I find it hard to believe that it is March already.
As I type this I have my apartment window open, and there is a slight breeze coming in. I am also able to hear the Shakira concert taking place at the Estadio Nacional, which is about a ten minute walk from my apartment.
Santiago is quickly becoming a hotspot for concerts. This month alone U2, Iron Maiden, The Backstreet Boys, and Ozzy Osbourne will be playing in Santiago. Not to mention Lollapalooza is taking place the first weekend of April here.
The weather is starting to cool down a bit, and I was warm but not too warm as I settled back in to teaching and wearing dress shirts and ties. It's a nice time since the heat is no longer overbearing as it was in the summer. I started a few new classes this week, and they look like they will be enjoyable. They all seem like nice guys and have a solid foundation of English. One of them seems like a bit of a jokester, so he will help keep one class light-hearted. The other class had students that seemed a bit on the serious side, but they are big soccer fans, so that will keep class interesting.
I am settling back into my life here. Most of my apartment is now furnished, and after about 2 weeks of waiting I got wifi installed. I found a nice faux leather sofa with 2 Ottomans (each with storage underneath) for about $180, and I also got a high efficiency fridge too. I found another branch of my gym that is a 5 minute walk from my apartment, and I am getting back into a routine. I've started making my way back to the Magic stores, and it's a nice feeling seeing the people I know there and being considered a semi-regular there.
Most people reading this would disagree, but other than that, my life has been pretty boring lately. I'm looking forward to getting a full work schedule and settling into a routine to break up the excessive random free time I have now.
Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label magic. Show all posts
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Fantasilandia and Papa John's Take 2 and 3, Phone Adventures, and Human Tetris on the Metro
I have not updated in almost 2 weeks, and it has been in the back of my mind since then. I've been meaning to update my blog, but I always found myself getting too distracted at home by Facebook or catching up on The Amazing Race, so I made it a point to get out of the house and take my laptop to Telepizza to write this now. Sure, Telepizza tastes like cardboard. But it's about half the price of Papa John's, and has free wifi and is across the street from my apartment rather than an entire block and a half away.
Sunday the 24th was my last chance to use a discount ticket to Fantasilandia, so I went with Donny and Colby. We got a late start and arrived there around 2, but we got the most out of our trip there. It was crowded but not overly crowded, and we got on the major rollercoasters, the extreme fall, Pirates of the Carribean, and a few other rides.
While we were walking around, I found two perfect illustrations of cultural differences between Chile and the States. The first one is in the blatant ignorance of rules and policies. Some people smoked cigarettes directly under signs that forbid smoking in lines, and at one point about 7 kids and an adult jumped over one of the railings to move up about 20 people in the line for a ride. Luckily they did not end up in front of us, becuase if they did I would have been really upset. It surprises me that no one bothered to say anything to them or to protest the situation.
The other cultural difference I found was in the form of a ride. Here is a picture of it in action:
Do you notice anything special about it? Take a few seconds to look before reading any further.
If you said to yourself "Those people have their arms wrapped around the bars," you are right. If you also said to yourself, "It looks like those people are getting knocked out of their seats and are about a foot in the air," you are also right. And if you also said to yourself, "Wait a second, that ride has no seatbelts or safety restraints to prevent people from flying into the air and crashing down to the ground and cracking their head open," you are also right.
After Colby, Donny, and I noticed this, we decided we had to do the adventurous thing and brave our lives on the ride. After all, I got the extreme sports rider on my emergency medical insurance policy, so why not test it out if need be? Seats were not marked, so people just sat down wherever there was space, and when the seats appeared to be full the ride operators would signal for a few more people to come aboard and then motion for some of us to squish togther to make room for the recently arrived. This was perhaps in a sense safer, as we would be less likely to fall out of our seats if we were being squeezed by random strangers on each side.
Luckily, we all survived without any injuries. On our way out, I enjoyed a churro filled with caramel, but each time I get one at that spot I can't help but think that it doesn't match up to the churros at Olvera Street in Los Angeles in terms of size or quality.
After my less-than-perfect experience at Papa John's, I have been back twice. The first time was with Julie and Danielle (also from the TeachingChile group) after my trip to Fantasilandia, and we all enjoyed the comfort food of feeling at home. The second time was after meeting a fellow Magic player that lived in Canada for 10 years and obviously speaks English and his girlfriend. After enjoying the pizza we played Magic for about 3 hours in my apartment, and it was a cool experience just getting to make some new friends and getting to practice my Spanish even more.
In the past few days, I have come across a new challenge here: making a phone call to some phone numbers that requires you to select options from a menu. It all came about when I got an email from LAN Airlines that they didn't receive payment for a reservation I made, even though they issued me an electronic boarding pass. Since it wouldn't register for me to input my credit card information again and it said my reservation would expire the next day, I called the LAN customer service number in the States via Skype.
That was the start of the adventure. You had to select from a menu, and Skype does not allow you to do so. Usually numbers that you call will connect you to an operator if you do not select an option, but LAN simply loops the recording until you select an option.
So then I decided I would go to a call center here to make the call. The first one I went to had a sign saying that you could not select options from a menu dialing from their phones, and my guess is that they were a pulse phone instead of a regular type. I asked the woman working there if she could reccomend another place to go, and so I went where she suggested.
There I found the same situation, and the woman there told me to go to an internet cafe that was more modern, and there I would most likely be able to select options.
So after going to one and finding out I wouldn't be able to select options there either. I decided I would at least try to call my credit card company to see if they had any idea what was going on via Skype. I sat down to use the computer, but the headseat wasn't working and I couldn't hear anything. The woman told me to restart the program, and so I did. Still nothing, so I asked her if I could move to another computer.
She moved me to another computer, but she didn't refresh the time. She was going to charge me for 6 minutes of time I didn't even get to use, and I politely asked her to refresh the timer. She just told me to use it and that not to worry about it, and I explained to her that I wasn't going to pay for time I didn't get to use and asked her once again to restart the timer. This went back and forth about 3 times before I just got up and left frustratred.
After going to another call center, they advised me to make a call from a public phone here, and so I got a handful of change and put some in to make a call. Once the phone recognized it was a toll free number, it would not make the call.
At this point, I was at my wit's end. I gave Bruce a call to get some advice, and luckily he had the Chilean number for LAN that you could dial from either a cell phone or landline. I didn't care if I was going to get charged a few thousand pesos to make a call from my cell phone, so I gave it a try. It connected me to the options menu, and I was able to select an option. After talking with someone, it turns out that my reservation went through successfully and that I received the email in error. Whoops.
I called Bruce and thanked him for his help, and then he asked me if I actually tried dialing the options on the phones or if I just believed what the Chileans at each call center told me. I admitted that I didn't test it out, and sheepishly realized that Chileans will sometimes make things up if they don't know the answer. In the end, I might have been better off trying it out at the last 2 places than believing what they told me.
I find myself spending a good amount of time on the metros and buses here, and therefore with a fair amount of time to contemplate random things. One morning I realized that I was caught in a game of Human Tetris. This occurs any morning I try to get on the metro during rush hour. Everyone tries to get on the metro, and you either fit in or you don´t. If you are have a limb sticking out of the metro (like part of a Tetris piece over the line), you have the honor of getting the metro door closing on your limb. In order to prevent this on my last metro ride during the morning rush hour, I literally had to hold my lunch bag over the head of a little old lady so that I would fit in without losing my lunch bag to the closing metro doors. I stayed that way for the entire 4 metro stops until I got to my destination. I would have taken a picture, but unfortunately I didn´t have my camera with me at the time.
Sunday the 24th was my last chance to use a discount ticket to Fantasilandia, so I went with Donny and Colby. We got a late start and arrived there around 2, but we got the most out of our trip there. It was crowded but not overly crowded, and we got on the major rollercoasters, the extreme fall, Pirates of the Carribean, and a few other rides.
While we were walking around, I found two perfect illustrations of cultural differences between Chile and the States. The first one is in the blatant ignorance of rules and policies. Some people smoked cigarettes directly under signs that forbid smoking in lines, and at one point about 7 kids and an adult jumped over one of the railings to move up about 20 people in the line for a ride. Luckily they did not end up in front of us, becuase if they did I would have been really upset. It surprises me that no one bothered to say anything to them or to protest the situation.
The other cultural difference I found was in the form of a ride. Here is a picture of it in action:
If you said to yourself "Those people have their arms wrapped around the bars," you are right. If you also said to yourself, "It looks like those people are getting knocked out of their seats and are about a foot in the air," you are also right. And if you also said to yourself, "Wait a second, that ride has no seatbelts or safety restraints to prevent people from flying into the air and crashing down to the ground and cracking their head open," you are also right.
After Colby, Donny, and I noticed this, we decided we had to do the adventurous thing and brave our lives on the ride. After all, I got the extreme sports rider on my emergency medical insurance policy, so why not test it out if need be? Seats were not marked, so people just sat down wherever there was space, and when the seats appeared to be full the ride operators would signal for a few more people to come aboard and then motion for some of us to squish togther to make room for the recently arrived. This was perhaps in a sense safer, as we would be less likely to fall out of our seats if we were being squeezed by random strangers on each side.
Luckily, we all survived without any injuries. On our way out, I enjoyed a churro filled with caramel, but each time I get one at that spot I can't help but think that it doesn't match up to the churros at Olvera Street in Los Angeles in terms of size or quality.
After my less-than-perfect experience at Papa John's, I have been back twice. The first time was with Julie and Danielle (also from the TeachingChile group) after my trip to Fantasilandia, and we all enjoyed the comfort food of feeling at home. The second time was after meeting a fellow Magic player that lived in Canada for 10 years and obviously speaks English and his girlfriend. After enjoying the pizza we played Magic for about 3 hours in my apartment, and it was a cool experience just getting to make some new friends and getting to practice my Spanish even more.
In the past few days, I have come across a new challenge here: making a phone call to some phone numbers that requires you to select options from a menu. It all came about when I got an email from LAN Airlines that they didn't receive payment for a reservation I made, even though they issued me an electronic boarding pass. Since it wouldn't register for me to input my credit card information again and it said my reservation would expire the next day, I called the LAN customer service number in the States via Skype.
That was the start of the adventure. You had to select from a menu, and Skype does not allow you to do so. Usually numbers that you call will connect you to an operator if you do not select an option, but LAN simply loops the recording until you select an option.
So then I decided I would go to a call center here to make the call. The first one I went to had a sign saying that you could not select options from a menu dialing from their phones, and my guess is that they were a pulse phone instead of a regular type. I asked the woman working there if she could reccomend another place to go, and so I went where she suggested.
There I found the same situation, and the woman there told me to go to an internet cafe that was more modern, and there I would most likely be able to select options.
So after going to one and finding out I wouldn't be able to select options there either. I decided I would at least try to call my credit card company to see if they had any idea what was going on via Skype. I sat down to use the computer, but the headseat wasn't working and I couldn't hear anything. The woman told me to restart the program, and so I did. Still nothing, so I asked her if I could move to another computer.
She moved me to another computer, but she didn't refresh the time. She was going to charge me for 6 minutes of time I didn't even get to use, and I politely asked her to refresh the timer. She just told me to use it and that not to worry about it, and I explained to her that I wasn't going to pay for time I didn't get to use and asked her once again to restart the timer. This went back and forth about 3 times before I just got up and left frustratred.
After going to another call center, they advised me to make a call from a public phone here, and so I got a handful of change and put some in to make a call. Once the phone recognized it was a toll free number, it would not make the call.
At this point, I was at my wit's end. I gave Bruce a call to get some advice, and luckily he had the Chilean number for LAN that you could dial from either a cell phone or landline. I didn't care if I was going to get charged a few thousand pesos to make a call from my cell phone, so I gave it a try. It connected me to the options menu, and I was able to select an option. After talking with someone, it turns out that my reservation went through successfully and that I received the email in error. Whoops.
I called Bruce and thanked him for his help, and then he asked me if I actually tried dialing the options on the phones or if I just believed what the Chileans at each call center told me. I admitted that I didn't test it out, and sheepishly realized that Chileans will sometimes make things up if they don't know the answer. In the end, I might have been better off trying it out at the last 2 places than believing what they told me.
I find myself spending a good amount of time on the metros and buses here, and therefore with a fair amount of time to contemplate random things. One morning I realized that I was caught in a game of Human Tetris. This occurs any morning I try to get on the metro during rush hour. Everyone tries to get on the metro, and you either fit in or you don´t. If you are have a limb sticking out of the metro (like part of a Tetris piece over the line), you have the honor of getting the metro door closing on your limb. In order to prevent this on my last metro ride during the morning rush hour, I literally had to hold my lunch bag over the head of a little old lady so that I would fit in without losing my lunch bag to the closing metro doors. I stayed that way for the entire 4 metro stops until I got to my destination. I would have taken a picture, but unfortunately I didn´t have my camera with me at the time.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Oh, Hello October!
Sunday the 10th will be the 8 month mark of my travels.
I have found myself really busy with the teaching and preparation for my classes, but in a good way. Maybe it's just me, but I really enjoy figuring out interesting ways to teach new concepts to students and making class entertaining but also useful for them. I found a really interesting podcast called NPR Planet Money. They are about 20 minutes each, and they have something to do with the economy or money. I've created a listening guide for one podcast about the adventures of an economics professor giving his children an allowance, and I'm working on one about the history of Brazil's economy after 50 years of inflation and how it was solved with a new currency.
I now have my schedule worked out so that I have a few hours of free time a few days a week, and with that time I've been going to the store where people meet to play Magic. Now that I have my binder of cards I find I talk to a lot more people there, and I have been trading and selling some cards. I feel like I'm becoming more integrated there, and I have become more outgoing by striking up conversations with people even if they don't approach me first there.
It's hard for me to believe, but I will be seeing Linkin Park in concert here in Santiago in less than 48 hours. I always thought in the back of my head that it would be cool if they came to Chile while I was here, and this time my wishful thinking came true.
To make it even better, they released a new album about 3 weeks ago, titled A Thousand Suns. It is true to Linkin Park's style in that it pushes the limits as to defining their style of music. The album has songs that are rough and angry to soft and inspiring. They even have a few tracks that have a man speaking like he's giving a speech or protesting something, but it's set to music in the background. One such track seems to me criticizing corporate America and portrays a man that is stuck in a system he knows is corrupt and immoral, but he cannot escape it without major consequences to his reputation and future career opportunities.
My favorite song off of the new album is called Iridescent. It's about going through tough times and feeling down on yourself, and also holding on to feelings of anger and loneliness. I know, it sounds pretty pessimistic. But then it turns around completely, and they sing to remember how difficult and painful that was and to "let it go". It's such a simple message, but the way that they combine it with piano, guitar, and eventually multiple voices is really inspiring.
I published the lyrics below, but they don't do the song justice. You can hear it and see the lyrics by following this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpt7RJUGpdE
When you were standing in the wake of devastation
when you were waiting on the edge of the unknown
with the cataclysm raining down, insides crying save me now
you were there and possibly alone.
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up all the failiures all you've known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go, let it go.
And in the burst of light that blinded every angel
as if the sky had blown the heavens into stars
you felt the gravity of temper grace falling into empty space
no one there to catch you in there arms
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up all the failiures all you've known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go, let it go.
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up all the failiures all you've known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go,
let it go
let it go
let it go
let it go
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up all the failiures all you've known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go, let it go.
I've been saving up for my plane ticket to come back to Santiago, and I'm really satisfied with what I have so far. I've basically cut eating out out of my budget for the most part, and now I write out a menu on the weekend for the following week. That way when I go food shopping I only buy what I need. If I can keep it up I will have enough for my flight as well as money for gifts for Christmas and spending money for the time I will be back home.
That's all for now.
I have found myself really busy with the teaching and preparation for my classes, but in a good way. Maybe it's just me, but I really enjoy figuring out interesting ways to teach new concepts to students and making class entertaining but also useful for them. I found a really interesting podcast called NPR Planet Money. They are about 20 minutes each, and they have something to do with the economy or money. I've created a listening guide for one podcast about the adventures of an economics professor giving his children an allowance, and I'm working on one about the history of Brazil's economy after 50 years of inflation and how it was solved with a new currency.
I now have my schedule worked out so that I have a few hours of free time a few days a week, and with that time I've been going to the store where people meet to play Magic. Now that I have my binder of cards I find I talk to a lot more people there, and I have been trading and selling some cards. I feel like I'm becoming more integrated there, and I have become more outgoing by striking up conversations with people even if they don't approach me first there.
It's hard for me to believe, but I will be seeing Linkin Park in concert here in Santiago in less than 48 hours. I always thought in the back of my head that it would be cool if they came to Chile while I was here, and this time my wishful thinking came true.
To make it even better, they released a new album about 3 weeks ago, titled A Thousand Suns. It is true to Linkin Park's style in that it pushes the limits as to defining their style of music. The album has songs that are rough and angry to soft and inspiring. They even have a few tracks that have a man speaking like he's giving a speech or protesting something, but it's set to music in the background. One such track seems to me criticizing corporate America and portrays a man that is stuck in a system he knows is corrupt and immoral, but he cannot escape it without major consequences to his reputation and future career opportunities.
My favorite song off of the new album is called Iridescent. It's about going through tough times and feeling down on yourself, and also holding on to feelings of anger and loneliness. I know, it sounds pretty pessimistic. But then it turns around completely, and they sing to remember how difficult and painful that was and to "let it go". It's such a simple message, but the way that they combine it with piano, guitar, and eventually multiple voices is really inspiring.
I published the lyrics below, but they don't do the song justice. You can hear it and see the lyrics by following this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpt7RJUGpdE
When you were standing in the wake of devastation
when you were waiting on the edge of the unknown
with the cataclysm raining down, insides crying save me now
you were there and possibly alone.
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up all the failiures all you've known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go, let it go.
And in the burst of light that blinded every angel
as if the sky had blown the heavens into stars
you felt the gravity of temper grace falling into empty space
no one there to catch you in there arms
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up all the failiures all you've known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go, let it go.
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up all the failiures all you've known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go,
let it go
let it go
let it go
let it go
Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
you build up all the failiures all you've known
remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go, let it go.
I've been saving up for my plane ticket to come back to Santiago, and I'm really satisfied with what I have so far. I've basically cut eating out out of my budget for the most part, and now I write out a menu on the weekend for the following week. That way when I go food shopping I only buy what I need. If I can keep it up I will have enough for my flight as well as money for gifts for Christmas and spending money for the time I will be back home.
That's all for now.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Biking and Magic in Santiago
So I got my bike seat fixed on Monday evening, and instead of simply fixing the screws that were stripped they gave me a completely new seat. I also bought a headlight, flashing back reflector, and a mirror, and one of my teacher's husbands has a jacket with reflective tape to help with the visibility.
So Tuesday morning I packed my backpack with my lunch and change of clothes, and onto the streets of Santiago I went. I didn't know how long it would take me to get there, so I left at 6:55. (School starts at 8, and my guess was that it would take be between 30 and 45 minutes)
Along the way I encountered the usual obstacles as when biking anywhere else: glass in the street, pedestrians not paying attention, cars stopping in the right lane to drop off or pick up someone, trucks, and busses. I found myself checking to be sure I was clear if I had to move around cars, and people seemed good about seeing me and not getting too close to me. Some stretches of the right lanes the main streets are mostly just for busses, and a few times I had busses tailgating me. Today one honked his horn (which sounds like the Road Runner from the Wile E. Coyote cartoons) angrily at me, but I couldn't really go much faster than I already was.
It ended up only being a 25 minute ride to work, and I was there by 7:20. I went into the main area but saw that the gate was still closed for the entrance to the high school teacher's lounge. This was of course where I needed the key to be able to get into the restroom to change, so I just sat and waited with a few kids who were early also. Around 7:40 I was wondering when somoene was going to come to open the gate, and then one of the teacher's 5 year old sons walked up the stairs and swung the gate open. It turns out it was closed but unlocked that entire time.
The ride is good exercise but not strenuous enough that I work up a big sweat. I was able to get a copy of the bathroom key for myself, and I had my first protein shake since I've left the States. I tried a GNC brand of vanilla flavored soy protein, and it was good albeit a bit chunky for my taste. Next time I think I need to shake it up better.
Today I actually had a new biking experience. I heard a large vehicle behind me, and I thought it was perhaps a bus or truck. I glanced over my shoulder to see what it was, and I just saw a 2 large prongs of metal sticking out. Then as it picked up speed I realized it was a forklift. It easily overtook me, and then I was surprised to see ANOTHER forklift right behind him. Seriously, how many people can offhandedly say, "So guess what happened to me today? I was overtaken by 2 forklifts as I biked to work!" Only in Chile....
So yeah, I finally found a place to play Magic here! After asking my roommates and posting to Facebook groups I didn't get any response. So I found a website http://www.portalmagic.cl/ which is devoted to Magic in Chile. On the forums I found the names of people that run tournaments in Santiago, so I emailed them asking for where people meet to play.
One guy emailed me back the next day with the names of two stores where people meet to play, so I checked one out the other night. The store was about a ten minute bus ride from my place, and it was about 6 feet by 12 feet in total. There were tables with benches set up, and most of them were occupied with people playing Other people were standing around playing. I sat down with someone when a space freed up, and we started a game. The game ended up being short since other people had spaces reserved for a tournament starting a bit later. I ended up getting pummeled by the guy, but it was still cool to be playing Magic in another language and getting to read and understand the cards in Spanish.
I'm looking forward to the weekend and being one week closer to my next paycheck. Hopefully I will get it on time this time, as I have been going through money a lot more than I thought I would and I really don't feel like paying 15 bucks in fees to make an ATM withdrawal from my bank account at home. Biking, more Magic, and going to a barbeque are all on the agenda. Hopefully the weather will be nice to us for the barbeque Saturday.
So Tuesday morning I packed my backpack with my lunch and change of clothes, and onto the streets of Santiago I went. I didn't know how long it would take me to get there, so I left at 6:55. (School starts at 8, and my guess was that it would take be between 30 and 45 minutes)
Along the way I encountered the usual obstacles as when biking anywhere else: glass in the street, pedestrians not paying attention, cars stopping in the right lane to drop off or pick up someone, trucks, and busses. I found myself checking to be sure I was clear if I had to move around cars, and people seemed good about seeing me and not getting too close to me. Some stretches of the right lanes the main streets are mostly just for busses, and a few times I had busses tailgating me. Today one honked his horn (which sounds like the Road Runner from the Wile E. Coyote cartoons) angrily at me, but I couldn't really go much faster than I already was.
It ended up only being a 25 minute ride to work, and I was there by 7:20. I went into the main area but saw that the gate was still closed for the entrance to the high school teacher's lounge. This was of course where I needed the key to be able to get into the restroom to change, so I just sat and waited with a few kids who were early also. Around 7:40 I was wondering when somoene was going to come to open the gate, and then one of the teacher's 5 year old sons walked up the stairs and swung the gate open. It turns out it was closed but unlocked that entire time.
The ride is good exercise but not strenuous enough that I work up a big sweat. I was able to get a copy of the bathroom key for myself, and I had my first protein shake since I've left the States. I tried a GNC brand of vanilla flavored soy protein, and it was good albeit a bit chunky for my taste. Next time I think I need to shake it up better.
Today I actually had a new biking experience. I heard a large vehicle behind me, and I thought it was perhaps a bus or truck. I glanced over my shoulder to see what it was, and I just saw a 2 large prongs of metal sticking out. Then as it picked up speed I realized it was a forklift. It easily overtook me, and then I was surprised to see ANOTHER forklift right behind him. Seriously, how many people can offhandedly say, "So guess what happened to me today? I was overtaken by 2 forklifts as I biked to work!" Only in Chile....
So yeah, I finally found a place to play Magic here! After asking my roommates and posting to Facebook groups I didn't get any response. So I found a website http://www.portalmagic.cl/ which is devoted to Magic in Chile. On the forums I found the names of people that run tournaments in Santiago, so I emailed them asking for where people meet to play.
One guy emailed me back the next day with the names of two stores where people meet to play, so I checked one out the other night. The store was about a ten minute bus ride from my place, and it was about 6 feet by 12 feet in total. There were tables with benches set up, and most of them were occupied with people playing Other people were standing around playing. I sat down with someone when a space freed up, and we started a game. The game ended up being short since other people had spaces reserved for a tournament starting a bit later. I ended up getting pummeled by the guy, but it was still cool to be playing Magic in another language and getting to read and understand the cards in Spanish.
I'm looking forward to the weekend and being one week closer to my next paycheck. Hopefully I will get it on time this time, as I have been going through money a lot more than I thought I would and I really don't feel like paying 15 bucks in fees to make an ATM withdrawal from my bank account at home. Biking, more Magic, and going to a barbeque are all on the agenda. Hopefully the weather will be nice to us for the barbeque Saturday.
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