its been a long hard day

I started my morning off well. Woke up, showered, and made myself my first real meal in the apartment... an American breakfast. The only thing that would have made this breakfast better would have been some cheese in my eggs or some hot sauce. (Ketchup comes in a bag here Rachel, you could eat it OUT OF THE BAG)

Breakfast of champions: sausage, eggs, toast, kiwi, and tea

I really thought I would be starting my normal schedule since all the teachers were out last week, but alas Karen is still out. They think she might be out for another 11 days (that is how many days you need to miss in order to get a "medical license" so you can still be paid). So today was normal, now my definition of normal is when my classes are crazy--- half the class is interested, but the other half could not care one bit. It would be fine if classes didn't normally have 45 students. Man I miss New Brunswick, it was paradise.

In my last class, to start off, a bunch of them wouldn't come into the classroom when I told them. Way to not respect the little bit of authority that I have and take advantage of the cultural and language differences. Also, one of the students took the teacher book while I was preventing all the other students from leaving the class early, and wrote in some fake grades for another student. I had to tell other teachers because I don't know how to deal with that type of problem. I hope I am not there alone again. Sadly, one of the other teachers told me that this class is so sweet. There were a ton that wanted to learn, but a few crazy ones that I had to stay on top of. Isn't it sad that some people can ruin a good thing for others? I am so mentally exhausted from days like today, and they are the majority for me around here. :( I am going to stay afterschool on Mondays to see if any students want to have more intimate, small lessons with me. It'll be volunteer based so I'll know they are motivated. I also had my third straight week of not having any teachers for the Elementary English lesson. They don't know it exists, Karen was supposed to tell them, but she hasn't been here for 2 weeks now.

I then went to go sign up for the gym after work since I feel like a blob. The woman who speaks English wasn't there and they insisted that I come back at seven to see her. I went to visit the hostel and got an empanada along the way. When I got back to the gym, everyone was gone. Is this the world telling me to get fat and not work out? Everyone already knows I do not like to go to the gym...

Also, random sidenote, but I thought of it since there is a business card on my nightstand. When Regina and I were at dinner on Saturday, a guy sat at a table next to us and then started speaking to us in English. He was very nice and at the end gave us his business card and told us to call him for anything, directions, to practice Spanish so he could practice English, etc. I am still not sure what to make of Chilean people. I hear they are super sweet and generous to foreigners, not so much to their own kind. Someone told me how his friend puts on a spanish (from Spain) accent if he needs directions, since otherwise the Chileans won't help me. I have heard so many stories from friends here who always speak of the generosity of Chileans. I haven't seen it so much... maybe its just me or my idea of generosity and kindness differ. I don't know. I am not sure if I just love the experience of being independent, living alone, exploring a new country and language, or if I love Chile. I am feeling a bit cynical right now, hopefully its just a combination of the novelty wearing off and a bit of homesickness. Don't worry, I still love this! But whatever this funk is, I think its mostly school related. I hope things get a bit better schoolwise. I miss you all!