nothing of substance...just an update.

I have been waiting to figure out my space-issues on my macbook before writing another update. I have so many awesome pictures that I want to upload, but I can't even get them onto my computer! I have 808 MB of space left on my hard drive... :(

So I have started the backing up and deleting process which is really hard for me because I like to have several copies of all my pictures stored in different locations! I also like having my pictures in iphoto for viewing & reminiscing purposes.

Ok sorry. That was really boring.

A couple of weeks ago I moved into my new apartment- and it's made all the difference! I barely take the metro or busses anymore... and when I do have to take the metro it's a 5 minute walk to the "Los Leones" stop. It's on the red line which runs through the neighborhoods that I usually go to...so I conveniently never have to switch lines. The main downside to the apartment is that there is no dryer...and as it is winter here...my clothes have been drying on the terrace for about 4 days now. I am sock-less.

I was able to do a little more traveling this last month! I went to Quisco, Chile (a costal town not far from Santiago) with Jorge and his friends. 9 or so of us stayed in Pablo's family cottage in Quisco for a long weekend in May. It was really great to be included on the trip...we went to Pablo's regatta, had an asado, went down to the beach (it was REALLY cold though!). The whole thing made me miss my friends a lot and I mayyyy have felt homesick for the first time. Being with a group of friends who have known each other a long time is hard enough, add that to the fact that they were speaking another language. That aside, it was a really fun weekend and it's always great to see another part of the country!

Last weekend (June 5th) I went to BUENOS AIRES! Celine (my friend from Duoc) and her roommate, Sonia (a Spanish girl studying here) and I couch-surfed and ended up staying with a really nice guy named Santiago and his brother Frederico. More on that later...that post will require A LOT of photos because B.A is incredible!

I just got back from the U.S vs. England soccer game. Luckily, I like soccer...because this country has gone totally loco. Life is pretty much going to be on pause here whenever Chile plays! For example, my campus has sent up a black tent in the middle of the patio that has a big screen so the kids can see the games...and NOT COME TO CLASS. Real smart. Those students who aren't failing already probably will this month.

That's pretty much it for now.

Hopefully I'll have a Buenos Aires post up soon!

...on moving & street spanish & more

I need to do posts more regularly. I feel overwhelmed that it's already halfway through the month. Anyways, the big news is that I am moving to Providencia (the neighborhood where my work is located) in 2 weeks! Katie and I found a place walking distance to both our jobs and most of our friends- we will be sharing a big apartment with two Chileans, Leonardo & Loreto. Leonardo owns the apartment. He's 27 and has just recently finished his degree in law. I haven't met Loreto yet- Katie moved in on Friday and seems to be hitting it off with the new roommates. I'm really exciting to get out of Nuñoa; it's been great living with María Victoria and Isaias, but the location is a pain. There isn't enough public transportation around this neighborhood and I am spending WAY too much on taxis. Also, with this new place I will feel more comfortable having people over (as I am currently in more of a "host-family" situation)...I have missed being able to cook for my friends!

I've only been here a couple months (feels like longer, right?) and I'm settling into a rhythm here. Every Monday afternoon I teach a private class to my friend Celine's land-lady's boyfriend. It was really random, but it's going really well. His name is Fernando and he's a great student because he is such an eager learner. I get paid 15,000 pesos for an hour and a half ($30). It's outrageous, but that's less than the going rate for private English classes!

I've been making more friends and I'm happy to report that I am speaking more and more Spanish everyday. I should be fluent by 2015 now. I've been meeting more of my Chilean colleagues at Duoc...one in particular has taken a liking to me. Pamela is her name and I'm pretty sure she wants to adopt me. She always finds other teachers to give me a ride home and she wants to have me over for lunch and to watch American movies with her and her family. Things at Duoc are normalizing. I feel like an official teacher now because they finally gave us passwords to enter "blackboard" (the site where we manage our classes, post homework, send emails...etc). I am still enjoying classes and even my most shy students are warming up to me. We have a lot of fun, it's bordering on the edge of rowdiness, but fun...nonetheless.

I was given a book on "chilean street spanish" which I hope to put into full affect someday with my students and blow them out of the water. It's called "Chileno Callejero" by Emilio Rivano Fischer and it offers a complete guide in utilizing chilean slang & sayings. It gives you scenario/conversation and then breaks it down phrase by phrase. Chileans don't speak the kind of spanish that they teach you in school. My only advantage is from my experience in Seville because the accent is very similar. Yes, not only do they speak slang and use words that are unrecognizable even by other hispanohablantes (spanish-speakers) but they have an accent too. It far exceeds "wicked" and "pahk the cah in hahvahd yahd".

Here's your Chilean lesson for the day:

'ta güena, hue'ón! = está buena, hombre (in "normal" Spanish) = it's all good, man!

....more on this later. it's FASCINATING.

Aaaaand here's the part where I just post pictures of food and offer elaborate descriptions of what I have been eating. hah.

After it rains there is excellent visibility of the Cordillera.

Usually you can hardly make out the mountains because of the

smog in the city.

This is a Fried Empanada de carne (beef) at the Fuente Suiza.

So. Good.

breakfast of Mote con Huesillo! (A traditional Chilean beverage)

Google it.

A Ceviché sampler tower! We ordered this at

a Peruvian restaurant in Barrio Brasil when we

went out to celebrate Celine's birthday. Ceviché is

typically raw fish marinated in lime juice with spices.

This was a little excessive. :)

Valparaíso & Viña del Mar!

The first weekend in May I went to Valparaíso & Viña del Mar. These are two important coastal cities not too far from Santiago; Valpo is a main port declared "World Heritage" by UNESCOand Viña is a main touristic destination in Chile. Enjoy the photos!

A view of Valparaíso from Viña

Exploring "los cerros" (hills) de Valparaíso.

Downtown Valparaíso.

Valpo from one of it's cerros.

skinny house.

After taking this picture I noticed a sign: "no photos, please."

These are tracks of the "funicular" (elevator) that you can ride to get to the top of the cerros.

They are very old and unique to Valpo.

Valparaíso ART

In Valparaíso there is A TON of graffiti. This might be the only place in the world where the graffiti doesn't take away from it's beauty and history but actually adds to it. In a city where every house is painted a different brillant color than the one next door...the graffiti only acts as a compliment and is another expression of the Valpo's creative spirit.

Reñaca, Con Con and a little Valpo

Reñaca a beach/resort area.

Beach front apartments: Tsunami/earthquake tested & approved!

View from the restaurant Bella Mar in Con Con.

"Locos"- I'm still not sure what they are, but I ate them anyways.

shark soup. just kidding.

The dunes of Con Con.

The decorations of Jota Cruz (restaurant). Looks more like a serial killers abode circa 1979.

Eating Chorillana at Jota Cruz: the place where it was first created!

palomas.

Volver

When am I coming back?

Do I need to have an end date for my experience here? My whole life has been determined by periods of time up until now.

Grade school. Move to and from Texas. I can't wait to be in Middle School. I can't wait to be a high schooler. Summer vacations. Athletic seasons. I can't wait to graduate from high school. College semesters. Study abroad in Spain. Winter breaks. Biding time until Chile.

Everything I did during or in between those times had a limit. For the first time in my life I'm not constrained by these time frames anymore! As a teacher, yes, I follow semesters. But they do not dictate or control my time or experience here in Chile. Time isn't running out for once, nor am I waiting for it to pass by quickly. The only thing that will run out is my visa, and that can be dealt with.

All of this puts a new spin on something my friend Alyssa wrote: Take charge of your minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years. Do not let them pass you by as you keep your head down while walking down the street. Look time in the eye, and watch life become a technicolor miracle.

When am I coming back to the states? I get to decide that. Not time.

So we'll see.

Your Spring is My Fall

Best people in Santiago! Jorge, Cris & Marcelo.

Inside La Catedral de Santiago.

Street art in La Plaza de Armas.

Celine after discovering a nearby fruit/veggie market!

Laden with kilos of strawberries and avocados.

Lovin' the Churrasco.

In front of El Palacio La Moneda

Again, the famed Churrasco.

In the foyer of el Museo Bellas Artes.

April came and is almost gone! It's getting chillier here in Santiago...sweatshirts and even coats are a necessity at night. It's so strange to think about everyone back home getting excited about wearing flip flops and going to Rice beach while I'm here wondering when my window will be fixed so it will actually shut. My room is FREEZING! Anyways, during the day it's a perfect 75 degrees, so I can't complain yet. I even prefer cooler days and am fine with forfeiting hot and humid 4th floor classrooms at Duoc.

TOURISM.

April has been an amazing month! (Hence the lack of blog posts...) I've made a few friends and have been able to do some sightseeing on weekdays before work. A couple weeks ago I went to the Bellas Art Museum. It's a gorgeous building in a part of the city that I hadn't been to yet. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see because the exhibits were not ready. We were able to see a sampling of Chilean art (old and modern) and then take a quick walk up Cerro Santa Lucía (a historic park on a hill in the middle of the Bellas Artes neighborhood).Last week my friend Jorge took me to "el centro". I had been confused about what was ACTUALLY the "center" of Santiago...to me, Santiago is a big city, and it seemed like many locations could be considered the downtown area. Turns out the true "centro" is around "The Plaza de Armas" (which makes sense now that I think about it!). There we visited La Catedral de Santiago and "La Moneda" (the Chilean version of the White House) and the museum attached with La Moneda (Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda) which was having an exhibit on ancient China and the "Terra cotta Army" (more than 100 statues that were excavated dating back to 212 B.C!).

WORK.

As I've told many of you already, I am liking teaching a lot! I knew I liked teaching ESL from my experience in Spain...but I was unsure of how it would go as a full time English teacher. Unexpectedly, I enjoy it a lot! There are some difficulties with the boss and with some inattentive students, but all in all it is pretty fun! Three of my 5 classes are really fun- the students are great and I'm pretty sure that they like the class. They all call me "Miss" (pronounced "meeeees") and "Profe". One class (my smallest beginner class- 8 girls, 3 boys) has gotten into the habit of kissing me on the cheek before and after class. I'm not sure if it's appropriate but I'm gonna go with it until I know otherwise. It's the norm here to kiss on one side of the cheek (I mean, it's not even a kiss...your cheeks hit and you really just kiss air). In Spain it was a double kiss, right cheek first then left cheek. Thank God I got out of that habit in the last couple years...could have been weird here. Anyways, their second written quizzes are coming up this week and I'm nervous for them. It's a difficult subject and as it is not their major...I'm sure they are more concerned with their other classes. English isn't a study priority. The thing I enjoy most is reading their responses to the questions. Many of them don't talk in class, but when forced to be creative and fill in an answer I get the wildest responses! I don't even want to know where they picked up some of the words they used. My favorite responses include:

"My mother used to washed me in the toilet."

"Michael Jackson used to be a black boy."

"My mother used to love me but now she loves me more." hahahaha

and of course...

"My favorite class at Duoc is English because it is so funny." :)

FOOD.

I have been surviving mostly on palta (avocado), hallulla (the most popular kind of bread), and eggs. At first I found the food here to be kind of boring...but I am slowly finding things that I like. Either that, or my tastebuds are becoming accustomed to Chilean cuisine and aren't missing Siam Delight or atomic lattes quite as much. That's right, I am STILL drinking nescafe.

Anyways, what they do have here in Chile are EMPANADAS and CHURRASCO. Empanadas can be baked or fried (way better baked)...they are like a doughy hot pocket filled with chicken, beef, cheese, seafood...whatever you want. They are yummy. Churrasco Italiano might be the very reason I stay in Chile. It's the national sandwich. Thin sliced beef (tastes like corned beef-very salty) with tomatoes, mashed avocado, mayo in delicious bread. You can find it anywhere, anytime, and it's cheap. After visiting La Moneda we stopped at a place that was like the fast food churrasco mecca. Everyone was standing up and a waiter came and took our order and yelled it to the kitchen (which was completely exposed). Five minutes later...BAM. Sandwich. The next place I need to hit up I first saw on "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations" travel show on Chile. It's called "Fuente Alemana"; a place similar to the one I went to...but the sandwiches are triple in size and for sharing. Lastly, along the lines of the Churrasco is a sandwich called an "as". Last night we ate them at a place in Bellavista (at 4 a.m after karaoke), only this shack of a restaurant spelled it "ass". In this case, the "ass" was like a steak bomb but without the cheese and add diced tomatoes, guac, garlic mayo, and green chili salsa. SO GOOD.

maybe I should just turn this blog into a food review site?