in the same mood too.

 

Fearing we wouldn’t get there on time, we forgot Juanito’s dinner in the car. But we noticed this when we were already in a chilled-out mood, so we bought him some ice cream, which he had never tried before, and as soon as Eddie Vedder started singing, Juanito fell asleep and didn’t wake up until Monday.

 

People have told us repeatedly that we are extremely lucky with the kid we have. They warn us to be prepared because this kind of luck vanishes as soon as the second child comes. I guess we’ll have to just wait and see.