Friday I didn't have school since my loverly students took over again. They all took a vote while we were in school on Wednesday to see what they should do. I saw them all taking the vote but had no idea what it was for, they tried to tell me but I was extremely confused having 10 of them talk to me at once in rapid spanish. Now I know "tomar" means to take. And if I remember correctly, then on Thursday the Hannover students all joined up again in the courtyard and stormed out of the school so they could participate in the march over the national issue. To make it clear, when my students take over the school, it is for a very different issue than the national free university education protests. My students basically want the Hannover students out of their school. The school was planning on having class cancelled on Friday so all of the students could participate in a Hannover/San Mateo get along together activity. Instead the students took over the school, so no get together /bonding activity.
So anywho. I got a loverly phone call from Carolina on Friday morning saying that I didn't have school and unless I wanted to stand in the parking lot all day, I should stay at home. I much rather not stand in the cold all day and not get paid then stand there for hours in the freezing. I think that is why I am sick now: on Thursday the administration cancelled the last block of classes so teachers could prep for the day of fun for Hannover and San Mateo, so the students got to leave. We had our English Department meeting, but even though we started an hour and a half earlier, we still had to stay all the way until 5:30. Carolina and I felt pretty useless since there wasn't much we could do to input test grades and data. So instead we talked about the differences in American/Chilean/and Korean culture and went of facebook. I think I am going to default carry around cards or something.
Okay so back to Friday. I got to sleep in a little and then lollygagged around, tidy up, and pack up to go to Rancagua where I would be spending the loverly weekend there with Regina in her new apartment. I got to the station by Metro U. de Santiago and got on a bus. However while waiting for the metro, someone asked me for directions in Spanish and I had to answer in Spanish! Small milestones each day! Back to the bus, I got on the one that said Rancagua (Estacion O'Higgins) It only cost a mil and I told the man I was heading to Rancagua. I took a nice little nap since I was still feeling sicky, and because I figured I would have no troubles getting to my destination, I had been on buses plenty of times in the U.S. and Regina had told me it was super easy and that it is the last stop on the bus and takes about an hour and fifteen. Also there is a man whose job is just to collect money and inform people when their stops are coming up.
I wake up about an hour and half into our drive thinking, yeah I need to get off soon, this is taking longer than I thought. "Hmmm I wonder how far we are... wow it doesn't look like we are stopping soon...there are a lot of new people on this bus." I also am no longer seeing road signs that state how many kilometers we are away from Rancagua, now the signs are saying how far they are from Talca. I take out my handy dandy travel guide and Talca looks pretty far south. I go to the front of the bus and say. "Disculpame" (Excuse me). The man whose job it is to get people off the bus just stares at me, opens his eyes widely, and shakes his head. He knows he messed up. I continue to say "Estaba dormiendo y necesito ir al Rancagua." (I was sleeping and I need to go to Rancagua. He just looks back and says "mierda" (shit). The driver asks what's going on and the man tells him. The driver then stares at me and says "Rancagua?! Mierda!" We went all the way to Curico and then they put me on a bus back to Rancagua free of charge. So I left around 2:40 to get to Rancagua around 4. I got to Rancagua at 7. Poor Regina was running around Rancagua at different terminals trying to wait for me. I also was dropped off at the side of the highway in Rancagua. So shady!Regina got me safely and we went back to her apartment. She had to lend me a 1.000 pesos since the cab ride was 2.500 pesos and I only had 1.500 and some change on me. I hadn't eaten anything all day and so we had to go eat something or else I probably would have eaten my foot. We got a pretty pricey meal for not that much and pregamed at her house. Regina lives with a guy named Sam from New Mexico (he has been in entries before). Its a one bedroom place so Regina has a full size bed in the bedroom and Sam has a bed/futon in the living room. They have an amazing view of the city and mountains. So we drank some piscolas and went out. Regina's co-worker's son, Nacho (short for Ignacio) also went out with us. He was kind enough to drive. It is his birthday on Tuesday and Sam's birthday is today (Monday), same as my daddy's!
Regina, Sam, and me on Sam's bed!
We went out at like 12, which is really early for Chileans and just danced. Remember in Chile, a discoteca is a dance club. A night club (which is a dance club in the states) is considered a strip club. Don't confuse that if you go out here. Well we went back home and slept. In the morning, Regina and I got some groceries and Sam made us eggs, bacon and toast. Regina paid, Sam cooked, I cleaned. Pretty sweet deal. We then walked around the city in the center of town and just checked out the street vendors and enjoyed the weather. Rancagua is pretty commercial, at least more so than Santiago. There was some awesome live music going on and just a lot of families and people out. Rancagua has got some cute babies! Regina and I then went to the mall to look for some odds and ends around the house and then ended up taking a nap.
Me and Regina with delicious chocolate and nutty ice cream in the center of Rancagua
(sorry mommy, had to try my first delicious ice cream)
We took a short hour nap and then we went to Nacho's house since his parents were throwing him an asado for his birthday. The house was really beautiful and his parents and family were SOOOO nice! I am jealous that Regina gets to work with Nacho's mom. She is really sweet and wonderful. They gave us these potato things and bread with warm cheese for an appetizer. Then we had barbequed meat, potatoes, corn, salsa, salad, and basically everything delicious. We also had as much beer, wine, and pisco that you could want. A bunch of Nacho's friends were there and it was great speaking Spanish/Spanglish/English with everyone. Everyone was extremely nice and fun to hang out with! A lot of them are a bit upper class so their level of English is pretty high. It was great for me to meet all these people since the majority were just in Rancagua for Nacho's birthday and they live in Santiago (Nacho included) Hopefully I will keep in touch with a few and we can do Spanish/English exchanges over coffee and such.
Everyone inhaling their asado food (my camera is terrible, I have no eyes)
After eating we just had an amazing time dancing and talking with everyone! Its so fun to dance with people who can actually dance with some structure. Fantastic night!!! Sam made an awesome video of the weekend by putting together photos with music (Check it out on facebook). The following morning, Regina and I got some empanadas and walked around. Then I packed up my stuff and we went to a shopping plaza. I accompanied Regina while she did errands. It is really nice to have her on the weekends, someone who knows what I am also going through and someone that I can totally be myself around. I left for Santiago kind of late around 9 and was super paranoid about getting to Santiago. I watched carefully, and got even more paranoid as my phone clock moved forward an hour. I had no idea it was Daylight Savings Day.
When I arrived in Santiago the metros were closed so I had to take my very first Micro (local buses in Santiago) to my house. I successfully accomplished that and went to bed. Today (Monday) I woke up feeling like crap! My head was pounding, my body ached, and my nose...you couldn't breathe through my nose. Luckily Carolina called me saying that the students stayed in the school over the entire weekend and that they were meeting with the school owners today. She had warned me about this last night and told me she would call. I'm glad someone at school has got my back. Well so this Monday was spent in bed and I got some organizing and laundry done. I also met with Christina's future father in law. He wants English lessons, so that's what I will be doing everyday for an hour. He lives about a 15 minute walk away from me so yay! This will also be good for some extra cash since if I have cash on me, it disappears. Apparantly I can last a school week with spending only 1.500 pesos and can take a 4.5 hour bus ride for 1 mil, but within 2 days with Regina, I spend quite the many pennies.
Hopefully the weather will be getting better and I won't be sick. I have quite the weekend planned: Saturday: build temporary low-income houses with Nacho, Saturday night: Lucian's going away party, and Sunday: skiing! I better be healthy for all of this, which means lots of rest this week. I love that if it warm the Andes are super green and lush. But if it is cold, the mountains are like pure white...
The Andes Mountains from my metro stop on Friday
And most importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY AND DADDY! It was my mommy's birthday on Sunday and my daddy's 60th birthday on Monday. I hope you are having a wonderful time and you are always in my thoughts! Thank you so much for all that you do! I would never be who I am or where I am now without your love and support. I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!! :)
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