Busy Busy Busy

But I'll leave you with a cool cover I've been listening to...

Hopefully that video embedded properly... Back to work for me!

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Rough Week

Hi Guys,

Sorry for posting so sporadically lately. I haven't been having the best week and I wasn't sure that writing about it would interest anyone/be worth my time but in the end I think it'll feel good to organize my thoughts on here... Hopefully it's not too scary? Ha! The week started off poorly as it is back to work after a week-long holiday. Always terrible in my opinion. I find it to be so crushing to go back to reality. So I started my week in a less-than-happy mood. I told myself to get over it and move on. But Monday was rough. My classes felt disorganized and I felt sort of down about myself professionally.

Professionally speaking, Tuesday was worse. I had a student actually tell me that he thought my class wasn't well-structured (do I hyphenate that?). He implied that he did not enjoy the class and I got the distinct impression that he does not have confidence in me as a teacher. This was a big blow to my confidence. You see I enjoy my job, but I was essentially thrown into the deep end in terms of figuring out this whole teaching thing. And to make matters worse I was given two intermediate level classes and my company does not have a set curriculum for this level. I don't understand it at all... we have fully designed curriculums for Basic levels 1 and 2, Pre-Intermediate, and Advanced but no Intermediate. The problem is I can plan a lesson but I've quickly learned that planning a class is much harder. Especially because I'm not totally sure about what I need to achieve with the students in these classes.

I decided at first to follow the book and then add in fun activities. I quickly realized that the book was far too easy for my students and I'd have to figure out a better way to teach them. I think my student was also annoyed that we've been reviewing so much material. He said "I knows this". Do you? Do you "knows" this? Well sir, I've been speaking this language my entire life and I don't even know babies that would say "I knows this". OK, so I'm being harsh, but it was frustrating to be criticized and told I was subpar. I think the worst part, however, is that to a large extent he's right. I'm not prepared for this job and and it's valid to say that the organization of the class is off in that I don't know how to design a full curriculum. I have no intention of continuing in this career path. My aim was to travel and see South America, but this internal battle (desire to succeed v. the fact that this isn't a career I intend to pursue) is killing me a bit. Today I've felt like throwing in the towel, but I also can't stand the idea of quitting. So lame... or as Chileans would say que fome.

So today I've spent my day attempting to design a curriculum but I seem to have come down with some sort of sickness. I don't know what I've got but my throat is killing me, my head is pounding, and that part of your neck that people who are always getting sick always touch and say "I'm sick, I feel my ______ getting larger" hurt. I've been going between freakishly hot and cold all day. At first I thought I was sore from going running (everyday for the last week! WOOP!) but then I realized said soreness has spread through my entire body. YIKES! So basically not only my brain but my body as well aren't functioning properly.

I really just don't want to go to work anymore and I'm a bit panicked about this whole lesson plan situation. I'm sure it will get better, but I'll have to put in some serious work. I'll keep you guys posted, I just hope my mood improves soon!

OK well, internet, I'm terribly sorry for the less-than-happy mood in this post and I hope your week has been better than mine. Enjoy your lives around the world, little readers.

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P.S. Lack of pictures=LAME. So here are some pics I took on Sunday when I was woken up by a religious procession of sorts in the park across the street.

The procession.

Complete with traditional dancers.

And the loudest band EVER. I think they played the same four notes for like 2 hours. 

The virgin of honor (I think they were honoring a Virgin... they usually are).

OK, that's all folks!

La Playa

As promised... here's my post on my recent beach trip! Woop! It was QUITE the experience. On Thursday morning M and I randomly decided that we absolutely needed to get out of Santiago. We decided we would go to the beach. As we were getting ready to leave C saw us and asked where we were going. Soon enough we were all going to the beach. We got to the bus station and we randomly decided to go to El Quisco, a beach that's about an hour and a half west of Santiago. The coach bus was SUPER nice. Coach buses seem to be the chosen mode of transportation here and I see why. They are great! I digress. Once we arrived at the beach town we got some delicious sea food. I got a huge steaming pile of basically every type of shellfish imaginable, which was great. M went for steak, and C went for a crab dish.

While we were eating we realized we needed to figure out where would stay (as I said, this was a very impromptu trip). We asked our waiter and he brought us a the information for a cabaña that we could stay in. We called the number and were told we could rent a cottage with a kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping space for 3 for $36 (USD). It sounded pretty great so we set off to find our beach abode. Little did we know we would basically have to climb Mount Everest to get there... and when we finally did get there we were met with an interesting little structure. When I say interesting I mean scary. The ceiling in the bedroom was made of styrofoam and there were ominous holes in the ceilings. Being total gringos, M and I were weary of this lodging option but C, a true Chilean, said it was fine. We trusted her judgement and took the cottage for the night.

Once we had a place to leave our things (place=weird cottage) we went back down to the beach with some Chilean beers to watch the sunset. It reminded me of a night on the beach in northern California (like Mendocino). Super beautiful but also freakishly cold. I thought I was going to turn into a popsicle! We then met up with the lovely K for some drinks. K was staying with the family she works for at the next beach over and she was able to get away for the night to hang out with us. We eventually went back to our cabin/cottage/cabaña/house from a scary movie where we began to settle in for bed. It was FREEZING and no one wanted to sleep on the small bed alone for fear of spiders and other potentially scary things that lurked in the dark corners. This mean that we all slept in the queen sized bed. The mattress was curved and the blankets had some stains that were not exactly comforting. K pointed to one stain in particular that she "hoped was baby food." I think you get the idea... Yikes! Despite the scary atmosphere and weird stains we had a blast. We slept like a can of sardines and we were actually quite warm (I even had to take off my sweatshirt in the middle of the night!).

Overall it was a super fun trip. Definitely a bit different, and if I'd walked into a cottage in the states that looked like that there's no way I would've stayed for the night, but when in Rome... or El Quisco... A little adventure never hurt anyone! I'll be back with more posts soon internet... in the mean time enjoy the pics form my trip!

Pullman Bus... super classy transportation! 

My lunch.

My lunch and I... Excuse weird face and wild hair!

The beach!

Kind of blurry pic of me on the beach... and C in the background.

M and C being all cute.

The beach when it got dark and COLD.

Scary hole in ceiling (1 of 2).

Styrofoam ceiling in the bedroom.

M, K, C, and I all slept in the bed with the blue sheets haha! It was a bit tight.

A cute puppy at the bus station.

As a good liberal arts educated girl I would like to put in a small disclaimer... I realize my aversion to our sleeping arrangement may seem incredibly culturally insensitive and frankly rude. I fully acknowledge that K, M, and I were being total gringas about the whole thing (I mean we did sleep in it, but we also complained a bit). I am just trying to be as honest as possible and explain my actual reaction to the situation. I am fully aware that many Chileans live in worse conditions all year round. I am merely unaccustomed to this way of life. We ended up having a blast so clearly our discomfort was unnecessary.

OK well that's all for now internet. Until we meet again!

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A Day at the Fonda (AKA a Chilean County Fair)

Hello hello!

I hope the universe has been treating you well this week. Usually Fridays are super great, but today Friday marks the end of a nice long week off... back to the real world on Monday. Ew. As I mentioned in my last post, Chileans had time off this week in order to celebrate Fiestas Patrias (or Independence Day). The classic means of celebration= Terremotos (strong drink)+Meat skewers+ Empanadas+ A crazy carnival+ Dancing Cueca. It's all a bit intense, but fun. Most of the comunas in Santiago host their own fonda in which the elements of the above equation are bundled into a fair-like situation. I went to the Providencia fonda (my local fonda) with an eclectic group of people (one Chilean, one other American, one Brit, and two Germans). We ate loads of good food (which I did not get any pictures of... boooo) and watched the dancing. It was perfectly pleasant, although, if I'm being totally honest, the holiday was a bit hyped up. I think Chileans get excited for the holiday because they get time off, spend time with family and friends, and celebrate their culture. To me, it just seemed like a bit of a crowded fair, and I kept looking for whatever it was that made the day so exciting. To be clear, I certainly enjoyed myself, but the hype was definitely a bit intense!

Anyways as usual I've babbled on and on about virtually nothing so I'll let you take a peak at my Dieciocho experience!

Overall it was a nice day with good company... and of course good food :) Stay tuned because I also managed to make it to the beach so I'll be posting my pictures from that trip soon! In the mean time enjoy your Friday evening! 

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Fiestas Patrias

Hello World!

Excuse my absence. Life has been a bit hectic for a number of boring reasons which I will not bother you with. Today, however, is Chilean independence day! Woohoo! It's a big holiday and people go pretty crazy with the festivities. There are Chilean flags EVERYWHERE and you are required by law to put up a Chilean flag on your house (kind of intense, right?). Anyhooooo, I'm going to go to a fonda, which, as far as I can tell, is essentially a carnival/fair type thing with tons of beer and empanadas. Should be good! I'm putting my blogging hat on and will take loads of pictures to share with you all. Hope everyone is having a lovely Wednesday!

Image from here.

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Bar The Clinic

Hello!

I've been sitting in bed since I woke up... Sundays are so nice! The last few days have been pretty good for me. Friday night I went out with coworkers, which turned into a night of karaoke and scarily strong Brazilian cocktails. Saturday was a very relaxed day. M was supposed to go to Mendoza (Argentina) for the night but her plans fell through so we went shopping (a big failure... all of the stores were closed weirdly early) and then we went to Barrio Lastarria. It was a nice day.

Last night I went to The Clinic with with friends. My friend's brother was in town so we decided to take him out. The Clinic is a political satire bar. Everything in the bar is a reference to the Pinochet dictatorship. The name of the bar is a reference to where Pinochet was arrested in London. They make a mean terremoto (a classic Chilean drink), and pretty yummy chorillana (class Chilean dish). Everywhere you look you see jokes about the dictatorship, even the menu makes fun of Pinochet. Anyways I'll stop rambling on and you can see the pics from last night...

Now this isn't actually the cool part of the menu... but I liked the symbol on the back. It's entirely possible that the seel has some meaning, but I don't know what it is. 

There are quotes written all over the walls. This one is hard to read but it says "sabia usted que la derecha chilena sufre de mala memoria y la izquierda de mala recuerdos" which means "did you know that the Chilean right suffers from bad memory and the left from bad memories?" It's a reference to the right's refusal to acknowledge the desaparecidos, and the torture and fear experienced by the left under Pinochet.

A terremoto! It's a crazy Chilean drink. Terremoto means earthquake in Spanish so it makes sense that their drink would be called a terremoto. It's pretty insane. It's a mix of grenadine, pisco, and pineapple ice cream. It's yummy, but also very bizarre. And most importantly it's strong!

We ordered a chorillana for the table. I think I've talked about Chorillana before on the blog but it's basically a drunk person's dream. Fries, egg, onion, meat. This one came in a quasi sandwich. It was pretty delicious.

Vanity shot of the chorillana.

M and I. 

Not the best picture of me... but M and C look cute so I thought I'd include it!

M and I spent a large portion of time taking pictures like the girls M lives with. They are lovely French girls, but I can't help but laugh whenever they take pictures. They immediately suck in their cheeks and make duck lips. Haha.

I think I got down the duck lip face... agree?

So that was my night/weekend. I'm still not totally sure of my plans for the next week (dieciocho festivities) but I know that I want to get out of Santiago for a few days so hopefully I can do some travel posts! Until next time, internet!

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Choppin the Loxxx

Hello World,

How is your Thursday going? Mine has been quite all right. I normally work until 8 or so on Thursdays but today two of my classes were canceled so I've had the afternoon free. I'm pretty much on vacation mode now because next week is the 18th which is Chile's independence day. It's supposed to be a week of partying. I only have one class to teach so I'll hopefully get up to some fun things.

In preparation for these festivities I thought my hair needed a bit of a pick-me-up. I was very apprehensive about getting my hair done in Chile. I have gringa hair by Chilean standards, but by gringa standards I have insane hair. Super thick, super curly, and very fine strands. I've gotten my hair routine down in the states but I was a bit freaked out about the idea of getting my hair cut in a country where women have two distinct layers of hair and men have mullets. I was also terrified that my request (which was a very small trim, just take off the dead ends) would be lost in translation and I'd walk out like one of these guys... ah!

So I bit the bullet and communicated to the best of my abilities that I just wanted a short trim and I think it worked out OK...

In the process... and looking very much like a vampire. Oops. The salon used Moroccan hair oil, which is always a plus in my book! I think you can see the wonderfulness of said hair oil in the shimmery results...

The final product... no more split ends!

And last but not least, a completely unrelated pic of the latte my student made me this morning... DELICIOUS.

So overall it's been a nice day and it's not over yet. I am going to meet M and K for drinks later, which should be fun! Have a nice night, people!

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P.S. A small update on the happenings of 9/11 in Chile... The only real action I saw was a caravan of 8 carabinero (police) buses with their sirens on. M saw a bunch of desks on fire outside of a school. The real problems, however, were in the outer comunas. I teach a class in Renca (as I've mentioned before Renca is a very bad neighborhood) and my student there (the one who made me the coffee above) said they had some pretty serious problems. The riots there caused power outages which is bad because my student runs a paper recycling plant. Due to the power outages the plant could not process paper over night. This means that tons of loose paper was hanging around and could easily catch on fire. Everything was Ok, but my student was understandably stressed out! So there's the update... ish!

September 11 Update

So far things seem to be fine. Perhaps all of the hype is just a typical Chilean over-exaggeration? The day is not over yet. We shall see.

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A Different Take

Stateside September 11th is a sad day of remembrance. It's a sad day of remembrance in Chile as well, but it has a different sentiment here. Forty years ago today Agusto Pinochet came into power in what Chileans call the Golpe del Estado. Pinochet ruled from 1973 to 1990. During that time thousands of people mysteriously disappeared (the desaparecidos) and many were tortured. Every year since 1973 people protest on September 11. Since Pinochet left office the protests have continued. People want justice for the desaparecidos. While many treat the 11th as a day to remember those lost to the Pinochet regime, others take a more violent approach. I have been talking to as many Chileans as possible to understand why the protests become so violent. I know I cannot begin to understand the pain of losing family members to a dictatorship, but I am still confused about this phenomenon. It seems so weird to me that once per year each year everyone gets violent and crazy and then it subsides without achieving any change.

Anyways, despite my confusion about the reason for the violence (to be clear: I'm confused about the violent nature of the protests, not the fact that there are protests) I know that I'm supposed to expect violence today. Now I don't know how crazy it will actually be. This is the 40th anniversary of the day Pinochet came into power so people are eager to commemorate the day. One rumor is that people plan to set 40 buses on fire. Another is that all of the power will go out (this apparently happens every year). Yesterday I was taking the metro home around 8pm--the same time I always ride the metro on Tuesdays--and it was crazy. Basically everyone in Santiago was frantically trying to get home. I've never seen so many people on the metro at that hour. I had to wait for 4 trains to pass before I could get into one. One man couldn't get in and angrily punched the door of the train and ran off. People were totally panicking! I was with another gringo and we were large enough to push our way onto a car, but it was pretty insane.

Last night my two Chilean roommates decided to make a sign that we will hang in our window tonight. I kind of helped (but mostly just sat on the floor and watched them). The sign says "¿dónde están?" which means "where are they?" It's a reference to the desaparecidos.

I don't know what's coming today but I will keep you guys updated.

It somehow makes me sad that people are so violent on this day when at home it's such a sad day of loss. It feels wrong to me, as an American, to be violent on the anniversary of the death of so many innocent Americans. Of course the violence here is prompted by similar feelings to those felt in the states. I suppose it's just a consequence of living abroad.

Cuidense.

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Sunday

Hola!

Between skiing on Saturday and the clocks jumping forward Saturday night Sunday was a super lazy day for me. Oops. Despite doing virtually nothing all day I was pooped. It was a beautiful day out and it finally started to feel like Spring. I'm excited for warm nights... but a little afraid for sweaty subway rides. We shall see. Anyhoo here are some pics form my very lazy day :)

Sun goes down, lights go up.

Pink mountains!

I made a steak salad... mmmmmm.

So that's my Sunday for you. Far less eventful than my Saturday. See you soon, world!

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Skiing with the Chillin'

Hello World!

How are you all? I hope people have had a good weekend. Mine has been fun although not too relaxing. Yesterday I went with my boss, a coworker, and a lovely volunteer with 6 slightly wild children to the snow. We went to La Parva, a ski resort high up in the Andes. It's not far from Santiago, but the mountains are so steep you have to go up 45 switch back turns to get up there.

My day started when I woke up at 5:45 to get ready. I had to get to Puente Alto by 8am to pick up the kids. As I've mentioned before on my blog, One:One has a project called Saltamontes. The idea of Saltamontes is to provide English classes to low-income children who do not have access to English education. We are currently in the process of expanding Saltamontes which includes taking the kids on trips. None of the kids we took on the trip had ever been skiing and only one had ever been to the snow. It was cool to see how excited the kids were. They seemed to be totally shocked and amazed by every rock we passed. The screeching did get tiring, but it was worth it.

Between picking up the kids, getting clothes for them, renting equipment and all of the various traveling we didn't get onto the mountain until 2pm (when I used to ski as a kid we would be on the lifts as soon as they opened!). The kids took a lesson and we stuck around to help out. I only got in one real run but as you can see from my pics it was spring skiing... the snow was terrible and there wasn't much of it. So I don't really mind that I only got to do one proper run.

Anyways I'll stop blabbering on and on about my day and show you the pictures...

The view out my window just before I left the house at 7:00. It had rained the night before.

Snapped this horse-butt pic out the window of the van (which, BTW, was a terrifyingly tall van that I was sure would topple over on some of the curves). I tired to get a proper pic of the horse but I got my camera out too late. Also side note: there were tons of wild horses up in the mountains!

The view of the mountains as we made our (perilous) ascent up the mountain.

Isiadora. So cute!

A group shot with only some of the kids... that's me on the left.

Look! I skied in the Andes!

As you can see from this picture the snow was seriously dwindling. Despite that the view was still beautiful.

Overall it was a great day. The only problem is it makes me wish I'd actually taken advantage of the awesome mountains here. The runs are pretty great and there's actually powder when it's not spring. *Sigh* I suppose I'll just have to get back to consistent skiing when I'm in the states. The next two weeks should be interesting so I'll keep you guys updated!

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Mini Update Time

Guys! I'm at the visa place, round 2!!! This time I arrived 20 minutes before they opened. I'm number 7 in a line of about 100 people... not bad! Of course they were supposed to let us in 5 minutes ago which probably isn't a great sign but I'm determined to get this stuff dealt with!

Excuse typos... blogging from my phone!

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Oh and a pic of me in line... just cause!

P.S. UPDATE ON THE MINI UPDATE

Boy was I wrong! I was actually 107th in line. The line was actually a line to get a ticket to secure a post in a different line. Now I just think that's cruel! The line literally wound up a staircase to the 6th floor. Then it wound back down to the 3rd floor where I was issued a ticket. Then I went down another floor and waited there for another 45 minutes. It was awful. Now I have to go to two more agencies to get another series of stamps and visas etc. I am totally drained today so there's no way I can handle those next two steps now. Alas I shall save that for another adventure.

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A Proper Udpate

Hello Internet!

As I mentioned in my mini update I've been insanely busy this week. It's been nonstop classes, planning, running around the city, doing errands etc. Today, however, the work gods smiled upon me and granted me a CTL class (Cancelled Too Late) which means I get PAID and I don't have to work. What a beautiful thing! Now I can plan for my 4(!) classes tomorrow and clean my room (it's in a horrid state). Here are some pictures form the last week (complete with descriptions of course...).

I'm sure you're tired of this view by now... but the view out of my window today was too good to pass up. The mountains are so clear and lovely!

This is a picture I sent to my dad while I waited 5 minutes (seriously, 5 whole minutes) to get up a staircase and out of the subway. You may think I'm holding the camera up above my head, but I'm actually that tall here. Anyways the point is the subway is insanely crowded. It can be a bit stressful at times!

I was at a party and I spotted Otto the puppy in the back room. K, M and I proceeded to spend a good chunk of the night snuggling with him and avoiding the humans at the party (we are so sociable).

Today I had to go pick up a document for my visa process. I did not end up picking up said document as the place was packed and stressful and I knew there was absolutely no hope of me being seen that day given my number... (see below).

As you can see I was A257. I sat in the insane waiting room for half an hour and the ticker went from ticket A 227 to A230. Horrible. I'll have to go when they open (noooooooo!!!!) on Friday. 

 So that's my update! complete with lackluster pics. Fun fun. I should have some cool posts coming up. This weekend I have some work plans that should be good and the 18th is independence day here and people go crazy (people have already started decorating and everywhere I go I see people in the traditional outfits practicing dances).

I hope wherever you are you're hump day is going well!

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