Santiago de Chile

above- Santiago
below- Plaza de Armas


I´ve been back in Santiago for just over a week now, with 10 days to relax and see friends until going to the states, and think exerpts from my journal express it best:

August 13th, 2007
I never want to forget my first 2 hrs back in Santiago and how wonderful I felt. Basically, in my head I was jumping up and down with so much excitment... but really I guess it was just expressed in my huge, huge smile that permanentely rested on my face as I quietly stared out the window of the bus from the airport. I was ecstatic. Seriously, I was coming home. And, it made me realize how much I experienced over the last month. I was coming back feeling like, ¨wow, its been a while, I feel different.¨ And then I remembered a conversation I had with Breanne when we first got to Peru from Santiago about how we have gained weight in Santiago and she said something like, ¨you don´t want to go home feeling bad. You want to go home from South America glowwing.¨ And coming into Santiago on that metro\bus from the airport, I thought to myself, ¨I feel glowwing.¨

August 14, 2007
Walking down O´Higgins today I had a thought: this has been an important, life-changing 6 months. And my month traveling was a big part of that. It gave me closure and coming back to Santiago after is what I needed.

August 17th, 2007
I have a newfounded love for Santiago! It just suddenly clicked yesterday and has stayed with me since, but I love Santiago! Its just like I now GET IT, I get the city that I struggled for so long to understand. And its not because I am leaving. Left the area near Baquendano yesterday- this little market and gi-normous fountain and walked in the hidden plaza and just felt ´ok wow so loving this´ and then walked from Tobalaba to Escuela Militar, an area I know too well, and a big change happened. It went from ´I like this city because I know it and feel comfortable and have a life here´ to ´I like this city for all the above AND because I really like the actualy CITY.´ After really seeing other parts of South America, and reading Isabelle Allende´s memoirs about going from Chile to the US to live and cultural differences she experienced, have helped me to understand Santiago, and live in the moment here. And the best part is that right after this all hit me a Chilean asked me where the closest metro was and without even processing in English what he wanted I just answered- I didn´t even know the words he used to ask, my thought process was too quick answering him.


pic from our 80´s party our last night before roomates started to move out
bought that dress at a used clothing store... the Chileans know the 80s oh too well!

Huacachina Desierto

While on the street in La Paz our first day there, three Canadian girls approached Susannah and I, asking about the exchange rate. We told them what we knew, and moved on. About a week later we happened to be sitting next to them on a bus and chit-chatted about travels. One girl said to us, ¨Have you ever been to a desert?¨ Sure, probablly, I mean, lots of things are called deserts, right. ¨No, no,¨ she said, ¨Like, a REAL desert. Look.¨ She showed us a picture on her camera, and then I understood what she meant---- full on sahara style desert with curvy sand in every direction for miles on end.

My last stop before parting ways with Susannah to make my way back to Chile was Huacachina, a small town in the middle of a sand desert (cause, well, deserts usually are sand and all...) 10 minutes outside of the city of Ica, Peru. It was amazing, to say the least. We went in a ¨car¨ (like the one below) to head out for our hr. of sandboarding... which entailed a lot more than just sandboarding.



First, we stoped at a police check point and our driver (one of the sons of the the family who ran our hotel) argues with the police for a good 20 minutes. As Susannah, the 3 English boys in the back and I try to figure out what is going on we realize (mostly from hand gestures and the tone of the yelling) that he doesn´t have a proper license. Suddenly, peace is made... oh, whats this, the police man and his friend are getting in the car with us---- should I feel releaved that I get to go or unsure of the fact that I´m in a car with an un-licensed driver that just bribbed the police with a ride? Thats Peru for ya! We then head at a REALLY fast rate straight up these gi-normous hills of sand, and quickly figured out that sandboarding also included a Disney Amusement Park-esque ride up and down and in circles on the sand. At one point we went straight up, and then straight down, and when I say straight I mean a good 90 degrees down, in this car. Susannah was freaking just a little (rightly so!) but I (surprisingly) loved it. We stopped a few times at the top of big hills to go sandboarding... basically snowboarding but on sand. Since I´ve never snowboarded before, I instead did more of a sledding on the sand, but on my stomach. I went soooo fast I can´t even tell you. It was scary, but so fun. And then of corse we made our stop for the police guys to create their own shooting range in the desert sand.... shady say what?????

We went for another ride that night where we saw the sun setting over the desert, and this time I mean it for real when I say this was the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced in my entire life. My favortite place in South America no doubt. It must be like seeing the ocean for the first time as an adult---- just being blown away by the beauty of something natural, so much bigger than anything you can ever imagine. And the solitude of it was part of the experience, feeling like you are the only person in the world. It was great. Dangerous, but great.

PICTURES!

(right) Cactus at the ¨island¨ in the middle of the salt flats... no this is not a fake backdrop.....





(above and below) Funny pictures from the salt flats in Uyuni, Bolivia, almost at border with Northern Chile. Desert of salt... Susannah standing far back... one of a good hundred of these kinda pictures... and above that is a sun burst not Susannah´s pants falling down...




(below) The main cathedral in Copacabana, the Bolivian port town for Lake Titicaca. Yes, Copacabana is a real place, and yes my name was temporarily Lola. And yes, I am wearing the same thing because I only had one outfit for the cold and therefore have been wearing that every day.

Potosi and Uyuni, Bolivia

After Lake Titicaca I headed to the bustling city of La Paz, Bolivia. For the first time in South America, I really felt like I stood out and wasn't sure how comfortable I felt in this... seeing this kind of poverty was a first for me, and at times really disturbing. By chance, we happened to arrive on the day of their 198 anniversay of freedom from the Spaniards. I've never imagined a parade quite like this- from 8 in the morning to 2am the next morning, people dancing in fancy flashy costumes, musicians to follow all around the city. It was quite entertaining. And, to make up for feeling sligtly out of place, markets of $3 scarfs make me a very happy lady, an d that entertained me for quite a long time.

After 3 days here we headed for Potosi, about 10 hours south of Laz Paz, known for its mines, which is where a lot of the worlds silver came from until the silver economy crashed, along with the once very prosperous city of Potosi. Some English travels we met back in Cusco told us how cool going into the mines of Bolivia were and how we had to do it. To say the least, I now have a demise for these boys for even recommending it, but also know this was a very important, and humbling, and terrifying-all-at-once-experience. We started the tour in a group of 5 gringos and a guide who had previously worked for 3 years in the mine. We went to the miners market, where we bought dynamite and coco leaves as gifts, got dressed in the appropriate gear and went into the mines. Basically, for the lack of a better word, it was horrifying. Being in the complete dark other than the head lamp, we were
crawling through rabbit holes within the mountain, laying on our stomachs crawling through as the dirt and rocks scaped our backs, with noxious fumes surrounding us making it impossible to breath. As we went down to the third layer of the mine, it became even harder and harder to breath. Over a thousand minors work down in those mines for 12 hrs a day, 7 days a week. And I could barelly handle the 2 hours. At one point we heard a little explosion go off, and my heard skipped a good 5 beats as I realized the slight possibility of the mountain crashing in on us. These minors work there for lack of a better job, and the average life span for a minor is 40 years. Experiencing that for a mere almost 2 hours, I can't even tell you how much compassion I have for those minors, and I am left sadened by the injustice of the whole system.



From there we went another 6 hours south to the town of Uyuni, close to the border of Chile. Here, there are salt flats... basically miles and miles and miles of salt. It looks like a desert of snow, but its all salt. With a German tourist we met, we took some funny pictures on the flats, and went in a restuarant and hotel made of salt. In the middle of the flats was the "Island of Fish," which is basically this random island-shaped land area covered in cactus. Very random, very cool.

Bolivia side of Lake Titicaca

First hour in Bolivia: On a boat

Second hour in Bolivia: Arrived on Island of the Sun, realized to get to any hostel I had to walk 1 hr straight up hill with my huge backpack not being adjusted to the altitude.

Third hour in Bolivia: Ran for the shower (since I had spent the last 3 days freezing and peeing outdoors or worse, in an outhouse with no toilet seat). Found their sorry excuse for a bathroom--- no toilet seat, a 5 foot container of water to attempt to use to ¨flush¨ the toilet, also serving as a bike storage room. Got shocked washing my hair as I then realized there were exposed wires in the shower to heat the water... shocked two more times as I touched the water knob to turn the water off and get out of there fast despite the shampoo in my hair for the first time in way too long. PS Had no soap and after 3 days of outdoor bathrooms used my fancy $40 face soap to wash my ass (sorry mom...)

Fourth hour: Went to take a nap, Susannah sat on her bed and the board under the bed fell to the ground, was out of breath from pulling the blankets on top of me because of the altitude.

But hey, what do you expect for $3 a night, right? Survived the night....

Next morning, opted for the fancy hotel on the island... Come to find out... IT WAS EVEN CHEAPER!

Side note: This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. What do you say: Worth it?

Lake Titicaca

Peru! Wow... where to start? After an amazing 4 days in Cusco and a day in Machu Pichu, Susannah and I took a bus to Puno, the main port town of Lake Titicaca, seperating Peru from Bolivia. We arrived at 5 am and somehow I was able to talk in Spanish and get us on a guided tour by 8 am.... yes, exactly, a guided tour--- how boring! But nooooo this was not the usual guided tour......

We started off by taking a boat with 20 other people (mostly English speaking French and Germans) to Uros, a floating island... meaning that the people living on the island take reeds from the water and attach them to make the ground of the island and also build their houses and everything with the reeds (picture above). I went on a short boat ride made out of these reeds while these two little girls climbed all over me and braided my hair. It was amazing to see house after house and schools made out of reeds and these people that live there year round, making a living by selling home-made hats to tourists.

After this we went to Amantani, another island, and stayed with a family that had no electricity and a scary outhouse and they live like traditional indeginous people and the mom dressed us up in traditional garb and took us to a party in the school house with traditional Peruvian music and she cooked for us in this little kitchen that was seperate from the house made of like clay and a thatched roof and their first language is Quecua, the language of the Incas, and they just know enough spanish for the tourists who come, and no tourists had been to this island before 10 yrs ago... I was woken up at 7am with a knock on the door and the mother walking in with a bucket of warm water for me to wash my face, there are no roads or cars (which was wonderful since everywhere you go is either straight uphill or straight downhill!)... but it was all wonderful to experience and it really was the highest example I have ever seen of true simple living... the happiness coming from our family was amazing. We would be talking in English and start laughing and she would laugh too, as if she understood. It was like a dream, smilely children skipping around in traditional indeginous clothing and the lake on all sides. It felt like a dream. And it was amzaing to compare the different lifestyles... to me, living on an island like this would be difficult for a number of reasons, but to them living in busy America and working in an office, driving, etc., would be horrible. Experiencing this was humbling more than anything, and definetely made me appreciate everything we have back home...

PERU!

Hello from Peru! I´m partly shocked I actually made it here, after frantically packing up my room until 2am and leaving the house at 6am for the airport, where I flew with a friend to Arica, in the most northern part of Chile. We then took a pimped out 50´s taxi across the border into Peru, and from there got on a bus to Arequipa, a supposed 6 hours (on Chilean time this would actually be 7.5 hours, but in Peruvian time this meant 8.5 hours) northward into Peru... and here I am!

From the first moment getting on the bus in Peru I realized why Chile is not considered a third world country and Peru is. Just everything about it was so not Americanized at all. One of my Chilean coworkers told me ¨Until you open your mouth you are just a high class Chilean from Los Condes¨ (Los Condes is the fancy Hollywood suburb part of Santiago where my school is and the people are more light skinned and have lighter hair and stereotypically don´t look South American... sad how everywhere in the world there is a connection between skin color and money). So this whole idea of me blending in... well, in Peru, not quite so...! I´ve never felt like I stood out so much before in my life, and its a feeling that I am still getting used to.

On the bus there were these Peruvian women who went to Chile to buy goods imported from China because Chile doesn´t pay taxes on these goods, and then they illegally bring them into Peru to sell. They kept trying to get everyone on the bus to hold one jacket, as if they were ours, because there were random stop points where police custom guys would get on the bus and check for these such things. The women hid stuff under their own jackets and watching the police interogate them because I´m sure this happens daily was a big wake up call cause I´ve never seen anything like that happen in Chile.

Arequipa is a beautiful city, with a complete mix of modernized people and European architecture and indigenous people. National Geographic wasn´t lieing to me afterall! More than anything, I have been so struck with how happy and friendly and smilely everyone is here... as compared with Santiago where people are most closed off in their own world. When we first arrived we learned of a few different strikes which temporarily closed all buses leaving the city because of potential danger, a potential problem since I am meeting a friend from camp in Cusco, 12 hours North of here, tomorrow. For a moment I thought I would be stuck here for the next two weeks, but as always as is well. Today things have calmed down and the buses are running as the government is in the middle of ¨peace agreements¨ with the strikers. From a distance yesterday I watched some of the strikers, and all the stores closed their front entrances when the strikers marched past. One of the main strikes is over gas, because no one can afford the high gas prices.

And last up, in case anyone doubted the love. From a student...

it`s so sad because you`re the best teacher jkajkajk it`s not a joke, i hope your time in chile (fue bueno) and next semestre do you know who will be the english teacher? i hope the next teacher be an american just like you pretty and nice jkajkajkajk well marina good luke with your last month in chile, i`d like to keep in touch with you, i like to write at least one time a week in english, and marina if you change your e-mail please let me know. another thing if you see in my mails bad orthografi ( i don`t know how do you write) please tell me i write very bad , well that`s it.
bye marina

Last Week of Class

After 5 months of coming home from a day of teaching, sitting on the stools in the kitchen complaining about students who come to class 20 minutes late, have a need to kiss everyone in the class on the cheek to say hello (including me who is trying to teach), then preceding to stand in front of the class and ask me about their grade on the test, not realizing that class started 20 minutes ago and being surprised when I say wait till the of class---- I´m sad that its ending.

I met students in the library on Friday to take the final exam who needed extra time to study and wow, I realized how much I love this. Running around the library with kids yelling ¨miss marina miss marina¨ in Spanish accents... well, its just great. This week I have two days of final oral exams (nothing like asking the same basic questions to 100 students in 2 days!) and then I need to be moved out of the house in 1 week from today when I am flying to Arica in northern Chile and will then take a bus to Peru... wow!... this all happened fast and although I can see the mistakes I made as a teacher, I also can see that I affected people and was affected by people, and nothing could make me happier than seeing this. I was more than just a teacher, I was someone in my student´s lives, and more than the English I taught them I also got to be a positive representation of the US, and most importantly to be their friend.

Some recent experts from my journal:

--- Last Thursdays class with Intermediate--- OH MY GOD WAS THAT CLASS AMAZING! I had them write about a topic that was important to them for homework and then for the oral test I switched it up and had everyone in the room (normally oral tests are one-on-one) and we went around and they just talked about their topic and oh my.... seeing them express themselves about deep things, talking in English... Esteban talking from his heart about music, Pamela about friends, Paulina about traveling.

---- Last Tuesday´s last class with 672 Ecotourismo Basico!... It really was so, so special. At the end of the test they just like didn´t leave... after all their bitching and complaining to me about how late class is on Tuesday and they want me to change the time... they recognized it was our last class and they didn´t run out after they finished their tests. We took pictures and I told them about how this class was really fun for me and it was funny when they finally did leave... I stood right next to the door and it was like a line to give me a hug as each of them said goodbye and then walked out. My favorite was Julio. He gave me the regular cheek kiss, then a real real hug, and then another kiss. I loved that feeling, being able to feel his affection being expressed behind the cheek kiss, being his way to say thank you. We have been bonded since the day he was the only one in class and he kept interupting my teaching to tell me about his girlfriend and ask me if I liked Chile, etc.

--- Talked to mom today about how I´m sad to leave and say goodbye to my kids and she said that I need to see this all in the big picture-- either I can think of this as an experience thats gonna end and be over or else That its a part of what is next and who I am now and really its all connected. And this just felt so right- this will never end in some sense because it will always be a part of me.


Yesterday us Americans threw a 7th de Julio (4th of July) celebration in the park and invited all our students. Although only one of my students came, there was possibly a total of 100 people in the park, BBQing and playing soccer and baseball. It was really fun... and I don´t know if so many Chileans have ever celebrated the dia de independcia in the US before!

Buenos Aires

A few highlights from the weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina:

- Being in a taxi and talking to the taxi driver about his experiences with the money crash of 2001. How he had a big laundry business with 50 employees under him and then he woke up one day to discover the country was bankrupt, and so was he. Going broke with the rest of Argentina, hes making the best and when I asked him if he were happy he contently smiled and said ¨I have my health.¨ Just everything about it was so humbling.

- Going to a Tango show at a cool old cafe.

- The recoletta. I never knew that a cemetary could be THIS cool. In the middle of the main part of the city is an enclosed cemetary with graves taller than me all right next to each other in a maze, with the big buildings of the city towering around. Again, really peaceful.

- Colonia, Uruguay. Taking the 1 hr boat ride to Colonia for the day, a town made up of a UNESCO site and also an authentic area for the locals, where we found a place for lunch run by a cute family. Walking around this desolate town in the drizzling rain, really beautiful along the water with old old historic houses. Very peaceful and beautiful.

Da Mendoz (or in non-flaite, MendozA)

Mendoza is the 3rd largest city in Argentina, 6 hours from Santiago by way of the Andes. The actual distance isn´t that far but it takes 6 hours because the only way to get there is to go up and over the mountains. The pass closes in the winter for obvious reasons, but officially closing it would just be too much so basically you can get the bus to Mendoza at any time, only theres no guarantee you can make it back if it snows. One of my roomates and I took the chance and went the last weekend they recommend you go, and it truly was amazing...

First up, the drive was INCREDIBLE. It literally was driving up a mountain until a random spot where you go through customs in the middle of the mountains. On the ride back I got to sit in the very front seat on the top level of the bus, with just a big window and mountains straight in front of me. The biggest difference with Chilean and Argentinian mountains is that they are RIGHT off the highway, they start like 2 feet over. It was interesting to see the differences with Chilean border patrol and Argentinian border patrol. The Chilean cross was much more serious, everyone needing to get out of the bus, have their bags scanned, fill out forms, etc., etc., whereas going into Argentina was much more relaxed. I later learned from my students that this is because people try to bring drugs into Chile to sell because there is so much more money in CHile than other South American countries and so dealers can make more money. At the border my friend and I ran off for a second to take pictures near the border sign (hence the picture below marking the cross from Argentina to Chile.) We almost missed the bus... for the second time...



Its official, Argentina has more culture than Chile. Lo siento to any Chileans who find this blog. I´m going to Buenos Aires next weekend to meet up with a friend I met in Greece, and I will allow that to officially OFFICIALLY confirm. From the second I got there I could feel the energy and attitude which I would claim is the Argentinian culture. We spent most of the time sitting at cafes people watching and one thing I noticed is just how happy everyone was. People were sincerely interested in who we were and where we were from.
The most exciting part of the weekend was going to dinner on Saturday night and getting (and all delicious) 2 salad bars, a huge steak to share, 2 sides, 2 desserts and drinks all for $33... yes dollars.... oh wait, it gets better. That day PUMA, the national Argentian rugby team, beat Italy and it just so happens that they came to the restaurant we were at to celebrate. So basically my friend and I sat in the middle of a restuarant surrounded by 40 Argentinian rugby players. They cheered and sang for hours, little kids running in to take pictures with their cell phones and then running out- it was all quite entertaining. One of the Chilean roomies plays rugby and had spent the last week watching rugby on our one television for 14 people (not that anyones complaining) and so we decided that we needed to bring some souvenir back for him. After the team left we were looking for something cool, something Argentinian, something PUMA, until I heard my friend do a little shriek of laughter and I looked over to see that one of the player´s hair had been cut and was sitting on the table. So even though the waitor was horrified at these two American girls gawking at the team and stealing PUMA hair, we brought back our souvenir, and our roommate just loved it.

24 de Mayo

So, sometimes being a teacher can be really taxing. Especially when you work really hard and then realize your students don't study. But other times its really great, really rewarding. Like my birthday last week, when I walked into class and my students had a surprise party waiting for me. The room was decorated, the teacher's desk filled with food, the class singing happy birthday and a present---- a policeman of Chile hat signed by the students--- and they had written a song for me, performed and all. I'm not gonna lie, I was tearing up just a bit.... it was just lovely...

Updates!: the last 3 weeks.....

Chapter 1: LaSerena and Vicuna (Labor Day Weekend)


In the middle of a snow storm in Jerz last February someone said to me "you are going to have a second winter this year, going to Chile." My honest reaction: "you dumbass, its gonna be summer for me in a few days---- suckaaaa"... but now, the middle of May, he is correct. I surely am entering my second winter- why did I not realize this until now? The first signs of fall approaching I headed north for a long weekend, for the first time traveling with a mere 4 people total, compared with the usual minimum of 6 or 7. LaSerena is a town about 7 hours north of Santiago in the Elqui Valley. We rented a car one day (an exciting endeavor in itself!)
and drove to two national parks that you can't get to without a car. It was quite entertaining to turn off the Pan-American Highway (apparently bottom of Chile up through America) to a curvy/steep dirt road (hence the sign in the picture), weaving through these narrow excuses for roads around mountains and random houses. We also took a day trip to Vicuna which has Chile's famous star observatory, used by the US because its one of the clearest places on Earth. It was really cool to learn about the different perspective of the stars being in the Southern Hemisphere- for example I now see Orion's belt upside down- and I got to see the Moon and Saturn through a telescope which was really fascinating. LaSerena also has the only Easter Island Moi in Chile (other than Easter Island, which is officially part of Chile but its a long $700 plane ride off the coast). It was really cool to see and I climbed up it and gave it a big fat one on its cheek.


Chapter 2: Capon de Maipu and Isle Negra

I came home on Friday to find out some of the Spanish roommates were momentarily leaving to go rent a car for the weekend to go to Capon de Maipu.
Me: "Where?"
Mario: "Capon de Maipu"
Me: "What are you going to do there"
Mario: "Ummm lots of stuff"
Me: "Where are you going to stay"
Mario: "We'll find a cabana to stay in. Are you coming?"
Me: "Ummmm, ok????"
After a good 4 hours of miscommunication, minor freakouts and people being lost, 12 people were gathered in our driveway in 2 rented cars and 1 motorcycle headed towards western Chile in the dark. The car ride was the funnest part, as we kept looking out the window to the darkness, being able to see these big dark cliff- looking rock structures everywhere and saying "I BET it looks pretty," since we couldn't actually see anyyyything. After getting lost, loosing the two on the bike and not being able to find a place to stay, we arrived at our cabana- aka a cute wood cabin- at around midnight. With our own cabana with a grill and pool (too cold to go in!) we had a good night and the next day I was the first to wake up and I went exploring alone, which was one of the most peaceful and authentic experiences I've had thus far in Chile. For the first time I felt like I definetely wasn't in America, and I seemed to be more in a storybook village. It was cool to wake up and step out of the cabana and feel like I had been transformed to this beautiful little village deep in a rock valley. Walking along the road by myself, people actually seemed Chilean, and I took about a thousand black and white photos. Half the group stayed for the rest of the weekend, but I was in the car headed back to Santiago on Saturday afternoon.

It wasn't until late Saturday night that we found a manual-experienced driver and made a plan for Isle Negra for the next morning--- the beach where Pablo Neruda's main house is (as in nicest of the 3 houses within a 2 hr radius). Having no real map, or directions, or knowing about driving in South America, 5 of us headed toward the coast, figuring that the house museum of one of Chile's most famous poets and political figures- a real Chilean icon- would have to have signs on the highway. But, um, yay, guess again, this is Chile and logical things like signs for a major tourist spot just don't happen. But after asking just about all of Chile for directions, we did make it. At one point I even had to jump out of the car and ask a few people down the road if we were going in the right direction and after our success had been confirmed and I said my last "gracias" and was running across the street one boy yelled to me "thank you" and everyone giggled. It was a sweet moment. The house was pretty unbelievable- a bedroom of windows looking at the view of the ocean and I learned what a peculiar guy Neruda must have been, with odd collections of things from around the world cluttered all over his house, the house being built to resemble a ship.

My first email from a student! (and pics of where I teach)

Dear Teacher:

Hi, sorry but my english its very basic (lol) I need to know, if I can give to the oral test of ingles this Thursday in the class schedule, since the next week I do not travel to Santiago, Im live in 7º counti (Curico, Talca), being thankful its answer

Felipe

Volcan Villarrica, Pucon

Nothing like a nice Easter vacation to relax by the beach and recover from the first month of teaching, sleeping in and eating good food... or as in the case of this last weekend, nothing like a nice 10 hour bus ride to go white water rafting, zip lining and climb an active volcano. Thats right folks, I climbed a volcano. Now, this didn't seem so weird until telling my mom about it and after some silence hearing, "so you mean, like, you could have fallen into lava" and um well, yay, thats kinda the way it went. But this represents the whole weekend really, as I had no clue what i was in for going to Pucon for 4 days.

I left Wed night straight from work, headed for a touristy outdoor adventure village, which was very picturesque--- filled with cute little wooden houses, the mountains, 2 lakes and the small town feel. Arriving at 8am Thursday morning, we entered town to see the huge volcano which I for some reason came 10 hrs to climb. In case no one knew like me, volcanoes are actually really really big. And hard to climb.

That first day we went white water rafting and it was pretty intense. I totally fell out of the raft once, my legs flying in the air above me, doing a backflip out of the raft. Our guide kept getting us stuck um purpose and pretending to freak out in Spanish. One rapid was too big for our non-existent rafting skills, so we had to walk around on the shore while the guide took our raft down a mini-waterfall alone (quite entertaining to watch!) Walking through the woods along the shore we saw the Copihue, or the Chilean bellflower, Chile's national flower which only buds for 2 weeks a year in the South of Chile. It was cool to come across it unexpectedly. It was really just so beautiful, and looks like a bright pink bell. Finally we got to this cliff and they tell us "ok get back in the raft now," as we're looking at our guide 25 ft below us. Although I at first thought he was joking (as we were just rafting through sharp rocks) we all jumped into the water... and when I say water I really mean liquid ice.

After getting fitted with climbing gear that night, we woke up at 3:50am, as I pretended to be ready for the sunrise hike of Volcan Villarrica. The guide picked us up at 4:20am and we went with a group of 18 people and 5 non-existent guides to the volcano. It was 3 hrs of steepness on basically volcanic ash in the dark and by the time we reached the snow it was daylight. At this point we put our helmets and cramp-ons on and hiked 2 more hours in the snow. Now, one would think that the night before when I was given cramp-ons I would have realized what I was in for. But nope. I didn't know what cramp-ons were or why they were used. They are freaking spikes you attach to your shoes so you can walk on ice... that should have been a sign that I was in for a physically demanding experience! But no, I still had no clue that I was going to be climbing up straight ice and in case I slipped and went flying down the volcano, no worries, because I had a little ice ax and a 2 minute description of what to do, and then the guides began their run up the mountain. And ps, I signed no legal waiver! The top of the volcano was probably one of the best views I've ever seen in my life, being way way higher than the clouds... but also possibly the most smokey place I have ever been. Tons of smoke was flowing out from inside the volcano. I ate avocado and cheese sandwiches from the top and worried about how the hell we were gonna get down.

So one of my students who I passed on to advance and so am now aloud to be buddy-buddy with worked in Pucon last summer at a tourist agency. When I told him I was going to Pucon, he came in the next day with information about the town including a DVD, a recommended schedule of activities and he even called where he worked to tell them I was coming. (This is how you get an A.) We got a discount for canyoning (zip lining) and I got to feel cool, name dropping to the big boss and my arrival being expected.

My bus got back into Santiago at 7:30 Monday morning and I practically went straight to class, back in the busy city and feeling the flow of it all. Congested air, I'm ready for you!

TEACHING!

The weekend before teaching began I went with my American crew to Los Molles for the weekend to see the coast, but also on some level to have a crazy adventure and block out the fact that I was about to start teaching at a University knowing absolutely nothing about what I was supposed to teach. At dinner the last night someone proposed we do a toast and Erick blurted out a toast something like, “to the fact that none of us are really here because we want to teach English but just because we want to live in South America.” Although we had never talked about this, it was a moment of hilarity because we all recognized some degree of truth in his statement.

I randomly remembered this a few days ago, and was overwhelmed with this feeling of just how much has happened in life in the last month, if that’s really what I thought about this whole experience because now, I love my job. Really love my job. Really really love my job. Last week on the way to class a friend informed me that we weren’t supposed to teach unit 2, exactly what I had planned for that day. How wonderful! Another instance of my coordinator not informing me of something! I was sitting on the bus thinking crap, what am I gonna do with them today? And then I realized how much better this scenario is than having to cram in a bunch of information. And then I realized that with extra time my goal should just be to get to know my students more. And then I got really excited about class, like, “all I need to do is go and chill with these kids, who frankly are cooler than me, and maybe teach them some random English.” Well, that was the best day I’d had yet and it’s been all uphill from there.

I’m totally loving my students and they grow on me more and more everyday. They all make a big deal when they first see me, kissing my cheek coming in and out of the room. And they call me “miss” or “miss marina” or “profi” (short for professor and pronounced profeeeee). One of my students who I passed to the next level saw me and told me he missed my class---- we know that made my day. And one time I let a beginner class out early but they all stayed in their seats blankly staring at me until someone said “play game?” It was about the cutest thing ever. (I know it sounds like I’m teaching little kids but this really is university level!) And sometimes I’ll see students on the bus or metro… this weekend I even saw one of my students in a restaurant/bar, that was funny.

I took on two extra classes to bring in the travel dough and that’s been a blessing. So now I have 7 classes total, each meeting twice a week for an hour and a half. So I have 5 beginner classes, 2 intermediate and 1 advanced. My intermediate classes are only 4 and 6 people and my advanced class is also only 6 people (and by 6 people what I really mean is 14 on the roster but 6 show up… but not all on the same day. Ever.) And I still have way too much extra time. No classes Friday, Wednesday I don’t start until 4:30, Thursday 2:30. Last Friday went to a Colo-Colo soccer game, the national team here. And wow, I’ve never seen fans so riled up in my entire life. They NEVER stopped cheering. And on Sunday night I went to a regaetone concert, that was also an experience. And this upcoming weekend is Easter Break so I’m taking an overnight bus on Wed night down south to Pucon… next entry about that!

Oh, and this picture was taken in the orange casa last week when I made dinner for some of my roommates. On the right is Ashlie from Scotland (going counter-clockwise) next is Sergio (pronounced Ser-he-o) my red-headed Chilean roommate who likes to tease my accent, Menelike- another American English teacher, Natalia or Nati who is Chilean and lives next to me, and Paulina who is also Chilean and has sortof taken me under her wing.

Como se dice...?

So, I'm in a Spanish speaking country, and came here wanting to beome fluent in Spanish. And up until 3 days ago the progress has been slow. The first few weeks I avoided a lot of necessary communication. Only, I didn't even realize this until moving into the apartment, where there is no avoiding Spanish. Here, in my own home, I must feel like an ass when I don't make any sense, theres now no running away from it!

I was one of the first English speakers moved in, and that first night making dinner with 6 people in a small kitchen blabbering away in Spanish was, well, hmmm, how shall I say this, derrifying... yay, thats the word. I think the first 4 or 5 days in the house were the most frustrated I've ever been in my whole life. I like to think of myself as a positive person, but somehow I lost my ability to be determined to learn Spanish- I pretty much just gave up and couldn't snap myself out of this negative funk. But alas, the positive Marina is back:

A few nights ago I sponteneously had dinner with my American friend Liz and her Chilean boyfriend, Juan. It was exactly what I needed. To be sitting in their apartment, peacefully, communicating in a mix of Spanish and English was a perfect transition. Juan having patience with me speaking Spanish and me having patience with him speaking English and Liz translating when needed... well, it woke me up and made me realize I can learn Spanish. And then I realized that if I study Spanish on my bus ride to/from school everyday, thats at least 50 minutes a day to memorize vocab. The next day after doing this I had a great conversation with my red-headed Chilean roomate Sergio and his two friends. For the first time with the roomies, we truely expressed what communication is really about. With or without all the words I needed, we were able to express ourselves and it was so great because, ultimetely, love can be communicated without words, and with that, people can get to know each other. Like my roomate Natalia, I don't understand a lot of what she says but still, I know she is just so so sweet and I now always feel comfortable speaking with her, because I can feel her kindness and her sincerity in listening to me, however slow I talk. I now no longer see language as a barriar, but more as an opportunity to develop my ways to communicate. Maybe this all sounds corny, but I truely feel the communication going on even with a lack of words, and in this am seeing love being expressed.

And now with me talking way more Spanish in the house, I'm not at all afraid to talk to people in public. Like, buying things and asking directions, instead of feeling like theres no point in talking because I won't understand a response, I know I can at least try. And its very freeing to feel this.

Mi Apartamento!

So, I've moved into the apartment/house!

My address:

Echenique 5361
7790452 Nunoa
Santiago
Chile


My cell number: 011 56 9774228283

Echenique is my street and Nunoa is the area of Santiago I'm in, sortof on the outskirts of the city, so it's a little more residential than the bustling city feel of downtown Santiago Central, where I was for the first three weeks. There are 14 rooms total in the house- mine is that front window on the left with the jail bars on the window. There are 7 of us American teachers, one Scotish girl, one Brazilian boy, one Spainiard boy and 4 Chileans. If anyone feels like crashing on the couch of an orange house, you're all invited!

The important things of Santiago

I’m on week 2 of class now. And I went to the beach this weekend, about 2 hours outside of Santiago. And I went on a sea-wolf cruise. And I’ve moved into an apartment/house and have had many a IDSSBILWSS breakdown (I don’t speak Spanish but I live with Spanish speakers)… yet what’s more important at a time like this? You guessed it, let’s talk about food:

So, I’m a food snob, I’ll admit… (these are the important things you learn about yourself when placed outside your comfort zone.) But I can say, I’m also all about trying weird foods, even if I know I’m not gonna like it, I’ll try it. Well, I’ve given up here… but I’ve spent so much time talking with my fellow Americans about the Chilean restaurant going experience that I now see it as the funniest thing in the world and can’t wait for a feature film to come out that takes place (from start to finish) in a Chilean restaurant.

Typical Restaurant Experience: 6 of us loud Americans sit down. We finally find a waiter and ask for menus. They bring one. We order sandwiches that take up half of the one menu. They don’t make sandwiches at the busy time of day because it would take up too much room in the kitchen, we should come back in 2 hrs if we want sandwiches. Hey, whose complaining? So, we play it safe--- papas fritas, nope sorry no fresh fries this time of day either. So what do you have? Oh, ONLY pizza, thanks for telling us. The tea comes, but just the bag with no water. And when you want a little more water, nope, they don’t have anymore hot water. And how about when everyone orders dinner and one person just wants to order dessert…. Oh, they don’t have dessert, ok, no problem. And then dinner is done and the infamous question of “does anyone want to see a dessert menu?” And if you order anything without mayo, or with extra cheese, etc… nope, they bring you just what is says on the menu. And my favorite, I ordered Ensalada (I finally found a restaurant that has salad!!!!!) and I get a completo… aka the hotdog covered in mayo, avocado, onions, ketchup, etc etc. Actually, two of those incidents happened at the same place… a restaurant that changed names to something de Clinton because when Clinton was in office he was in Santiago and stopped in there for a Fanta and now the name is changed and the walls are covered in his picture holding a Chilean fanta bottle.

But now I am in my apartment and I discovered JUMBO, an American-style grocery store and so for the first time in 3 weeks I have peanut butter, cream cheese (Chase st girls, I will never again complain about Philedelphia Cream Cheese!), non white bread, meat that I can cook so its not dripping with blood (literally), rice cakes, jelly that’s not marmalade, etc etc.

Next time I swear I’ll talk about more important things, like how I had two students come in late today and be rude about it and mannnn did I get pissed… oh and how the books arrived! Just when I was getting used to the idea of teaching a class with not knowing what I am supposed to teach, they give me books! Quick shout-out to having books!

I´m a teacher... say what????

So, yesterday I taught my first three classes. But I found out my schedule the night before. And the books haven´t arrived yet. And they don´t know when they will arrive. And there is no syllabi and my schedule was wrong. And an attendance sheet for one of my classes was missing. Oh and did I mention that I don´t speak Spanish and that for Chileans this is a very high-class institution? And when I asked to see a copy of the book they used last year I was told no, because it might confuse me. But really, its ok, because any concerns of mine were met with a frantic, ¨don´t worry, don´t worry¨ and then some ranting in Spanish. (Clearly I´m the worrier!) I was told to ¨not do anything the first week or two,¨ yet I also had a room of up to 18 students who speak little English starring at me for an hour and a half... so yay, exactly, what the hellz was I supposed to teach? A few of us met in the morning to joint-plan what to do, and after being in student mode for my whole life the whole thing was so laid-back, very surreal. Despite this scenerio, my three classes yesterday turned out FABULOUS!

I got lucky in that my first class was my one advanced, where there are only two students, and only one showed up. Her name is Mitzy and she speaks good English and so we just talked and she really wants to become fluent so I think that will be good. Later in the day I had two beginner classes and both classes knew way more English than I expected. I had them do a version of speed-dating, introducing and talking about themselves to other kids in the class. Then we played games like pictionary to review basic vocab words. Some of the students gave me the on the cheek but in the air kiss goodbye, and all said goodbye to me about a million times. Really sweet kids.

Duoc University has 9 campuses total, and mine is by far the best (Campus San Carlos). Its Chile´s version of UVM, and so I love it- the mountains are literally RIGHT next to campus, ping-pong and foose ball tables in the main coutyard, every hippster student with a good 2-3 piercings and colorful hair... it definetely has the groovy-UV feel!

Last Weekend

So, I tried Salsa dancing. And by tried I mean forced. And by forced I mean I sat in the corner of a salsa club watching in amazement as beautiful Chilean women moved their hips to a beat I couldn´t even keep in my head... until one of these such women (the club´s star dancer in fact) started talking to my little American group in the corner, asing where we were from, etc. I guess this was the sign for the men in the club to come grab us, rotating person to person, teaching us how to salsa. It was quite fun and I definetely improved, although I still need many a lesson to walk back in there with confidence.

After coming back from salsa dancing at 4 am, some of us met at 9 the next morning to pick a place along the coast to go, since training on Monday was cancelled. We randomly picked a town about 4 hours north of Santiago called Los Molles, and ps don´t listen to Fodor´s Travel Guide. Seven of us went, and I did have the time of my life, it was wonderful, but just so random and definetely not the beach resort I was secretely expecting.

We got off the bus and found ourselves on the side of the highway, amongst shacks of houses, all empty except the tiny one room beach houses which were converted into arcades and filled with local children. We walked toward the beach and finally found a great (and cheap) hotel right on the beach---- two floors, 4 rooms and a balcany. The next day we did this little hike along these cliffs by the ocean on a search for an island of sea lions. We had a great time at night and I now feel permanentely bonded with my Los Molles crew.

My Life

Soooo I realized that I never actually explained to most of you what exactly it is I´m doing here... but only because before a week ago all I really knew was that I would be teaching English in Santiago.... and nothing more! So now that I know I didn´t take an expensive 12 hr flight to find out my program is actually not ligit and the imfamous voice on the phone telling me I could spend 6 months in Chile is a real person, heres the deal:

So, I am teaching for Duoc University (http://www.duoc.cl/), which is the largest university in Chile with 9 campus total, 6 around Santiago. My campus is San Carlos which is in an area of the city called Los Condes. Los Condes is in the very very end of the city, so right beyond the campus is just mountains, so although it will be a little of a commute I´m thinking its well worth it for the view. The area is more upper-class residential with a fun shopping area, etc.

I got this job through a program called TeachingChile, run by an American man who decided to move his life to Santiago 4 years ago, having no clue what he would be doing. After volunteering with the Ministry of Education he wrote a proposal to them to create this program and alas I am here.

My training is with a wonderful Venezuelan man who grew up in England named Ivan, who works for Duoc. The training is for TeachingChile people and three other similiar programs. Duoc started using native English speakers in 2002 when they hired 3 people and this year there are 50 total. Everyone is friendly with each other during training and breaks etc but of course there are little groups between the different programs, and thats fine with my because TeachingCHile is where all the cool people are at. And I am lucky that out of the 7 people teaching at my campus, 5 of us are TeachingChile, 2 being two of my five roomates.

Duoc gives us all free housing for the first month, in Hotel Londres, which is beautiful from the outside but a little ghetto inside. But I love it. We have three connected rooms, mine at the end with the bathroom attached. I have a big window leading to a little courtyard where the staff hang out and blast loud Chilean music at random hours... and by random hours I mean when I´m trying to sleep.

Yesterday and today I have my practicum, where I go into a middle and high school and teach a class. Yesterday I had 8th graders and 12th graders and it was the greatest experience ever. They were beyond adorable and I loved it. One of the 8th grade girls even recognized me from MTV... or so she thought! Off to teach my two classes today.....

Week 1 Randomness

Sooooo after telling people I'm going to be a Chilean English Professor for the last 4 months, I began to feel it was actually just my excuse for not having a "real" job and I wasn't actually going to South America for 6 months... but like any other life changing experience, I was intensely thrown into something originally surreal, delving my every moment into the life of a TeachingChile trainie as if this has always been my life. Suddenly I'm more than half way through my training and this time next week I'll be standing in front of my very own class of Chilean university students. Training has been fun, as we practice teaching English to each other and pretend to be funny Chilean students, and take the English tests that our students will be taking... (quite entertaining).

Santiago is everything I imagined it to be, and nothing I imagined it to be. My lack of Spanish has really hit me hard. I romanticized about sitting in the middle of Plazas and outdoor markets, reading my dual-language Neruda poems, naturally learning Spanish.... um NOT quite so! I'm living in a hotel with other soon-to-be English teachers who are predominently Americans, and so its really easy to not speak Spanish. Initially I felt badly about not bonding with locals, but the fact is I love my TeachingChile group and after training we will all be in different locations, so I've told myself its ok to enjoy getting to know them... everyone is so international and has done so so much traveling, its so inspiring hearing everyone exchanging their stories... although a few times its turned into a loud group of 15 Americans looking ridiculous, and being ridiculously loud, in a subway or walking down the street, and I'm constantly waiting to hear some local laugh and call us gringos... I suppose I've learned to embrace the gringo nature.

So, the food here is so BIZARRE.... theres just no other word for it. I don't know where this comes from, but other than Empanadas (which in reality is nothing other than friedness with Cheese) the only authentic food I have found is a hot dog called 'Completo'... and let me tell you a hot dog just can't be called a completo until its loaded up with Avocado, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard and salsa... its there pizza, found on every street corner. But there are fruit stands everywhere, so thats pretty much saved me.

Lastly for this entry, I would like to give a shout-out to my TeachingChile people, who I really love and feel so blessed to be getting to know in Santiago. Its like being at Sundance in the sense that you put a group of people with similiar interests together and wow KABOOM everyone is excited about life and each other and its quite beautiful.

My Contact

So, here I am in Chile, first week down!

I'm staying at Hotel Londres in the center of Santiago for the first month while I look for my permanent housing. Right now I'm looking for an apartment in Providencia with another girl, the hip youngish area of the city.

Hotel Londres
Room 102
Londres 77
Santiago Centro

Numbers to come!...