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).
Showing posts with label preparation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label preparation. Show all posts
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Karaoke in the Park, Online Bill Pay, and Counting Down the Days
While people back home are enjoying an usually mild winter, I am in the middle of summer in Santiago. The summer weather has afforded opportunities for barbeques and parties in the sun, and I went to an event last weekend.
At first it was only for the Spanish/German language exchange, but then the other language groups got in on it too. It was at a park near the Estacion Central area of Santiago, and I had a great time. There was plenty of food and drinks, warm weather, plenty of shade sitting under the sun, good company, and karaoke. I'm not known for having good singing skills, but I sang 99 Luftballoons in German and then Otherside by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was great chatting with new people and getting to speak a mix of Spanish, German, and English.
Since I'll be home in 23 days, I've started doing the little things to preapre for the trip. One of those things is figuring out how I'll pay my bills while I'm gone. Living on my own no one will be there to get my bills. I considered leaving a statement with the doormen and finding a friend to pay the bills while I'm gone, but then I found out that I can pay bills online here!
While this certainly doesn't sound like a big deal to most of you, it's something really nice here. Usually you have to do one of two things to pay your bills here:
1. take your bills to a grocery store, input the information into a computer that then gives you a ticket that verifies the account and amount, and then pay when you check out.
2. take your bills to a bill pay center (here most are called ServiPag) and wait in line from 5 to 25 minutes to pay your bills.
I've gotten used to doing one of the two things listed above, but after poking around on my bank account online I figured out how to pay online. It's pretty similar to back in the States: create a new payee and indicate the company, account number, etc. (but here you don't indicate the name on the account or address). Then verify the amount and pay the bill.
There is one striking difference in regards to security. In order to pay bills or transfer money out of your account, you need a clave de transferencia or a transfer key. Here's what it looks like:
For each letter and number combination, there's a 2 digit number in each box. I've covered up all but the top half for security reasons ;-) In order to finalize any transfer of money out of your account, the website will ask you for 3 random codes, for example J1 C3 A5. You then input the matching numbes and your transfer is complete!
From the looks of it, the only bill I can't pay online is my internet, but being able to pay 3 out of 4 isn't bad at all.
Now that it's 2012 and less than a month til I return home, I find that I'm counting down the days. There's actually 22 days left until I land in the JFK airport in New York. I just looked at my passport, and I arrived back in Santiago February 4th of last year. This means that by the time I will arrive back home I will have been outside the United States for a year and 2 days.
That will have been (future perfect for those English teachers out there reading this!) the longest I will have been outside the States. Prior to this it has been between 7 and 11 months at a time, but never an entire year.
Each day I find myself looking forward to the visit home: relaxing with my dad watching TV, catching up with my brother and sister in law while their cats wander around and vie for affection, visiting my aunts and uncles, spending time with friends playing video games or Magic. Then there's the things I miss from home: the one stop shopping and seemingly endless variety of products with cheap prices at Target, having a car to get around, good customer service, clean air, TV with clear reception, Panera Bread, In n Out Burger, Philly pretzels, pizza steaks, good clothing at affordable prices. I'm sure there's more, but I think you get the idea.
On Wednesday I decided to treat myself since I was hungry and craving a hamburger and free refills. There's a chain restaurant called Mamut that's very Americanized, with burgers, fries, and free refills. I've eaten here a few times before.
And here are a few random pictures I forgot to post earlier:
That's all for now. I hope everyone's 2012 is off to a good start!
At first it was only for the Spanish/German language exchange, but then the other language groups got in on it too. It was at a park near the Estacion Central area of Santiago, and I had a great time. There was plenty of food and drinks, warm weather, plenty of shade sitting under the sun, good company, and karaoke. I'm not known for having good singing skills, but I sang 99 Luftballoons in German and then Otherside by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was great chatting with new people and getting to speak a mix of Spanish, German, and English.
Since I'll be home in 23 days, I've started doing the little things to preapre for the trip. One of those things is figuring out how I'll pay my bills while I'm gone. Living on my own no one will be there to get my bills. I considered leaving a statement with the doormen and finding a friend to pay the bills while I'm gone, but then I found out that I can pay bills online here!
While this certainly doesn't sound like a big deal to most of you, it's something really nice here. Usually you have to do one of two things to pay your bills here:
1. take your bills to a grocery store, input the information into a computer that then gives you a ticket that verifies the account and amount, and then pay when you check out.
2. take your bills to a bill pay center (here most are called ServiPag) and wait in line from 5 to 25 minutes to pay your bills.
I've gotten used to doing one of the two things listed above, but after poking around on my bank account online I figured out how to pay online. It's pretty similar to back in the States: create a new payee and indicate the company, account number, etc. (but here you don't indicate the name on the account or address). Then verify the amount and pay the bill.
There is one striking difference in regards to security. In order to pay bills or transfer money out of your account, you need a clave de transferencia or a transfer key. Here's what it looks like:
For each letter and number combination, there's a 2 digit number in each box. I've covered up all but the top half for security reasons ;-) In order to finalize any transfer of money out of your account, the website will ask you for 3 random codes, for example J1 C3 A5. You then input the matching numbes and your transfer is complete!
From the looks of it, the only bill I can't pay online is my internet, but being able to pay 3 out of 4 isn't bad at all.
Now that it's 2012 and less than a month til I return home, I find that I'm counting down the days. There's actually 22 days left until I land in the JFK airport in New York. I just looked at my passport, and I arrived back in Santiago February 4th of last year. This means that by the time I will arrive back home I will have been outside the United States for a year and 2 days.
That will have been (future perfect for those English teachers out there reading this!) the longest I will have been outside the States. Prior to this it has been between 7 and 11 months at a time, but never an entire year.
Each day I find myself looking forward to the visit home: relaxing with my dad watching TV, catching up with my brother and sister in law while their cats wander around and vie for affection, visiting my aunts and uncles, spending time with friends playing video games or Magic. Then there's the things I miss from home: the one stop shopping and seemingly endless variety of products with cheap prices at Target, having a car to get around, good customer service, clean air, TV with clear reception, Panera Bread, In n Out Burger, Philly pretzels, pizza steaks, good clothing at affordable prices. I'm sure there's more, but I think you get the idea.
On Wednesday I decided to treat myself since I was hungry and craving a hamburger and free refills. There's a chain restaurant called Mamut that's very Americanized, with burgers, fries, and free refills. I've eaten here a few times before.
And here are a few random pictures I forgot to post earlier:
 |
| Christmas gifts from some of my students: Bailey's Irish Cream, chocolates from Valdivia, and tea |
 |
| Metro Tobalaba. The blue lights and modern appearance makes me feel like I'm in an episode of StarTrek. |
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Preparations...
So I started writing this in Panera Bread in Vorhees, but they have limited their internet access to 30 minutes during the lunch hours. I didn't get to finish let alone post this when I was there so I'm now awake at 2:40 AM at home, monitoring the weather to be sure I make it out on time due to a few feet of snow in Detroit where my flight originates. I'm finding it hard to believe that it was a year ago that I started my adventures and that I will once again return to Chile in (hopefully) two days.
Even though I may not show it, it's a stressful time for me as I prepare to return to Santiago. My time has been busy with saying goodbyes to family and friends, buying anything I would possibly need and not have readily available in Santiago, changing over currency to have Argentinean and Uruguayan pesos, and preparing my dad for his visit. I've been putting off packing due to laziness and unwillingness to create a detailed packing list of each piece of luggage, but I know that it is the best thing to do to prevent things from getting stolen from my luggage.
Written on Monday afternoon at Panera:
The weather forecast has had me nervous too, but it looks like it will be fine in the end. Snow (we're expecting a few inches) is forecast for Tuesday, which will then change over to sleet/freezing rain and then rain on Wednesday. By the time I fly on Thursday morning everything should be fine, so that's a relief.
I'm also doing research for my trip to Montevideo, Buenos Aires, and Iguazu Falls, as I will be traveling there for 9 days before work starts up again in early March. Wikitravel is a good (and free!) source of information, and after googling "iguazu falls hostel" I was surprised to see that there are hostels there. I wil be staying with a friend from my exchange year in Germany who lives in Buenos Aires, so it will be great to catch up with him and have a bit of a personal tour guide while I am there.
Written at 2:40 AM Wednesday morning:
My dad woke me up a little after 1 AM, telling me that my flight Thursday morning from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale originates in Detroit, which is currently under a few feet of snow. Basically that flight will inevitably get cancelled, so I've started doing research on changing my ticket. US Airways is awesome in that they waive all change fees in the case of a flight advisory (which this situation is), just like what I had to do last week when coming back from Los Angeles. But the problem is that I got my ticket through cheaptickets.com The US Airways rep on the phone told me I'd have to go through them to make changes. So what does cheaptickets.com charge to change my ticket? 225 bucks. Yeah.
Plan B? Let's call up Avianca, who has the authority to change my ticket since 2 of the 3 flight segments are through them. So how much do they want to get me on a flight from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale 2 hours earlier that originates in Philadelphia? 843 bucks. Hmmm.
Plan C? Call a friend who works for US Airways. Apparently if I go to the airport in person I might be able to get on the flight originating in Philadelphia a few hours earlier.
Plan D? I could fly out at 8:40 PM tonight (what a way to spend the night of my birthday) and then spend the night in the airport until my flight at 1 PM.
On a happier and less anxious note, I got to see Linkin Park in concert last night. It was quite a different venue than where I normally see them in a few different ways:
1. It was winter.
2. It was an inside venue.
3. We had assigned seats.
Prior to this I had always seen them in summer or spring, and with the exception of Las Vegas it was always an outdoor venue. Dana and I arrived plenty early since we weren't sure what to expect with traffic and parking.
This was my first time to the Wells Fargo Center, and it was huge. There were 3 huge tiers of seating and then standing room for VIP ticketholders. We got Wawa sandwiches to eat in the car and just got funnel cake before the concert started.
We ended up sitting behind a group of guys speaking Spanish, and after striking up a conversation with them I found out that they were from Peru, with one guy from Mexico City. It was cool talking with them about areas of Peru I had been to, and the guy from Mexico City knew Tepoztlan (a town outside of Mexico City where I took language classes for 2 weeks back in 2008). We talked after the concert too, and it was cool getting to talk to them.
The concert was great, as I expected. I wasn't anywhere near as close to the stage as I was in Santiago or Las Vegas, but I didn't mind. I didn't even recognize the first cover band and only a few songs of the second one, but when Linkin Park took the stage the place exploded. They played pretty much all of the same songs that I heard in Santiago.
Now that I can't sleep, I have a good reason to finish my packing and packing lists and finishing up the mundane details I've been putting off. The weather will certainly make my last 24 hours or so at home(and my birthday) more adventurous than I was expecting.
Hopefully my next update will be from the Fort Lauderdale airport or Santiago. Everyone reading please wish me luck!
Even though I may not show it, it's a stressful time for me as I prepare to return to Santiago. My time has been busy with saying goodbyes to family and friends, buying anything I would possibly need and not have readily available in Santiago, changing over currency to have Argentinean and Uruguayan pesos, and preparing my dad for his visit. I've been putting off packing due to laziness and unwillingness to create a detailed packing list of each piece of luggage, but I know that it is the best thing to do to prevent things from getting stolen from my luggage.
Written on Monday afternoon at Panera:
The weather forecast has had me nervous too, but it looks like it will be fine in the end. Snow (we're expecting a few inches) is forecast for Tuesday, which will then change over to sleet/freezing rain and then rain on Wednesday. By the time I fly on Thursday morning everything should be fine, so that's a relief.
I'm also doing research for my trip to Montevideo, Buenos Aires, and Iguazu Falls, as I will be traveling there for 9 days before work starts up again in early March. Wikitravel is a good (and free!) source of information, and after googling "iguazu falls hostel" I was surprised to see that there are hostels there. I wil be staying with a friend from my exchange year in Germany who lives in Buenos Aires, so it will be great to catch up with him and have a bit of a personal tour guide while I am there.
Written at 2:40 AM Wednesday morning:
My dad woke me up a little after 1 AM, telling me that my flight Thursday morning from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale originates in Detroit, which is currently under a few feet of snow. Basically that flight will inevitably get cancelled, so I've started doing research on changing my ticket. US Airways is awesome in that they waive all change fees in the case of a flight advisory (which this situation is), just like what I had to do last week when coming back from Los Angeles. But the problem is that I got my ticket through cheaptickets.com The US Airways rep on the phone told me I'd have to go through them to make changes. So what does cheaptickets.com charge to change my ticket? 225 bucks. Yeah.
Plan B? Let's call up Avianca, who has the authority to change my ticket since 2 of the 3 flight segments are through them. So how much do they want to get me on a flight from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale 2 hours earlier that originates in Philadelphia? 843 bucks. Hmmm.
Plan C? Call a friend who works for US Airways. Apparently if I go to the airport in person I might be able to get on the flight originating in Philadelphia a few hours earlier.
Plan D? I could fly out at 8:40 PM tonight (what a way to spend the night of my birthday) and then spend the night in the airport until my flight at 1 PM.
On a happier and less anxious note, I got to see Linkin Park in concert last night. It was quite a different venue than where I normally see them in a few different ways:
1. It was winter.
2. It was an inside venue.
3. We had assigned seats.
Prior to this I had always seen them in summer or spring, and with the exception of Las Vegas it was always an outdoor venue. Dana and I arrived plenty early since we weren't sure what to expect with traffic and parking.
This was my first time to the Wells Fargo Center, and it was huge. There were 3 huge tiers of seating and then standing room for VIP ticketholders. We got Wawa sandwiches to eat in the car and just got funnel cake before the concert started.
We ended up sitting behind a group of guys speaking Spanish, and after striking up a conversation with them I found out that they were from Peru, with one guy from Mexico City. It was cool talking with them about areas of Peru I had been to, and the guy from Mexico City knew Tepoztlan (a town outside of Mexico City where I took language classes for 2 weeks back in 2008). We talked after the concert too, and it was cool getting to talk to them.
The concert was great, as I expected. I wasn't anywhere near as close to the stage as I was in Santiago or Las Vegas, but I didn't mind. I didn't even recognize the first cover band and only a few songs of the second one, but when Linkin Park took the stage the place exploded. They played pretty much all of the same songs that I heard in Santiago.
Now that I can't sleep, I have a good reason to finish my packing and packing lists and finishing up the mundane details I've been putting off. The weather will certainly make my last 24 hours or so at home(and my birthday) more adventurous than I was expecting.
Hopefully my next update will be from the Fort Lauderdale airport or Santiago. Everyone reading please wish me luck!
Friday, January 8, 2010
First Post
So right now I'm sitting in Panera Bread in Vorhees, New Jersey. It's hard for me to believe that in exactly 34 days (February 10th) I will be leaving for South America. This is a trip that I have been planning on taking since April, and I was determined that it would happen this time. (I had tried to travel to South America for an extended period through a Fulbright, then through an alum from Occidental that runs a preschool in Chile, and then through a teaching program. Each of those opportunities did not work out for one reason or another.)
Before I go any further, I should be sure that everyone reading is on the same page about what I am doing: I have been accepted into the TeachingChile program to teach English to kids K-12 at a private school in Santiago. I will be doing so from March 1st until December 15th or so. When I was looking at the orientation that starts on February 19th, I realized that it was shortly before Carneval. Seeing that this is right before Carneval, I did a bit of research and was able to arrange my travel plans to be in Rio de Janiero for Carneval. Apparently it is one of the biggest parties on the planet, and seeing that I had already been to it in Cadiz, Spain and Cologne, Germany I figured going to it somewhere else would be pretty awesome.
I have to say that I have already had a roller coaster ride of an experience getting my visas for Chile and Brazil. It mostly had to do with submitting my FBI Criminal Background Check in early November and basically hearing nothing for close to two months. I then find out that they could not guarantee when I would receive my FBI clearance, which is required to get my visa for Chile, and my visa for Chile was supposed to be required to get my tourist visa for Brazil. After contacing the Consulate of Chile about this, they sent me an email telling me they would process my visa without the FBI clearance and to just forward it to them once it did get processed. When I went up to the Consulate in New York, however, they told me that they would apply for my visa without the clearance, but they would not grant it to me until they receive my clearance. After some explanation of the situation (and a very helpful email from my program) they agreed to grant me the visa without the clearance but forwarding it on upon receipt. My appointment to get my visa is January 20th.
So the next step was taking care of my tourist visa for Brazil. I took the trip up to New York fully expecting them to not to grant me the tourist visa since I didn't have my visa for Chile yet, but they took one look at my application and put it in with the rest of their applications to get processed. I am going up this coming week to pick it up. I practically owe my life to the program director for talking me through the experience and providing me with all of the paperwork and requirements a countless number of times over the phone.
My checklist of "to do" items is growing smaller. I ordered some travel guides and am anxiously awaiting them in the mail. I've pulled out my luggage to get ready to pack again. It's hard to believe that I will once again be away for close to an entire year. The excitement is building, and part of me wishes that I could wake up and it would be February 10th so I could just skip all of the anticipation. Despite that, it still does not seem real to me that I am actually doing this.
I would be lying if I didn't admit that I feel a bit scared and apprehensive. But I know that my language skills are solid, I am a seasoned traveler and skilled teacher, and that I will be with a program that is there to help us with anything we need. Once I arrive in Santiago I am sure that my fears will be put to rest.
Countdown to departure: 34 days
Before I go any further, I should be sure that everyone reading is on the same page about what I am doing: I have been accepted into the TeachingChile program to teach English to kids K-12 at a private school in Santiago. I will be doing so from March 1st until December 15th or so. When I was looking at the orientation that starts on February 19th, I realized that it was shortly before Carneval. Seeing that this is right before Carneval, I did a bit of research and was able to arrange my travel plans to be in Rio de Janiero for Carneval. Apparently it is one of the biggest parties on the planet, and seeing that I had already been to it in Cadiz, Spain and Cologne, Germany I figured going to it somewhere else would be pretty awesome.
I have to say that I have already had a roller coaster ride of an experience getting my visas for Chile and Brazil. It mostly had to do with submitting my FBI Criminal Background Check in early November and basically hearing nothing for close to two months. I then find out that they could not guarantee when I would receive my FBI clearance, which is required to get my visa for Chile, and my visa for Chile was supposed to be required to get my tourist visa for Brazil. After contacing the Consulate of Chile about this, they sent me an email telling me they would process my visa without the FBI clearance and to just forward it to them once it did get processed. When I went up to the Consulate in New York, however, they told me that they would apply for my visa without the clearance, but they would not grant it to me until they receive my clearance. After some explanation of the situation (and a very helpful email from my program) they agreed to grant me the visa without the clearance but forwarding it on upon receipt. My appointment to get my visa is January 20th.
So the next step was taking care of my tourist visa for Brazil. I took the trip up to New York fully expecting them to not to grant me the tourist visa since I didn't have my visa for Chile yet, but they took one look at my application and put it in with the rest of their applications to get processed. I am going up this coming week to pick it up. I practically owe my life to the program director for talking me through the experience and providing me with all of the paperwork and requirements a countless number of times over the phone.
My checklist of "to do" items is growing smaller. I ordered some travel guides and am anxiously awaiting them in the mail. I've pulled out my luggage to get ready to pack again. It's hard to believe that I will once again be away for close to an entire year. The excitement is building, and part of me wishes that I could wake up and it would be February 10th so I could just skip all of the anticipation. Despite that, it still does not seem real to me that I am actually doing this.
I would be lying if I didn't admit that I feel a bit scared and apprehensive. But I know that my language skills are solid, I am a seasoned traveler and skilled teacher, and that I will be with a program that is there to help us with anything we need. Once I arrive in Santiago I am sure that my fears will be put to rest.
Countdown to departure: 34 days
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