Random Stuff

So my weekend was awesome.  New place, new roommates, birthday party, and all that jazz.

Sunday Ro and I spontaneously decided to go to Jumbo (which is like a Walmart but better).  I tried to convince her to go to the one near my place, but she suggested going to the one about 12 metro stops away from my place.  It's a good thing that she did, as it turns out the one near my place is closed for construction until further notice.

So we did some grocery shopping and got a few random things at Jumbo. Namely, a white board for the new place and a little pencil case so I feel like a regular teacher at the school.  It was attached to a huge shopping mall, so we did some more shopping and I got a new internet cable.  We did a lot of talking about our experiences and realized we are both facing the same challenges at our schools with management of the students and how we would like to see things done differently, so it was good to bond over that.

We finished off a successful shopping trip with some Starbucks, and I realized this was my first time having it since I left home.  Maybe it was just me, but the hot chocolate tasted better than back home in the States.

I've noticed a few cool cultural things here:

1. When you buy gifts at stores you can get them gift wrapped for free.  The way they wrap things is really interesting.  Rather than wrapping it like we would by putting the gift wrap around the item, they fold the paper over itself and then tape the bottom of it.  They then fold over the top if it so that it is like a bag.  They put the gift inside the wrapping paper and then tape the top of it.  I wish I had my camera to show a picture of it, but I'll bring it next time.

2. Some grocery stores (like Jumbo and Lider) have escalators that are like rolling walkways to go from one floor to another.  While this may not seem like a big deal, here is what is: If you need to take your shopping cart from one floor to another, you can.  They have magnets in the wheels of the carts and in on the escalator floors so that there are no runaway carts to run over anyone.  No matter how much stuff you have in your cart or how hard you try and push it, that cart isn't going anywhere until it is off the escalator.  Pretty nifty in my opinion.

The walk to school was about 35 minutes, and it left me feeling energized.  Between walking to and from school I feel like I have so much energy and am so glad that I found a practical way of getting exercise into my daily routine.  Gyms here cost at least 30 bucks a month, and while they might be a good way to enjoy classes and make some friends I doubt I would actually follow through in the long run with going.

Oh yeah, and I have a mattress and a completely built bed frame.  Now I just need to get some small decorations for the room and a new set of curtains, but that will come with time.

A Whole New World

So I moved into my new place, and I love it.

Moving day started bright and early at 8:30 on Saturday with biking to my new place and leaving my bike there.  Then it was on the bus back home to pick up my suitcase and new bedding and pillows and back on the bus again.

Then it was off to Bio Bio to buy my bed frame.  Jean (my Chilean friend) helped shop around for the best deal, and he also asked about how to shop for a good quality bed frame.  (Note, to all readers, avoid buying bed frames at Ikea if you can help it, long story that some of you may know!)  In the end I got one for 35.000 pesos (around 65 bucks).

We went to my new place to be there for when it arrived, and it turns out my roommates were both home.  We chatted a bit while we waited, and then realized that since they would be home we could get a start on moving my furniture.

By this time it was about 3:30, and one of Jean's friends offered to help move my furniture in his van.  Luckily we got everything fit in, and it reminds me of what the back of my Subaru looked like on the road trip back from California:

And I present my new room!

You will notice such amenties such as a window and carpeting, both of which were nonexistent in my previous room.  I am still waiting for my bed to be delivered on Monday, but luckily I have a roll out type bed for a few days until then.  Here is the view from my window:

I am in the Ñuñoa neighborhood of Santiago now, and I like it a lot more.  I am within walking distance of shops and restaurants, and I have a doorman at my place.  There are lights in the streets, and poeple will stroll along in the evenings.  I am again not near a metro station, but I am near major bus lines that connect me to metroIrarrazaval, Plaza Egaña, and Los Leones, and they also go to Plaza Italia and to Santiago Centro.

And here are the new roommates:

These pictures were actually taken at Marioly´s (Malu for short) boyfriend´s house, as we were celebrating her birthday.  Both Malu and Cristian are psychology students doing their internships now working at local hospitals.  They are relaxed, socialble, and muy simpáticos.  We are like the Chilean version of Three´s Company.

Here are a few more pictures from the evening:

After getting to know my new roommates and their friends at the party and multiple rounds of Culturachupista (a Chilean game), I headed out with others around 4:30 in the morning.  When I told Malu it was 4:30, she told me "y que?" meaning so what.  Gotta love Chileans.

As Jean put it, I moved from being in Cinderella´s dungeon of a room to living in the Disneyland castle.  The move has lifted my mood, and I feel like I am in such a better place than I was before this move.  And, as the title of this post says, I feel like I am in "A Whole New World".

Plugging along

Today I realized that I passed the 3 month mark since leaving the States.

Many of you will probably scoff when you read this, but it seems like life here has gotten a bit boring.  The newness of everything has worn off, and I am settled into my routines.  I didn't get to get away from Santiago this weekend after all, so that added to the blahness.  I think I need to do a better job of making plans with people, as I've been pretty bad about it in the past few weeks save a few get togethers.

My weekend involved Magic, going out with some Chilean friends, and getting Mexican food (from the same place that did the TeachingChile party) with David and Margaret.  I also signed the contract and got some of my things moved for my new place.  On Saturday I'll buy a bed and get all of my furniture moved, and then on Sunday I am supposed to meet with the landlord to turn over the keys and hear about getting back my security deposit.

I am feeling a bit homesick now too.  I know it will get better with time, but here are some things that I am missing right now in no particular order:

Family (especially my niece Cassie), pork chop dinners with my dad, Dance Dance Revolution, spending time with friends, Texas Roadhouse with the family, Kit Kats, Magic marathons with friends, and heating inside buildings, and Phildelphia pretzels.

Movies, Ice Cubes in the Urinals, Playing Bass, and Travel Plans

So I know I just updated about 10 hours ago, but I want to blog about this before I forget about it.

I saw How to Train Your Dragon with Rochelle, and it was completely in Spanish.  We were able to understand it save a few words here and there, and it was a nice treat enjoying kettle corn in a theater.  (The popcorn in movie theaters here are either salty or sweet, and there's no artificial butter flavor like back home)  It was a really cute movie and I'm glad we saw it.

And then I had another interesting toilet experience.  All of the urinals inside the men's restroom of the movie theater had ice inside them.  It was such a weird thing seeing my pee melt the ice in the urnial slowly, kind of like the Wicked Witch of the West that melted when the sun came out.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me to chronicle this, but I will definitely make a trip back for this sole purpose.

Since traffic home would have been crazy when we were getting out at 6:30 we decided that we would kill some time walking around or getting some coffee.  Right off to the side of the movie theater when I stepped out was a guy with a bass.  I told Rochelle right away I had to talk to him and see if he would let me play.

So I went up to him and introduced myself and asked if I could play.  Benjamin offered graciously (no bow, so I just plucked a tune by hand) and after a minute or so I went to give it back to him and thanked him.  But then he told me to play a song with his friend Johnny who had a harmonica and was blind.  They told me that it was in the key of G, and away we went.  I am more of a classical player, but I did a pretty good job of walking a bass line seeing that I have virtually no jazz training.  Rochelle played along on the tambourine, and Johnny alternated singing and playing the harmonica.  A small crowd gathered, and a few people snapped pictures.  One guy had his camera set up and recorded us.  Again, I wish I brought my camera!!!

After the song was over I thanked them, and they told me to come back and visit them another time.  They hang out at the same place each evening, so I am planning on going back next week with my bow too.

As we stopped for me to recharge my cell phone, the clerk and a guy waiting chatted with us.  They obviously noticed we were gringos, and they chatted with us a bit about where we were from and what we were doing there.  They laughed as I told them I wanted to put 10 luca (which is slang for 10,000 pesos, like saying 10 bucks) on my phone, and Rochelle and I threw in some more slang as we talked with them.  It put a smile on my face and I wished them a good evening as we left.

And then to top the day off, I got some great deals for airfares thanks to LAN Chile.  Instead of paying 400 bucks to fly directly into Cuzco to visit Machu Picchu, we are paying about 140 bucks to fly to Arica (in northern Chile and only about 25 km from the border with Peru) and then taking a bus from there.  It actually works out better, since Colca Canyon (which is bigger than the Grand Canyon) is actually between Arica and Cuzco.  I got a ticket to Temuco (south of Santiago probably about 8 hours in bus) for 80 bucks.  They have hot springs there as well as a volcano that you can climb, so that will be fun.  And last but not least, I booked my ticket to Easter Island for September.  Travel guides tell you to expect to pay up to 800 bucks, but I found a round trip flight for 416 bucks.  Yes, it's a lot of money.  But when else am I going to have the chance to visit a place that is so completely isolated from civilization?

That's all for now.  I'm glad tomorrow is Friday.

The Night of the Sopapillas

This night seemed like an ordinary one.  The roommates were home, and some were hanging out in the common area.  A few were cooking.  None of us had any idea what was in store for us later that night.
I shared my exciting news that I was moving next weekend with them.  I had found 2 Chileans that were looking for a roommate in their 3 bedroom apartment.  It puts me closer to work and costs a bit more than what I am paying now, but it is worth it for the piece of mind with the roof and having internet that actually works consistently.

Fabiola and Matias were making sopapillas, which are like the fried dough of doughnuts but flat and round without the hole in the middle.  They made enough for everyone, and so we sat around and shared a meal of sopapillas with a sauce like pico de gallo (but with avocado added in also) and also with a sweet sugar sauce and honey. 

So we sat around talking while we ate the sopapillas.  There were lots of jokes and laughing, and I also found out about an amazing deal for flying with LAN Chile within Chile for between 50 and 75 bucks roundtrip.  Mario showed off his amazing sense of fashion.  As we shared this meal together, I realized something: my concerns with the house not being clean and that some of my food are something that I think I have been taking personally.  My roommates are nice people for the most part and don't have any bad intentions, and despite the things that have happened I enjoy spending time with them.

That's when the rain started.  We expected the roof in the back to leak since it did that when it rained about 3 weeks ago, but we didn't expect water to be dripping out of the pipe directly onto the cords for the telephone and modem.  Water started making a puddle on the floor, and the same place we were just enjoying the sopapillas then looked like this:

The next hour or so invovled drying off the modem, moving the telephone and internet cables, and relocating all of the living room furniture to higher ground so it would not get wet.  In the process we also discovered other areas of the main roof that were leaking, and we gathered bowls and buckets to catch the rainwater.

We called our landlord about the situation, and surprisingly he wasn't available to help us.  His reason: it was raining.  This was after he was almost refusing to give me the address to write the letter to give my ten day's notice of vacancy and wanting to meet with me to try to talk me out of moving.  He also was trying to tell me that I would only get my security deposit back after another person moves into my room, but after verifying the information with Andrea (my program coordinator) I found out that he has 30 days to return my security deposit to me, regardless of if my room is rented or not.  She assured me that I am doing everything right and that she would help me out with getting my deposit back if necessary.

The landlord kept giving me a hard time about why I was moving, (the roof was supposed to be fixed for the second time over 2 weeks ago, and they never arrived to fix the internet over 2 weeks ago either, and then there's the rat and how badly they handled that situation) so I simply told him that I will not be discussing anything about the place without my coordinator present to prevent any misunderstandings.  It was a really frustrating situation, but I am grateful to have people here that are looking out for me.

I don't know what resources there are here to file complaints against landlords, but at this point I will be glad to get my security deposit back.  I just feel bad for my roommates that are stuck in this situation, especially with the leaky roof.  I will sign the contract for my new place on Saturday, and I already have a suitcase packed with things I won't need for the following week until I can get completely moved in. 

At the time it was a really frustrating situation, but I am looking at it as part of the adventure and experience.  And despite the problems I am having getting back my security deposit from the landlord, it is actually a really good exercise in asserting myself and reamining calm in an upsetting situation.  Given time I am sure it is going to work out.

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.