Tall and Awkward... Gringa-hood in Chile

Hello Internet,

So far Chile has been an excellent adventure. There have been some stressful moments, and difficult days, but I think that's a normal consequence of being an expat. For the most part Santiago has proved to be an exciting city to explore. My days are filled with teaching English classes, running from one end of Santiago to the other, and lumbering over the many small old ladies. I am consistently one of the tallest people on the subway and almost always the tallest woman in any room. It doesn't really bother me, but it can be a bit uncomfortable at times. The other day I had felt someone pushing me on the subway. I turned around to see who this obnoxious person was but there was no one to be found. It was not until I looked down and saw a woman wearing high heels who must have only been four feet tall! That's almost two feet shorter than me!

In other news I've become friends with many canines here. I mean I've also met some lovely humans... but the dogs here are unbelievably cute! They are on every corner and they are so sweet. I have nearly taken a few of them home, which is a worrying trend! If I lived in my own house I would certainly have taken in a puppy by now.

Aren't they all so cute?!?!

I'll be in touch soon internet... and hopefully with some real pictures. I've been looking into/saving up for a camera. I want to PROPERLY document my time in Chile.

Toodles for now!

A

CHI-CHI-CHILE

I made it! I'm here!

OK well to be honest I've been here for 2 weeks. So far it's been pretty great. I'm still getting settled in and adjusting to my new schedule/routine. Until I have time to write a proper post I thought I'd share Chile through my eyes...

Sunset in Santiago... beautiful colors courtesy of the horrendous smog.

Chileans seem to be obsessed with malls... this one has a particularly cool food court.

Not the most exciting picture... but you can kind of see the Andes mountains in the background.

Chileans are obsessed with mayo. Not the best obsession. They also tend to store things in bags.

At a market. Sorry, Babe.

Another lackluster picture from my sad little phone. This is the view from my window. You can sort of see the mountains!

It's winter here. And it's COLD.

Me being a dork in a hostel.

Excuse the poor quality of these pictures. Hopefully I'll acquire a real camera soon. I'll be back soon!

xoxo

Things to do before I leave...

Well of course I have about a million logistical things to do before I leave for Chile. The visa process alone is HORRIFYING. I am desperately attempting to throw away four years worth of stuff from living in Los Angeles. Plus I seem to still have tons of things from high school... How is that possible?! Aside from all of the boring things I have to do, my Bay Area "bucket list" is ENDLESS. Here's my list of things to do prior to leaving:

• EAT... there are so many delicious restaurants that I must eat at before leaving for an entire year!
• The Cheeseboard... the most delicious pizza you can imagine. It's certainly not the normal conception of pizza but it is amazingly tasty (or as my friends and I say... de-lOI-cious). I urge anyone taking a trip in the Bay Area to stop by. Don't be afraid by the bizarre daily pizza choice (as it will be your only option). The cheeseboard has the amazing ability to make basically any combination outrageously yummy (sorry, deloicious). Here's what I mean: 
  
• And yes... that's really what the people there look like. It's really a Berkeley establishment. Picture from here. 
• Gordo's. Amazingly delicious burritos. I lived in LA for four year and LA really know how to do tacos but I'm convinced Northern California is really the place for burritos (also Picante... but I've already paid my respects at that gem of an establishment).
• Ton Kiang. Dim sum is one of my absolute favorites. I can't get enough! While you can find delicious dim sum all over the place, San Francisco's, in my opinion, cannot be beat.
• Vik's. Such amazing Indian food. It used to be this kind of scary warehouse with all of these insane instructions written on paper plates. They still have a strict sporks-only thing going on there, but it really is all part of the experience. Plus the view from the parking lot is pretty great.
• I'm realizing I can go on for pages about food in the Bay Area... I mean it really could be it's own blog (and I'm sure there are a million of them). So onto the next thing...
• The river. Every summer my friends and I go up to the Russian River. It's one of the most beautiful and peaceful places. Bring some beers and tubes and you can just float around on the river all day. It's a dreamland where nothing bad ever happens! 
  
• Image can be found here.
• DRANKIN. OK... I'm not a total alchi, but I do enjoy a nice cocktail. My friends and I tend to be too lazy to go further than a few blocks away to local bars. #lame. I really want to try this one bar in San Francisco that looks super cool and, most importantly, is owned by the people that own my favorite San Francisco restaurant. The bar is called Hard Water and it's right on the embarcadero. Awesome drinks and a great view? I'm in. We'll see if this happens... I'll likely end up going to the usual haunches. Save some $crill.
• First Friday. First Friday is a huge street fair in Oakland on the first Friday of every month. While I want to go in order to sell some of my many things, they also have music and food. Plus the bars in downtown Oakland are crazy fun, so it can easily turn into an all-night affair.
• The Pool. Pretty self explanatory.
• The Beach. Another obvious one.
• Stript. By far the best place to go for waxing. I guess this may be a more logistical/upkeep activity, but I seriously love it that much! They give you champaign and brownies. What more could you ask for?!

OK well this is all I'll put on my list for now. I keep thinking of other small things to include but let's be honest, I'll be amazed if anyone reads THIS far. Plus I have to deal with all of the other tragically boring things like cleaning and packing. Ew. 

I send my love to you, weblings. May you have a great Friday and a happy happy weekend!

xx

A

So maybe now I'll do this for real...

Hello internet!

So if I'm being honest the last few posts were really just me figuring out this whole blogging concept. And, if I'm being really honest, I didn't get very far. Well I've since graduated from college (AH!) and life seems to have taken a few exciting turns that have subsequently given me genuine material to blog about. So here's the big news...

I'M MOVING TO SANTIAGO, CHILE!!!

OK well I have a job offer there and if the visa process etc. goes according to plan then I'll be heading south... WAY south at the end of June. #wild. I could not be more excited! I'm working as an english teacher at an organization with a social justice bent. There's really no other way I'd even consider going abroad to teach. The organization is AWESOME and the people who I've interviewed with are gerat.

I'll get more into the organization and all once I get there... but for now I have a huge horrific list of things to do that seems to be growing by the minute! Now this is not to complain... I'm happy to have to do these tasks, but fearful that I'm forgetting something crucial. EEK! I will update soon with information re: what I'm packing, how I'll say bye to the bay and various other pre-trip shenanigans. I'm terrified and thrilled and pumped and basically everything ALL AT ONCE.

In case you don't believe I graduated I'm putting up a pic. You know... as proof.

P.S. My blue stole signifies sexual assault awareness... #consentissexy.

Nasty Gal

I absolutely LOVE Nasty Gal. Despite the slightly scary name the website is just full of AWESOME clothes. AWESOME. I've ordered a bunch of dresses form them (oh hey NYE) and I'm constantly perusing the site (despite my perpetual lack of funds). Recently I've gotten it into my head that this shirt would be an excellent addition to my wardrobe:

Now let's be real... as awesome as this shirt is there is now way I could pull it off. I'm far too awkward and I'd certainly be self conscious all night! That said, I keep it in my shopping cart on the site as if I'll someday buy it. Do you guys ever do that? I have carts full of items on various websites that I just never buy!

If you are more brave than me you can find this AMAZING shirt here.

Where do you guys like to online shop? (Also let's note how I'm saying "guys" as though I have thousands of followers. There I go again pretending I'm a glamorous blogger like this girl, this lady... or this one!)

Until next time weblings!

xx

Birds in LA

This park is across the street form my work. It is a beautiful park and I'm sure Angelinos will recognize it... The reason I bring it up is because of the birds. They are absolutely WILD! The other day I was eating lunch in the park and it turned out to be more of a battle than a meal. I swear, the birds just hover over you and wait for the smallest of crumbs to fall. At first it was entertaining. There are so many different kinds and they are all just so crazy. BUT... they get annoying pretty quickly.

Ultimately I suppose the weather and the view are worth dealing with the crazy birds. I'm aware I shouldn't complain... where else in can you sit outside and eat lunch in February? But then again... where else can you sit outside in February and be attacked by fowl? 

More ramblings soon... and I promise I will be more interesting in the future. I'm mostly writing these posts in order to figure out formatting (#excuses #ItoldyouIwasboring). 

xx

Diva Nail

Hello Internet!

Have you guys heard of a "diva nail"?  The general idea is you get a manicure/paint your nails and have one that is glittery. I was completely unaware of the term, but I saw someone (who is substantially cooler than me) who tried it out and I thought it looked SO COOL. So of course I got it into my head that I just HAD to try it. It really wasn't terrible, although I do fear that I walked around with these outrageously glamorous nails while dressing like a total dump. Oops. Anyways here's how they looked:

OK so the picture isn't great. But you can tell that my ring finger is SPARKLY. Ooooo! Ahhhh! I felt classy. If you are in the mood for a change there are worse ways to get your kicks!

Have a good day weblings!