As I am typing this I am watching "Los Simpson" with my roommate Mario. About 90% of the time when I come home and he is home he is on the couch watching the show. And in Spanish, Homer's name is Homero. (Pronounced o-MARE-o)
Well, summer is definitely over. In the mornings I wake up to it being about 40 to 50 degrees, and some days it seems to only get up to 65 or so. There is no heat inside the house or at school, so I have been wearing layers and bringing a coat with me. It is a bit funny to see people here bundled up in heavy coats and having scarves covering their entire faces, as if they were expecting subzero temperatures or a huge snowstorm like the many I lost count of back home.
On Friday it was overcast and misty all day, and then around 1:00 or so there was a heavy downpour. Luckily I was inside when it happened, and it didn't last for too long. Apparently fall into winter is the rainy season, and sometimes it will be raining the entire day. Note to self: buy an umbrella this weekend!
On Saturday afternoon Fabiola helped me go bike shopping. I was hoping to pay a bit less than I did, but I found a good deal on a bike and got a discount for buying a helmet and lock with it. I don't have a picture of it yet, but it is an 18 speed bike that is white and blue and called "Shark". I was excited to try it out, but after a few minutes of riding towards school the seat kept slipping back. My landlord was at the house, so I brought it back and he helped me tighten the seat. I went out for a ride again, but after about 10 minutes of riding the same thing happened.
I took it back to the store today, and rather than putting on new screws (I think they were stripped), they actually put on a completely new seat. I also got a blinking reflector for the back of my bike as well as a blinking headlight and mirror while I was there, and I was able to ride it home without a problem. I got myself set up for the ride to work tomorrow and am excited about it.
Even though I am not spending money too freely, I am spending more than I thought I would. I decided to look into some tutoring jobs here, and I had an interview with a guy who sends teachers to businesses to teach English to individuals or small groups of people. It was an interesting interview, as the guy started out by giving me an overview of the education system in Chile and asked me if he minded if he smoked. I smiled at him and told him it was fine, and the fact that I am in a different country ran through my head yet again for about the 1000th time since I've been here. I talked about my qualifications and he told me about his students, and I have a tutoring job on Tuesdays and Fridays starting on this Friday. The student sounds really motivated, and I'm eager to help him and also earn a little bit of extra plata.
School has been an adventure as always. On Monday Claudia (the main teacher I work with) discovered that her schedule was changed. Now mind you, she wasn't told this in advance. She found this out when she went to the 12th grade class she was supposed to have for the 3rd hour, only to discover that another teacher was there and told her that she was working with ANOTHER 12th grade class for the 3rd and 4th hour. Since I work with her during the 4th hour, I was walking around from class to class trying to find her. After she told me about the change and class was over, I went to the teacher's lounge to see the change on the schedule or if there were any more changes in Claudia's schedule for the day. Well, here's the fun part: The published schedule in the teacher's lounge was only for Tuesday through Friday. So we had no way of knowing what the rest of her schedule looked like for the rest of the day. When I took a closer look, however, I realized that they switched the times of the 2 12th grade classes. The weirdest part is that no one has been given any explanation as to why this change happened a month and a half after the school year has started.
Trying to use technology has proven to be another adventure at school. I prepared a lesson to learn about the present versus past tense using "In the End" by Linkin Park, and I tried to use my Ipod and the USB cable to play the music since I don't have the CD with me. Well, after trying to use 2 boom boxes with USB techonology, a computer at the school, and a teacher's laptop over the course of about 45 minutes and three different areas of the school, I was out of luck. Ema (one of the other teachers I work with) told me that she will have her husband download the song from Itunes onto her flash drive so that we can use it in the next class.
And the class that I was dreading having today actually turned out really well. The new unit they started today was about celebrities and expressing opinions, and so I got them talking about Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Ricky Martin, and Michael Jackson. It turns out that the class knows English, but they just don't speak it unless if you really insist on it. There were Ipods and cell phones out during the lesson, but I took Claudia's advice and ignored them and instead just redirected the students to work on writing summaries of the celebrities and expressing their opinions. Some of them got a bit out of hand during the time I gave them to create nameplates out of index cards and were fighting, but it was nothing compared to last class. A bunch of them surprised me with how much they were able to write on their own once I prodded them a bit and encouraged them. It was such a relief, and I felt so much better after class than this time last week.
Over the past few days I have noticed myself getting annoyed with little things and being more irritable than normal. I think that culture shock is starting to set in, as the novelty of living here has worn off and I am dealing with the downsides of living in another culture. So here's a quick list of my current positives and negatives of living here:
Positives: Cheap rent, being able to take public transportation to get around, practicing and improving my Spanish, meeting people from all over, traveling, being in a lower stress teaching situation
Negatives: Having to limit the time of my hot showers, getting sardined into busses and metro during rush hour, the amount of time I have to spend getting from one place to another, the lack of resources at school, no heat at home
Luckily I am aware of how I am feeling and have good friends here to help spend time when I am feeling down. Brandon accompanied me on a wild goose chase trying to find a store that sells Magic cards on Saturday, and Donny and I spent about an hour walking around trying to find a cafe that was open on Sunday. Erin and Walker and I had very possibly the longest game ever of chess, as she kept getting distracted by shiny things on Saturday night. Even though Erin and I teach at the same school, we barely ever see each other. We decided to get a bite to eat after school today, and it was good catching up and sharing our experiences since we are both the only gringos in each of our living situations.
Despite the ups and downs, life here is still good. Just colder.
Showing posts with label metro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label metro. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
The beach, ATMs, public transportation, and new friends
So today I started out by going to the beach at Copacobana with Kristie and Ben, the English couple that I explored with yesterday. It was surprisingly easy to get to using the bus. It really reminded me of the beaches in New Jersey with the water especially. We took turns in the ocean so that we could always have an eye on our things, and when we were all together we had good conversation about traveling and our lives and how different things are here in Rio and back home.
When I asked them what time it was, I realized it didn´t mater at all, and we all laughed. We then debated what time we thought it was. Seeing that we are traveling now, the time of day, day of the week, or month are pretty meaningless to all of us.
After getting some ice cream we packed up and headed back to the hoste to rest. We all discovered our sunburn, with Ben and Kristie having it over most of their bodies (they opted to stay in the sun almost the entire time), but me only being burned on my knees a bit and on my tops of my hands a bit.
I got a bite to eat at a place specializing in chicken dishes, and I got Chicken Bora Bora. It was grilled chicken breast with some seasonings along with rice with fried potato, egg, onion, and ham. I was only able to eat about half of it so I got a doggy bag. I didn´t have my camera on hand, so I will post a picture of what it looks like once I eat there again.
A bit later others at the hostel told me about a big party happening in Ipanema, and an Autralian named Luke offered to help me get to a bank to get more money. It turns out a few others also needed money, so the journey began. Bank 1 was closed. We waited at Bank 2 while a young guy took about 20 minutes to complete a transaction, and after all that we figured out that the ATM didn´t allow you withdraw money. Bank 3 didn´t accept visa, but with the tip of a young guy who spoke English we made it to Bank 4 and were able to get money. I sure hope this won´t be as difficult for the rest of my travels.
Around 7:30 we headed out for Ipanema for the party. We met a bunch of Brazilians that were starting the party in the metro, and they were friendly. I asked if I could join them (since that is the way to truly appreciate another culture), and they offered to take me under the wing. They seemed interested in me being American and loved hearing me sing Linkin Park and Beyonce, and we were communicating between English, Spanish, and Portuguese. They bought me a Carneval shirt and took me along with them, and I was really surprised (but in a good way) with their hopsitality. We took pictures all along the way, and they gave me their email addreses so we could stay in contact. As they helped me get a taxi back to my hostel, we promised to meet up at least once more before I leave for Santiago.
To end this entry, I would like to share the philosopies of both taxi and bus drivers in Rio. These are based on my observations and experiences over the past few days:
Taxi driver rules
1. Variety is the spice of life, so treat red lights the same way. The first time you encounter one, go completely through it at full speed. The next time, come to a quick halt, even if it minds jerking you and the passenger forward. The third time, approach cautiously and go through it only when it is safe.
2. If other cars are stopped or in your way, this is by no means a reason to slow down or change lanes. Changing lanes is acceptable only at the very last minute, and of course without the use of a turn signal.
3. Driving as fast as possible between cars that are halfway in your lane on each side is not only acceptable but encouarged. One way or another somoene will move out of the way.
Bus driver rules
1. Brakes and brake pads are to be abused. Passengers need to be tossed around as much as possible. Stop as abruptly and as often as possible.
2. Consequently, passengers should hold onto hand rails with the jaws of life with both hands until seated.
3. Pedestrians are a nuisance that need to be taught a lesson. If one tries to cross your path, do not slow down. In fact, speed up a bit.
I just heard that there is another party going on tonight, and I´m debating if I should go to it or not. Will update with pictures soon enough.
When I asked them what time it was, I realized it didn´t mater at all, and we all laughed. We then debated what time we thought it was. Seeing that we are traveling now, the time of day, day of the week, or month are pretty meaningless to all of us.
After getting some ice cream we packed up and headed back to the hoste to rest. We all discovered our sunburn, with Ben and Kristie having it over most of their bodies (they opted to stay in the sun almost the entire time), but me only being burned on my knees a bit and on my tops of my hands a bit.
I got a bite to eat at a place specializing in chicken dishes, and I got Chicken Bora Bora. It was grilled chicken breast with some seasonings along with rice with fried potato, egg, onion, and ham. I was only able to eat about half of it so I got a doggy bag. I didn´t have my camera on hand, so I will post a picture of what it looks like once I eat there again.
A bit later others at the hostel told me about a big party happening in Ipanema, and an Autralian named Luke offered to help me get to a bank to get more money. It turns out a few others also needed money, so the journey began. Bank 1 was closed. We waited at Bank 2 while a young guy took about 20 minutes to complete a transaction, and after all that we figured out that the ATM didn´t allow you withdraw money. Bank 3 didn´t accept visa, but with the tip of a young guy who spoke English we made it to Bank 4 and were able to get money. I sure hope this won´t be as difficult for the rest of my travels.
Around 7:30 we headed out for Ipanema for the party. We met a bunch of Brazilians that were starting the party in the metro, and they were friendly. I asked if I could join them (since that is the way to truly appreciate another culture), and they offered to take me under the wing. They seemed interested in me being American and loved hearing me sing Linkin Park and Beyonce, and we were communicating between English, Spanish, and Portuguese. They bought me a Carneval shirt and took me along with them, and I was really surprised (but in a good way) with their hopsitality. We took pictures all along the way, and they gave me their email addreses so we could stay in contact. As they helped me get a taxi back to my hostel, we promised to meet up at least once more before I leave for Santiago.
To end this entry, I would like to share the philosopies of both taxi and bus drivers in Rio. These are based on my observations and experiences over the past few days:
Taxi driver rules
1. Variety is the spice of life, so treat red lights the same way. The first time you encounter one, go completely through it at full speed. The next time, come to a quick halt, even if it minds jerking you and the passenger forward. The third time, approach cautiously and go through it only when it is safe.
2. If other cars are stopped or in your way, this is by no means a reason to slow down or change lanes. Changing lanes is acceptable only at the very last minute, and of course without the use of a turn signal.
3. Driving as fast as possible between cars that are halfway in your lane on each side is not only acceptable but encouarged. One way or another somoene will move out of the way.
Bus driver rules
1. Brakes and brake pads are to be abused. Passengers need to be tossed around as much as possible. Stop as abruptly and as often as possible.
2. Consequently, passengers should hold onto hand rails with the jaws of life with both hands until seated.
3. Pedestrians are a nuisance that need to be taught a lesson. If one tries to cross your path, do not slow down. In fact, speed up a bit.
I just heard that there is another party going on tonight, and I´m debating if I should go to it or not. Will update with pictures soon enough.
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