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...

A semester has almost come to an end...

School is coming to a close and there are only about three weeks left. And basically for one week, we are off for holidays, so only two more weeks left? School was going better for a while or less stressful anyway... I was doing a presentation about my life with all of my classes and some of the sophomore classes, telling them about my family, where I went to school, where I lived, and so on. The students were really interested in it, for the most part… It was the most attention I had from the entire class. Afterwards they had to write some sentences about their life, and the majority of students did it without complaining, and some students who usually do not participate. So I would call that a success.

I also made a pretty legit worksheet that was a review of what they learned all year. I was pretty proud of it and it became the last grade in the book for all the students during ‘taller.’ The only downfall is that all of my classes besides three are taller, and since I made it and offered to grade it, I had about 13 classes to grade...and there are about 40 students average in each class. Also, while grading the papers, it is insane how much cheating there is and laziness there is. They had an hour and a half to answer questions about themselves and then the rest was more or less fill in the blank. Corresponding textbook page numbers were given, definitions and examples were written on the board, and there were two teachers to help out. And for some reason, in a lot of my classes, there were a surprising amount of students who didn’t do the worksheet or only did partial, or just flat out cheated, and cheated BADLY. If you are going to copy another students’ work, could you at least write down the letters properly and not make it sooo obvious? They also cheat so much during tests, or they just take a nap and don’t even just fill out the bubbles. It’s quite disheartening and sad.

However school is basically a joke for the students and the teachers now. The teachers now have to finish putting in all of the grades into the book. They also have to change some of the grades if there are too many students failing... It bothers me, at least in English Taller, the way the grades are distributed, and the types of grade that are put into the book and not a true representation of their ability, knowledge, or effort. It is also crazy that even though they have nothing to do, they cannot just sit there at a normal volume and hang out with their friends. They have to make a complete mess, wrestle around with each other, or cause some other disturbance and headache.

 The seniors are already gone. Too bad, I really liked my 2 senior classes and all the other ones I was in from the beginning of the semester when I was replacing the other English teachers. They have basically been done for a while now, but they get to leave school early so they can prepare for the test that they need to enter a University, which is only offered once a year. It was cute, the seniors last day, the bell rang, the music blasted, and the seniors left their classes throwing all their papers and books off of the balconies and into the courtyard. Balloons were thrown and lots of tears were being mopped up by t-shirts. Last Friday, students got to leave early so the school could prepare for the senior dinner/prom for all of the seniors and teachers who taught them. I was not invited even though I do teach seniors. I probably would not have gone in the first place, but I don’t really feel like a part of the school. Unless people didn’t see me during the break, I wonder if they would notice that I wasn’t there… I don’t have the same passion for teaching here as I did back in the states. Sad to say, but I am glad for the end of the year, hopefully things will be different starting the new school year. I know the level of English, I can start with a new batch of students, and do things a bit differently and with some more confidence.

Some other random stories of school are: 

1) I was on my way to get ice cream at Emporio de la Rosa with some of the lovely gringa friends, and as I was walking, I heard “Miss, Miss, Profe, Miss Rha!” Behind me were about 8 of my students calling my name… Oh it was random, but kind of cute that they were really excited to see me. Emporio de la Rosa had some of the best ice cream! I had a raspberry mint and green tea honey ice cream, which was quite refreshing on that hot spring day.

Mmmm Ice cream!

2) I don't feel as foreign as other people! On my way to work one day, as usual I was in a rush, and to use the metro, you either need a BIP Card that you swipe in front of the magnet or a little paper (one time use entrance thing) that you insert into the meter. I was wondering what the hold up was, and there were two people in front of me waving their paper in front of the magnetic swipe. In Spanish, I gave them instructions on how to use the paper, and they thanked me in English. More people have been asking me for directions, but I think it is because I am friendlier to some Chileans than Chileans are to each other. For the most part, hey are very helpful to foreigners, but not sure how nice they are to each other. 


3) One of my students, don’t know who, stole my external hard drive. It was kinda shocking the lack of reaction that I got from the teachers, I asked around and so did another teacher, but nothing else. Good thing I have everything backed up at home. I am just worried that if something happens to my computer, I am going to lose all of my photographs from Chile. Can’t let that happen, so I guess I need to buy a new one… just another thing to add to the list of things to buy.

4) It's not just me getting things stolen, there has been a problem in a junior class where someone stole a classmate's phone, MP3 player, and money. There was a big tiff over that, but apparantly not for foreigners. And then in another junior class, there are 3 pregnant girls. I'm not even talking about the people in the school, in one class! Insane!

Okay, enough talk about school. Next topic is play and plans!

Sorry I am terrible at this...

So... again apologies for not updating this earlier and for still not updating it... mostly just apologies to my dear father. I would have had things up earlier, but due to internet or computer issues, my first, second, and third draft of this deleted...  not sure who to blame. 

Therefore it has been quite frustrating writing the same thing over and over again. I promise, I am working on the blog, but now I have to update you on about a month of my life so I will do my best to include all the highlights! Thanks for your patience! :o)

Sorry life isn't more eventful...

aI know its been a week since my last post, but I don't have much to update on...life is becoming pretty normal and I feel like I live here...


Things I am used to:
1. I have acclimated to my commute to and from work. However I really do not like changing metros in Baquedano. With the nicer weather, I have been getting of at Plaza de Armas and just walking home for a longer period of time.
2. I know the majority of my students' names.
3. Running my own classroom and really being the teacher even though the novelty of my gringaness has worn off---not the greatest, but still I have acclimated to it.
4. How to squeeze myself onto the metro even though it doesn't look like there is any room.
5. Riding the metro without holding onto anything
6. Not having internet in the apartment
7. How to pretend that I don't know ANY Spanish when beggars ask me for money
8. Being able to wander around the city without actually feeling or being lost
. Ignoring the gross guys cat calling on the street


Things I am not used to:
1. How creepy people can be when they hit on you
2. How relaxed and disrespectful some of the students are with me. The types of questions some of them ask me is beyond absurd.
3. Bruce's (my lunchtime dog) haircut. He looks like a rat with large ears and you can see the gross ticks and things on him now, it is pretty gross!
4. When some of the streets are closed by cabarineros for no obvious reason
5. How slowly people walk
6. How quickly money can disappear and how cautious I have to be with money so I can travel later on


Some highlights of the past weeks:
1. I went to a jazz club, which was my first one ever listening to live jazz. It was good, but I wish there was some percussion or brass incorporated. I didn't like that the singer and bass player had sheet music and a stand, I expected jazz to be more free-flowing and improvisational. 

2. I went to La Vega and Patronado with Karen and Laura. La Vega is an extremely large marketplace for vegetables, fruit, meat, and etc. for pretty cheap. Patronado is the barrio in Santiago with a very large Asian/Korean influence. I would like to explore that barrio more, and also go when I don't have an extremely large and heavy bag full of groceries.
3. Karen and I spent a day wandering around the city and finally went to the church in Plaza de Armas. It was gorgeous inside and such a random stumble upon thing that day. I have forgotten how magnificent and beautiful churches can be.

Entryway of the church

4. Karen, Ronna, Cristian, Karen (Ronna's roommate), and I went to Cerro Santa Lucia again. I love it up there and it is really close to my apartment. We just spent a relaxing day, talking, with good company, and with Mote con Huesillos. That drink is so much better on the top of hills rather than anywhere else!

Me and Cristian at the top of Cerro Santa Lucia

5. It was Cristian's birthday on the 16th so we hung out and had dinner with his mom, aunt, and grandmother. Cristian made dinner and as always, it was phenomenal. He made this red wine reduction with some meat and yes mommy, vegetables. I am definitely eating more vegetables now... you can thank Cristian for that and making sure I don't go hungry. He loves cooking and also made dinner before for me, Megan, and Regina with the red wine reduction. I felt like I could have closed my eyes and been in a fancy restaurant. Yum!

Restaurant Cristian: 201B

Vegetable risotto with meat and red wine reduction

Ice cream and pineapple with the red wine reduction

Oriental Cazuela

Chef Cristian

In other news, Kristin and my cousin booked their flights to Santiago, so yay, visitors! I am just a little scared of how hot it will be in Santiago in the summer. Also there is a 4-day weekend coming up in the end of October, and I am pretty sure I am going to Vina del Mar and visiting a winery!!! Hopefully then I will have more to update on!

Vida es mucho mejor cada dia!

Not that it was ever bad before... it is just so much better. This past week I have been happier and I credit it to three main things. 1) the weather. 2) my school. 3) changing apartments. There haven't been many milestone things occurring since I last posted, just a lot of little changes. 


Megan just moved to her new apartment, which is literally maybe 3 blocks away. She lives so close, I can see her room from my balcony. I really enjoy her company, so I am glad I have her so close--also this means we can share taxis and metros home after going out.


Spring is here! When it is sunny with cool and warm air, I just get happier than I normally am. It definitely lightens up my mood. I love it, but some days really feel like summer and it can be HOT. I am excited for pool weather. At Megan's new apartment, there is a rooftop pool and jacuzzi. Even though I have a pool in my apartment building, I still can't wait to use hers!


School is ridiculously better for me! I have my own class and we split up all of the students. I just actually feel effective now and feel like I am creating real relationships with a lot of my students. I definitely have some more troublesome classes, but for the majority of the time, I really enjoy myself. The students that come after school for advanced speaking don't want to leave. It is sweet, but at the same time I sometimes want to say, "this is my free time, I don't get paid, we have already been here after school for two hours, it takes me an hour to get home, and I have things to do." I went to Colegio Alma Mater last Friday to work on a powerpoint presentation. Christina, Kyliee (new gringa at Hannover school), and I are going to trade schools for a day and do a presentation about our lives. It is a really corny presentation since it mostly uses vocabulary that they have learned. I think it will be fun for the students to see pictures and see that gringas come from all different places, we are human too. After working on the presentation for 2.5 hours, the computer shut down on me and I had to restart. No one told me not to save anything on the desktop. Lastly it is funny that some of my cuatro medio students are trying to set me up with their teacher. They wrote notes "from me" and "from him" to us. It is really cute, but a little old. I don't even know what his name is... they call him pigeon. Therefore I think his last name must be Poloma (name for pigeon). To sum it all up, going to school is good again!


Living with Cristian has improved my life 10-fold. I actually feel like I live here, and not that I am just occupying space. We went grocery shopping the other day and are actual real roommates. It feels comforting to go home and not stressful, which is necessary. Cristian is very easy-going and friendly. We have somewhat opposite schedules, but at the same time, we spend a lot of time together. I usually see him during his break after I am done work for half an hour, and then again after he is done work. We just sit on the balcony and listen to music. I get to practice my Spanish and he practices his English. It is also nice that we are comfortable enough with each other that we don't feel the need to talk all the time. We can both do our own thing in each others' presence without the awkward silence. He also likes to cook, which is nice. Within the week and half of living here, he has already brought me home dinner, made me dinner twice, and this morning he prepared me cereal, made me eggs, and got my thermos of tea ready for work. Very thoughtful and considerate! I met his mommy, who is also ridiculously sweet. She was impressed with how much I knew about the city and how much Spanish I knew considering how long I've been here. Sweet! 

Apartment eating and drinking

I had the TeachingChile2011 dinner at my new apartment this past Saturday. I would say it was a success with tacos and about 20 people over. Good company and food, and then out dancing. 

Rooftop Chillin

Not much to update now, just living normal life now. I forgot my tea thermos in a store where I was buying a new dry erase marker since my blue one burst in my face during class. It was sad since I thought it was gone forever. Then I went back to the scene of the crime and retrieved it, reunited and it feels so good! Jorge still cancels a lot and I haven't seen Maria de la Luz in a while.... oh well. Next Monday and Friday there isn't school... I should take advantage of the time off and go visit some other city. Who knows, but I am still trying to keep it on the cheap side since I don't get paid in the summer and want to travel then. I also want to buy two pairs of Aldo shoes and might have to buy a new camera since mine is spastic. :o( But on a brighter note, I think my cousin and Kristin are booking the flights to Chile soon!!! Can't wait! I miss you all so much, thanks for all your love and support!

Tiki Tiki Tiiiii

Good week in general, got my coffee in Lastarria with Dan on Tuesday and saw his apartment. It has a cool rusticy/artsy feel to it... Wednesday, I had Korean food with Nacho and JP in Las Condes, but it was a bit overpriced for its quality. What am I talking about, no Korean food will ever compare to my mother's cooking. All who have tried it can attest to that fact!


This weekend was dieciocho, the 18th of September, also known as Independence Day. There is a national dance called "cueca," which is supposed to be off the dance and the formation of movement that chickens do to mate... where the rooster is trying to impress the hen. I am not sure why but it is quite common to hear "tiki tiki tiiii" during cueca music and while people are dancing. There were lots of fondas, barbeques, and general partying. Therefore on Friday at my school, there was a little celebration held by some students, mainly in History and in the tourism department. They had students dressed up as important people in Chilean History and did some traditional dances. However no one wanted My school is an Institute, therefore the third and fourth level students pick a specialty. It is similar to what we would call a vocational school. 

 

Three "wasos" (cowboy-esque men) dancing cueca around the Chilean flag.

More students dancing (forget the name of the dance), but it is a dance with the "devil" (guy in the red cape)

It was really fun seeing all of the students dressed up and participating in the festivities. I stayed in Santiago for the weekend sin Regina (without Regina, she went to Santa Cruz, which is supposed to be an amazing time for Dieciocho). I went to three different fondas (similar to a carnival of sorts), but each fonda I went to were very different. In general, there are a lot of different vendors selling crafts, food, and drinks. The typical foods there were choripan (sausage and bread), anticucho (meat and veggies on a stick), churros rellenos, chocolate covered fruit, I think you get the jist. 

anticucho and a extra grande sopaipilla con guacamole

Fonda #1: Friday night in Providencia with Ronna, Karen, Hannah, Laura, Ashley, Mario, and Amy: I think I enjoyed this fonda the most since there were the most interesting things being sold. Homemade candy, honey, cool art, etc. 

Fonda #2: Saturday with Piper and Sam at Parque O'Higgins in Santiago Centro. It was muy flite (best translation for that might be "ghetto/thug"?). The place was wayy bigger, free, dirtier, and somewhat disorganized. That was kind of a ridiculous time, but definitely 'memorable.' I had my first terremoto drink there... want to go to Piojeras to see how they are truly done.  

Fonda #3: Monday with Karen, Ronna, Chris, Amy, Ashley, and Mario at a more carnival-esque fonda. (Amy is entranced by the rides here, and I guess that is when I dropped my wallet. Don't worry, it was not lost). We got some delicious ice cream and waited FOREVER just to go on one ride... Monday was Diecinueve and also known as Army Day. There was a big military parade at Parque O'Higgins. We instead got Peruvian food, went to Mario's house, then to the fonda. 


At school we decided to split up the classes. I think it makes sense that students here can have the opportunity to have smaller classes, especially when learning a language. This way it is more manageable for both teachers, the students get more individualized attention, and they get to practice speaking and listening more. There is less down time doing behavior management, and more time in actual engaged lessons. 


Therefore we changed around my schedule so I got as many classes as possible, rather than have 4 classes 2x a week. The vice principal let me use a room each time to take the students. I know I really enjoyed school a whole lot more this past week, with the exception of 2 classes, who are notoriously rowdy in my book (I had a talking to with some of the rabble 'rousers), I thought the majority of students in both classes enjoyed it, as well as the other teachers. I hope this goes well, I just need to make sure that I stay on the same pace/lesson as the other teacher so we are accountable for each lesson and are communicating. The lessons went really well for me... now I get to be more creative and have to learn everyone's name! 16 different classes. I am also going to be doing a remedial class instead of the teacher class and an advanced class that is speaking intensive after school. It has been really nice with the enthusiasm that I am getting from the students. I have had students stay for long periods of time, where I have to cut it short, or students asking to meet multiple times. 


Since I love to be organized, what a surprise, I passed by an office store on my way to Ronna and Hannah's house and spent quite a chunk of change on binder, paper, markers, ink, transparencies, etc. After doing that, I also fell while talking on the phone on one of the busiest streets in Santiago. See some things do not change... That night was a fun, random night with Ronna, Hannah, Megan, Rhachim, and Dan. We just went there chilled, and Ronna made some corned beef and rice. Yummm I like impromptu nights like that. 


Friday, I met up with Megan for a stroll around town, she is my new go-to buddy, and she loves walking around. Yay! We chilled at Pio Nono, met up with Laura and a guy they met when they were by the beach and then back to my house. Regina came to Santiago and we went out with Renato (my friend from work) Me, Reg, Renato, and guy guy went to Barcelona Alto and ran into Ignacio and Mario there. Just a normal night of dancing, nothing fancy. Renato was sweet and bought me chocolate as a belated birthday present. What a sweet guy, glad all my friends adore him!

Reg, Ignacio, Mario, Me, Renato

On Saturday, Regina and I went to Lastarria and got a delicious lunch! I finally got a book in English, since Lastarrias has some vendors on the street there on weekends, so now I have something to read besides Harry Potter in Spanish. We then went back to the apartment where I packed up a majority of things. At around 8:30 ALL of the lights were out. We went to the balcony and saw that the entire city's electricity was gone. There was a fire or some malfunction in the main computer system and powerlines and so 9 million of Chile's 16 million residents were affected by this. We assumed that the electricity would be out for days so Regina and I headed downstairs and went to the minimarket next to my house. It was the busiest that I have ever seen it and we stocked up on whatever food was there. We cuddled up on the rug and watched The Wire. An hour and a half later or so, the power was back on... guess we bought all that just to make ourselves fatter. Being in the dark curled up made us tired and we retired to bed. 

 All of our goodies

The following day, we woke up, packed up my things and moved on over to my new apartment on San Francisco. As crappy as I felt about moving out, I stopped caring a little since I never talk to my roommates and they aren't there. I talked to Caro about it a little, but she was gone for the weekend as well. I didn't feel as if that place was my home, just a place I was staying and renting out. I left a note and my keys.

Goodbye old 

 

Hello new! My new room and my new view that I get to wake up to.

It was so cute, when I got to my new place, the concierge asked me my name, and then handed me a birthday package from my sister. I got to make my first coffee in the apartment! Thanks sister! I love you!


 The new place is a little further away from the metro, and a little longer of a commute to work, but that is okay since I like my new apartment and don't mind walking. It is even nice just to sit on the balcony, read, or listen to music. However I do need to buy some more things for the place to make it feel more homey and convenient. Cristian has already been better and more open and communicative than my other roommates. There is also no wi-fi directly in the apartment, but there is a wi-fi zone downstairs. I think this might be better for me, this way I don't get distracted into staying online for no reason at home. It forces me to go out a bit more. I also kind of feel like I am out doing something when I am in the wi-fi lobby area since it isn't my apartment. Expect blog updates to come ever week and a half or so. I shall try to not lag on them, but now that the weather is getting warmer, (already in the mid 70s-80s in spring), I won't be indoors as much! There is also an outdoor pool in my new place... its already been hot---soon its time to go swimming, then on the roof to relax!


I haven't seen much of Jorge lately for our lessons, he has to travel a lot for work. I don't mind, but I don't like that I usually find out an hour or less before I plan on heading there. It messes up other plans, I need to talk to him about that. Also, he usually emails me, I need to tell him to text me or something instead. 


I need to talk to Chileans more, so Megan and I are going to a Spanish/English exchange thing tomorrow, that should be nice. And on Saturday, I am hosting our TeachingChile dinner on my new roof. Tacos are on the menu... hope all goes well! Chau!!!

Wayy overdue...

Sorry folks for the extremely long delay. I know you have been waiting with bated breath, however I did not have internet at my apartment for about a week and then after that I just had so much to write down that I became lazy. Now true to form, I have procrastinated for long enough and now I have wayy too much to write. At the same time, I have been super busy with school, tutoring, and living life.


Friday: August 26th
I went with Nacho to Puente Alto to build houses. I was running about half an hour late, I definitely underestimated the time needed to travel, good thing his alarm didn't go off and he was about an hour late. We also met up with his friends, Sebastian and Camilla (both VERY common names in Chile, along with Francisco, Javiera, Ignacio, and Carolina. Well they both work in the same program 'Un techo para Chile' http://www.untechoparachile.cl/ as Nacho. This program started in Chile and is now going around South America, but it is always run by Chileans. They are a non-profit organization working to improve the quality of life of the very poor. 


We took a micro to some part of town, and we were definitely in the "ghetto." Rows of 'shacks' lined up, piles of garbage around as well as scattered around, and a lot of stray animals. We waited there a bit for the trucks to come so we could unload all of the materials. There were a lot of volunteers there and over the course of the weekend they were going to build thirteen houses. It was a pretty cold and dreary day. The first third of the day was spent unloading all of the materials. Then we spent about an hour in a room, being shown diagrams on how to build the houses (the types of houses that we were building are bigger and more complicated than ones that they have built in the past). Then we were divided into groups, they asked who had experience doing this in the past, divided them up, then the people with no experience. When I saw that they were getting ready to place me, i asked if I could be with Nacho since he spoke English. The remainder of the day was spent digging holes and setting the logs that would act as the foundation for the building. It was interesting seeing how they did things without "normal tools". For example, they pounded in rocks into the dirt to keep it steady and stable, packed more rocks and dirt around the plank of wood to keep it in place. Also, they used a tube and water to check for level measures. It was quite a slow process since you had to set one log, before you set the next, since everything had to be measured out. I think if I came on the second or third day, when things were already started, I probably would have felt more useful. 

 Our holes that we dug in the cold...

 I was in a group with Nacho, Sebastian, and three other girls. I later found out that they were in high school, the same group as my students, and they lived in wealthier comunes of Santiago. It makes sense that the people were not the most friendly or welcoming toward me, since they were so young and at the age where they are very occupied with their friends and with themselves. Also I was being pretty introverted as well. That's what happens when I'm a bit insecure and shy... obvio.

Piles of dirt and trash around the houses

We finished work at around 7 and actually left the place at around 8, therefore I got home around 9:30. On the micro home, there was a large group of high schoolers. They were passing around a bottle of wine and were obviously drunk and not old enough to be drinking. Eh pretty standard in all countries, but the legal drinking age here is 18. I was supposed to meet up with Renato and his boyfriend, but we all were just too tired. If I haven't said it before, Renato is my awesome gay friend who subbed at my school. I ended up just sleeping that night. 

Saturday: August 27
I ended up not going to build houses for the second day. I'm sure the second day would have been better than the first, however it just didn't happen. I am really glad I got to go, and would definitely go again. I was just so pooped and cold, would have hated to get sick again. Later in the night, I met up with Regina and we discovered a larger grocery store close to my house on our way to Karen, Amy and Ashley's house. The grocery store was actually close to where the hostel was, but then again, I live pretty close to the hostel. We got some vino and cake. The cake was made with layers of manjar. Manjar is something you must eat when in Chile, it is like a caramelly delicious goodness. Obviously, not good for you, but thankfully I am not as addicted to it as Regina.


We went to our 'gringo' TeachingChile family semi-pot luck dinner. However, we were waiting for everyone to eat dinner, so instead of eating, I drank yummy Chilean cheap wine. Even the boxed wine here is better than some standard wine back at home. Then we ate yummy curry with rice, sang Sam happy birthday, ate a ton of dessert and hung out. Regina and I went to another apartment for Lucian's Goodbye party. It was funny that this party was in the same apartment building and on the same floor. It was another TeachingChile gringo party, but from people that arrived to the program last March. There was one guy who arrived the same time as us, but he was closer with the Summer 2011 TeachingChile crew since his boyfriend was a part of that. It was interesting hearing about how life is for him as a gay man coming from Tennessee with very conservative parents, and moving to Chile...

FOOD!

Some of the Teaching Chile 2011 crew and its honorary guests

We didn't stay long and went back to the original apartment. Everyone went out that night, except me... I pancaked (lay down flat like a pancake) and fell asleep. I also thought I had forgotten my keys so Regina and I slept on a loveseat at Karen & Co.'s apartment. Good thing Regina and I love each other. 

Sunday: August 28
Regina and I bummed around and got delicious Peruvian food. Such a good thing that Santiago is the capital and has different types of restaurants, otherwise I would die with all the completos (hot dogs) and churrascos in Chile, and end up just living off of sopaipillas. I did buy a buttload of groceries and bought two reusable bags... something I was so annoyed at myself for not bringing. Can't go wrong with reusable bags.


Monday: August 29
I went to school thinking, "they can't still be in 'toma,' it's been a whole week." I walked out of the Metro station and saw a bunch of San Mateo uniformed students walking toward the metro, away from the school. A student came to talk to me and told me, yes, the school is still in 'toma.' I walked there anyway to find the teachers standing in the parking lot. The vice principal looked at me very normally and told me to go upstairs with all the other teachers since it was cold out. I sat there for a bit, talked to Karen (English department Head) and asked if I had to be there. She replied, "probably not, go home." When I asked her if she knew if the school was still taken over before she came to school, she replied, 'yes of course.' I figured that was the answer since many teachers strolled in later and in jeans. Guess it wasn't important to inform me that I didn't have to come to school. 


Oh well, I met up with Megan and we strolled around Cerro Santa Lucia, walked around the little ferria and then went to a cafe on Calle Estrella. I love that little area of cafes... It was a beautiful day walking around and I just simply LOVE juice here in Chile, it is so fresh and is obviously made from fresh fruit. Que rico!

Me and Megan at Cerro Santa Lucia

Tuesday: August 30
If I recall correctly, I think I just slept all day. Just one of those days...



Wednesday: August 31
I was told to come to school for the faculty meeting at aI went to school at 9:45 for our meeting at 10. True to the lateness of Chilean form, we started the meeting around 10:15. Basically there were a few important things said. 1-The school should be normal starting tomorrow...whatever "normal" is. Hopefully I can have my actual schedule at a co-teacher and not the ONLY teacher. 2-The Hannover students would be sharing the space at the University-rented space so primero (1) and segundo (2) medios (high school) would have classes in the mornings and tricero (3) and cuatro (4) medio would have their classes in the afternoon. All their taller classes (workshop) would take place at my school, after the San Mateo students were done for the day. So I guess my students won? 3- Since 9 days of classes were missed due to the toma, we now have to make that up. The original scheduled date to end classes for summer break, for all students that were not seniors/cuatro medio was December 12. Now who knows when the last day is, but it is definitely pushed back a bit. 4-The seniors have to finish on November 18 since that is when the exam that Chilean seniors take. It is the test for University, which is only offered once a year. It is also sad because they apparently test every subject and my students, who are in an institute with specialized fields such as Electronics, Tourism, do not get the general education in all the fields. Therefore they are not as prepared for the test and cannot get into a good University, if they can afford to go to one at all.


Well since my internet was out for about a week, I went to Karen, Ashley, and Amy's place to use the internet and catch up with them. Then Karen and I walked around, went to lunch at a delicious Japanese restaurant, and walked around. This restaurant, Kintaro, is where I met my future roommate Cristian. More to come on him later... 

Yummy rolls that were as fresh as could be!

Then we went to Cafe Literario in Parque Bustamente. It is a cute literary cafe with indoor and outdoor seating, as well as internet and ya know... cafe things. Karen and I got children's books in Spanish and were reading them aloud to each other like story time. It was sad how I didn't know a lot of specific words. Always more to learn.

Chillin outside at Cafe Literario with our Cafe Cortados and Torta chocolate

Thursday and Friday: September 1 & 2
Back to school! and guess what?! Gustavo was not there... he hurt his back playing three games of soccer and could not make it to school. He has a medical license for 15 days and has another 2 weeks off of school. At least that means I get to see Renato again... they ended up hiring a different substitute that could come for the full day since Renato could only come for half a day each day. She's nice and all but I prefer Renato. School was a lot better these two days, maybe because half the kids were missing so I only had about 25-30 students in each class and it was actually manageable again. I finally started feeling like an effective teacher again.


The students were learning how to use "like/need/have/want" as well as "do and don't," which is something that does not exist in the Spanish language. I had them play a "game" where they all sat in a circle and there was one person left standing in the middle. The person in the middle had to say a sentence, "If you have a brother, change seats," then all the people who had a brother had to get up and find another seat. They got to include their vocabulary of events, clothes, colors, and any other English they knew. I would say the majority of the students really enjoyed the game, were really into it, and were 'sad' when it ended. The most memorable ones from that game were: 
1- One of my gay students was trying to call out his boyfriend said, "If you want gay." He meant to say, "If you are gay."
2- Another one of my students had used "if you have two legs...", I decided to use it in another class and it definitely backfired since some of my boys did not get up. When I told them they had to move because they had 2 legs, they replied with "No I don't, I have three..." Man some of my students have dirty minds. Its also amazing that I have had some of the Cuatro medio (seniors) classes four or five times now.... I don't have any senior classes on my schedule--- that's how much I haven't been using my schedule. I don't mind teaching solo, I would just like more advance notice than 3 minutes before class so I can actually prepare, but things are getting better! 


Regina came to Santiago again that Friday night and I made here a nice romantic dinner of pasta with meat, broccoli, onions, red sauce, and beer. Then we got some chocolate alfajores (large cookies covered with manjar) and went to Las Condes to hang out with Nacho and some of his friends. It was just a simple hang out session for his friend's birthday. Maria de la Luz came later that night... we met her at Nacho's asado in Rancagua. She is sooo cute!!! I love her and there is more info to come on her as well!

Yay! Maria!

Saturday: September 3

I do not really remember what we did that day... but I know that Regina and I went back to Marita's (Ronna/me/Karen's favorite spot for lunch next to the hostel). However that place has gotten worse and worse for me and we also had an EXTREMELY creepy waitress who made my skin crawl. Afterwards we went to Cafe Literario and hung out... and that night Reg, me, Karen, and Megan went to Las Condes for Raul's friend's birthday party. Lots of dancing and practicing some Spanish! Good torta tambien. oh man, cake... 

 Reg, me, Karen, and Meg at Raul's house

I came back to the apartment pretty late and my one roommate was still up with her friends. I joined them for a bit and then when the left, she told me about a plane crash that had just happened on Friday. From the conversation that we had (all in Spanish by the way), it was an Air Force plane crash and everyone (21 people died) including an extremely famous TV anchorman Felipe Camiroago (our version of Oprah). The other sad part was that the plane was going to an island to help with the aftermath of last year's earthquake. Many Chileans were really shook up and devastated about this news... similar to how America reacted with Michael Jackson dying, but without the "was he or was he not a pedophile question attached?" My roommate told me all of Chile was crying and there was a big Cathedral mourning in honor of those people.

So before I go into more of a play by play of each day, I will introduce you to some more people in my life... Jorge, Maria, y Cristian. 

Jorge:

He is Christina's (gringa who is the VP at my sister school Alma Mater) future father-in-law. He wants to learn and improve his English (more the pronunciation and listening comprehension) so he can converse with Christina's family and friends for the wedding in March. Also he is going to Germany in the summer and wants to be more proficient in English. Regardless, we meet more or less every weekday and just talk in English for an hour/hour and a half. It is pretty awesome for me since he basically just gives me a Chilean history lesson and tells me about various things and cool tidbits and facts. Its an awesome way to learn more, plus I am earning some money to save so I can go travel in the summer!

Maria:

She, I already mentioned is friends with Nacho and I met her at the asado. At that asado in Rancagua, we had talked about meeting up together to do English/Spanish swap lessons... Whenever I talk to people about doing things like this, they never come through. However, since both Maria and I are SUPER hard to find on facebook, when we were together in Las Condes at Nacho's friend's house, we got each other's contact info. Now we are meeting more or less every day for an hour and half to just talk. We will do one day in English, one day in Spanish.... and then some convos in Spanglish. She is super sweet and patient and just altogether awesome. I am also going to flamenco dance with her one of these days. 

Cristian:

He is the waiter that I met at the Japanese restaurant. He was super attentive, sweet, and just awesome. Man its great meeting all these awesome people. Karen had said that he had been her waiter a bunch of times before. Megan, Laura, and Karen stalk this Japanese restaurant. They went here for Laura and Marissa's birthday and Karen just goes to get her asian food fix. Well anywho, since they had been there a bunch of times, Cristian asked us if we could help him at the end of the meal. He has an apartment with a room for rent and was looking for a foreigner to fill the spot. Since we are obviously foreigners and he knew we were in a teaching program, he asked if we could help find someone and if we were willing to check the place out. Don't worry...a bunch of us have met him and hung out with him... dont get the sketchy vibe from him at all.

So....

Sunday: September 4

Karen and I went to Cristian's apartment and checked it out. After we scouted it all out, the three of us went to lunch and hung out. It is a two bedroom bedroom, 2 bathroom place. So basically each room has its own bathroom. After seeing the place and meeting Cristian, I decided this could be a place that I move into.

San Francisco Pros and Cons list

+ bigger bed

+ rooftop access

+ amazing view of city and mountains

+ more comfortable living situation

+ cheaper (I would take the smaller room with the non-attached bathroom)

+ close to Jorge (about 3 min. walk) for lessons everyday

- somewhat far from metro (15 min. walk)

- no internet in actual apartment/ only in wi-fi area downstairs

Santa Isabel Pros and Cons list

+ closer to Metro (better location)

+ more small shops around

+ somewhat larger common space

+ internet in apartment

- not as friendly roommates

- more expensive

- tiny room

- don't feel that comfortable being at home...

After making this list, and talking to gringas and Chileans both, I decided. I was moving into this place. The only thing really holding me back was the guilt from moving out since I believe there was a miscommunication and my roommates thought I was staying here all year. I was always planning on moving out. I am moving into Cristian's place with no intention to leave until I leave Chile. Things might change, but I am not going into it, knowing that I am looking for another place. Also, I am working on doing things for myself and not getting stuck into situations for the betterment of others... need to do what's best for myself. Also, I am giving them a month's notice and the one roommate hasn't been the most friendly... I think all we've said to each other is "hola, como estas" and "internet es funcionar para ti?" I feel bad for leaving the other one, but gotta do what I gotta do. 

View from Cristian's apartment... right now my view is the apartments next to me

The week was pretty normal, just school, then meeting with Jorge or Maria or both. It was cute, on Wednesday night the gringas wanted me to go out to Miercoles Po, but I was pretty pooped, but they sang me Happy Birthday over the phone. On Thursday, I just had a long day teaching and English department meeting. My students were cute and every class sang happy birthday to me... I felt like a high schooler again getting embarrassed. One group of kids even grouped hugged me (traditional birthday Chilean style) at the end. 

Oh yeah, we have a student teacher that joined us this week as well who will be with us Wed.-Fri. We decided that my "teacher English class" will now be a remedial class for students and I am going to have advanced classes on Monday for my students who are higher and want/need practice talking. I am going to change my school schedule around a bit since I have 4 classes twice a week and ZERO segundo or cuatro medio classes. Pretty nice of me to donate my time for these students... so glad I found out that my passion in life is teaching. If I can help some students while I am here... then that makes me feel so much better. 


The other interesting thing is that the Hannover students asked my school if they could come back... They don't like the new arrangements. All of the students and parents voted. 75% of San Mateo population said "no Hannover... you can't come back." Guess my students did win...

Thursday night, I met with Maria and she bought me a little clip for my birthday. What a sweetheart. Then met up with Megan, Karen and Laura for a late night beer (nice girls treated me!) 

Friday, School, 2 hours of talking to my students in English. It was cute since after an hour, I was like "okayy time to go." and they responded with, "why? I dont have to go anywhere..." all I thought about was "I do, but you guys are sweet" So we stayed longer, I had to push back some of my other plans that day... rushed home, packed my things and went to Las Condes to meet with Maria for some English. Then rushed to the bus terminal to meet Regina since we randomly decided to go to Valpariaso (awesome city by the beach)

We made an impromptu trip there and found our way to a hostel that I found on the bus with my LonelyPlanet book... Casa Aventura. It was a cute homey place and 8 luka (8000 pesos) for the night. It was easy to get to, but not easy to find the street since it was literally a staircase... Valpariaso is so cute with its colorful and European influenced buildings. We got there pretty late, but hey while in Chile, do as the Chileans do. 

   

Outside Hostel

Inside Hostel

We had an awesome dinner and then went out. The place, Mascara, had some funky electronica music going on at first, but was (according to Lonely Planet and our waitress) the bar to go to for dancing. It turned out to be a great night and our hostel beds were really comfortable with its down feather comforters. The hostel was cute to stay in for a short trip, not for an extended stay. Breakfast was nice talking to the owner and to other passerby people. There was AMAZING homemade kiwi jelly and orange/pear jelly. Mmmmmm.

Saturday was beautiful walking around. We walked up Cerro Allegre, but since we were just wandering, I guess went up a dangerous path. As we got closer to the top, a truck kept honking at us. We ignored it since we are used to people honking at us, "yes we know that we are foreign." However the guy was persistent and was really trying to tell us not to walk further since it was dangerous. Other guys were outside their house and told us the same thing. We decided to heed their warnings and turn around. After all we don't want to find out whyy a place is dangerous. It was kinda shady...there was a crate of small cute yet sickly puppies. The sign said that some "bad person" abandoned these puppies, so to please take them home and take care... Regina and I were pretty pooped and didn't do much in the city but walk around. Eh we are in Chile for a year, we will definitely be back. It was sooo gorgeous there!

 Poor Puppies...

We will be back Valpariaso!

Saturday night was fun in Santiago with Regina, Karen, Laura, and Piper. We went back to the bar that I never made it to the night of the GringaFest since there was no cover. There were a lot of foreigners and locals mixed together and a lot of them had paint on their face. I asked the one girl why she had face on her paint and she said it was for a bar crawl that is normally 10.000 pesos, but since she said she liked me... we got in for free! Good night dancing and meeting people! Will definitely have to do it again. Oh yeah and since I didn't see my roommates all week, I wrote them a note Friday saying that we have to talk...that I was moving out. They don't seem to care or want to talk about it... Oh well AWESOME birthday weekend, especially thanks to Regina. I think it was more important to her than me that I had a good birthday. Such a sweetheart... and thanks for all the love back from home! I LOVE YOU!!! Muchos besos y abrazos gigantes!

Sunday, Regina and I went to Cristian's house (my new place) and he made us delicious lo-mein type of lunch and we watched a movie. That definitely reaffirmed the fact that I am making the right choice in moving in. New move in date: September 25th. New address: San Francisco 350/ Departamento 201B/Santiago de Chile

Monday: Normal day of school... It is sooo hard to get out of bed, but the weather is sooooooooo amazing lately... little scared for how hot it will be in the summer though. I had students stay afterschool again just to talk in English... I hope I get more students and now I need to work on creating awesome "not-seemingly" English lessons. No Jorge or Maria today, but met with Kelsey at some cafes so I could finally catch up on this blog. This monstrous blog probably took me about 4 hours... pathetic. That's what procrastination will do to you!

Mi espanol es todavia malo. Pero cada dia, aprendo mas palabras. I still have moments where I am like "wow, my spanish is getting so much better! No asking people to repeat themselves and etc. and other days, I am like wow, I've been here for over a month and its still at this level?" However, everyday conversing is much better, and I have some Chileans saying my Spanish is pretty good, especially all things considering, including people I don't really even know that well.... so just need to keep on trucking! Don't worry mommy, I am hitting my three goals of 1-learning spanish, 2-traveling, 3-working on the craft of teaching!

Things to look forward to:

- Cafe with Dan tomorrow in Calle Estrella

- Korean food with JP on Wednesday

- Chilean Independence Weekend!---and three-day weekend. I hope there are lots of cueca and fondos to go to... we shall see. Maybe I'll ask Cristian if we can have an asado on the roof...

Until next time. Thanks for getting through that all!