Falling Back, The Arrival of Winter, My Apartment, and a Protest

I'm curled up in bed, and it's 8:00 on a Sunday morning.  Daylight Savings Time just went into effect here in Chile.  Why is the changing of clocks so late here and not coordinated with the States?  Apparently after the big earthquake in 2010 the country was concerned with it being dark late at night and also with saving power, hence them extending it each year.  (Try telling that to your laptop, Iphone, Kindle Fire, or any other piece of technological equipment, however, and you will stubbornly told that you're wrong each time you try to change it to the correct time) When you thing of falling back you usually associate it with it being darker when you wake up, but with the inverted seasons it is now lighter in the mornings leading into winter.

And yes, I said winter.  After teasing us with days getting up to 75 and even 80 well into mid April, winter is on its way.  The days are starting to get cool, and sleeping at night is starting to get a bit nippy.  We also had the first heavy rainfall of the season on Friday.  Luckily I had my umbrella with me, but I was one of the unlucky pedestrians soaked by passing cars splashing huge puddles of water onto the sidewalk.

As much as I don't like it, I'm used to winter here.  A few weeks ago I put my fan away and began to pull out my sweaters and put away my tank tops.  Yesterday I changed my regular bedsheets over to the flannel sheets  I brought from home, and soon enough I'll change out my regular comforter for the down one I brought from home.  And I'll also have my space heater to use to help keep me warm.  I'm not looking forward to the 30 and 40 degree temperatures for sleeping, wearing of multiple layers of clothing, and commuting in the cold weather, but like I said I'm used to it from my past 2 winters here.

One of my friends was asking me what my apartment looks like, and it occurred to me that I never really posted many pictures after moving in and furnishing it.  So here are some pictures!

My bedroom  The white sheets hanging out of the side are from my overflowing and neglected laundry basket.

View from my bedroom into the living room area.  I have 2 big closets as you can see.

View of my bedroom from the bathroom

My kitchen!  Just below this picture is the table.

Here's the living room area.  I love my couch and 2 Ottomans with storage inside.

I also love my entertainment center with the TV, Wii, and music system.

The view of the Andes from my apartment

Another view from my apartment

And what would a blog post be without a mention of protests?  This latest one occurred on a Wednesday, which was an usual departure from the usual Thursday protests.  The high school students are now taking change of the protests, as they're realizing that the current system isn't in their best interests for having access to higher education.  Unfortunately I feel that some of them truly believe that and want to protest, while many others jump on the bandwagon in order to get out of school.

I was luckily able to avoid this protest too.  It started at 11 in the morning in Plaza Italia (where most mayhem in Santiago starts), which is about 3 metro stops from the office and most of my classes.  This protest didn't march down the main street all of the way, but rather took a route further north up to the Plaza de Armas (a main square in Santiago).  I got to my lunch class without incident, and while at a Starbucks between classes I saw one of my former students, and he advised me to not go up a few of the side streets because of tear gas and the police.  I was able to take another side street to get up to the bus stop I needed and made it out of downtown without incident.

A coworker sent me an article and video he found on BBC about this most current protest:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17849745

There's not much else newsworthy going on here.  Now that you readers up in the Northern Hemisphere got to be jealous of my summer pictures during your winter, I now get to me jealous of your summer pictures during my winter here.  Until next time!

Counting down the days

In 9 days I'll be back home.

It's a strange feeling.  I know that it's coming up, but it doesn't quite seem real.  Realizing that it is coming up coupled with having a lot of free time with classes winding down (but not enough free time to do much traveling since I still have morning classes) has left me feeling a bit anxious and not quite sure what to do with myself.  So in order to cope with that I've found myself doing everything I can to come home.

My preparations have included a variety of activities.  I took advantage of my health benefits here and got an eye exam done.  And once again I found out that the phrase "costo cero" (zero cost) does not mean zero cost.  My eye appointment that I scheduled was supposed to be free, but I ended up having to pay about 12.000 pesos (about 24 dollars).  This wouldn't have bothered me too much, but I didn't have the money on me at the time and so I had to reschedule the appointment.  When I went back it was like a typical appointment in the States: The eye doctor's assistant trying to unsuccessfully shoot a puff of air into my eye due to my excessive blinking and sensitivity to light and touch, reading letters off of a chart with one eye covered at a time, and the doctor shining lights into my eyes to check them out.  An interesting difference was that in addition to reading letters off of the chart they also had objects at the end of each line, such as a shoe, a ball, a duck, etc. 

In the end I found out that my prescription hasn't changed at all.  I also found out that sadly I'm not eligible for laser eye surgery becuase my eyes are so bad to qualify.  I was pretty much expecting that response.  I would be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed, but there are much worse things that could happen in life.

I've also been cleaning through my apartment and am getting rid of old things I don't need.  I filled up 4 medium-sized bags with clothing that are a bit worn out or that I don't wear any more.  After a few unsuccessful attempts at getting a donation pick-up company to take the things away, a Chilean friend was over and was able to take the things to share with his family and friends.  I'm also getting rid of a bookcase that is too big for the apartment and will hopefully be getting a smaller one once I get back.

Perhaps the most exciting part of preparing to come home is contacting family and friends and making plans.  It's going to be so great to see everyone I know and be back home around what is familiar to me.  Another part of returning home is going to be shopping for clothing and things at cheap prices and one-stop shopping at places like Target as well as enjoying the food.  I'll also leave the Stone Age with my computer that is dying a slow and painful death (it's 6 years old) and enter modern society with a laptop that has an integrated webcam and microphone.  This will let me Skype with people and be able to see each other while we talk, and it will be awesome to be able to catch up with people.

I'm expecting (and hoping) that these next 9 days will go by quickly.  My bosses are having an office celebration for 3 of us that have February birthdays on Tuesday, and one of my friends and I are having a joint birthday party Saturday night.  A few of my friends aren't able to make it on Saturday, so they suggested going out for drinks on my actual birthday (which is Thursday).

Thanksgiving in Summer, Mail from Home, and a Britney Spears Concert in my Apartment

It's hard for me to believe that today is Thanksgiving.  Besides time going by so quickly, the weather has been warm and sunny, with most days being in the 80s.  It's quite a change from the weather back home in New Jersey during this time.

It's also going to be a special Thanskgiving for another reason.  There's a protest happening!  I have been pretty fortunate (and thankful) that I haven't been caught in any tear gas bombs, water canons, or mobs of people, and hopefully it will stay that way.  I doubt that I will have any problems, as I'll be walking into town around the time the protest is starting (but coming from the south), and I only have to cross the main street Alameda once to get to my class.  After that I'll be taking a bus to Providencia, which is out of the way of the protest downtown.

Well, given the spirit of Thanksgiving, what am I thankful for?  Here's a list of things:

my good health
living in a comfortable apartment in a safe area
having hot water and a bathtub (I love taking baths to relax on the weekends)
having steady work with reliable and motivated students
working at an institute with lots of teaching resources and great bosses and coworkers
being able to buy fresh fruit and produce only a bus ride away
being able to afford to eat out from time to time and to travel
being able to pay back my student loans while here
having friends (both Chilean and non-Chilean) to hang out with here
having family and friends that communicate with me (phone calls, email, cards, packages) even though I'm so far away

That last point of thankfulness relates to my next point: mail that I've gotten from family and friends in the past month or so.

One of my close friends is always very good about sending cards for the holidays and any occasion (a new job, moving to a new country, when I need encouragement), and so I got a card for Halloween:

She has also sent me Kit kats from time to time, knowing that it's something that I enjoy and miss from home. 

Two other friends sent me a care package earlier this month:

Included are a variety pack of dry erase markers, Kit kats, post its, stickers, assorted candy, and a People magazine.  I love dry erase markers in different colors because it adds some variety to my teaching, and the magazine is perfect becuase I can talk with my students about pop culture, physical appearances, and what people are wearing.  And believe it or not, even adults like getting stickers when they do a good job on tests and quizzes.

They both came down to Santiago at the same time as me and returned back to the States, one after 6 months and another after a year.  Now they are both teaching at the same school in Colorado.

About a week after that, I got another package!  This one came from my dad and was brought over by a friend's parents from Jersey that were visiting.

This package had dress pants (which would cost over twice as much here and aren't sold in specific lengths so they you'd have to go to a tailor to get them adjusted), more dry erase markers and Kit Kats, a book about teaching German that I can use for classes now, and Zihr face products. 

I've been using Zirh since I was in my early 20s, and they are the one thing that I needed from home that can't be sent in the mail becuase they're gels or liquids.  They are apparently going out of business.  This makes me sad, as they have a great line of products that I have used religiously with great results.  Most people that I meet are surprised to learn that I'm turning 30 in February.

Yesterday afternoon (The day before Thanksgiving) I got home early due to a cancelled class, and I had a surprise package waiting for me.  As I rode up the elevator I was trying to figure out why I was getting a package from my dad now, as I hadn't requested anything.

When I got into my apartment and opened the box, this is the first thing I saw:

So I checked out the contents of the box, and here's what was inside:

There's a Santa hat, a Christmas decoration, a Christmas bag with candy, Kit Kats, Christmas cards, and some wrapped gifts.

So I called home to thank my dad for the package, and he didn't believe me.  Why not?

He mailed the package on November 16th, and I received it on November 23rd.

Before mail has usually taken about 3 weeks, and in one case I got a package in 2 weeks.  He thought that it would probably arrive in mid December, but here I am with the package the day before Thanksgiving.  So now I just have to wait a month before I can open my gifts.

Completely changing the topic, Britney Spears came to Santiago on Tuesday.  She's incredibly popular here, and she was performing at the Estadio Nacional 4 blocks from my apartment.  I considered going to the concert since I saw some people trying to sell tickets they couldn't use, but I was going to be getting out of class at 8:30 or so and the concert was at 9.  So I decided to cook, do some work around the apartment, and enjoy the concert with my windows open. 

Granted it was nothing like going to a concert live, but then again I'm not a huge Britney fan.  She's got some great songs and classics that everyone knows, but it wouldn't have been worth the cots for me.  And I was surprised when the concert was over shortly before 10:30.  Perhaps it's just me, but if I'm paying for a concert I'd usually expect it to be closer to two hours.

So besides avoiding teargas and water cannons, how am I going to spend my Thanksgiving?  I have class today from 2 until 8 (my morning class was canceled), and by the time I get home it'd be too late to go out to do any type of Thanksgiving dinner.  So I'm picking up Peruvian food on my way home and will enjoy that tonight.  Then Saturday is the TeachingChile reunion and a Thanksgiving dinner that a coworker is hosting at her place.

I don't know about anyone else, but for me it's very easy to fall into a pattern of feeling like I don't make enough money, I don't have enough material possessions, and feeling like my life would be more complete if I only had (fill in the blank).  It's also very easy for me to compare myself to my brothers and to other people my age in that same way, but I've grown to realize that such an attitude is not helpful at all.  Rather than thinking about what is lacking in my life or what I don't have that I'd like, it's much more beneficial to realize how fortunate I am and focus on what I do have.  And that's one reason why Thanksgiving is a great holiday and is annual reminder for me about that.

Thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving from Chile everyone!

The Apartment, A Work Party, Osama, and Mother's Day

The apartment is finally furnished!  This is exciting news, is it has taken close to two months to complete this process.  Here are some much anticipated pictures:

Apparently my boss likes to have a welcoming back party once everyone has returned from vacationing in January and February, but it hadn't happened.  So I volunteered my place for the event.

I was apprehensive at first.  Not becuase of my work colleagues or boss, mind you, but because I had never been much of a successful party planner in the past.  As I was going out to buy the food and clean the apartment I had flashbacks of having "parties" at my apartment back in Los Angeles with 12 people RSVPing and only two showing up.  A few people called me to let me know that something had come up, but the majority of people didn't even bother.  I ended up being left with tons of food and alcohol the day before I left for Christmas break and then my semester in Spain.

But this turned out much differently.  Almost everyone showed up who said they would, and it was a BYOB event.  It was simply good people, good food, and good fun.  People seemed surprised at how easy it was to get to my place.  Even though it´s not near a metro stop, you can get a bus from downtown and several other areas that drop you off within a 2 block walk of my apartment.  We all kept each other cozy, and we somehow fit 16 of us into the place.

After Sun Chips, homemade garlic bread, and pizza (it was my first time using the oven), we moved the party to Plaza Ñuñoa.  Zukai Sushi is a really nice place to eat there.  It´s known for having delicious sushi, great drinks, and excellent service.  We were able to get the upstairs room reserved just for us, and we were lucky to be the first group that got to eat up there.  It had its own flat screen TV, a stereo with music separate from downstairs, and seating for about 20 (but there were 12 or so of us).  For many people it was their first time to Plaza Ñuñoa, and it looks like it won´t be their last either.  It was a really nice night, and I feel fortunate to have such great people here.

I hate to ruin such an upbeat post with the news of Osama´s death, but I would feel remiss being an American living abroad and not addressing it.  I woke up that Monday morning and turned on my laptop.  As I waited for it to start up I fixed my breakfast of whole grain cereal and a banana like always.  I checked my emails and Facebook like usual, and I was puzzled when I saw posts from people about being proud to be an American.  As I scrolled further, however, I saw posts that revealed the news.  I then went to CNN and read the news articles there.

Reading the news really affected me.  It brought back memories of seeing the news reports and the towers tumbling down and sitting in a neighbor´s dorm room to watch the news.  I remember calling home to my parents to talk to them, even though we were in South Jersey and well out of the way of where things took place.  While I didn´t have anyone suddenly taken from me on 9/11 like some people did, it brought back memories of my mother's death about 4 years ago and the feelings of loss that naturally go along with it.

It has been a challenge to find peace with her death, as cancer is something that will unfortunately continue to affect people.  I felt a sense of happiness and relief with this news, not becuase of the death of Osama, but as I hope that it can help those families to have some closure and let their loved ones rest in peace.

Then there's the news reports showing people dancing in the streets.  Before making a judgement about the situation, I have to consider a few things.  In one sense, I'm an insider to the situation being an American.  In a few other senses, however, I'm an outsider.  I didn't lose anyone in 9/11, and I am living outside of the States now.

That being said, it hurts me to see people celebrating the death of someone.  Yes, what he did was horrible and resulted in the deaths of thousands of Americans.  While I think an inner sense of relief and happiness is natural for anyone who experienced loss during 9/11, I just don't feel that celebrating in that way is dignified.   I can't say for sure, but I have the sense that not everyone who was dancing in the streets experienced a direct loss due to Osama.  While I'm not in a position to judge others since I'm not in their situation, in any case I feel like it's a poor reflection of our country and how we are seen on the world stage.

Since it's Mother's Day, today I'm going to spend the day relaxing and reflecting on my mom's life.  I found this picture of us together from my last orchestra concert in high school.  She was so proud of my musical accomplishments and you can see the emotion in her in this picture.  Happy Mother's Day Mom.

Good Times, Good Friends, Sensation, and Japan

The weather likes teasing us here in Santiago.  We've had days that have only gone up to 70 and have seemed like autumn, which are then followed by days with a very strong sun and temperatures of almost 95.  I actually prefer the hot weather to the cold, so if mother nature wants to tease me a bit with a cold day every once in a while but still give us nice summer days I'm ok with that.

Last weekend I went to a barbeque with friends on Cerro San Cristobal.  There were about 7 of us there, and it was nice catching up with them.  None of us could believe an entire year had passed since we arrived, and we talked about our summers and plans for staying in Santiago.  Thanks to our genius planning we didn't bring any plates with us, but we improvised and used plastic bags instead.

This weekend was the pancake breakfast that I went to last October.  They were expecting a big crowd this year and opened an hour early, so I got there right when they opened.  A big crowd came around 10, and I met up with some friends when they arrived around then.  After browsing some books we took a leisurely stroll and got drinks and chorillana.

The big event of the weekend, however was Sensation.  It's basically a huge dance party with electronic and techno music, and in order to get in you have to dress completely in white.  I got my ticket back in December, and it was an amazing event.  The theme was Wicked Wonderland, and so there were things throughout the night related to Alice in Wonderland.  There were videos of her wearing all white and going through various scenes of the story projected on huge screens around the area, white flashes of fire and fireworks, huge butterfly wings opening up after the lyrics of "spread your wings and fly" people dressed up like dolls with white hair, white balloons with lights inside of them, the list goes on and on.  In an outside area there was food and drinks as well as different companies with entertainment booths to promote their products.  I found it ironic that a cigarrette company had a booth which had large signs about the dangers of smoking was giving out lighters which also had a warning on the front of it with the same warning.  El Mercurio (a newspaper here) had a booth set up with Just Dance on the Wii, and after having played it at my brother and sister in law's house when I was home for Christmas I played a round dancing to Walk Like an Egytian.

I would be remiss to not bring up the tragedy in Japan.  I woke up last Friday morning and booted up my laptop while getting breakfast, and I went to cnn.com to see what was happening in the world.  The pictures of the tsunami sweeping over Japan seemed surreal.  The images of houses on fire while being swept along with the tsunami seemed right out of a blockbuster apocolyptic movie, not like something that was happening in real life.  I know a few people that were exchange students from Japan, and luckily they are all ok.  I also have a coworker here in Santiago who lived and taught English in Japan for three years, and he has understandably been deeply affected by it.  As the news gets worse and worse, I find myself torn between wanting to know what is happening but not wanting to since the news is so horrific there.  I also can't help but feel a bit guilty that I am living in a place that experienced an earthquake but did not suffer a fraction of the destruction and mayhem that is currently going on in Japan.  I want to make a donation to the relief efforts, but the cynical side of me fears that scammers use this as the perfect opportunity to make a quick buck.

To end on a positive note, here is the view of the Estadio Nacional from the window of my apartment.

Settling Back In and Random Thoughts

I find it hard to believe that it is March already.
As I type this I have my apartment window open, and there is a slight breeze coming in.  I am also able to hear the Shakira concert taking place at the Estadio Nacional, which is about a ten minute walk from my apartment.

Santiago is quickly becoming a hotspot for concerts. This month alone U2, Iron Maiden, The Backstreet Boys, and  Ozzy Osbourne will be playing in Santiago.  Not to mention Lollapalooza is taking place the first weekend of April here.

The weather is starting to cool down a bit, and I was warm but not too warm as I settled back in to teaching and wearing dress shirts and ties.  It's a nice time since the heat is no longer overbearing as it was in the summer.  I started a few new classes this week, and they look like they will be enjoyable.  They all seem like nice guys and have a solid foundation of English.  One of them seems like a bit of a jokester, so he will help keep one class light-hearted.  The other class had students that seemed a bit on the serious side, but they are big soccer fans, so that will keep class interesting.

I am settling back into my life here.  Most of my apartment is now furnished, and after about 2 weeks of waiting I got wifi installed.  I found a nice faux leather sofa with 2 Ottomans (each with storage underneath) for about $180, and I also got a high efficiency fridge too.  I found another branch of my gym that is a 5 minute walk from my apartment, and I am getting back into a routine.  I've started making my way back to the Magic stores, and it's a nice feeling seeing the people I know there and being considered a semi-regular there.

Most people reading this would disagree, but other than that, my life has been pretty boring lately.  I'm looking forward to getting a full work schedule and settling into a routine to break up the excessive random free time I have now. 

No Earthquake for Dad's Birthday This Year

One year ago today, I was living in my first place in Santiago.  I was asleep and was woken up by the shaking around 3:35 in the morning.  After getting out of my room, I was huddled in the living room area with Fabiola and her boyfriend Gustavo. We had only met a few days before then, but we became companions.  Fabiola made us food while we listened to the radio, and I wandered out to get us food.  Gustavo seemed the most scared out of all of us, as he's from Colombia and had never experienced an earthquake before.  And in the midst of everything I know my family was home worried sick about me.  I remember the shaking, the darkness, and the uncertainty.

It's one thing to see about natural disasters on television, but to actually be witness to one leaves such a huge impression on you.  Even as I type this, I am left wondering if there will be another earthquake.  If so, where will the epicenter be?  How long will it last? And last but certainly not least, how strong will it be?

I think that they are all valid questions and that it is normal to have that fear.  But at the same time I'm realizing that I'm not going to let that fear take over my life.  Sure, I will take common precautions to prepare in case of an earthquake.  But since it is not anything I can control I think that worrying about it too much is a waste of energy.

As I type this, I am also happy to be moving into my own apartment.  It took some perseverence on my part, as the owners did not want to lease to a foreigner.  They were unable to do a credit check on me, and I was unable to provide a cosigner in Santiago for the lease.  But after showing paychecks and agreeing to pay 2 months of security deposit, I got an AMAZING apartment.  It is completely new, and the building has a pool, laundry room, grilling patio, movie room, and a mini gym.  It's only about 400 square feet, but it will be big enough.  Here are some pictures of it:

And oh yeah, as you can probably tell from that last picture, I will be living on the 20th floor.

Orientation, tanning by the pool, and getting keys

I'm listening to the traffic go by on Calle Vicuña Mackenna en Providencia while I sit in my hostel.  My roommates are asleep still, and I don´t want to start packing up and disturb their slumber.

So we had the orientation with the program yesterday.  We got to meet the English coordinator, and she seems very nice and happy to have us there.  We got some basic information and then she took us all out to lunch.  I ordered churrasco (which is sliced up meat) with salad.

Afterwards Bruce (the program director) invited us back to his apartment so that we could enjoy the rooftop pool there.  It was so relaxing enjoying the sunny weather with everyone while tanning, and hopefully I'll have gained some color so I'm less pale.

After that, it was back to the hostel to change and then sign my lease.  I got the keys without a problem, and the landlord put a latch and lock on the bedroom door so that I know that my things will be secure when I'm not home.  (The program advised us to do this, as we may feel we can trust our roommates, we may not be able to trust the people that they have over).

I move in today.  I'll miss my roommates and the constant company of the hostel, but I know I will stop back to visit and hang out from time to time.

Oh yeah, and I start teaching Monday.

Exploring Santiago, Becoming Official, and various living situations

I am updating this as I am watching the first two episodes of The Amazing Race that have been posted to Youtube.  At first I thought that I would have to suffer through hearing family and friends telling me all about it without being able to follow along, but I am saved.

The past 3 days or so have blurred together.  It has involved yummy food like schwarmas (gyros) and churros con chocolate.  I haven't had either since my last trip to Europe about 5 years ago.  The delicious part of the churros con chocolate was the dark chocolate and dulce de leche that they provided as dipping sauces:

This food was all consumed in the company of cool people with the program and/or from the hostel.  Here are pictures of us together:

The hostel I am staying at is nice, but the lack of privacy and small kitchen have been getting to me.  Here is a picture of what my room (that I am sharing with 2 others) looks like:

The bunk bed looked like the wooden frame was cracking, so until the owner could check it out they gave me a room all to myself for the first night.  Here I am in it:

In case if it is not clear, I took the picture showing that storage closet thing from that spot on the bed.  And yes, that is the door to the right of the storage closet thing. 

So I started looking around for an apartment.  I took the program director's advice of wandering around neighborhoods where I would like to live and just walked into lobbies of apartment complexes to ask if they had any places free.  This did not work out well, as every place but one (out of 9 visited) told me that they didn't have any apartments to rent.  The one place that did have a studio to rent cost 360.000 pesos, or about $600 per month.  And of course I found this out after waiting 45 minutes for the owner to show up.

Originally I wanted to have my own apartment to have my own privacy, but I realized the two major drawbacks to this would be the cost and not having social contact with any Chileans.  So I decided to change my plan to try to find a room in a house or apartment with Chileans.  I also decided to try searching online, and I found a great living situation.

So, I will be living in a 4 bedroom house with 2 Chileans and a German.  For 95.000 pesos (about $190 per month) I will have a furnhised bedroom, common area with TV, wifi, kitchen, 2 bathrooms, and a washer/dryer.  This is an amazing deal, and the only additional cost will be gas (which will be split amongst all of us).  By American standards this would not be an acceptable situation with the condition of everything, but by Chilean standards this is a great place:

I will be going tomorrow to pay the first month's rent and deposit and sign the contract to make it official.  I'm really excited about it, as saving so much money will mean I don't have to work another job and I will also have the company of others and be able to practice Spanish and German.

Last but not least, the program helped us get our paperwork done with the Chilean registry to become offical here.  Luckily the entire process (from the time I left the hostel to the time we were done) was less than 3 hours.  At the first place an English guy with the program ended up taking much longer than anyone else, and we were all worried about him and what was taking so long.  When he came out, it turns out he was talking it up with the woman who was processing his paperwork and got invited to celebrate her mother's birthday next month. 

After that, we were off to get our fingerprints taken and get our official Chilean ID cards and numbers.  Because of the glare on my glasses they had to shine a lamp on me, which caused me to blink more often than normal.  This resulted in them having to take about 5 pictures before they could get one with my eyes open.  And low and behold, I once again look like a deer caught in headlights.

Well, it's almost 1 AM here, and for whatever reason I can't see the last 20 minutes of the first episode of The Amazing Race.  I already know that Jeff and Jordan win the first leg, but I hope I can see how it all plays out.