A Chilean Wedding, a Video Game Bar, and Thanksgiving

Last weekend I was invited to a friend's wedding here in Santiago, and it was a beautiful event.  

Chris came down to Chile at the same time as me, and we became friends.  Eventually he met Grace, a Chilean doctor through a mutual friend.  They hit it off, and now 3 years later they got married.  

In case you don't remember, Chris and Grace were the people who came to my rescue on my birthday 2 years ago when I went to the emergency room after injuring my ankle on my birthday.  They are wonderful and caring people, and I was really excited to be there for their wedding.

A bunch of us got together and rented a van, and it worked out really nicely.  It picked us up at a friend's apartment and took us to the church.  After that, it took us to the reception and took us home in the evening.

The wedding was up in Lo Barnachea, and the view from outside was amazing.  The church was beautiful, and everyone looked great.  At one point Erin asked me if the priest looked familiar, and I realized he used to be the priest at the colegio we started at way back in 2010.

After the ceremony we made our way to the reception.  The view there was equally amazing, and after a cocktail hour we made our way inside.  The food was delicious, and after some speeches it was time to dance.

I normally am not much of a dancer, and due to a teaching workshop that same morning and then going right to lunch with some friends and then running home to change for the wedding I was already pretty tired, but I managed to bust some moves.

We got the van ride back to Santiago at 2 in the morning, and I was home around 3:30.  This was my second Chilean wedding, and I felt honored to have been there.

With classes slowing down I have had more free time than normal, and a video game bar opened less than a block from my apartment.  It actually opened about 2 months ago, but last week was my first time getting to check it out.  

The facade is a colorful tribute to video games, with characters like Mario, Ken, Kirby, and others greeting you as you walk in.  They have 2 floors, and each floor has tables for eating and drinking as well as small sofas and chairs with video game consoles.  They have Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Wii, and Playstation games.  I heard it gets really busy on the weekends, so I checked it out on a Wednesday night.

It was pretty cool.  The menu has a lot of drink and food options, and they have even made thematic drinks and food.  (Would you like a Life Potion or Magic Potion with your Chocobo Wings?)  For those of you that aren't familiar with these terms, in The Legend of Zelda there was a life potion that was red and a magic potion that was blue.  They serve you the drinks in a rounded glass which looks exactly like that from the video game.  The Chocobo is a bird from the Final Fantasy Series, and it is their other name for chicken wings.

I decided to play some Mario Kart 64 and have a Donkey Kong Barrel Blast to drink.  Here's what it looked like:

They had a Mario Kart 64 tournament last night, and I decided to give it a try.  Even after practicing last week and an hour before the tournament, luck was not on my side.  I was hit by some red shells right before a jump, and I lost all my momentum and had to do half of a track over again.  The people that played (there were 32 of us in all) were actually really great players, and even though I was out in the first round it was a cool event.

Last but not least, last week was Thanksgiving.  The weather was warm, and I cancelled my evening classes to be able to go to Thanksgiving dinner.  This year I decided to get dinner at California Cantina.  They had a set menu for $15.000 pesos, so I made a reservation.  I arrived early, and in the end about 30 people showed up for the dinner.  Most people came in groups and knew each other, but at my table there was an Ecuadorian woman who had lived in the States for 9 years.  It was interesting talking with her about our Thanksgiving experiences back in the States as well as our experiences living abroad.  

A house salad to start.  I wish it hadn't taken over ten
minutes to get some pepper!

Turkey,stuffing, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes

No Thanksgiving would be complete without pumpkin pie!

In the belated spirit of Thanksgiving, I really have a lot to be thankful for.  My life isn´t perfect, but I´ve learned to focus on the positive and express gratitude.  I don´t limit it to just one day a year, but every day I recognize the people and things in my life that I´m thankful for.

Thank you to all of my readers for your support and encouraging comments (whether they be on this blog or when we talk on the phone or via email), and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and weekend!  

An Electronic Dance Party, A Few Barbeques, and a Presidential Election

Here I am in Viña del mar updating my blog for the first time in almost a month, and November has flown by!

The first interesting event that has happened since my last update was Creamfields.  It's a huge electronic dance party, and I really like electronic music.  I've wanted to go for the past few years, but I either found out too late or didn't have anyone to go with.  This year, however, was different.  I not only found out about it in enough time but also had a friend to go with.  

I met up with my friend Martin at the metro stop Escuela Militar, and we got a taxi from there to Espacio Riesco where it was taking place.  When we arrived, it was pure chaos outside: drunk people everyone, yelling and shouting, police, and lots of ticket scalpers.  We made our way inside to avoid all of it.

It was a long walk around, but it was worth it.  The inside area was huge and amazing.  (Last year Martin said that it was all outside, and all of the dust and dirt in the air was a real pain).  After paying for some tokens and dropping off our coats, we decided to get a drink at the bar.  It was an interesting setup.  If you bought a beer, they poured it from the glass bottle into a plastic one that was shaped exactly like the glass one.  With the number of people drinking and bottles going onto the ground this was definitely a good idea to prevent injuries and make cleanup easier.

Then it was time to check out some music.  I'm usually the type that will stand near the back in a concert and ease my way towards the front, but not Martin.  He walked quickly towards the crowd and darted between one group of people and another, and I struggled to keep up.  Before I knew it, we were about 20 feet from the stage.  Everyone was having a great time, and the energy was amazing.  

After that, we took a break for some more drinks and checked out the different stages.  Martin brought his UK flag and wanted to get a picture with as many people with different flags as possible, and it was really interesting seeing how many people were there from different countries.  

One thing that surprised me was the number of "young" people there.  Don't get me wrong.  At the age of 31 I still consider myself young, but it seemed that the vast majority of people that were there were between 17 and 22 years old.  I haven't been around a group of people that age in a while, and so it almost felt like I was at a high school/college party.  In the end I still had a good time though.

November also had a few barbeques.  The first one was for my friend Erin who came here at the same time and taught at the same colegio back in 2010.  It was her birthday, and there was an interesting mix of people: people from the TeachingChile group, friends from her work, and also her boyfriend's friends and family.  After talking with one of them I realized that I had met one of them at a hostel in Pichilemu almost 2 years ago.  Small world.  It was at Parque Bicentenario, and it was a nice setup with the picnic area and grill.  I had a good time catching up with people, and it was really great to see how everyone was doing.

The other barbeque was for my CORFO students.  They worked really hard in classes and had taken the TOEIC again, and so I though an end of the semester celebration was in order.  A few of them met me at the local grocery store, and we bought everything we needed.  Four of my students from this year showed up, and about eight from last year were there too.  We started around 7:30 in the afternoon and finished up around 2 AM, and it was great catching up with everyone.  It also made me realize how much time has gone by.

Last but not least, November 17th was the presidential election here.  As a permanent resident I´m supposed to be able to vote, but I wasn´t registered when I checked a few days before then and didn´t feel like going through all of the trouble to do so.

Politics here in Chile seem to be just as polarizing as in the States.  I believe there were 9 candidates on the ballot, and in a situation like that I imagine it must be hard to make yourself stand out from all the others.  I don´t really follow politics here, but I have some friends that make political posts, and the sense I get from Chileans is that they don´t trust politicians and see them as all corrupt.  This is easy to understand, as the gap between the haves and the have nots is large and a lot of people here struggle to make ends meet.

It´s not uncommon to see political signs all over the city, and some of them end up defaced like this one:

One thing that stood out to me is this:

The Law of God

If you can´t see it out from the picture, those are lifesize tablets of the Ten Commandments.  Chile is supposed to be a secular country, but it turns out that many laws and policies are determined with Catholicism in mind.  To give you an idea, abortion is illegal here.  

In the end, Michelle Bachelet won 46% of the vote, and the next closest person was Evelyn Matthei received about 25%.  If Bachdlet had won 50% of the vote she would have automatically become president, but since she didn´t she and Matthei will go on to a runoff election on December 15th.  

For a long time people had been predicting that Bachelet would be elected again (She was the President from 2006 to 2010, but Presidents here can´t hold consecutive terms), and so it looks like that is going to happen.  I don´t follow politics that much, but from what I gather she seems like one of the politicians that is most willing to help close the gap between the haves and have nots and also help out people in need.  

The next few weeks will be busy with various events, so keep checking in!  I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving, no matter where you are.

The Beggar and the Taxi Driver

The first event I'm going to write about actually happened about three weeks ago, but it didn't really fit into my last update.

It was a cool Wednesday morning, and I was waiting at the bus stop near my apartment to teach a class uptown.  I was listening to some music on my Ipod and was startled when someone approached me.  It was a homeless man (well, I'm assuming that he was homeless given his appearance) begging for money.  His eyes were wide and pleading, and his dirty hand was outstretched.  My first instinct in a situation like that is to just mutter, "Lo siento" (I´m sorry) and go on with my business.

I did just that, but there was something about this particular man.  As he walked down the street he visited a house, and some people that were out on the porch gave him some change.  His curly hair was unkempt, and he was wearing torn up shorts and a shirt that was practically falling off of him.  

I broke into a run to catch up with him.  I didn´t have any change on me, but I had a yogurt and an apple that I was going to snack on during the day.  I tapped him on the shoulder and gave it to him.  He had a pastry and a cup of tea in his hands now  As I put the yogurt and apple into his arm, I realized I didn´t have a spoon to give him for the yogurt.  He asked me for a bag to carry what I had given him, but I didn´t have one.  I felt horrible.

He then placed what I gave him as well as the pastry and tea on the ground and wandered to the middle of the street and was looking both ways.  Luckily there was no traffic coming either way, but I had no idea what was going through his mind.

I made my way back to the bus stop, but I couldn´t get my mind off of him.  People in Chile seem to be pretty sympathetic to the less fortunate.  People will give money to beggars, and it´s common for people will board the bus to play music or explain their financial hardships and ask for assistance.  (As far as I know, there is no unemployment here).  Sure enough, usually more than half of the people on the bus give the person a few hundred pesos (about 50 cents).  It may not seem like a lot, but here that amount of money adds up and can make a considerable difference for a struggling individual or family.

I`ve never done research or much reading about it, but I remember hearing that a lot of homelessness is due to people having mental problems that go untreated or undiagnosed.  There are also people who claim that the homeless are lazy and could find a job if they wanted one, but I think it´s not as easy as that.  

It made me wonder about this man.  How old was he?  Did he have any family or friends?  What was his life like growing up?  What did he do to survive day to day?  And how did he get to that point of his life?

I found myself realizing how much in my life I take for granted.  I cried for the man and the other people here that do without so many basic things on a daily basis half of the bus ride to my class that morning.

Another event happened during a taxi ride on Tuesday evening.  

It´s about a half hour walk from one class to another on Tuesday evenings, but with the colder weather I had gotten into the habit of taking a taxi.  It usually only costs me about 1200 pesos, which is about $2.50 so I consider it a small luxury that allows me to start my class earlier and therefore get home a bit earlier.  (By that time it is already 7:45 at night, and with luck I can get home at 9:30 after I finish my last class).

I got into the taxi and told him the intersection I needed to go to.  He proceeded to take the roundabout where traffic piles up, and I asked him to take the side street to save some time.  He tried to insist that there was no traffic at this time (it was rush hour), and I kindly asked him again to take a side street.  He took a phone call, and as we came out of the side street I told him the more exact address.  He then wanted to go around back in the direction we came, but I asked him to simply go right and leave me at that corner.  He seemed annoyed but went there.

The total came to 1210 pesos, and I handed him a 1000 bill and a 500 peso coin.  I started to gather my things, and he barked at me: "Mira!  Es solo 100 pesos!"  (Look, it´s only 100 pesos!)

I was caught off guard.  I had heard of taxi drivers changing bills on people.  What they do is you hand them a larger bill, (usually 10,000) and when you are looking away for one second they then change it to a 1,000 they had in their other hand quickly.  They then complain that you didn`t give them the correct amount and then get you to give them more.

Sure enough, the coin in his hand was 100 pesos.  I tried to explain to him that I gave him 500 pesos, but he went on a tirade about how he doesn´t try to take advantage of people.  He told me to look in my pocket, and being confused I did.  He then showed me that he didn`t have a 500 peso coin in his coin holder.  (He most likely put it into his pocket or onto the side compartment of the door).  He continued to go on and on and told me to get out and take the 100 peso coin with me.

I was too caught off guard to argue with him any further, and I had already been on the road since 7 that morning.  (It was 8 at night when this happened).  Looking back, I should have stayed put and insisted on the additional 200 pesos he owed me.  I could have told him I was going to snap a picture of his face and take down his license plate and report him and put his information up on Facebook warning others not to ride with him.

I´m not always very good about thinking on my feet (especially in another language), and I got out of the taxi and slammed the door.  If there´s one thing I really hate, it´s the feeling of being taken advantage of.  One of the areas in which I`ve grown since coming to Chile is that I`ve stopped becoming a people pleaser and am more assertive.  When something like that happens, however, it`s a big blow to your self confidence in regards to your language abilities and leaves you feeling stupid and incompetent.

It also highlights another element of living here as a foreigner.  People see that you are different, and they treat you differently.  People from the States in general are viewed as being rich, and so we are more of a target for pickpockets and taxi drivers.  I walk around with my hands in my pockets on my wallet, cell phone, and Ipod.  I usually only take the amount of cash I need with me and only take a credit card or bank card with me if I need it.  I walk around with a luggage lock on my bookbag when I have my tablet or computer with me, and I almost always tell taxi drivers the amount I am giving them as I hand it to them.  (I forgot this once, and this event was the result.)

On the flip side of things, having white skin and being a native English speaker puts you at an advantage for finding jobs as an English teacher.  Sometimes waiters and customer service people will want to practice their English with you, and it´s a nice occasion to add a little variety to someone´s day and put a smile on their face.

I took some deep breaths as I walked into the building for my next class.  My student´s mother must have seen it on my face, so when she asked how I was I was honest and told her what had happened.  She was understanding, and seeing her concern for me was enough to start to relax and forget about it.  My student was well behaved (he´s a creative 10 year old with lots of energy), and by the time class was over the anger had subsided.  It was, however, a renewed reminder that living here as a foreigner that I need to stay on guard to prevent things like this from happening.

I see myself as a pretty serious and introverted person that likes to stick to his routine, but these two events are things that have evoked both sadness and anger in me that I don´t experience too often.

I think it´s easy to update with the things that are going well, but it´s unrealistic to leave out events like these.  Is my life here in Chile perfect?  No.  Is Chile the perfect country to live?  Far from it.  What I figure is that you take the good with the bad, and you find what is going to best make you happy.

October Adventures

It's almost the end of October, and it's hard to believe that 3 weeks have gone by since my last update.

Life in Santiago is going well.  It is officially spring now, but you wouldn't necessarily know it from the weather.  We have had a few days when it has gotten up to the mid 80s, some days in the mid 70s, but then other days that have been cloudy and staying in the 60s.  I actually prefer when the weather gets to about 70 or so, as it is warm enough that I only wear a windbreaker given my dress shirt and dress pants but not so hot that I sweat.

About a week and a half ago I finished up classes with CORFO.  They were the classes with Chileans that received a scholarship from the government to learn English, and we had classes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night for two and a half months.  The classes were intense, but the students were very motivated.  The program brings together Chileans from different ages and walks of life.  In my class I had students that were still in college, some that were in graduate school, and others that were settled in their career but needed to improve their English.  Some of them were in the early 20s, some in their 30s, and a few were in their 50s.  Some had families and a few children already, but many were not at that point in their life yet.  They were architecture students, graphic designers, electrical engineers, mechanics, lawyers, psychologists, chefs, and police officers.  Despite all of these differences they all came together and created an amazingly positive and enjoyable classroom atmosphere that was an absolute joy to teach in.  

I have to admit that I miss the students already.  When you spend 100 hours together in such a short time, you really get to know each other and enjoy the experience.  We are having a barbeque next month to celebrate their (hopeful) success at raising their score on the TOEIC by 100 points.

The flip side of not having class on those evenings is that I have more free time.  As it is I have class on Tuesdays until 9 PM and Thursdays until 8:30, and it's a treat to get home from work before the sun goes down a few days a week now.  I find myself making plans to meet up with friends for dinner, being able to run errands, or walk home from my last class to get some exercise in.

There's good news for soccer fans: Chile is going to the World Cup!  They had a big game in Santiago against Ecuador about a week and a half ago.  People were nervous, as if Chile had lost the game they wouldn't have gone to the World Cup.  My classes that Tuesday night cancelled since they were going to the game, and I got home safely before the game started.  Once it was over, the streets exploded in celebrations, car honking, and general revelry.  It went on for about 3 more hours as the soccer fans invaded the two bars across the street from my apartment, and I didn't sleep to well that night.  Normally I don't mind celebrations on the weekend, but I had to be up on Wednesday morning at 6:30.

Another big thing happening now is the upcoming presidential election.  Election Day here is Sunday November 17th, and so campaigning is happening all over Santiago.  There are large poster put up on canvases and hung around major intersections, but it's not uncommon to find them destroyed or defaced.  Here is one I came across last week:

It seems that Chileans in general do not trust politicians and feel strongly about the divide between the haves and have nots.  My particular view is that participating in politics and following the news about it doesn't contribute to my overall happiness, so I prefer not to focus my time or energy there.

Something else that has been exciting has been The Amazing Race.  Their first destination was Iquique, Chile, and then they went to Santiago!  They had to go to Plaza de Armas, the main square in downtown Santiago, and they had to shine shoes and then pack up the shoeshining cart and take it through the busy pedestrian streets.  After that, they had to take a taxi to cascada de las animas (a waterfall in El Cajon de Maipo) to get to the pit stop.  It was really cool to see places that I knew on television, and after posting on their Facebook page I found out that they were in Chile for 9 days in June.  I don't have any classes in downtown anymore so it's not likely that I would have seen any of the teams, but just the idea that they were here was really cool.

Chile is also being featured in the media in another interesting context: a web series called Gringolandia.  It's about a Chilean man living in New York and his life there dealing with cultural differences while also following his girlfriend.  There will be 6 episodes that will be released in November.  If you're interested in reading more about it, here's a link:

http://www.ilovechile.cl/2013/10/23/upcoming-web-series-gringolandia-shows-chilean-moves-nyc/94849

October 31st and November 1st are holidays here, and so it will be nice to have a long weekend.  So many people are traveling that I decided to just take it easy and stay in Santiago, and it will be nice to navigate the city with little or no traffic.

We'll see what the month of November has in store for me here.

Breakfast at a coffee shop in Bellas Artes

Goodbye September, Hello Spring

It has been about 3 weeks since my last update.  I normally don't like to allow so much time between updates, but my weekends have been filled with a mix of social activities, working, and general feelings of not wanting to do anything that isn't necessary.

September 18th (dieciocho) is Chile's Independence Day, and the celebration tends to last an entire week.  This year was no different.  With the exception of a private class I had the entire week off.  So what did I do with that time?

Well, Monday September 16th was the grand opening of Denny's in Chile.  

This was something really exciting for me.  Having something familiar coming to Chile is a nice comfort and is a bit of a bonus to living here.  I went there with 2 friends around 1 in the afternoon.  The menu was the same as in the States, with the names of the dishes in English but descriptions in Spanish.  It was about 3/4 full, and so I thought that we would have relatively fast service.

(Cue the laugh track here)

Our order was rather simple: a hamburger, a build your own breakfast slam, and a breakfast plate with a Beglian waffle.  My friends and I chatted and caught up while we were waiting, but after about 50 minutes we started getting a bit impatient.  After asking a few times about our food, their food came out in an hour and 20 minutes, and mine five minutes after that.  

We ended up being served by three different people during the entire time, and the last waitress told me that she'd give us something to make up for the slow service.  She promptly returned and plunked a plate of nachos on the table and walked away before I could say anything.  

I normally am not that picky, but it didn't really make any sense to me since two of us were eating breakfast and the other one of us already had fries with his burger.  In the end I told the waiter who gave us the check, and he offered me a breakfast sandwich to go instead of the chips.  I thought it was a much better solution and accepted.

I walked away pretty frustrated, and bad customer service is one thing that really gets to me.  I should really deal with it better since customer service isn't one of Chile's strong suits, but one of my friends pointed out that it was the first day and it was probably difficult for the waiters (who probably don't speak much English) with all of the plates being in English.  They also aren't accustomed to giving people refills on drinks and checking in on them throughout the meal.  I also felt better since it wasn't just our table that got slow service; some people ended up ordering their food to go when it was taking so long, and one poor girl ended up waiting about half an hour longer than her friends for her food to go.

I decided to go back last Wednesday in the mid morning, and the service was much better.  I think they needed some time to acclimate, and I think that I will be going there from time to time for breakfast.  And yes, the food is exactly like it is back home:

So what else did I do during the dieciocho week?

Not too much productive.  I knew that the grocery stores were going to be closed on the 18th and 19th, so I stocked up on food before then.  On Tuesday night the 17th I went to a fonda at the Estadio Nacional.  It was like a huge fair and had games, food, and music all around.  I played some of the games and enjoyed some kettle corn and salchipapas (French fries with sausage), but after walking around for about an hour and a half it got boring rather quickly.

Pretty much everyone I knew was out of town, so I didn't end up doing anything to celebrate on the 18th or 19th.  I also wasn't in the mood to go out and explore on my own, so I stayed in and watched movies, cooked, and continued on my neverending quest to organize all my teaching materials.  

I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed with my dieciocho this year.  My first year here was the bicentennial, and the feeling of celebration and having a friend visiting me on top of it being my first year here made it an unforgettable experience.  The past two years I decided to take advantage of the time off and traveled to San Pedro de Atacama in 2011 and Puerto Varas and Chiloe last year, but I decided I wanted to stay put this year.  After having had such a great time the past years, I'm realizing that experiences won't always live up to our expectations.

On a happier note, the weather is warming up here.  It's still a bit chilly in the morning, and most days it is still in the 40s when I leave the house.  During the day, however, it gets up to about 70 or 75.  I consider this nice weather for English teaching.  Why do I say that?

Well, with the cool weather in the morning I can wear a jacket or blazer.  During the day it warms up, and I can enjoy a nice walk in the sun between classes, but it's not warm enough that I sweat.  In the evening it is cool again, but not cold enough that I need to wear multiple layers like in the winter. The weather usually is like this in October and November and then again in April and May, so I'm going to really enjoy these next few months.

I also had a nice afternoon out with a friend.  Her and I met about a year and a half ago, but with completely different work schedules we fell out of touch  Now we both have classes at the same place, and I had about three hours to kill before my next class.  When I saw her I asked if she wanted to do something, and she also had the afternoon free.  We went to Mall Parque Arauco, got some lunch, and checked out the department stores.  (She's looking to buy some new furniture and a bed).  I normally don't get to do things like that during the week with my schedule, so it was a nice afternoon.

Last weekend I had a pleasant surprise on TV: The Amazing Race started its new season, and their first destination was Chile!

Not only that, but they went to Iquique.  If you didn't read my last blog post, Iquique was where I went for the TESOL Chile Conference and where I went paragliding.  And guess what they had to do for one of the challenges on the show?

Yes, they went paragliding!  It was so cool recognizing the airport, the parts of the city, and the area where they jumped from in order to complete the challenge.  One of my friends here is also a huge fan of the show, and we talked about where they are going for the next part of the show.  The preview showed them going to a salt mine (or something related to salt), so we were both thinking that they went to San Pedro de Atacama, but now upon thinking of it a bit more I think they might go to the salt flats in Bolivia  I'll have to watch and see if we are right!

I'm glad to have made it through another Chilean winter.  My classes are keeping me busy, and I'm enjoying the changing of the seasons.  In about 6 weeks I'll be on a plane back to the gringo winter for Christmas, so I'll be making the most of the spring weather here before then.

Thanks for reading and I hope everyone is having a great spring in the Southern Hemisphere and fall up north!

TESOL Chile Conference in Iquique and September 11th in Santiago

Looking at my calendar, I can´t believe that we are almost halfway through September already!

At the end of August I took a trip up to Iquique in northern Chile to attend the TESOL Chile conference.  Last year it was in Santiago, but every other year they have it in the north or south to share the traveling amongst everyone.

I arrived on Thursday afternoon, and after being taken all over Iquique with a shuttle service I arrived at my hotel after about an hour and a half.  I was hungry and went out to get some lunch.  It was too late for me to attend the workshop, so I walked around and explored and then turned in early.

A churrasco sandwich with fries on the side

On Friday I was able to get a colectivo to the Universidad Arturo Prat.  While I was waiting in line to register I socialized with some other participants, and a few minutes later one of my friends arrived.  We got registered and listened to the plenary session as well as a rousing dance routine.

a modest but filling breakfast

In the middle of the dancing routine I realized something important.  My hotel had a sign inside each room about securing all our valuables and that they weren´t responsible for anything lost inside the rooms.  So being diligent I locked my bookbag with the luggage lock I usually use when I carry around my laptop or tablet in Santiago.  There was only one problem this time.  

I didn´t keep my keys in my pocket like I usually do in Santiago.  I decided to keep them inside the very bookbag that I locked securely with the luggage lock.

I shared my debacle with my friend, and her eyes went wide and she laughed at my stupidity.  I would have done the same in her position.

Luckily I took some time to think it through, and there was a 2 hour lunch break that allowed me to get back to the hotel to figure it out.

Luckily I had put my keys in an inside pocket with a thin layer between the inside and outside pocket, so I was able to borrow some scissors and cut a hole through the pockets and pull out my keys without having to call a locksmith.

After a nice lunch at a Peruvian/Japanese fusion restaurant, I was back to the conference.

It was really interesting meeting other teachers from all over, and there were some great workshops.  It was a great reminder of all the great teaching strategies out there to incorporate to classes.  

Saturday morning I woke up to a bit of a surprise: no electricity in the hotel.  Let's just say it made showering and shaving in the dark a bit more interesting than normal, but luckily I managed to do both without too much difficulty.  (Or at least no one commented on my shaving job).  I attended more workshops, had lunch with friends,and presented a workshop of my own.  There was a good turnout and I think I did pretty well fitting the material in to an hour and a half block, but it´s always a challenge to keep everyone engaged and feel like you´re meeting everyone´s needs.  I felt very fortunate to have a few friends that attended my workshop as a sign of support.

aji de gallina lasagna

English teacher friends!

A nice event at the end of the conference was a raffle.  Everyone who turned in their survey of the conference got a ticket, and then numbers were called and prizes were awarded.  I lucked out and won a very nice book with photos from the northern regions of Chile.  It´s a nice coffee table book and one that I can use the photographs for in classes.  

The conference was over on Saturday evening, but my flight back to Santiago was only at 7:00 on Sunday night.  Before arriving I had made contact with a company to go paragliding.  I made plans to go on Sunday, and they picked me up around 11 that morning.

After picking up someone else, we made our way up to the cliffs.  There were about 20 people there suiting up and with parachutes, and it seemed like everyone knew each other.  I didn´t feel too scared until I started to get suited up and was told I would have to run towards the cliff and jump off with the instructor.  

The view and experience was amazing.  I don´t know what it is, but the feeling of flying is just so indescribable for me.  I love the peacefulness of being in the air and seeing everything around me and below me.  I had a Gopro camera with me, and so here are some of the pictures I took.

The flight was about 20 minutes altogether, and I landed on the beach.

After that, I grabbed some lunch and people watched along the beach until my transfer to the airport came.  The shuttle got me to the airport about an hour before my flight was scheduled to leave.  This is much closer than I ever like to cut it for any flight, but luckily I was able to do self check in since I didn´t have any bags.  The airport was small, so I got through security without a problem.

The flight was uneventful, and I arrived in Santiago around 10 that night.  I was tempted by a Cinnabon on my way out of the airport, but after having had cookies on the flight I decided I didn´t need any more junk food today.  I would normally take a bus to downtown and then another bus home, but given the time of night I decided to go with a transfer.

I bought my ticket, and it turns out that they were grouping everyone by neighborhood before leaving since it was so late at night.  I was a bit annoyed and really wanted to get home since it was almost 10:30 at this point.  As I wondered how long I would have to wait, one of my current students walked up to me!

It was a complete surprise, and it turns out he doesn´t live too far from me.  We spent about 20 minutes talking until the van was ready to leave, and then we got to talk for the hour long trip back to my place.  It was really nice talking with him, and it helped the time go by more quickly.

Fast forwarding to today, it´s September 11th.

As a US citizen I obviously think of the terrorist attacks back home.  September 11th also has a deep meaning here in Chile, but for a different reason.  On September 11th, 1973 there was a miltary coup that took over the government and burned down the presidential palace.  This was the beginning of a dictatorship that lasted for years and that was accompanied with the disappearance and torturing of people.  I have to admit that I don´t know a lot of the details behind it, but it certainly appears to be a dark and controversial event in Chile´s history.

People warned me to be careful on the night of the 10th and all day the 11th due to protests regarding the 40th anniversary, and I heeded their call.  On Tuesday night I was sure to get home early to avoid any difficulties, (if things get bad they will actually stop all public transportation in the evenings) and two of my three classes were cancelled on the 11th.  Besides a trip to the grocery store, I stayed in, did work for classes, and caught up on housework.  I would prefer to work and make money by teaching classes, but I don´t want to compromise my safety by doing so.

On a positive note, it appears that winter is over and the 18 holiday week is almost here!  Most people have the entire week off, and so it´s a week of celebration, Chilean flags, barbeques, dancing cueca, and lifted spirits after having survived another winter.  This year I will be staying in Santiago and am looking forward to exploring the fondas (similar to fairs or carnivals) with friends.

I hope everyone back in the States is having a nice fall and a good start to the school year!