A week has come and gone

So I am putting my travel writing on hold since there is so much and it is all just so overwhelming.I just finished my first whole week of school with all of the students and I am feeling pretty good for this semester. 


Pre-Students: School started for the teachers last Thursday and I wasn't really sure if I was going to school until Wednesday. Again, definitely not the most organized...


Thursday: First day of school for the teachers and basically just a meeting the entire day about the beginning of school and your standard standards. At least I got to listen to a lot of Spanish and learn the schedule for the year.


Friday: Rearrangement of the teacher's room... The English department used to sit in this cramped little space, but now that there are so many of us, they had to move us to our own little room. Last year, there were four teachers and me. Then they fired one of the English teachers and hired two new ones. So now there are five teachers, me, and we are expecting another gringo from the Ministry. So now its just a little crowded in a bigger room.


Monday: was the first day for the students. The entire objective for the day was for the students to get to know their homeroom teachers, anything new with the school, their schedule, and general maintenance. Since I don't have a homeroom, it was a good thing I brought my computer and hung out in the teacher's room, trying to figure out where I am going to live and what I am going to do when I get home. However, I did get a little break from that to do the very important job of hanging letters "Bienvenidos 2012" on the stage. After 3 hours of doing nothing, there was a welcome assembly where they basically just introduced the faculty and staff of the school. Surprisingly I was called up on stage as part of the staff, I am quite astonished that someone remembered me. They also remembered me when they gave teachers whiteboard markers and erasers... last semester I bought all of my own things. But this time they remembered me! Except for ink (they have rechargeable whiteboard markers)...I need to ask the secretary every time i need more ink. 


The school uniform is navy, grey, and yellow. However the company that makes these uniforms does not make this color scheme anymore. So now all of the freshman and any new students have black, red, and yellow uniforms. They are very distinct uniforms so the students who are new stand out as well as most of the freshman last year who got left back and are repeating the year (there are quite a lot of them)


Monday, the rest of the teachers got their schedules so I could finally make mine. I made my schedule and gave myself Fridays free. Kind of worked out too that there was only one class that I could have gone to on Friday, and it just seems a bit silly to travel for two hours to only work for an hour and half. 


Rest of the Week
Tuesday and Wednesday were half days for the students and Thursday was a full day. So far I like the large majority of the classes and they generally went well. There are still a ton of students in each class. They could have been behaving better since it was the first week of school, but I hope they stay this way... we shall see and only hope for the best! I definitely feel more confident and comfortable in the school now, I feel like I belong more than I did in the first semester and that I am capable and knowledgeable about some of the ins and outs of the school. I talk to more of the staff and I definitely understand more. One of the ballsy juniors asked if I had learned more Spanish since he remembers that before I really didn't know anything. A couple of students that I talked to, also remarked on how my Spanish got better and they wondered how that happened....hope their not lying to try to win some points.


A new thing in my schedule is that I will be teaching "special" executive classes to my bosses. All three schools will be teaching the administrative staff English for four hours a week. I have to give them homework and tests and so on. So now I have to teach my principal, my vice principal (who doesn't like English) and some others who I don't know. We will see how that goes...I feel like they are too busy to actually come to class. 


Oh random, but Thursday was "Dia de mujeres" Women's day... all the women got cake, flowers, and a drink. There is a women's day, but no men's day.... it was all very peculiar to me. I thought we had a meeting in the library, but instead we got greeted by  kisses and flowers. If we had a women's day and no men's day in America...people would call it discrimination. The teachers were pretty surprised that I was surprised with this day. Ah the cultural gender differences in Chile and the States.

Gringa Extravaganzas

Now that the summer is ending, I have no immediate travel plans, all my visitors have left, and I have a week looming until school starts again...that gives me a deadline to update you on my life for the past 2.5 months!


Before I get into all of the traveling and visitors, this will be my homage on the gringas that have been in my life. I made some English-speaking friends here but now a lot have them have gone away. Here is just a little montage of some small things that we have done together


American Halloween brought to Chile!

Sam and Regina hosted an American Halloween in Rancagua, so Megan and I went down to visit. Since there was an Asian, blonde, and brunette, we were very not creative and just were Charlie's Angels, which meant we wore leather and black... Not very original. The best most original costumes were definitely done by Joaquin and Alejandro, who dressed up as Facebook and YouTube. In general, I was very impressed with how dressed up the Chileans were!

Random Get Togethers
Ronna, Megan, and I had a random get together night. I was pleasantly surprised that Ronna came out of her apartment to hang. We were supposed to go out but ended up just staying in. We had some tasty drinks of fresh strawberries mixed with vodka and ice. It would have been better, had the blender not exploded all over me and the kitchen, but a good night all in all. However I don't think Megan or Ronna would have let me prepare the drinks again for them!

Real Breakfast

All of us were really missing American breakfast since breakfast here consists of some very good bread with butter next to your tea or instant coffee. So because of that, a few of us banded together (after the strawberry night) and made a lovely breakfast together. We had eggs with spinach and onions and some sausage links. After we rested our fat stomachs a bit, we then had some delicious pancakes with cinnamon sugar. There was a bit of syrup since Ronna and Hannah brought some (they are the masters of making pancakes using the most random measuring devices). I really need to learn how to make good pancakes and find some syrup.

Feliz Dia de Comida y Gracias

First thanksgiving without the family and delicious food, but somehow we managed. A few of us got together and made a little pot luck dinner. I made spinach and macaroni and cheese. I felt the mac n cheese was disappointing since there is not a wide array of cheese here. Hannah and Ronna brought mashed potatoes and a chocolate bread dessert (I really can't remember exactly since Thanksgiving was so long ago). Laura made a green bean casserole and apple tart dessert. Megan made stuffing, bought some roasted chicken (since we were all way to lazy and busy to make a turkey). Laura and Megan's friend from home, Akilah, was here, so she brought some Trader Joe's cornbread and candy corn. I LOVE cornbread...so delicious!!! It was also cute since Laura's mom sent Thanksgiving decorations and napkins to Chile with Akilah.  I can't remember exactly what was made or who made it... all I remember was that it was quite tasty, I ate wayy  too much of it, which put me into a deep food coma, unable to move. It was very cute that Karen, our token Ozzie, had her very first Thanksgiving with us as well! Loverly dinner ladies. 

Despedidas (Farewells)

I had some amazing and will still have amazing times with my gringas, they were my go to people. We went to Valdivia together, celebrated Fiestas Patrias, and shared the joys and challenges of living in a new country... they were my cafe and ice cream companions, going out buddies, and general confidants. So thank you for the memories and hopefully no good bye forever...lots of places around the states to go visit. However, Chile and I miss you Ronna, Hannah, Amy, Kellie, Marissa. I have Ashley for about a week more and then we will be "celebrating" her despedida with the gringas that will be returning from vacation and keeping me company for the rest of my time here. So here is to them as well and the adventures in front of us!

It's already 2012?!?!

2011 has come and gone, and its been 23 years of my life and this was my first Christmas without my family. :o(


My first real trigger of sadness (of not being home for Christmas) was when I was at Tottus (Wal-Mart type store). True to USA form, it was right after Halloween and there was Christmas music playing as well as Christmas trees and ornaments up for sale. I don't normally get emotional, but there I was in line to pay and tears started coming down...it was kind of ridiculous. However, in general, the extreme commercialism of the states was not as present, making it easier to not be so homesick around the holiday season. Luckily it is summer here so I didn't get overwhelmingly nostalgic walking around. The true sadness hit when I Skyped the family on Christmas day and they were all together, eating delicious Korean food and teasing me! Definitely missed Christmas with the parents and sisters! It was fun though putting together a small Christmas package for them. I thought I had sent it with enough time, about 3 weeks, but it did not get there in time for Christmas day...disappointing. Oh well, I also missed playing violin/piano duets with Christine. I love being at home with the whole family and mommy feeding me delicious food. Everything is warm inside with hot chocolate and warm yams, keeping nice and toasty from the cold outside. 


Instead, here it is hot everywhere and you are hoping that it is cooler inside. It is quite odd having Christmas in summer. If it weren't for trees decorated in stores and apartments, I would not have known it was even Christmas time. The majority of advertisements had snow all over them, which is peculiar since there is rarely snow here, even in the winter! Christmas music was playing in some stores and supermarkets, which for the most part is in English---or the same songs that we have back at home, but translated into Spanish. 


In Chile, it is more common to celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. So I had Christmas dinner with Cristian's family- his mom, aunt, uncle, grandma, and cousins. We went over there, and had dinner at around 11 o'clock, another normal thing for Chileans...to eat super late. It was a very Chilean dinner, and very delicious dinner of turkey, "corn salad" (corn with mayo), "potato salad" (potatoes with mayo), tomato salsa, etc. Every salad in Chile, unless it is a bed of lettuce with one tomato, is basically cut up with mayo. After dinner, they all exchanged presents. It was really cute, they were all extremely enthused about their socks, underwear, shampoo, perfume, and shirts. It was really sweet, Cristian's mom, aunt, and uncle all gave me unexpected presents, and I have used all of them (nightgown, bracelet, and perfume)!

Christmas day, Regina and Ashley came over to have Chrismas dinner that Cristian and I cooked- very American-esque---chicken, grilled veggies, mashed potatoes, rice, and salad. There aren't that many of us gringas left. Most are back in the states and some are off traveling, so we just had a small get together. New Years Eve also was not a big hulabaloo. The thing to do here is go to Valparaiso for "one of the biggest parties of the year" to watch all of the fireworks. Hostels were extremely expensive for that night and buses were packed... I didn't feel like spending the money, and the thought of being awake until 9 a.m., just didn't excite me too much. Instead I just watched the fireworks on my room, since we are one of the few people to have roof access. Since the door was open, basically anyone in our apartment who was in Santiago that night, came up to the roof to also watch the fireworks. However, having a key is apparently not synonymous with being able to use the key. We got charged with a 40.000 pesos fine ($80) for being up on the roof. Not the best way to kick of the new year---spending the money on nothing, but it was a good tranquil start! Peaceful Christmas and New Years, quite different from what I am used to, but this adventure is full of those moments and I was and am lucky enough to have had great people around to share these moments with. Well happy belated holidays to you all!!!! 

A Chelsea/Christmas Tree with Pudge, Gary, and my Christmas card

Tour #1: Young-Jin

So my cousin, Elizabeth has been here the past 9 days and I am exhausted!!!
Sometimes we walked around more in one day, than I would normally do in one week. That is a little bit exaggerated, but I did wake up sore a few times! I really do need to exercise. However in one of our city tour walks, I did stumble across a really cute outdoor gymnasium. It is really close to my old hostal and I heard stories about this gym, but never discovered it for myself. I am going to motivate myself to run there, exercise, and then honestly, walk home. 


We spent 4 days in Santiago getting to know the city, all over Centro Santiago and a bit in Providencia and Santiago. One of those walks was accidental as we walked down Cerro San Cristobal, and found ourselves on the border of Providencia and Santiago...never did that before! She got to try a good amount of Chilean drinks, food, etc. as well all the classic Chilean tourist spots. I need to avoid those places for a bit, since I will be going there again when my parents come!!!!


On Sunday, we went to Caijon de Maipo, which is about an hour and half outside of Santiago next to some mountains and a river, which kind of looks like chocolate milk. We had a little picnic and went white water rafting with Cristian and my friend Renato. I went white water rafting once in Colorado, but this was more intense and way more fun. The tour guide taught us how to fall onto the bottom of the raft, change the balance of the boat with our weight, and how to bring people back into the raft if they fell out...or in our case, jumped out on purpose to swim around in the calmer areas. 

It was nice to be out of the city, relaxing and enjoying the outdoors. However, it was not the last. We spent the next three days in Valparaiso and Vina del Mar. It was the first hostal experience for Young-Jin and Renato and we met some Argentinians and a girl from Germany. We also randomly ran into one of Renato's friends, Nestor and hung out with him for a bit on our trip. He was super awesome (by the way I say super a lot now in English and in Spanish) and his English was amazing (he is an English teacher). But, if I met him in the states, I would have thought he was from England. 


With all of Valparaiso's hills, I was surprising more tired after a day of walking in Santiago! We walked around a bunch, spent a day relaxing at Vina's beaches (where even though I put on sunblock and was only there for 2 hours, I still got a mean burn on my back, legs, and butt!), and we also saw one of Pablo Neruda's houses, La Sebastiana. It was a really cool house, with more amazing views with each floor. I plan on going to La Chascona, another one of his houses in Santiago with the parents.

 View from La Sebastiana

La Sebastiana

I didn't really see anything new of Chile, but it was interesting being a tour guide and having a fresh pair of eyes see everything for the first time. Hope you had a wonderful time Young-Jin!!! Thanks for making it down here so we could enjoy ourselves in CHILE! Now I have 10 days to rest and then my parents are coming, where we are heading down to Chiloe and I get to do another hot city tour of Santiago. You guys are in for an exhausting jam-packed week of adventuring. Can't wait and hope you are ready!!!

Blogs that I have been meaning to write and are still coming: 

1. Argentina

2. Homage to Gringas

3. Holidays

Pedro de Valdivia?

So the little bit that I have gathered about Pedro de Valdivia is that this man was one of the first to come to Santiago and he created a fort to protect Santiago at Cerro Santa Lucia. I also know that there are many streets named after him, a metro stop in Providencia, and I am assuming the city of Valdivia as well, which is where I went this past weekend for 4 days in the south of Chile. 

I had a long weekend off from school due to 2 different holidays and some other gringas were heading down there. It was also a good opportunity to go since Kellie and Catie live down there, and are leaving Valdivia at the end of the month. Therefore I had to get down before the month was over. After much back and forth planning, the plan was final...

I left Wednesday night with Ashley to do my first overnight bus ride, which wasn't so bad. I was a bit surprised and basically slept the entire ride down. There was a few wake up cramping moments, but then back to bed. Good thing I am a panda and can sleep basically anywhere. We got there bright and early in the morning, and Ashley and I, being the smart people that we are assumed that the other person would write down the the address and the ladies' phone numbers. But alas, we did not. However we did not mind since it was so beautiful and fresh in the south of Chile. We wandered around the town...and after much ado (our original plan didn't work since it was a major holiday and everything was closed) ...we made it to Kellie and Catie's cabana, and since they were worried about us---they called the right people and got our numbers!

View of Valdivia from the Isla Teja bridge

The first day, the four of us went to the island Niebla to the ferria where we got to eat some fresh and cheap seafood. It felt like Fiestas Patrias all over again with the live cueca music and anticuchos. We then also made out way to the beach, which had black sand. Really cool looking, but extremely hot! 

Me, Ash, Kellie, and Catie overlooking Niebla beach

That late afternoon, Kellie, Ashley, and I took a nice little walk around Isla Teja. Not that I like to run at all, but I would definitely be more motivated to run and exercise outside if it looked and felt like Valdivia all the time. The pollution and heat in Santiago is kind of a buzz kill. I kind of felt like I was back in Margate. We had a dinner with the neighbors and some french sauce and had a relaxing night meeting new people. 

Flowers that I was obsessed with outside of their cabana

The following morning we went into Valdivia, walked around and enjoyed the beautiful, tranquil scenery and town. We walked to the seafood market, which of course wreaked of fish. There were a lot of sea lions, also known as marinas lobos, hanging out since the seafood vendors give them the scraps. We then walked around, trying to put some money on my cellphone, which was a feat, as well as going to the Chocolateria-Entrelagos. They made their own chocolate there, and everything looked really appetizing. The only thing that stopped me from being a fat pig was that things were pretty pricey just for chocolate, so that was my excuse. Then we went to some ferrias, shops, and then the big momma of ferrias... a huge ferria where they sell a lot of handcrafts. Basically the same thing as Santiago, but a ton more of wooden artesianal crafts. The place was huge with three floors. 

Central Ferria

Crazy large and fierce sea lions

Catie and Kellie in Entrelagos

That night we went to a gymnasium show for skaa and regaae music. I felt like I was back in high school going to one of my friend's band shows. It was fun hearing live music, and the skaa music had a cool twist with brass instruments. I had some white wine with strawberries, which is delicious! Apparently, there is a more common and equally deliciously drink with red wine and strawberries, a Chilean version of Sangria.  Afterwards we went to a new friend's house and I got to practice my Spanish and try new food and drinks. I also tried this dish called "crudo," which I have only heard of in Valdivia, but it is toast with well seasoned ground meat on top, which is then covered by a white sauce, quite similar to tzizikye sauce, with a lot of lemon. It was suprisingly very yummy! 

The following day, the rest of the gringas joined us, Ronna, Chrissy, Karen, and Amy. We went to the Kuntsmann Brewery. The most common beers in Chile are Cristal, Escudo, and Brahma. Another common one is Kuntsmann, which is my favorite. I love their honey beer! The food was a bust, very large portions, but quite dry and not very good. However, basically all of us had the tasting of all of the beers. So now I have a new love, not Kunstmann Miel, but Kuntsmann Bock, which is a dark beer- similar to Guinness. Afterwards, we basically did the same thing as the day before so the new ladies could see what we did. Valdivia is cute, but there isn't much to it.

Beer Tasting

All of us with some creepy Kuntsmann dolls

Catie and especially Kellie were fabulous hosts, so many thanks to them! The one thing I did wish I could have done in Valdivia was check out the rainforst, but our gracious hosts and a lot of people were not sure exactly how to get there... oh well, just have to visit the south of Chile soon and see what fun nature things are in store for me! It definitely felt nice to get out of the city for a bit with a new change of scenery, but I am still glad that I chose to live in Santiago. This trip also reinvigorated me to do more things and to explore more places. Instead of going out to discotecas, I need to just explore more places and branch out more to see what else Santiago and all of its barrios have to offer.

Fruits, Veggies, and Flites. Oh My!

So my kitchen has been looking sad and empty for a while now, and I really would love to head over to La Vega and begin making some fresh food again. Therefore this shall be my little homage to La Vega, the Central market for fruits, veggies, nuts, meats, and whatever else you need for food... besides things that are easier to buy in a supermarket... :o) 

My fridge AFTER La Vega. Right now its basically all bones.

La Vega is just over the very dismally sad Rio Mapocho and near Mercado Centro, which happens to be another place to get seafood and a smaller marketplace for fruits and veggies. Things are pretty cheap here, but you need to make sure your change purse is full of monedas (coins), because you don't really use the bigger bills for each individual vendor. I have only been here twice, but really would like to go more often, but it is not the most convenient. It is kind of a trek and I still don't really feel comfortable going alone. Here is why I am not there EVERy week: 1) It is always kind of hard for me to find. 2) The area is somewhat shady (muy flite alli) and you need to be even more protective of your belongings... especially if you are fumbling around with money and vegetables and heavy bags. That is another reason I don't have any pictures of La Vega...I already stick out like a sore thumb and really do not want to attract more attention by waving around a camera. Also I am usually too busy checking out the prices and goods, that by the time I realize I want a picture, my arms are too full. 3) It is only open in the daytime, so therefore I can't go during the week thanks to school, and if I am busy on the weekend in the early morning, I can't go. However I really must try harder since you get so much for such affordable prices. In general it is not a pretty place, but when you look at the colorful glistening fruits and veggies, it is just mesmerizing.

A cute little kitten hanging out and taking a nap with the garlic in La Vega

La Vega is also very close to Barrio Patronado, which is like a little Korea and your go to place for Asian groceries. I still have not gone shopping there since my arms are always too full with produce, that it deters me from buying anything else to carry. However, I must go since I always have a hankering for Korean food. I made it once, and I was kinda proud that it was a success. Granted I made nothing that required skill, but still nonetheless, it was a delicious Korean dinner right in my own home. Really, must do that again! Mommy, send me recipes!!!

Now school is just ridiculous!

I kind of can't believe that school is something I am still going to?


Friday: Came in at 9:45, basically didn't do anything all day besides grade papers, and the students left by 11:45.
Monday: Came in at 8, and since there are no seniors, I did nothing from 1:00-3:15.
Tuesday: Came in at 11:30, left at 1:00. I spent more time on the metro and walking then I did in the school. 
Wednesday: Came in at 9:45, its 10:35 now, and I have graded papers and tried to figure out what I am going to buy for Christmas presents. I didn't have my first class since people didn't tell me that they are on a trip to Rancagua, and will be there unil Friday. Oh well, no one tells me squat. Next class is seniors, and they are gone (actually they are here today for graduation practice?), then after lunch... I don't know I have my next two classes since the students get to leave after lunch if their class has 95% of the students in attendance. My attendance rate has been greater than 95%, does that mean I can go? Well I have been allowed to leave a number of times when I have nothing to do, or if I just have to grade papers, which I can do at home...so for that I am thankful for. But now, I am just paying to ride the metro back and forth...seems silly, but it gets me paid. Ah double edged sword, however, I just went to the office and I am supposed to get paid today. But nope, they don't have my money til tomorrow. :o( womp womp. I will just have to get used to this for the next two weeks!


Man it has been HOT in Santiago. Hard to find weather and school appropriate clothing...