Laptop Saved, Ticket Home, Student Protests, Oven Fried Chicken, and 4th of July in Winter

So my laptop is alive!

A Chilean friend helped me by taking it around to repair places.  Long story short, he got a place to clean it out for 10 dollars.  Ideally they would have replaced the keyboard, but they didn't have any in stock.  Now it has a few nuances about it:

1. The right arrow key doesn't work.
2. When it turns on it beeps angrily at me until I hit the right shift key three times.  After that it loads normally.
3. Once it loads up, any time I click on something it automatically scrolls over to the icon to the furthest right side of the screen.  The solution?  Hitting the right shift key three times.

I was so relieved to not have to shell out money for a new laptop, as I'm considering getting a new one when I'm home visiting in February.

So yes, as I always do with my planning, I already have a ticket home to visit.  I'll be getting in to JFK February 7th, and I'll be home until the 28th.  I wanted to be home to celebrate the 4 family birthdays, and this year is a big one for my dad since he'll be 70.  My plan is also to get in a visit out to Los Angeles again to see friends and escape the Jersey winter for a week too, and on the way back to Santiago I'll be in Colombia for about 8 days.

The student protests in Santiago have been ongoing, so last weekend I decided to take a stroll around downtown with my camera and take some pictures to document.  And here they are:

This is near where I work in downtown. 

The phrase "en paro" means on strike in Spanish.  ICEI is the abbreviation for a school.

Someone cleverly put a bandana on this statue, and my guess is that they are making reference to the government being robbers with the education system.

Free education

Translation of the middle sign: Engineers taking over for a public education of high quality

A lot of buses have things written on them in protest of the education system.  Lavin is the Education minister, and many have called for him to resign.  It looks like this says Lavin Educriminal.

This is from a public school a block from where I live.  "We want a quality education!  Liceo 007 taking over!"

Another photo of the same school.  "Now it's our turn!"

There was a huge protest here on the 30th, starting in Plaza Italia and going all the way down Alameda (the main street of Santiago.)  The reports vary between 100,000 and 400,000 people marching, but in any case it was huge.  I had a class in downtown shortly before it started, so luckily I avoided it.  I considered going back to the office after my class, but I decided to avoid the possibility of teargas and the like.  I tried putting a link to a news article from the Santiago Times on here, but unfortnately their website wasn't working right to view it.

I've been meaning to post pictures of this for a while, but I finally got around to taking pictures and getting them up on here.  I've found a really good recipe for oven baked fried chicken.  I usually also make a salad and mac and cheese, and so here's what it looks like:

And it's hard for me to believe that it's the 4th of July already.  Due to Movistar not yet installing internet and cable in my apartment, I'm actually sitting in a Papa John's that has wireless, bundled up in multiple layers due to the cold weather.  I'm not much of a patriotic person so I'm not doing anything tonight, but yesterday I went to an event at California Cantina (a gringo bar here) that had burgers, fries, a drink, and apple pie for about 10 bucks.  I normally don't like going there, but it was a nice afternoon event for a change.

And that's all for now.  From Santiago, wishing everyone back in the States a happy 4th of July!

Sometimes Goodbye´s the Only Way

Some of you may recognize the title of this blog post from the lyrics of the Linkin Park song "Shadow of the Day".

So it wasn't an easy decision, but I resigned from my position at my school here effective August 1st.

I was really torn about it, as the most of the kids and all of teachers at the school are great.  I just decided that this wasn't the right place for me, and so I am making the transition to teaching English to business people.  In the end, it is a big weight off of my chest, as I had been thinking about it for a few weeks.

I have pictures from get together with friends here and a trip to Fantasilandia (an amusement park) but am too lazy to upload them now.  I will be sure to post them before I leave for Peru on Saturday.

More World Cup Fever

So today was Chile's 2nd game in the World Cup.  They played against Switzerland, and they won.  I heard stories about riots in Plaza Italia and the police using teargas in order to keep the crowds calm.  Part of me wishes I was there, but part of me doesn't.  Then I found this article online:

http://www.thepulse.cl/2010/06/21/disturbances-in-plaza-italia/

Then I was glad I wasn't there.

At school we watched the game in the gym since it was on at 10 AM here.  Here are some pictures:

Now it will be interesting to see how Chile does when they play Spain on Friday at 2:30.

In other news, I am loving teaching English classes to business people.  I started working for an institute here that sends teachers to companies to teach English to their employees, and they all have been very motivated to learn.  I am currently teaching at Johnson and Johnson's headquarters in Santiago, and the institute also has clients like LAN airlines, Chiquita, BanChile, and even the Chilean government.  I started one class already and will have another two new classes this week.

I am also contemplating joining a gym.  While I am walking to and from school, I feel like I need more exercise.  There is a gym that is about a 20 minute walk from my place, and it's open 24/7.  It has the standard classes and enough equipment to work out, and there's an online special of about $24 per month if you sign up for a year.  I am planning on being here for next year, so I am really considering it.  Oh yeah, and when you work out on the 3rd floor you have an amazing view of the Andes.

And becuase I'm a dork I had to take a picture of this as I was leaving class at Johnson and Johnson tonight:

CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE VIVA CHILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is a famous national chant in Chile that was heard over and over again today.

For anyone who has been living under a rock, today Chile won its first match in the World Cup against Honduras.  It's a particularly special event since Chile got back into the World Cup after a 12 year hiatus.

I knew it was going to be a big event, and so I went shopping for some World Cup things to get in the mood to watch the big game.  I was considering some hats and shirts, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money.  After visiting a bunch of stores with different things, I settled on a few horns and flags and a face paint set with red, white, and blue.  Since Erin and I wanted to go out and find things together but didn't manage to follow through with it, I got a set of things for her too.

I usually get to school around 7:50 or so (classes start at 8), but seeing the match was starting at 7:30 I had to drag myself out of bed earlier than usual.  As I walked to school a few cars were honking their horns, and some people were hanging huge Chilean flags out their windows.  I got to school around 7:15 and promptly dropped off my things in  the teacher's lounge and made my way to the cafteria (they call it the casino here in Chile).

I would say that about 100 kids were there, and also the faculty and staff.  There was artwork out front, and the windows were all covered over so that when the lights were off we could see the game on the large projection screen.  Some of the kids were in uniform, but most of them had some combination of red shirts/scarves/face paint etc.  There were also a lot of flags and horns.  They set up bleachers in the back of the casino and chairs. 

Enough of the text, here are some pictures:

When Chile scored, the place erupted.  Then it erupted again once Chile won the game.  After talking with students and teachers, I headed back to the teacher's lounge.  There Claudia and 2 other teachers were calmly sipping some tea and grading papers.  When they saw me with the flag and face paint, they told me I'm more Chilean than they are. 

Unfortunately I couldn't be at Plaza Italia where the big celebrating was happening, but they did have the news at my school, and I might be on the Channel 13 news. 

On Monday Chile plays Switzerland, and at school they are having some competitions and games leading up to us watching the game together.  It should be pretty exciting.

The question isn´t what we are going to do, the question is what we AREN´T going to do!

In case if you don´t recognize that quote, it is from the classic 80s film Ferris Bueller´s Day Off.  I am watching this at school now.  Why am I doing this and not helping with English classes you ask?

Well, Claudia and I were preparing to give our class their oral tests first thing this morning.  Then one of the math teachers came in and announced that there was a math test to be given to the entire school to determine their math level.  They were taking the test right then, and it was scheduled to take over 2 hours. 

Claudia didn´t need my help giving the test, so I had free time.  Luckily I had brought Claudia´s copy of Ferris Bueller´s Day Off with me, and Claudia had her laptop at school with her. 

So you might still be wondering why I am watching it.  Well, the 10th grade students are finishing up a unit on crime and getting into trouble.  This movie is so perfect for that theme.  It has playing hooky, impostering others, joyriding, lying, and more.  It´s actually one of my favorite movies.  I´m working on a study guide so the students can follow along to the movie and understand it.

On a different note, World Cup Fever is in full swing here.  Kids at school have purchased books that list all of the players for each team, and there are cards that they are collecting to fill in each blank for each player.  Next Wednesday will be Chile´s first match at 7:30 AM here, and they are going to broadcast the game in the gym on a large screen so everyone at school can see.

But that´s not all.  Some schools have actually cancelled classes for that first game.  Other schools are letting students come in after that first match is over.  The Ministry of Education has allowed students to leave school early (at 1:00) Friday the 25th so that they can make it home in enough time to watch the game that starts at 2:30.

It´s really interesting to see all of the World Cup memorabilia on display.  I am going to try to get an official shirt and maybe a cup and book to bring back as souvineers and also as something to show to any Spanish classes I will have.

Another interesting grammar point: When do you use say, and when do you use tell?

You use say when you say something to someone.

You use tell when you tell someone something.

It´s a very subtle difference but a difference nonetheless.  I found the lyrics for ¨Hello, Goodbye¨ by The Beatles, and we will probably sing the song in class next week.

That´s all for now.

Random Thoughts

This week the weather has been sooooo nice.  It has only gone down to about 50 in the evenings and mornings, and during the day it has been close to 75 or so.  We're supposed to be getting closer to winter, but I'm not complaining one bit about this abnormality.

Today I had a taste (but a good one) of teaching in Spanish at school.  One of the Spanish teachers was sick and lost her voice completely.  This week the classes are just doing oral evaluations, so it wasn't critical that I was in class.  After checking with the head of the English department she told me it would be fine to go around with the Spanish teacher and be her voice for the day.

Her first class was with a 9th grade class, and when I have them they are usually pretty squirrely.  Seeing that it was the morning they seemed more tame.  We talked about different types of dialogue (interviews, conversations, debates, etc), and it was a good feeling getting to teach in Spanish. 

The other two classes just had study guides to work on, so I got to talk to the kids while they worked.  It turns out that some of them have their own band and already have 3 albums, and they let me listen to their music.  It is really good and they even used a bass instead of a bass guitar in that particular song.  We talked about how much music means to us and our experiences with it, and it was cool having that in common with them. 

On a similar note, a few days before that there was a girl reading a book about ways to prevent cancer, and she had post it notes sticking out all over the place from the book.  I asked her about it, and she had actually had some lesions the year before and had since recovered.  Now she is very interested in healthy behaviors to help prevent cancer, and she is writing her thesis for graduation about it.  It was so awesome to see her writing about something so dear to her, and she told me that she wants to be sure that others at her school know about things they can do to live a healthy life.

I've also picked up on a few more cultural things here.  I now find myself waving my finger at people (like native Chileans) as a way of expressing disagreement or to say no.  One thing that they do here too is that they blink their eyes and smile at you.  This seems to be our version of nodding your head at someone to acknowledge or agree with what someone is saying.

My circle of friends here is expanding, and it is nice getting to know new people.  I am getting to know more and more native Chileans, and they are giving me travel advice and such and are watching out for me so that I don't get ripped off when buying things or when searching for a new place to live. 

I feel like I have been in Santiago for too long and haven't done enough traveling.  Looking back, I think it has been over a month since I last went somewhere.  Part of me wants to travel to Vina or Valpo for the weekend, but another part of me wants to suck it up and stay in Santiago to save a bit of money.  Decisions decisions.....

Gringo concha tu madre

Those were the words that some 12th grade students sang to me on Wednesday afternoon as we were ironically waiting for a meeting to start about the level of disrespect and their behavior, especially in English classes.  It is too vulgar for me to write on here, but for those that are curious you can look it up on http://www.urbandictionary.com/

They assumed I wouldn't understand it, but as my eyes grew wide and I called over the English teacher they learned otherwise.  As I pointed out the group of students to the English teacher, they pointed and laughed at me.  At that point, I went over to them and told them "Tal vez piensan que es un chiste pero mi madre murió hace 3 años.  Gracias por recordarme."  (Maybe you think that's funny, but my mom died 3 years ago.  Thanks for reminding me)  I then gathered my things and left school.

Needless to say, I was upset about the situation, and it just brought back the memories of losing my mom and how much I miss her from time to time.  I spoke with the program directors on the US and Chilean side, and they told me they would do whatever they could to help.  I got a call from Claudia a bit later on, and at that point at least one student was supposed to be expelled.  I won't write an entire play by play from that point forward, but long story short the kid is still at the school, the teachers reaffirmed their support for me, and I feel like the adminstration finally realizes that they have to discipline the kids for things like fighting (defined as punching and kicking each other and not listening to me telling them to sit down in opposite sides of the room 4 times while I stand between them) when I send them out of class.

The following morning I was still trying to sort through it all while being at school and needed some comfort food.  I began craving the chicken nuggets and fries from the Lider across the street, so I went there.  It turns out their fryer wasn't working, so I walked to the McDonald's about 15 minutes away.  They were only serving lunch, so I went to the Jumbo at the end of the block.  There were no chicken nuggets, so my comfort food ended up being milk and chocolate cake at 9:30 in the morning. 

When I was back at school a teacher told me that one of the classes asked if I could come to their class at 1:00, and I told her I would.  It turns out that they knew something had happened (but they didn't know exactly what) and they threw me a spontaneous surprise party.  There were balloons, chocolate, candy, and a neon orange sign saying "Don't give up!"

The balloon that I am popping in the picture was actually filled with candy inside.  I have no idea how they fit them all inside, but it was really cool to see.                                                                      Before the party happened and had a day to clear my head, I was seriously considering moving to another school or leaving the program and finding another job to teach English somewhere else.  After this, I realized that I wasn't going to let a few bad apples get to me, and that the classes that were acting out so badly don't deserve the privilege of having me in class.  I simply won't visit the two classes becuase of their behavior, and it will save me a lot of frustration and future situations.

After school was over Thursday, Claudia offered to take Erin and I out with her family to lunch again.  It was great seeing her family again, especially her 5 year old daughter, and it was such a relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

The weekend included tutoring my private student, playing Magic, a get together for all of the Teaching Chile people, and lots of looking for new places to live.  All these things helped me keep my mind off of what happened, and the possibilites of finding a new place to live are perhaps a bit more expensvie but nonetheless exciting. 

So I didn't get to the movies or get my paycheck as I was hoping, but those things will be happening this week.  I have also made serious headway with finding a new place to live and am hoping to find something to move in by May 20th or so.  I have some people that are keeping their eyes and ears open for me, and I know that with time something great will come along.

The Language Lab, ANZAC Day, and my first trip to the movies

Late last week Claudia and I decided to check out the Language Lab that was supposed to be such a big deal at our school.  This year they changed the English classes from 5 hours a week to 3 hours a week of class and 2 hours in the Language Lab.

Well, I guess I'll start out by saying that it's not perfect.  There are 32 computers, and most classes have around 35 kids.  When I was in there during a free period there were 6 kids without computers.  Some computers were not connecting to the program, and other kids had problems with their microphones not being able to hear their voices (and were therefore unable to continue with the program).  Other kids were typing in translations of words and phrases, and the program was telling them that it was wrong when I knew it was right.  We even tried it different ways with capitalization and spacing but to no avail.  When they didn't do something right or there was some type of technical issue, the instructions were all in English.

The technician of the lab was busy running around putting out one fire after another, and even though they were 10th graders, they mostly seemed at the level of working on letters and numbers.  A few of them might be at that level, but certainly not all of them.  (They supposedly took a diagnostic test to determine what level they would start at, and would then work individually from there)  I think the best part (or worst depending on your point of view) is that the technician that runs the English Lab doesn't speak English.  Oh yeah, and the kids get a grade in the Language Lab too, so it will be interesting to see what grades the kids get that don't have a computer to work on.  Yup, I'm definitely in Chile.

So my weekend was pretty relaxed.  I will from this point forward refer to my room in my house as my cave, as there are no windows and I have a sole lightbulb that hangs from the ceiling as my lightsource.  I cleaned my cave and sorted through random papers and receipts that I had piling up.  And after that I went to a party that Chris and Tiffany were throwing in honor of ANZAC Day.

Basically ANZAC Day is a day to remember the fallen soldiers of Australia and New Zealand from the 1st World War.  Chris and Tiffany made up signs showing typical Australian slang with translations into American English that the rest of us would be able to understand, and there was good food too.

Here is fairy bread, which is bread with melted butter and sprinkles (and I learned that sprinkles are called hundreds and thousands in Australian):

And here is a dessert called lamingtons.  It is made by taking sponge cake, then covering it in melted chocolate and then putting coconut all over it:

 

And here is Chris showing off his buns:

The meat on the barby:

Me cutting my meat and Julie looking very excited about her Aussie burger:

And here are a few fellow teachers (Erin and Juila) and a guy named Arturo I met at the party:

As you can see, it was a good time.

Then on Sunday I didn't have much planned and was bored at home when I got an invitation to go see Shutter Island later on.  At first I wasn't going to go since it was all the way in Las Condes and didn't know how to get there, but since I didn't have any other plans I decided to go after all.  It turns out that I only had to take 2 busses and it only took about 30 minutes to get there. 

The movie theater was at the same mall that I was at a few weeks ago for lunch with Claudia and her family, and I started to get a bit hungry as I passed by Pasta Basta, the Italian restaurant we ate at together.  I tried calling David but he didn't answer.  I texted him about 10 minutes later and still got no answer.  I walked around to kill some time, and decided to go back to the movie theater one last time. 

As I got there David and Jordan were walking out.  It turns out they decided to catch an earlier showing of Shutter Island.  We talked about going to Pasta Basta for an early dinner instead of the movie, but then they realized that they didn't know if anyone else was going to show up or not.  As we were waiting a girl named Linda showed up.  We talked about all going to Pasta Basta, but Linda really wanted to see Shutter Island.  She also had a discount ticket for 2 people, so her and I went to see it and Jordan and David did their own thing instead.

Popcorn at the movies here is either salty or sweet, and there is no butter flavoring thingie to make it extra fattening.  I was a bit weary of seeing the movie since movies that get scary or violent still affect me a bit, but I was fine.  The movie really messed with your mind, as everything you thought it was completely changed as time went on.  The dream sequences were really strange but made sense in the end.  The one thing I still haven't figured out is the paper that Rachel wrote about "The law of 4".

I've also gotten on the ball with some little things I've been meaning to do: research for traveling to Easter Island, Machu Picchu, and Bolivia, I bought a camera case, and I also filled up some empty bottled waters with sand rather than buying dumbells to work out with.

This coming week will hopefully have at least one of the following: news of moving to a new place (the new roof is worse than the first with letting in wind and dirt and also leaks, I keep getting food stolen from the fridge even though my name is plastered all over it, internet is incredibly slow or broken, and some people just leave the place filthy) going to see How To Train Your Dragon, bike rides in semi warm weather to explore more of Santiago, and a paycheck on Friday.  We shall see what the future holds.

Changing of the seasons, A new bike and interview, More schools adventures, and culture shock

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.

Lots of random stuff....

So I have been meaning to update for the past few days, but things have been pretty busy.

So here are some pictures from the barbeque that Zoe had for her birthday on Saturday:

Sunday I met up with Walker and Erin, as we haven't seen each other in about 3 weeks or so.  It was great getting to catch up with them, and we sat at La Terraza for about 2 and a half hours just talking about random things.  I got a huge hamburger with all types of stuff on it, but didn't think to bring my camera with me.

Later that evening my roommates and I had planned to make dinner together, and so we had beef tacos with salad.  We also had some wine, but I forgot my bottle opener at the asado for Zoe on Saturday night.  Mario tried opening the bottle on his own, but when he had trouble with it 3 of my other roommates started hovering over him and decided to try and help out:

After about 10 minutes they managed to get the bottle of wine open, and this is what our dinner looked like:

This week at school has been a rollercoaster ride in some ways.  I love how I am greeted as if I am a movie star, and I get lots of students coming up to me and asking how I am and shaking my hand.  Dealing with some of the student behavior has been very challenging.  I was incredibly frustrated after working with one class.  It all started when I told a student to sit in a different seat during presentations and he refused to move.  In hindsight, I should have just kicked him out then, but I was told it's better to talk to kids at the end of class here if there are problems.  Then after that, I was dealing with cell phones and kids refusing to turn them over after being told to put them away multiple times, kids banging my desk, talking throughout presentations and simply talking louder in response to my death stare, trying to blame me for them cutting up their papers and demanding new ones, and more.  We talked at the end of class, but there didn't seem to be much resolution.  Let's just say I am not looking forward to working with this class again on Tuesday.

So that left me really frustrated, but then the classes on Wednesday and Thursday were refreshing.  They were eager to learn and speak English, and I have gotten into the habit of bringing out my frisbee at recess to play with the kids.  They seem to really enjoy it, and it's a nice way to get in some movement after being in class for a while.  Talking with some of the kids I've learned that they and their families have connections to the States, and they have gotten to travel there.

I am also figuring out where to pick my battles.  In a class today the teacher was checking assignments that the students did by having them come up indiviudally to her, and with a class of 36 that takes a while.  I walked around and helped the class complete a list of irregular verbs as well as an interest inventory for me, but there was still a lot of chaos.  I encouraged the kids to work on the two assignments, but there were kids that already had everything done and had nothing to do.  So if I saw their Ipods out and they had everything done, I told them they had to be listening to songs in English.  I told the students with Uno cards out that they had to play in English, and I played a round with them to be sure that they knew all of the words they would need to do so.  I encouraged the boy that was throwing a paper airplane across the room to say "Catch the airplane!  Are you ready?" and "Throw me the airplane!"  And I think that was the first time I heard him actually speaking English in the class besides his presentation in front of the class.

I just had to laugh as one student decided to make a tip jar, put a coin in it, and walked around the room tyring to solicit tips from his classmates.  Others were drawing in their notebooks, and others were walking around the class to talk with their friends.  I started up a game of Hangman on the board, and some students came over to me to play.  This is simply the way the classrooms tend to be here, and I'm thinking perhaps I need to be less strict with the class I had such trouble with on Tuesday.

Today Claudia (one of the teachers at my school) invited Erin and me out to lunch with her husband and 5 year old daughter.  We went to an Italian restaurant named Basta Pasta in Las Condes, and afterwards we enjoyed the nice weather at the park.  They are such nice people and offered to help us find free or low cost things to do in the area, and her husband offered to help me find a kickboxing gym and also gave tips on biking in Santiago.  Their daughter is adorable and a bundle of energy, and after stopping at their home for a short while she decided to give Erin her chocolate bunny from Easter and to stuff my pockets with her chocolate eggs.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me to capture the delicious food or good weather or get a picture of us together, but hopefully next time.

Tonight I decided to experiment with cooking some churrasco (for you Jersey people it is like steak in a steak sandwich) with potatoes along with some salad, and it turned out pretty good:

This might come across as a morbid topic, but despite that it is an interesting one with different cultures.  My roommate told me that she was taking the metro home but she was delayed because someone committed suicide by jumping onto the tracks.  Apparently in Chile they have a system set up where if that happens they have a crew set up that turns off the lights down by the tracks and they have 8 minutes to clean it up.  Once they complete the job of cleaning and taking the body away, they have a mandatory paid month off so that they can recover and cope with what they just had to deal with.

Furthermore, she continued to tell me that if a person tries to commit suicide in Chile but does not succeed that they go to prison for 15 years.  This stems from the fact that Chile is a deeply Catholic country, and taking your own life is considered a sin.  The only other alternative to this sentence would be to go to a mental institution, but she said that going to prison is more likely to happen.

This weekend I am hoping to catch up with friends over dinner and buy a bike.  We'll see how that all goes....

School, Paychecks, Hostel Life, and Exploring

So it has only been a few days of school, but I still feel like there's a lot I can write about.  This week all of the English classes have their oral and written tests, so it is an easy week for me.  I was wondering why Claudia wasn't at school when I got there, as she always shows up early on Mondays.  She ended up showing up at the last minute and was facing major printing problems at home for some of the tests for the week.  We then rushed up to the first class (which was going to do their oral tests), but we found out that they scheduled a mass during that time.  So we had to go down with them instead of taking their tests.

The next surprise was that my paycheck wasn't ready.  It was supposed to be ready last week Thursday, but I forgot to ask about it.  I was asked about it at school on Monday, and the payroll guy told me that he hadn't received anything from our program yet.  I spoke with the woman who heads up the English programs, and she told me that they weren't ready but she was going to be sure that they got there the next day.  I told my program director as well as the payroll guy about this before heading home.

So on Tuesday I checked in first thing in the morning (I was running out of money pretty badly at this point), and he said he would try and call at 9 when the EDUCA office would be open.  I checked back later that morning, and he didn't get through to anyone.  He told me to check back at 1 since the banks close at 2.  I stopped back, and he didn't have any news, but a few minutes later he told me that our paychecks were being delivered and would be there in the next 45 minutes or so.  I decided to hold tight and hope to make it to the bank on time.

Our paychecks arrived at about 1:45, and the payroll guy directed me and Erin to the specific bank we had to go to.  We got there at 1:57, and as long as you get in the door by 2:00 you are fine.  After waiting in line for about 25 minutes we were able to get our paychecks. 

It is such a relief to not have to make more ATM withdrawals or charge more groceries and other things to my credit card.  I've already set up a budget for myself and am going to do my best to stick to it. 

Through this experience and seeing what I have seen at school so far, I have come to the following conclusions about Chilean culture in relation to schools:

1. Time is much more lax here.  Teachers will show up after the bell has rung for classes to start, and it is not uncommon for them to show up to class 5 minutes after the bell has rung.
2. Teachers will continue teaching even if half the class is not listening, and the responsibility simply lies on the students to be able to complete the work.  Unless if it is something major, students are not typically given consequences or thrown out of class.
3. One of the teachers told me that things in Chile are done "a la chilena".  This means that sometimes things go wrong or don't work, so they try to find a solution.  If that solution works 90% of the time, that's great.  If it works 50% of the time, that's great too.  If it doesn't work, try something else and repeat.
So in addition to getting used to this cultural shift, I got a pleasant surprise yesterday.  I was out running some errands, and a couple that was obviously Latino stopped me and asked me for directions.  I have gotten some tan since I have been here, but it's still pretty obvious that I am a gringo.  I happened to know exactly where they had to go (for those of you reading this that know Santiago they were on Matta con San Francisco and wanted to know how to get to Santa Rosa), and it was such a satisfying feeling feeling like a local here.

Another culture that I have grown very accustomed to is the hostel life.  I can't put my finger on what it is about it, but the adventure of traveling and meeting other people that are also traveling is such a satisfying feeling.  There's just something about sharing the meals and drinks with strangers, talking about where you've been and where you're going, and deciding to venture out to explore together that is so relaxed and spontaneous.

One thing that intrigues me about hostel life is the way that people talk.  Here are the typical questions that guide a conversation (in the order they happen) between people meeting for the first time in a hostel situation:

1. Hey, how's it goin?
2. When did you get here?
3. How long are you staying?
4. Where were you before here?
5. How did you like it there? 
6. Where are you going after this?
7. Want to go out and get something to eat/explore/go on a tour together?

You will notice one interesting thing about this: You don't really get to know people's names or much about their careers.  The way that we identify ourselves in other contexts don't really apply since everyone is traveling.  I have made good travel friends and only learned their names after hanging out for an entire day together, and in other cases we spent the day together and one of us traveled elsewhere before we got to exchange names.  Even if we don't get to do that, we still hold the memory of the conversation we had, the meal we shared, or the tidbit of travel advice we passed along to each other.

This afternoon I got to do some more exploring.  I have been putting off trying to get my camera fixed since I have been dreading finding out how much it would cost, but I decided to face the music today.  After getting my hair cut at a colorful hair salon, I headed towards Huerfanos con Ahumada where I was told I could get it fixed.  I realized that Huerfanos is a pedestrian walkway that I had seen passing by on the bus plenty of times before but never bothered to explore before this.

The store I needed was about 4 blocks away, and so I got to see a lot of shops along the way.  There were a lot of bookstores and a fair amount of restuarants as well as a movie theater.  I made my way to the store, but it turns out they don't repair Canons.  They directed me to another store a block away from there, and they told me it would most more to repair than a new camera. 

So I took a deep breath as I asked the cost of a new camera.  They had the same exact camera as my broken one, and it cost 129.000 pesos, which is about $235.  I got mine for $150 from Amazon, so I decided to do some research online.  It turns out that they can't ship cameras to Chile, so I will have to get my camera here.  I will probably shop around or maybe get another Canon but a cheaper model.  But I will definitely invest in a good case to keep it safe this time.

It's hard to believe that the week is almost over.  Saturday will be the 2 month mark of traveling.

School, My first music video, Mendoza adventures, and more toilets

This was my first week at school with a set schedule.  It is a nice feeling to know where I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to be doing, and I also feel like a big weight has been taken off my chest without having to teach classes on my own.

I am starting to get to know some of the students´ names (from 7th to 12th grade I am working with about 400 of them), and I had them make up nameplates and fill out an interest inventory so I can get to know them better.  They really liked the nameplate idea and got pretty creative with their artwork on it, and on the other side of the nameplate they wrote their nicknames.

The classes I am working with vary greatly.  One thing I´ve noticed is that there is no such thing as advanced classes, so you get students of all different levels of English in the same class.  Some classes are really well behaved with kids with high levels of English, and in one class I had a few kids asking me about US politics and why people don´t like Obama as well as conspiracy theories in relation to 9 11 (In English).  Other classes were really talkative and disruptive that it was hard to even begin to know what their level of English was.

It seems like little things at the school are really interesting to the students.  I spiked my hair for a change, and I got so many comments from them about how I looked bakan and fleite.  They also seem fascinated by my clip on sunglasses.  I personally think they make me look pretty dorky, but maybe the concept of dorkiness is cultural.

On a completely different note but before I forget, I got to star in a music video.  Jason Milstein, a friend from high school, is in a really awesome up and coming band called The Medium.  I was the college professor handing out the diplomas to the students in the video.  Here is a link to it if you want to see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN4LHWE86WI

So this is my second trip to Mendoza so far.  I was asleep on the bus when I woke up hearing the tires squealing and the driving giving it full gas.  After looking out the window I was surprised to see that there was snow all over the place.  I didn´t think to snap any pictures at the time, but there was about a distance of about a foot between the bus and the edge of the precipice.
The trip almost didn´t happen, as I didn´t realize how difficult it would be to find a place to stay for Easter weekend.  I got an email from the hostel I was at last time that they didn´t have any spaces, and I went to a bunch of websites and called a bunch of places with no luck.  I got to the second to last place in my travel guide, and they had a room.  It is actually a hotel, but they have single rooms.  I was breaking the bank with the cost of 90 pesos (which is about 23 dollars) becuase I am used to hostel prices.

For the price it is actually pretty nice.  I have my own private room with private bathroom, and breakfast is included.  The downside is that is not a hostel, which means no public computers, no meeting random people to hang out with, and no kitchen to prepare my own meals.  But all in all not bad with a few days notice before Easter weekend:

So far in Mendoza I have gotten to do a good amount.  I took a mountain biking tour, and the views along the way were amazing.  I got used to go down big hills in the dirt and rocks and mastered the position of keeping your balance between both pedals while breaking slowly, and it was a great feeling climbing the hills and working up a sweat.  It reminded me of the mountain biking I did in Oaxaca about 6 years ago.  Here are some pictures:

I also explored the Plaza Independencia with lots of street vendors as well as the pedestrian area of Sarmiento.  I walked into a wine shop to look around and was pleasantly surprised when they offered me a free sample of a wine.  I tried a red wine (a Cabarnet I think) and it was really good.  After that, I stopped into a mini market to get a bottled water when I noticed that they sold bottles of wine as well as mini bottles of wine.  The smallest bottle was 6 pesos (about $1.50) and was probably about 1.5 to 2 glasses of wine.  The next biggest was about 11 pesos ($3.75) and it was probably about 3 or 4 glasses of wine.  I doubt that you could find any place like that in the States.

The next day I woke up early and went to the Parque General de San Martin, which is large and beautiful.  There are tree lined streets, areas to bike and walk, sidewalk cafes, a zoo, and some amazing viewpoints.  I walked all the way to the top of Cerro de la Gloria (a large hill dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives in wars involving Argentina).

 On the way back I stopped at a cafe and got a hamburger with French fries and some juice.  I have gotten used to not getting a bun with my hamburgers in Chile, so I was pleasantly surprised to get one with this meal, especially seeing that the entire meal only cost 4 bucks:

I updated part of this at an internet cafe that is connected to a Subway.  I haven´t eaten at Subway yet in South America, so I decided to give it a try.  Let me just say that they don´t know how to make their meatball sandwiches here.  First off, there wasn´t any mozzerella OR parmesan cheese.  They used American cheese, and there was barely any sauce.  It looked so pitiful that I added some lettuce and tomato to it. 

I have found more notable additions to my previous post about toilets around the world.  Here is exhibit A, which is in my hotel room:

It looks like a normal toilet with one teeny tiny exception: IT HAS A HUGE METAL THING CLAMPED TO IT.  At first I thought it was some type of torture device, but I rejected that notion once my private parts were intact after using it.  I have yet to muster up the courage to turn the handle on the side or ask at reception what it does.

Then there is exhibit B, which is inside the internet cafe restroom:

This is what we call a minimalist toilet.  It is no nonsense and does not need luxuries such as handles to flush or a toilet seat.  If you look up, you will notice a tank of water overhead with a string to pull in order to flush it.  It is toilets like these that make me always bring a pack of tissues in my pocket and hand sanitizer with me wherever I travel.

After my experience with the minimalist toilet, I went back to editing this post and got a text from Allison.  It turns out she was in Mendoza also and was waiting to hear back from some friends about meeting up.  Her hostel was only a few blocks away, so we met up there and waited for Celine and Sonia.

It turns out Allison took over 12 hours to get into Mendoza due to the huge lines at the border, and she had spent the entire day by herself.  We hadn´t seen each other since we parted ways in Viña when I headed back to the hostel early while everyone else went out, so we had a lot to catch up about.

We got some soda while Celine and Sonia got settled into the hostel, and we became accustomed to the suprise we got when trying to pay with larger bills.  A dollar is about 4 Argentinean pesos, so I wouldn´t think much of having to pay with a 50 or 100 peso bill.  Apparently it is a big deal here.  Allison and I got used to the gasp and widening eyes as we tried to pay with a 50 peso bill for our 2 sodas costing 12 pesos.  After paying we sat and waited for about 10 minutes, and when we asked our waitress for the change she said we had to talk to the person at the register.  Going there, we learned that they did not have enough change to give us, and they were waiting for other people to pay with small bills so that they could give us our change.  Luckily it worked out a minute or so after that .

Then afterwards she had to break her 100 peso bill, so she got a bottled water at McDonald´s.  We thought it wouldn´t be as big of a deal there, but we got the same reaction.  Note to self: Next time ask for smaller bills when changing money in Argentina.

Once Celine and Sonia were ready, we all went out to get dinner together.  It was really cool becuase we all spoke Spanish well enough to speak in Spanish the entire time.  (Sonia is from Madrid, so we didn´t have much of a choice anyway)  When deciding where to go to dinner, I suggested Las Tinajas.  They seemed a bit hesitant at first, but I told them it would be worth it.

The food was great as always, and this time we got the additional experience of the butchers cutting meat and hacking it so hard that bones and pieces of the meat went flying in various directions.  I had always had some type of meat without bone before that, so this was a new adventure.  After getting more than our fair fill of food, we finished it off with chocolate crepes.  It was really nice to get to meet up with them, as I had been traveling solo for the entire time before then.

The next morning I woke up feeling a bit funky, and I think I ate something bad and was sore from all the walking the day before.  I tried to drink water and walk it off while doing some shopping, but it stuck with me.  I was able to talk to the company I scheduled a wine tour with and will be able to bring the voucher back on my next trip to Mendoza and use it then rather than lose the 50 pesos I paid.  I have been resting up and took some aspirin, and I am feeling better. 

Later on I got some McDonald´s to eat, and my stomach did fine with it.  I also bought some chocolate from a famous chocolate shop here called La Cabaña, and it seems like everyone was doing their last minute Easter candy shopping.  They don´t seem to be big on the Easter Bunny in Argentina, but they love their huevos (eggs).  They had all types of chocolate Easter eggs that were decorated with ornate designs and patterns, and they were of all types of varying sizes.  I had already bought some Easter candy back in Santiago, so I just got some assorted candies and some wine to bring back with me. 

In a few hours it is off to the bus station and back to Santiago.  It has been a good trip, and I know I will be back to Mendoza at one point or another.