Dan and Dana´s Excellent Adventure Part 1: Santiago and Puerto Varas

Dana and I are three days into our trip together, and we´re having a great time.

On Thursday we were in Santiago, and it was a relaxing day.  After lounging around in the morning, we stopped by the Grants office so I could drop off paperwork and walked through downtown a bit.  We got some lunch at El Aji Seco, a Peruvian restaurant that I like to visit from time to time.  The sun was shining and it was about 75 out, so we went for a stroll through Bellas Artes and enjoyed some ice cream while sitting in the sun.  (OK, so I enjoyed some ice cream while Dana had self restraint).  We walked from Bellas Artes to Patio Bellavista, and we checked out the restaurants and souvenier shops there.  After that it was off to the fountains at Salvador, and we snapped some pictures.

a random protest in downtown

Lunch, nom nom

By the time we got back to my place it was about 4:30.  I told Dana we should leave around 7:30 to catch our bus at 9:15 that night.  I thought that we would have time for a nap, but we spent time packing and making plans for tours down in Puerto Varas and for when we came back and didn´t have that much time after all.  We´re both the type of people that like to plan things in advance, so knowing that we had a tour set up for when we arrived in Puerto Varas on Friday as well as two activities planned for back in Santiago made us feel accomplished and excited.

I thought that we were going to hit a lot of traffic going to the bus station, but we arrived by 8:15.  After getting a seat I decided to buy some snacks and double check our bus information, and I´m glad I did.  It turns out that they changed the departure time of our bus from 9:15 to 10:05 and I needed to go and get a new ticket for us.  When I went to do so I asked about the possibility of getting on the 9:05 bus instead, but it was full.  We just hung out, and Dana showed me pictures from her trip to South Africa on her I phone and also gave me tips on using my new I pod touch.

We got on the bus at about 9:50, and we promptly pulled out at 10:05.  The only problem is so many other buses were leaving at the same time that we spent about 25 minutes waiting just to get out of the bus station. Once we got out our bus driver took a side street and got us on the road as quickly as possible.

We got seats on the second floor in the front!

Our bus seats were comfortable for sitting but not that comfortable for sleeping,  Despite that, we managed to sleep some.  It ended up being about a 12 hour ride, but for the cost of only about $50 it was worth it compared to flying.

By the time we got into our hostel it was about 10:40, and we had scheduled a tour to start at 11.  It turns out they don´t offer their breakfasts year round, so I asked if we could push the tour back a bit so I could run out and get some milk to at least grab a bowl of cereal before we left.  (We packed cereal and some food to bring with us, but no milk).  Luckily the hostel owner was understanding and told us we could leave at 11:30.

Our tour took us to see the alerces trees and a fish market.  The alerces trees are famous because of their resistence to water, and they are used as shingles in many houses here in the south.  The area we visited is actually a private area in a condominium and it´s protected by CONAF (a Chilean form of a wildlife reserve type thing), and so the hostel owner calls someone who controls the gate to get in and out of the area.  Apparently the trees are so valuable that they have had problems with people getting into the area, cutting down trees in the middle of the night, and then taking them to sell for a profit.

It was amazing walking through the area and see such towering trees and so much green.  Some of the trees are over 1,000 years old, and with the rain it really made you appreciate nature that much more.

After that it was off to the fish market.  All of the fish were laid out and in plain view, and it was cool seeing such a variety of fish and shellfish.  In addition to that, there were some people selling veggies, fruit, and even a few cheese vendors.  Dana bought a big piece of cheese that we´re going to have to work through eating for the next week or so.

Then we got some lunch at an authentic restaurant next to the sea.  I´m not much of a seafood person but there weren´t any options without it, so I ordered some curanto, which is a mixture of seafood, shellfish, chicken, sausage, and potatoes.  The plate was piled high with food, but unfortunately most of it was shellfish.  I wasn´t in much of an adventurous mood (I figure I´m already fishy enough), so I let Dana and the hostel owner enjoy the fish.

We got home from the tour at around 4 in the afternoon, and we took a much needed nap.  It ended up being about 3 hours, and after taking a shower I felt much more relaxed.  That night we went into town to buy some groceries for breakfast tomorrow, and we also decided to make sandwiches for the tour we took today.

I suggested getting to the grocery store first so we got there before they closed and we could go out to dinner afterwards, but when we saw fresh chicken prepared and ready to take home and eat, we decided on getting that for dinner and just staying in.

By 10:00 we had eaten and were feeling lazy, so we turned in for the night.

Today was another tour.  This time we went to see the Osorno Volcano, The Petrohue River and Waterfalls, and the Lago Todos Los Santos.

We left at 9, and it was raining pretty heavily.   The hostel owner told us we´d have to see how the weather was, as it seemed that almost no one was going on a tour today with the heavy rain.

You would think that with the amount of traveling that I would have put two and two together regarding a volcano, high altitude, and rain.  But of course this escaped me and I was totally unprepared for the snow that we saw up top.  I had worn a sweatshirt and my windbreaker since it has a hood to cover the rain I was expecting, and I didn´t have any gloves with me.  (They were back in the hostel along with my heavier coat). So once getting out of the jeep, we snapped some pictures and enjoyed a bit of the snow scene, and then we headed into the ski lodge and got some hot chocolate.

Unfortunately it was too overcast to see much of the volcano, but we were satisfied with having made it up there and having snapped some pictures.

On our way down, the hostel owner asked if we wanted to take a detour and do some walking.  We agreed, and so he drove off the beaten path and parked near the river.  We then got out, took some pictures, and proceeded along the path that he showed us.  It took us through to some rocks right up along the river, and the view was amazing.  It was only the three of us there, and you felt like you were in the middle of nature and a thousand miles away from everything else in the world.

After that, we were off to see some waterfalls.  By the time we descended it was barely raining.  We walked through the area and got to see some great views of the waterfalls, rocks, and river against the lush green backdrop of the trees along the mountains.  On our way back we enjoyed our sandwiches and some more hot chocolate as well as a visit from a stray dog that was hungry.  Dana gave him a bit of turkey from her sandwich.

Our last stop on the tour was the Lago Todos Los Santos.  (The All Saints Lake)  We took a motorboat ride through it, and we had a great 360 degree view.  The Chlean flag waved proudly from tbe back of the boat despite the light rain and cold weather, and the snow-capped Osorno volcano looked majestic from where we were.  After about a half hour ride we were back on the shore and had an impromptu photo session along the shore.

We´re now back relaxing at the hostel, enjoying some down time before going out to explore downtown and get dinner tonight.  Tomorrow we´re taking a tour of Lago Llanquihue, so keep reading for more news about our adventures.

Conferences, Protests, and Preparing for a Trip

It has been a long while since I updated.  I´ve just been keeping busy with day to day life, working, and part of me has been putting off updating.

Today a good friend of mine arrived to visit.  She came to visit 2 years ago, and as we´ve been talking we realized how quickly time goes by.  2 years ago I had left Teaching Chile and had starting working at Grants English.  It was a change that made a really big difference in my happiness and overall experience in Chile.  I was also living in a shared apartment with two Chilean roommates, but now I can proudly say that I have my own apartment.

Dana´s arrival has also made me realize how quickly July and August have gone by.  Winter was not really much of a winter at all, and it was a nice change after the past two years.  I´ve taken off my flannel sheets and have put my space heater away, and I´ve started to pack away my sweaters and heavy coat.

August brought a few nice events.  The first one was my proposal to TESOL Chile being accepting.  TESOL  stands for Teaching of English as a Second or Other Language, and it´s a branch of an international organization that aims to improve and promote the teaching of English.  My bosses were excited about it, and so they had me give the presentation at Grants.  Overall my colleagues were very receptive and positive, and it was a good test run to prepare for the conference the following week.

The TESOL Conference took place over a period of 3 days: Friday evening, Saturday all day, and Sunday morning into the early afternoon.  Most of the people there were teaching in Chile, but there were a few teachers from Uruguay and a few visitors from the States.  A PhD candidate named Heather Linville presented some interesting sessions about assessment with English classes, and there were some other good sessions about using Socratic seminars and various writing strategies in the classroom.

When Saturday afternoon rolled around it was time for my presentation.  I was a bit nervous, but I knew it would work out fine.  At first there were about 15 people in the room.  I waited a few minutes and chatted with the people that arrived, and people started coming in bit by bit.  After about 5 minutes of that I got started.  I had a Powerpoint prepared, and we started doing the first activity of learning food words in German.  Then more people came in.  By that time there were about 45 people and I had to ask the assistants to bring in more chairs so everyone could sit.

We went through some more activities, and everyone was really getting into it.  They asked great questions and were really engaged.  I didn´t have enough handouts so I sent around a sheet to get everyone´s email to send them copies of it, and everyone gave me their information.  The 90 minutes flew by, and I felt like I could have gone another 90 minutes with sharing ideas and activities.

By Sunday afternoon I was mentally exhausted.  I had sat through some great sessions, exchanged teaching ideas, made new contacts, and given my first international workshop.  It was a great feeling, and it always feels good to keep growing professionally.

The other big event (or events) has been the protests.  Students here are continuing to protest for a free education.  I remember one day was particularly bad.  A few coworkers and I had to cross Alameda (the main street in downtown Santiago) to teach classes at Banco de Chile during the lunch hour.  Our boss warned us that the teargas was pretty bad outside and that we should go a few blocks east to avoid it and go around that way.  I suggested just going one block east, but when we glanced towards the main street we were able to see the teargas thick in the air.  We took her advice and went the extra few blocks, and as we crossed the street I remember seeing a photographer wearing a gas mask.  Then we got a huge whiff of teargas, and it instantly started burning my eyes, throat, and nose.  I got a tissue out from my travel pack I always have with me and passed one to one of my coworkers.  After about 5 minutes we were inside and safe, so the teargas only turned out to be a small nuisance in the grand scheme of things.

Tomorrow Dana and I are going to explore downtown Santiago before getting on a night bus to go down south.  We´re going to Puerto Varas and Chiloe, and we´ll be there for about a week.  That means we´ll miss the big dieciocho celebration here in Santiago, but it will be a great experience to go down south and see what they do to celebrate there.  It´s very green down there with lots of outdoor activities, so I´m looking forward to it.

My next update will have pictures and more that just writing.  For those of you reading this in Chile have a wonderful dieciocho holiday!

Starbucks, La Vega, and the IATEFL Conference

This past few months I've been spending a good amount of time at Starbucks.    Those of you that know me well understand this, but those of you that don't might be puzzled since I don't drink coffee.

So if I don't drink coffee why have I been spending so much time there?  Well, there are a few reasons.  The first reason is that I have a private class that meets at a Starbucks two mornings a week.  At first I was a bit apprehensive to have class there since it would require me to buy something during class, but it has actually worked out nicely.  I arrive when they open right at 7:30, and that way I miss most of the rush hour traffic.  The class only starts at 8:30, but it's a nice time to sit and read, write in my journal, or do some lesson planning.  The free wireless is also very convenient, and the fact that you can sit in a comfortable couch, sip on tea, and do work for a few hours is something very relaxing and appealing.

At the same time, there are some things I don't like about Starbucks.  If there are alternatives I usually prefer to support smaller and family-owned businesses or independent coffee shops, but here in Chile those options that have free wireless are rather limited.  Another thing is that I don't care for is the crowds at peak times.  I used to go to a Starbucks to kill an hour of time before an evening class, but I spent 10 minutes in line waiting to order, up to 10 minutes waiting for my drink, and then sometimes it was so crowded I couldn't even find a seat.  Last but not least, Starbucks employees are not treated well here in Chile at all.  I remember seeing a report in the news that they are paid something like $3 or $4 an hour, and there have been multiple reports of employees being forced to work through their legally required breaks.  It came down to a faceoff between Starbucks and the union, and I believe they ruled in favor of the union.

I've also noticed some rather disturbing behavior at Starbucks.  It's fairly common that employees go through the store and clear the tables of any empty drinks and plates.  In a situation like that it appears to me that etiquette would dictate that you thank or at least acknowledge the person that is taking care of this for you, but I've noticed quite often that people don't even acknowledge the person that is essentially cleaning up for them.

On another occasion I saw a man actually throw his napkins onto the floor, and then he started reading his newspaper.  The employee then had to bend down and pick up his napkins off the floor while he read his paper.

These sitautions affect me personally for a few reasons.  First off, I really believe that all people deserve to be able to earn a living wage and that they are entitled to breaks from their work.  I also believe that if a company has a contract or legalities that they need to honor them and shouldn't cut corners to earn more money at the expense of its employees.  Situations like these also reinforce the stratification that is evident in Chile: those with money are very distinct from those without it.

The most fundamental issue at hand, however, is respect and treating others with dignity.  The people that are making my tea and making their rounds to pick up empty cups and plates are people just like me and you.  They have hopes, dreams, ambitions, fears, and insecurities like everyone else.  The idea that people don't acknowledge these people or haven't given thought to their actions is something that I'm very sensitive to, perhaps too much so.

Whenever I'm at Starbucks I am reminded of these inequalities, and the stratification bothers me a bit.


On the other side of the spectrum is La Vega.  I've been going there sporadically during my time in Chile, and I'd buy some things here and there.  I don't know why it took me so long to realize it, but it dawned on me that I can stock up on food there and freeze it until I need it.  So during my last trip I got 12 pork chops (3 bags of 4 in each bag) and 2 bags of chicken (a little less than a kilo per bag), and what I'm not using now is in my freezer.  That way I maximize my savings.  I also found some household products I needed for cheaper than what I'd pay at the grocery store.  I like going there to support the people that are directly working with the produce and products that they sell.  The only challenge is the distance from my apartment, so I try to go less often but stock up on what I need.


One a different note, last weekend I attended the International Association for the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL) Conference in Santiago.  Based on my experience there two years ago I knew that it wasn't going to be like the conferences I had been to in the States before, and it proved to  be a mixed bag.  Some presenters were very well organized and articulate, presenting effective teaching strategies and ways to adapt and use materials to engage learners.  Penny Ur and Herbert Puchta were amazing, and I feel fortunate to have heard them speak.  Other people presented research papers or were trying to sell products in their session, and since there were no descriptions or abstracts you had no way of knowing beforehand.  A lot of presentations were geared towards teaching children or university students in a classroom setting, so people like me had a challenging time finding workshops that were geared towards our needs.


There's another teaching conference coming up at the end of August/beginning of September sponsored by Teaching of English as a Second or Other Language (TESOL) Chile.  I actually submitted a proposal to present some teaching strategies, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  If accepted it will be my first time presenting at an international conference, so if you can please keep your fingers crossed for me too!

Visiting a Winery, New Opportunities, and the Power of a Picture

This last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to visit a vineyard here.

How did this opportunity come about?  A former student of mine contacted me asking for help checking his grammar and writing in English for a paper, and then his mother asked for some classes to prepare for an international business visitor.  In order to get to know the visitor (I translated and did a presentation in meetings later in the week) and thank me for the classes they invited me to go with them on a tour of the Concha y Toro vineyard on the outskirts of Santiago.

When it comes to wine, Concha y Toro is a very well-known name in Chile as well as other parts of the world.  The name translates to shell and bull, but the name comes from the last names of the owners.  It´s the second largest winery in the world, with only one in France being bigger.

The tour was in English and showed the areas where grapes were harvested, the home that was now being occupied as an administrative office, and the cellar where they store the wine in the barrels until it ages.  The cellar is called the casillero del diablo, or cellar of the devil.  Inside it was cold and they had a mini show with the devil telling the history of the winery.

Chile is also home to camanere, which is a specific type of grape or wine that isn´t found in any other part of the world.  It was discovered by accident, and its name is supposed to be the color of the last of the wine that is left at the bottom of your wine glass.

After the tour and some wine tasting along the way, we had a delicious lunch.  We had appetizers of fish and empanadas, lasagna, chocolate mousse for dessert, and of course some wine to go along with it.

Unfortunately I didn´t think to bring my camera, but my former student Rodrigo agreed to take some pictures along the way for me:

Inside the winery.  Wish I could take a few of these home with me.

In the field.  Even though there weren´t any grapes and it looks cold it was about 70 degrees and sunny.

The infamous camenere grapes

The owner´s old house/current administration building

A view of the vineyard

Later in the week I worked with the same family during some meetings.  I helped translate between the visitor from the UK and the Chileans there, and I also presented a Powerpoint presentation in English that I helped them write.  Another day I helped translate and also got to attend a conference and see the stand where the family had their business set up.  It was an interesting change from my usual work routine and satisfying knowing that I helped bridge the communication gap between different countries and cultures.

Talking about different countries and cultures brings me to this photo:

This photo is from my exchange year in Germany, and it was roughly taken in October of 2000 in either Weimar, Dresden, or Berlin.  I posted it on Facebook about a year and a half ago, but only until recently was I able to start to reconnect with the people in the picture.

Of the 16 people in the picture, we represent Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Poland, Estonia, Peru, and the United States.  One of the girls from Mexico is from the same town and knows a girl that was an exchange student in my school in New Jersey during my senior year of high school, and one of the guys lives in Mendoza, Argentina (which I visited twice during my first year in Santiago).

At the time of posting the picture I was only in contact with one or two of the people in the picture, but as of today I have gotten back in contact with about half of them.  We've discussed what's we're doing with our lives and how much we value our time in Germany and miss it, and the photo has almost 70 comments about our times and trying to reconnect with others from our exchange year.  We've even discussed making plans to visit each other.

I feel so grateful and fortunate not only to have had these experiences but also to be able to reconnect with people.

Looking through my CD case, I found the CD with photos from Germany that I got digitized a few years ago.  Time to upload some more pictures to share the memories.

Have a Happy 4th back in the States everyone!

New month, New pants, New ID card, New season

June has arrived, and it has brought winter with it.  Despite that less than thrilling news, June has also brought a lot of good with it.

The situation with the dog bite is finally settled.  My student and I called up the woman after I bought my new pants, and after a lot of rude comments about how ¨the dog bite wasn´t that bad¨ and about how I was being dramatic about getting rabies shots the woman agreed to pay for my pants.

After sending an email to the wrong address, getting a call asking what race the dog was, resending my banking information to the correct email address, getting a letter from the court of Las Condes that no crime was committed, and waiting for over a week for her to respond, she FINALLY transferred the money to my account.

Dockers (like most clothing) are pretty expensive here and they don´t have sales.  They also don´t sell pants in length lower than 32 inches, so I had to send them out to get fit to my size.  In the end they cost 37.990 pesos, which is just shy of $80.

Throughout the whole fiasco I found myself getting frustrated and worrying about how it would work out, but after reassuring myself that it would all work out I felt better.  I still lost over $100 due to classes that I had to cancel to get the rabies shots and the night of the incident, but at this point there´s nothing I can do about it.      I´ve also grown to realize that it´s not worth getting caught in past injustices and that it´s best to just move on.

The other big thing that June brought was the finalization of my permanent residency here.  I went to the civil registry last week and went through the formal process of photos, filling out a form, and getting my picture taken for my ID card for the third year in a row.  The nice part is that my new ID card is valid for five years, AND my picture looks much better than my old one did.

I´ve also found myself becoming more confident when problems arise.  I was in line to pick up my ID card with two people in front of me, and a guy came in after me and blatantly walked up to the counter cutting in line in front of the three of us.  I made my way next to him and made the comment ¨Hay que respetar la fila po." which translates to you have to respect the line.  He didn´t even look at me and mumbled about how he just had to drop off a piece of paper.  Luckily the woman helping us heard the disagreement, and she let me clarify the order of the line.  It might seem like something small, but being able to speak up about a small injustice like that in a foreign country and in a foreign language is an empowering feeling for me.

Last but not least, June has brought winter.  Those of you that know me know how much I hate cold weather.  After having been a paperboy for my middle school and high school years and having delivered newspapers through multiple blizzards and snowstorms from 1992 to 2000, I developed a vehement disgust for snow and any type of weather that makes me put on any type of heavy coat.

Well, that season is here once again.  I´ve decided to change my attitude this year.  Yeah, I still don´t like winter.  But is there any positive in it?  I´ve come up with the following positives to winter weather:

1. It´s a good excuse to use and enjoy the down comforter and flannel sheets that I wouldn´t use otherwise.
2. It´s good weather for making tomato soup and enjoying it with a piece of bread.
3. It´s nice weather to stay in and watch TV or play video games.
4. It´s also a good reason to get some new winter clothes every year.  At least that way I can somewhat look forward to wearing multiple layers of clothing.
5. The rainy weather that accompanies winter in Santiago clears out the heavily polluted air and allows for an amazing view of the Andes the following days.
6. I´m very fortunate to have winter clothing, blankets, and a space heater to help me keep warm.  It´s very easy to forget that and take things for granted.

So do I still hate winter?  No.  Do I love it? No.  But now at least I see the positives and won´t wake up in a bad mood for the next 2 or 3 months over something that I can´t control.

I hope everyone up north is enjoying their summer.  I´ll be enjoying mine around the time that you´ll be bundling up for the winter in November and December.

When dogs attack, Mistaken for a Mormon, Becoming Chilean, and Grammar Answers

So about 2 weeks ago I was bitten by a dog.

It happened in Las Condes, which is a well to do neighborhood of Santiago.  I finished a class and was on the phone calling a student and passing by a woman talking with a friend and her dog, and the dog started barking at me.  Then it bit me in the back of my leg.

I looked at my ripped pants that I had only worn twice and called out to the woman.  She didn't even notice what happened until she came over. She apologized, and when I asked what she was going to do about my pants she told me she'd pay a maximum of 20.000 pesos, which is about $40.  When I told her my pants cost more than that she started saying I was taking advantage of her.

After trying to reason with her for a few minutes I gave up, telling her I didn't agree but didn't have the time to settle it then.  I got her name, ID number, and phone numbers.  I also gave her my business card.  My student was waiting for me for my next class.

So my student for my next class picks me up on the way out of his office and we then drive to my place for the class, and when he saw my ripped pants he insisted that we go to the police right away.  After 4 hours of driving around between the police station, hospital, back to the police station, and home, I was exhausted and wanted the whole ordeal to be over with.

To make a long story short, I had black and blue marks on my leg where the dog bit me and that I now have to get a series of 5 rabies shots. (Luckily it didn't draw any blood.)   I was also mistaken for a Mormon at the hospital.  (I was wearing black dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a black tie that day.)

After getting home at 11 that night I went to sleep but was waken up by a phone call at 12:30.  After filing the police report the police forgot to give me back my ID card, so I had to go get it.  I waited until the next afternoon, and after talking to multiple people in the office and being told to sit and wait I finally got it after being persistent and asking again and again (which included a half hour wait).

So what's happening with it now?  The woman was truthful and gave her real name, ID number, and phone numbers.  I'm buying new pants in the next few days and am compiling documents showing the classes I've had to cancel to get the rabies shots (on specific days between 9 and 11 in the morning) as well as the class I lost the night of the incident.  I'm going to ask her to pay me the full amount of the pants as well as my lost classes.

Here´s what the rabies shot paperwork looks like:

No matter how many times I tried, I was unable to rotate the pictures above.  To save you from craning your necks sideways here´s what the gray box says:

No olvide que usted ha sido mordido por un animal sospechoso de rabia.  La rabia siempre es mortal.  Ud. está en peligro.

Translation?

Don´t forget that you´ve been bitted by an animal suspected of having rabies.  Rabies is always deadly.  You are in danger.

It's a frustrating situation, and I just want to get it settled.  I hope that she'll cooperate with me and take responsibility, but given her attitude I'm not hopeful that it will happen.

On a much happier note, I am now a permanent resident of Chile!

My letter that let me legally stay in the country for 6 months while the government processed my paperwork expired on Friday, so I went in on Tuesday to file for an extension.  While looking around I noticed a friend of mine was also there, and so after we got our numbers we got to chat and catch up.

After about an hour wait my number was called, and when I went to the desk the woman pulled out a small but official-looking document.  She gave me a half sheet to sign acknowledging I was getting the paperwork from her, and she gave me another half sheet with instructions on what to do next.

Here's what it looks like:

Looking at it, my residency was processed and approved on April 13th.  I got this on May 22nd, and I still never got the official letter in the mail that it was processed.  (Chile is notorious for taking a long time to mail out the letters to people).

I was a bit surprised that I didn't need my passport or get any type of stamp in it, but apparently my new ID card will indicate that I'm a permanent resident.  Permanent residency will allow me to get a credit card, a more comprehensive bank account, vote in elections, and pretty much do anything that Chileans can do.

I'm just a few steps away from completing the process.  I registered with the International Police and they took my photo and gave me a new registration card, and after that I went to the Civil Registry to apply for my new ID card.  Once there I found out I needed photocopies of particular documents which I didn't have at the time, and I didn't have enough time to get the copies and return to complete the process, so I decided to finish that part another day.

And I have taken another step towards becoming "Chilean".  I ate not only my first but my first AND second  completo on Friday.  For those of you who aren't aware of what they are, here's a visual aid:



What is that, you query?

Well, it's tomatoes, onions, mustard, mayonnaise, and a hot dog bun.  Oh, and under all of that is a hot dog.

I have seen plenty of completos in my time here, but I've never had the desire to eat one.  So how did I manage to eat TWO of these in one day?

I have a Friday class at lunch with a great student, and he always orders us each a sandwich from Dominó, a  famous sandwich chain in Santiago.  Instead of the usual sandwich this Friday, however, I was greeted with 2 styrofoam completo-shaped containers.

I´ll be the first to admit that I´m not the poster child for eating healthy.  I enjoy pizza, cakes, cookies, and things like that.  Seeing people eat completos at 10 in the morning (with a Coke to drink) however, makes me intestines start to cry just at the sight of what they´re doing.

So I dug in and ate them.  Some mayo and tomatoes fell off when I ate my second one.  I didn´t really enjoy it, and my intestines protested for the next 24 hours.  I don´t think I´ll ever willingly eat a completo again, but some people have told me that eating one is a key ingredient to becoming Chilean.

Last but not least, what are the answers to the grammar puzzle from my last post?

When using adverbs in English, there is not only one correct word order.  I´ve sorted them into groups with the adverbs in boldface:

Group 1  Subject Adverb Verb

Daniel sometimes takes the bus to work.

Some people always need to drink coffee in the morning.

She almost had a car accident.

Group 2 Subject Verb to be  Adverb

I am rarely sick.

They were both late to the party.

She is usually on time.

Group 3 Subject Verb 1 Adverb Verb 2 (perfect tenses, auxiliary verbs, future, and passive)

My brothers have never been to Chile.

You should always eat breakfast.

Exception 1: Sometimes can be at the beginning of the sentence.

Sometimes Daniel takes the bus to work.

Exception 2:  Probably

Subject Verb Probably

Homer is probably at Moe´s tavern.

Subject Probably Verb in Negative

Homer probably isn´t at work.

Well, that´s all for now.  It´s 10 AM and I figure I should go to Dominó to see some people feasting on completos.

The 2012 Census, a Submarine, Spanish Classes, and Adverbs

It´s mid May, and the weather has been changing slowly.  I've had flannel sheets on my bed for about 2 weeks now, and I recently changed over my comforter from my regular one to the down one.  The mornings are cold with temperatures dipping down to 40, but by mid day it has been getting up to 70 or so.  The temperature change makes it difficult to dress for the weather, at least for me.

Well, this year they're counting the people here for the census.  On some students front doors I've noticed stickers showing that they have taken the survey and answered the questions.  I was wondering if I'd get to take part in the process, and earlier this week I got the answer: Yes!

The doorman rang up to my apartment letting me know that someone would be coming around, and so I sat and waited anxiously.  After about half an hour, a woman rang the doorbell.  She wore an officially looking blue apron and carried a packet of questionnaires with her.  I stood at the door and answered a variety of questions, which included my job here (for the purpose of the survey I'm an independent contractor), asking if I have any disabilities (deaf in my right ear), the energy used in the building (I named the electricity and water companies), where I lived in April of 2007 (Lake Balboa, CA), and more obscure ones such as the materials used to construct the walls and roof of the building (I just shrugged my shoulders).

So after about 20 minutes of questioning I got my sticker!

I have it proudly displayed on the front door of my apartment.

When I was at McDonald's the other day I got a submarino.  With that being said, let me clarify two things:

1. The only reason I usually go to McDonald's is because they are located near one of my classes and have free wifi.  If I get something there it's usually just fries and a soda or some tea from the McCafe.

2. No, I didn't get a full sized submarine there.  I got a mini one.

So here's what it looked like:

You take it and submerge it in a glass of hot milk, and it eventually melts and gives you a yummy glass of hot chocolate.  Here's what it looked like before:

And after:

They actually get a bit fancy too.  In the before picture you'll notice a small cookie and glass of carbonated water to go with my order.  It was something nice for a change instead of the normal tea that I order.

Since I got back to Santiago in March I've felt like I haven't been doing much to stimulate myself intellectually (outside of preparing materials for my classes), and so I decided to start taking Spanish classes.  

Those of you that know me and my level of Spanish are probably wondering why I'm doing so.  I'm fluent and credentialed to teach it, but I still want to brush up on the finer points of grammar and improve my accent.  Besides that, it gives me something to look forward to each week.  I'm taking classes with a university student that is studying linguistics and English, and so far they are going well.  I want to really master pronunciation and be able to roll my r's like native speakers do.

To wrap up this post, I'm going to leave you with a grammar puzzle.  Here are a variety of sentences that use adverbs in them.  The adverb is in bold.  What are the rules of English to determine word order in sentences with adverbs in them?  Can you change the word order of any of these sentences and still have them be grammatically correct?  If so, how?

            Some people always need to drink coffee in the morning.

            Some Chileans probably won’t go to work on Septermber 20^th.

            Daniel sometimes takes the bus to work.

            My brothers have never been to Chile.

   

            She almost had a car accident.

  

             I am rarely sick.

            Homer is probably at Moe’s Tavern.

            She is usually on time.

            They were both late to the party.

             You should always eat breakfast.

Post your ideas and comments, and in a week or two I'll post a response and explanation so you're not all left in suspense!