I was going to write an in depth post with an intelligent observation on Chilean society, but I will save that for another day.
Right now I just want to share the news that I got a hair cut here in Chile and I don't have a mullet.
It's a little more layer-y than I'm used to, but everyone assures me that it looks good. Either that or they say, "Don't worry Abby, hair grows."
The guy who cut my hair was not my favorite, but I went to one of those big places in the mall where everything is pretty impersonal unless you know a specific hairdresser. It made me so nervous though because he cut hair in a way I've never ever seen. Instead of piling all the hair on the top of my head and then cutting layer by layer, he diagonally cut off HUGE chunks of my hair. It was kind of nerve-wracking because I could see my hair getting shorter as he went, whereas I'm used to not really noticing how short it is until near the end. Also, he was very disinterested and didn't talk to me at all except to ask me what I wanted. In fact, I half expected him just to start cutting without asking. I tried to be friendly and chat but he was having none of it. Bad day I guess. But it got even worse for him because I felt no desire to tip him so didn't.
I'll try to take some photos soon to show it off.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Check that one off the list
I don't know why, but I've always wanted to visit the Escuela de Carabineros on Antonio Varas. It's so pristine and beautiful. Also, somehow I got into my mind that there are horses there. I'm not sure if this is true, but I love horses and even the possibility of them makes me break out into a silly grin. When I was little, whenever we passed a field with horses, I would look to my parents and say, "Look! Horses!" When I was five I read this poem to my parents (that Shel Silverstien wrote just for me, duh!) so that they would buy me a pony.
Well, they never did, but when I was ten they let me buy my own pony, which actually turned out to be a horse I named Nutmeg. And I actually did buy her all by myself. Impressive, huh? Here's a picture....
But back to the point of the story. Today I had to sub an English class at the Escuela de Carabineros (which I should mention is the Police Academy, for all those non-Chilean Spanish speaking folks out there). It was entertaining, but exhausting. I'm glad I'm not a full-time cop-teaching machine. Because like my friend Emily said (who does teach their regularly), they are like children with testosterone. In fact, right now I feel exhausted like I used to after my children's class. They also gave me stickers with little cartoon policemen on them, which in addition to being childish, is also super endearing. And they invited me to go out to Suecia (the barrio, not the country) with them this weekend, but I politely declined. See the mix of child plus testosterone?
But what makes me the happiest is that now I can say I've been in the Escuela de Carabineros, even though I didn't see a single pony. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Little Abigail and the Beautiful Pony
By Shel Silverstein
There was a girl named Abigail
Who was taking a drive
Through the country
With her parents
When she spied a beautiful sad-eyed
Grey and white pony.
And next to it was a sign
That said,
FOR SALE—CHEAP.
“Oh,” said Abigail,
“May I have that pony?
May I please?”
And her parents said,
“No you may not.”
And Abigail said,
“But I MUST have that pony.”
And her parents said,
“Well, you can have a nice butter pecan
Ice cream cone when we get home.”
And Abigail said,
“I don’t want a butter pecan
Ice cream cone,
I WANT THAT PONY—
I MUST HAVE THAT PONY.”
And her parents said,
“Be quiet and stop nagging—
You’re not getting that pony.”
And Abigail began to cry and said,
“If I don’t get that pony I’ll die.”
And her parents said, “You won’t die.
No child ever died yet from not getting a pony.”
And Abigail felt so bad
That when she got home she went to bed,
And she couldn’t eat,
And she couldn’t sleep,
And her heart was broken,
And she DID die—
All because of a pony
That her parents wouldn’t buy.
(This is a good story
To read to your folks
When they won’t buy
You something you want.)
Well, they never did, but when I was ten they let me buy my own pony, which actually turned out to be a horse I named Nutmeg. And I actually did buy her all by myself. Impressive, huh? Here's a picture....
But back to the point of the story. Today I had to sub an English class at the Escuela de Carabineros (which I should mention is the Police Academy, for all those non-Chilean Spanish speaking folks out there). It was entertaining, but exhausting. I'm glad I'm not a full-time cop-teaching machine. Because like my friend Emily said (who does teach their regularly), they are like children with testosterone. In fact, right now I feel exhausted like I used to after my children's class. They also gave me stickers with little cartoon policemen on them, which in addition to being childish, is also super endearing. And they invited me to go out to Suecia (the barrio, not the country) with them this weekend, but I politely declined. See the mix of child plus testosterone?
But what makes me the happiest is that now I can say I've been in the Escuela de Carabineros, even though I didn't see a single pony. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
My neighborhood
I like being an English teacher because it makes me think about different things, and I'm not just talking about grammar and lexis here. A lot of the English books, as corny as they may be, have interesting articles about things I never knew about before. Also, certain lesson plans get me to think about my life because I always have to give examples, and heck, it's easier to give personal examples than an example about Dick or Jane.
So one thing I've been thinking a lot about recently is my neighborhood. I'm talking about my Chilean neighborhood, that is, because the U.S. neighborhood that I grew up in consisted of my house, lots of fields, two barns, a horse, some cows, my grandparent's house, some more fields, a few more barns, more cows, forest...you get the idea.
But anyway, back to my Chilean neighborhood. I like it. It's technically in Providencia, but it's not the Providencia you think of when you hear the word Providencia (which is around the Pedro de Valdivia/Los Leones area, I think). I literally live two blocks north of Ñuñoa and maybe 15 blocks east of Santiago Centro. Even though it's residential, there are lots of cute cafés, bars and restaurants nearby. And if you're into mini-markets, there are a TON. Eat your mini-market heart out.
Yes, I have to take a micro to Metro Salvador (or walk 8 blocks to Santa Isabel), but I like taking micros. And, I LOVE the area around Metro Salvador. So even though it's probably not technically part of my "neighborhood", it's still a place I see every day.
Why do I love it? Because it's the perfect example of the informal economy in Santiago. On any given day you can buy: jewlery, ice cream, Halls (the cough drops, not members of my family!), clothes, locos bañados en chocolate (what the heck are these? some sort of seafood in chocolate? I'm too afraid to ask the guy...), tunas (fruit, not fish), and of course parche-curitas and tissues. If you aren't into buying anything like that, you could get your Tarot read, or your name written on a piece of rice. You could arrange for English lessons from El Rincon Inglés for only $2.990/ hour (I would like to ask the owner how he makes any money and manages to pay his teachers) or get your body fat measured (for free!).
And if it starts to rain, plucky entrepreneurs will magically emerge from the sidewalks to sell you an umbrella for only $1.000 pesos.
So one thing I've been thinking a lot about recently is my neighborhood. I'm talking about my Chilean neighborhood, that is, because the U.S. neighborhood that I grew up in consisted of my house, lots of fields, two barns, a horse, some cows, my grandparent's house, some more fields, a few more barns, more cows, forest...you get the idea.
But anyway, back to my Chilean neighborhood. I like it. It's technically in Providencia, but it's not the Providencia you think of when you hear the word Providencia (which is around the Pedro de Valdivia/Los Leones area, I think). I literally live two blocks north of Ñuñoa and maybe 15 blocks east of Santiago Centro. Even though it's residential, there are lots of cute cafés, bars and restaurants nearby. And if you're into mini-markets, there are a TON. Eat your mini-market heart out.
Yes, I have to take a micro to Metro Salvador (or walk 8 blocks to Santa Isabel), but I like taking micros. And, I LOVE the area around Metro Salvador. So even though it's probably not technically part of my "neighborhood", it's still a place I see every day.
Why do I love it? Because it's the perfect example of the informal economy in Santiago. On any given day you can buy: jewlery, ice cream, Halls (the cough drops, not members of my family!), clothes, locos bañados en chocolate (what the heck are these? some sort of seafood in chocolate? I'm too afraid to ask the guy...), tunas (fruit, not fish), and of course parche-curitas and tissues. If you aren't into buying anything like that, you could get your Tarot read, or your name written on a piece of rice. You could arrange for English lessons from El Rincon Inglés for only $2.990/ hour (I would like to ask the owner how he makes any money and manages to pay his teachers) or get your body fat measured (for free!).
And if it starts to rain, plucky entrepreneurs will magically emerge from the sidewalks to sell you an umbrella for only $1.000 pesos.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Yes, you read right. I waited that long.
I just spent four hours and fifteen minutes at the Extranjeria. They are not kidding when they say get there early. The wait gets exponentially longer the later you get there. I was number 217. When I got there they were on number 50. When I left, the new people coming in (note: it closes at 2:00 and they don't let anyone in after that, although they keep attending the people who are still waiting) were getting numbers around 450.
I got there at 9:45, was attended at 1:50 and left at 2:00.
Bring water. Bring food. Bring a book. Leave and come back.
But still, it's a long time. Be prepared.
Oh! But on the bright side, I have my visa now and am one long wait down from getting my carnet. Yay!
I got there at 9:45, was attended at 1:50 and left at 2:00.
Bring water. Bring food. Bring a book. Leave and come back.
But still, it's a long time. Be prepared.
Oh! But on the bright side, I have my visa now and am one long wait down from getting my carnet. Yay!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Hall Women in Chile
Mom and sister just got on a plane to go home. Sad. But instead of dwelling on the fact that they aren't here, I thought I'd recap the wonderful week we had together. As an overall comment, I'd just like to thank the weather gods for the gorgeous week we had weather-wise. Although now my mom really doesn't believe me that it gets cold here in the winter because last time she came during the veranito de San Juan in June (which is like Indian Summer in the US...really warm weather when it should be cooling down.)
They arrived on Friday, but we didn't do much until Saturday night because I had to work. So the first major event was dinner with my host family, which of course was delicious and involved lots of singing and general merriment. (Don't let the picture deceive you...I was playing the one song I know how to play on the guitar).
On Sunday we went to Valparaiso and Viña which was quite an adventure. Thankfully, F. drove us so we were able to do a lot more than if we had gone by bus. Our first stop was La Sebastiana, which is my favorite house of Pablo Neruda because you don't have to take the guided tour. The views from there are fantastic and my mom and sister both really liked it. (Even if it was quite bright out to take pictures...)
Then we tried to find a good place to eat in Valpo by going to Cerro Concepcion, but soon found out that all the streets to get there were blocked by policemen. We were confused, because we had purposefully planned to not come to Valpo on Thursday because of the 21 de mayo parades, so we were wondering what was going on. Soon we found out that all the high schools in the V Region were parading to the Plaza Sotomayor. Why? No clue. After about an hour in the car, trying our hardest to get where we wanted to go, we parked near the Naval Museum and headed towards the Plaza to check it out. Luckily we found a pretty decent seafood restaurant on the way and ate Pastel de Jaiba which was delicious. Then we watched the parades for a bit.
When we realized they were all playing the same song (more or less) we went to Viña where we walked on the beach, ate churros rellenos con manjar and looked at the artesania.
Monday I had to work, but we still managed to go see the Plaza de Armas and the Moneda and even went to the Cultural Exhibit below the Moneda, which was pretty boring, but cultural, I guess.
Tuesday we had a wonderful day. We had lunch with my friend E. at Liguria, then went up Cerro San Cristobal. The view was amazing with minimal smog and the sun was shining. We walked back to their apartment through Bellavista and Parque Forestal, stopping at the Patio Bellavista for some Yogen Fruz. At night we had dinner with F's family.
Wednesday we were able to have dinner together at the great empanada place near work.
Thursday we went to Pomaire. It was VERY crowded, but nice because we were able to watch a folkloric exhibition so my mom and sister now know what the cueca is. But their overall impresion of Pomaire was that it's crowded, which is kind of the opposite of what Pomaire is. Oh well. At least I got to "make" a candle holder.
On Friday we went to Viña Cousiño-Macul in Peñalolen which is so nice. They only make two kinds of their wine there, but I would honestly go back just to hang out. It's so tranquil that you kind of forget that you're in Santiago. Our guide was very nice and very informed, and the prices of the wine weren't much higher than what you can find in the grocery store, which I appreciated. Also, they had great customer service. Always a plus for me! Then at night we met my friends in Barrio Lastarria for a drink at Patagonia.
On Saturday we went to Los Dominicos with my host mom and then had lunch. At night we went to F's work to watch a Beatle's cover band which was really fun.
Today we searched almost all of the Grandes Tiendas (all except Paris) to find a present for my Dad (which I will not post here in case he reads this before they get home!) The winner? Ripley. Then we had lunch and ice cream at Bravissimo.
Phew. When I write it all out, it seems like a lot! The best part was being able to spend time with them, laughing about old jokes and memories. It was also nice for them to meet my friends here.
I'm going to miss them a lot, but as my host mom said, "solo queda un suspiro hasta la navidad!" (there's only a breath's worth of time until Christmas!), which is when I'm going home next.
They arrived on Friday, but we didn't do much until Saturday night because I had to work. So the first major event was dinner with my host family, which of course was delicious and involved lots of singing and general merriment. (Don't let the picture deceive you...I was playing the one song I know how to play on the guitar).
On Sunday we went to Valparaiso and Viña which was quite an adventure. Thankfully, F. drove us so we were able to do a lot more than if we had gone by bus. Our first stop was La Sebastiana, which is my favorite house of Pablo Neruda because you don't have to take the guided tour. The views from there are fantastic and my mom and sister both really liked it. (Even if it was quite bright out to take pictures...)
Then we tried to find a good place to eat in Valpo by going to Cerro Concepcion, but soon found out that all the streets to get there were blocked by policemen. We were confused, because we had purposefully planned to not come to Valpo on Thursday because of the 21 de mayo parades, so we were wondering what was going on. Soon we found out that all the high schools in the V Region were parading to the Plaza Sotomayor. Why? No clue. After about an hour in the car, trying our hardest to get where we wanted to go, we parked near the Naval Museum and headed towards the Plaza to check it out. Luckily we found a pretty decent seafood restaurant on the way and ate Pastel de Jaiba which was delicious. Then we watched the parades for a bit.
When we realized they were all playing the same song (more or less) we went to Viña where we walked on the beach, ate churros rellenos con manjar and looked at the artesania.
Monday I had to work, but we still managed to go see the Plaza de Armas and the Moneda and even went to the Cultural Exhibit below the Moneda, which was pretty boring, but cultural, I guess.
Tuesday we had a wonderful day. We had lunch with my friend E. at Liguria, then went up Cerro San Cristobal. The view was amazing with minimal smog and the sun was shining. We walked back to their apartment through Bellavista and Parque Forestal, stopping at the Patio Bellavista for some Yogen Fruz. At night we had dinner with F's family.
Wednesday we were able to have dinner together at the great empanada place near work.
Thursday we went to Pomaire. It was VERY crowded, but nice because we were able to watch a folkloric exhibition so my mom and sister now know what the cueca is. But their overall impresion of Pomaire was that it's crowded, which is kind of the opposite of what Pomaire is. Oh well. At least I got to "make" a candle holder.
On Friday we went to Viña Cousiño-Macul in Peñalolen which is so nice. They only make two kinds of their wine there, but I would honestly go back just to hang out. It's so tranquil that you kind of forget that you're in Santiago. Our guide was very nice and very informed, and the prices of the wine weren't much higher than what you can find in the grocery store, which I appreciated. Also, they had great customer service. Always a plus for me! Then at night we met my friends in Barrio Lastarria for a drink at Patagonia.
On Saturday we went to Los Dominicos with my host mom and then had lunch. At night we went to F's work to watch a Beatle's cover band which was really fun.
Today we searched almost all of the Grandes Tiendas (all except Paris) to find a present for my Dad (which I will not post here in case he reads this before they get home!) The winner? Ripley. Then we had lunch and ice cream at Bravissimo.
Phew. When I write it all out, it seems like a lot! The best part was being able to spend time with them, laughing about old jokes and memories. It was also nice for them to meet my friends here.
I'm going to miss them a lot, but as my host mom said, "solo queda un suspiro hasta la navidad!" (there's only a breath's worth of time until Christmas!), which is when I'm going home next.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Two families meet
Last night the Hall women had dinner with F.'s family. I love his family so much and was overjoyed to hear that my mom and sister also thought they were great.
There was intelligent conversation, lots of laughs, the food was de-li-cious and we were there for over four hours having a wonderful time.
Tomorrow, we're going to Pomaire thanks to Eileen's informative and inspiring post.
Monday, May 18, 2009
I'm tired...
...but really really happy.
Why? Because I'm picking out Juicy Pear jelly beans from a bag of assorted flavored Jelly Bellys.
Oh, and because my mom and sister are in the country!
We've had a wonderful few days. Yesterday we had adventures in Valpo which merit their own forthcoming blog post.
What I love about being with my mom and sister is that we don't have to be doing anything to have fun. We just enjoy each others' company :)
ETA:
And my visa is ready to pick up!! I'm not excited to wait in a really long line next week at Extranjeria and repeat it again at Policia Internacional and the Registro Civil, BUT I'm super excited to be so much closer to having a Carnet. YAY.
Why? Because I'm picking out Juicy Pear jelly beans from a bag of assorted flavored Jelly Bellys.
Oh, and because my mom and sister are in the country!
We've had a wonderful few days. Yesterday we had adventures in Valpo which merit their own forthcoming blog post.
What I love about being with my mom and sister is that we don't have to be doing anything to have fun. We just enjoy each others' company :)
ETA:
And my visa is ready to pick up!! I'm not excited to wait in a really long line next week at Extranjeria and repeat it again at Policia Internacional and the Registro Civil, BUT I'm super excited to be so much closer to having a Carnet. YAY.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
And this just makes it all worth it...
E-mails from two of my students:
Notwithstanding the awkward syntax/word choice in the first e-mail, I would like to say that my faith in myself as an English teacher has been restored. Did you count those exclamation points in the second e-mail?
I rock.
Hello Abby,
Thank you very much for your help.
Actually I feel surer now for the test.
You're a very good teacher.
Best Regards,
Student 1
Abby, thank you very much for your help. You are a great teacher!!!
See you in class,
Student 2
Notwithstanding the awkward syntax/word choice in the first e-mail, I would like to say that my faith in myself as an English teacher has been restored. Did you count those exclamation points in the second e-mail?
I rock.
Temblor crazy
When I was little, I was scared of California. I never ever wanted to live there, because I was convinced that someday it would break off from the rest of the country and sink into the ocean because of the San Andreas Fault. I don't remember what specific earthquake in Cali made me so scared to ever live there, but if someone told me they were moving to California, I would always think they were crazy. (To be fair, I never wanted to live in Florida because of the hurricanes or Kansas because of the tornadoes...maybe I'm just wary of natural disasters in general.)
Then, I moved to Chile. Ha.
The thing is, when I think of Chile, the first thing that pops into my head isn't earthquakes, although it probably should be, since it's the most seismic country in the world. But say California, and I think "DANGER! EARTHQUAKE ZONE!" Ahh, the way my silly mind works.
The point is that I've felt a lot of temblors recently. Or at least I think I've felt a lot of temblors. I know I've felt at least three because they've been confirmed by others. There are a few more that may or may not be figments of my imagination or over-stimulated brain. For example the other day I was convinced I felt one in the metro because the train kept rocking back and forth after it stopped, but that was probably something else. Then today I was on the pedestrian crossover near Metro Vespucio Norte and thought I felt one. I mean, the thing swayed, but I guess it could have been two big trucks driving underneath at the same time.
Which brings me to my last point. Worst places to be during an earthquake (I'm talking about a real one, not just a little temblorcito):
1. THE METRO. Holy moly that would be mayhem and potentially very dangerous.
2. Any of those pedestrian crossovers. I'm not convinced that they were built to be earthquake-proof.
3. In the shower. (I can just imagine after the fact everyone running out to see the damage and there I am: wet, cold and en pelota. Sheesh.)
4. Although people assure me that all new apartment buildings are earthquake-proof, I still wouldn't want to be above the 8th or 9th floor if there was a big one.
Then, I moved to Chile. Ha.
The thing is, when I think of Chile, the first thing that pops into my head isn't earthquakes, although it probably should be, since it's the most seismic country in the world. But say California, and I think "DANGER! EARTHQUAKE ZONE!" Ahh, the way my silly mind works.
The point is that I've felt a lot of temblors recently. Or at least I think I've felt a lot of temblors. I know I've felt at least three because they've been confirmed by others. There are a few more that may or may not be figments of my imagination or over-stimulated brain. For example the other day I was convinced I felt one in the metro because the train kept rocking back and forth after it stopped, but that was probably something else. Then today I was on the pedestrian crossover near Metro Vespucio Norte and thought I felt one. I mean, the thing swayed, but I guess it could have been two big trucks driving underneath at the same time.
Which brings me to my last point. Worst places to be during an earthquake (I'm talking about a real one, not just a little temblorcito):
1. THE METRO. Holy moly that would be mayhem and potentially very dangerous.
2. Any of those pedestrian crossovers. I'm not convinced that they were built to be earthquake-proof.
3. In the shower. (I can just imagine after the fact everyone running out to see the damage and there I am: wet, cold and en pelota. Sheesh.)
4. Although people assure me that all new apartment buildings are earthquake-proof, I still wouldn't want to be above the 8th or 9th floor if there was a big one.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Life is better.
One of the reasons I've been kind of down lately is because of work. Remember when I was saying how I had so much work and I was stressed because of that? Well, they took a class away from me. A huge chunk of hours (9/week) at that. So that had be bouncing from one extreme of stressed to the next. But I digress, this post isn't really about that.
Another reason I was feeling down is because I started to doubt myself as a teacher. This was mostly due to a private class I teach to two businessmen. They are nice people and seem very intelligent. But they are not good at languages. I don't blame them. They have stressful jobs and probably little time to study. But because my job is to "facilitate learning" (yay TEFL course) and they aren't learning, I started to think that I wasn't a good learning facilitator. I started to think, "What the heck am I doing here teaching English if these students can't even grasp the present simple?!??! Maybe I should quit right now."
But then I realized: it's them, not me. I have taught the present simple to other students. Yes, it's hard, with the do/does and what not (WHY OH WHY IS ENGLISH SO COMPLICATED?) but my other students get it after a few classes. If they make a mistake, I can correct them easily by saying "What word is missing?" and they realize right away that they need to add do or does when making questions or negatives. These two businessmen, not so much. They only think about English for 1 hour twice a week and don't incorporate it at all into their lives. I've told them that if they want to improve they have to start thinking about things in English and not translating. But I can only repeat myself so many times.
So today I realized that I might as well have fun with them, because it's obvious that they aren't going to learn as fast as I want them to. So I'm speaking slightly more Spanish in class so at least we can laugh a little bit at my jokes (I'm pretty witty, but only if you understand what I'm saying!) and today FINALLY one of them got the rule for the present simple. I felt like jumping up and down and hugging him.
Moral of the story? If your students aren't getting it, relax and don't stress out. Because when you're stressed out, I think the students sense it.
Things are looking up, my friends. I think I'm out of my "beginning of winter" funk. Mom and sister arrive in 3 days! Life is good.
Another reason I was feeling down is because I started to doubt myself as a teacher. This was mostly due to a private class I teach to two businessmen. They are nice people and seem very intelligent. But they are not good at languages. I don't blame them. They have stressful jobs and probably little time to study. But because my job is to "facilitate learning" (yay TEFL course) and they aren't learning, I started to think that I wasn't a good learning facilitator. I started to think, "What the heck am I doing here teaching English if these students can't even grasp the present simple?!??! Maybe I should quit right now."
But then I realized: it's them, not me. I have taught the present simple to other students. Yes, it's hard, with the do/does and what not (WHY OH WHY IS ENGLISH SO COMPLICATED?) but my other students get it after a few classes. If they make a mistake, I can correct them easily by saying "What word is missing?" and they realize right away that they need to add do or does when making questions or negatives. These two businessmen, not so much. They only think about English for 1 hour twice a week and don't incorporate it at all into their lives. I've told them that if they want to improve they have to start thinking about things in English and not translating. But I can only repeat myself so many times.
So today I realized that I might as well have fun with them, because it's obvious that they aren't going to learn as fast as I want them to. So I'm speaking slightly more Spanish in class so at least we can laugh a little bit at my jokes (I'm pretty witty, but only if you understand what I'm saying!) and today FINALLY one of them got the rule for the present simple. I felt like jumping up and down and hugging him.
Moral of the story? If your students aren't getting it, relax and don't stress out. Because when you're stressed out, I think the students sense it.
Things are looking up, my friends. I think I'm out of my "beginning of winter" funk. Mom and sister arrive in 3 days! Life is good.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Tia is a genius
Today, all of my "Rodrigo" problems were solved, thanks to F.'s mom.
If you separate the "d" from the "ri" and put an "i" in the middle, so instead of Rodrigo, you have Rodirigo, and you say it really fast, it comes out so much nicer!!
I still struggle a little with rolling the first R, but it sounds 100% better.
I can't wait to get to class tomorrow and wow my two Rodrigos with my pronunciation of their names.
By the way, sorry for the emo post. I'm doing better. I really do think it has something to do with the change in the weather.
And, last but not least, Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!!! I love you and can't wait to see you in five days!
Mom's last visit to Chile in 2007.
If you separate the "d" from the "ri" and put an "i" in the middle, so instead of Rodrigo, you have Rodirigo, and you say it really fast, it comes out so much nicer!!
I still struggle a little with rolling the first R, but it sounds 100% better.
I can't wait to get to class tomorrow and wow my two Rodrigos with my pronunciation of their names.
By the way, sorry for the emo post. I'm doing better. I really do think it has something to do with the change in the weather.
And, last but not least, Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!!! I love you and can't wait to see you in five days!
Mom's last visit to Chile in 2007.Friday, May 8, 2009
There is no logical explanation
I have been SO moody lately. Usually around "that time of the month" I get kind of emotional, but I recognize it for what it is, so no biggie.
This time, it makes no sense date-wise. I wonder if it has something to do with culture shock/homesickness, but I honestly don't feel like I hate Chile or want to leave, I just feel frustrated, sad and sometimes angry.
Today, it was sad. First of all, I talked to F. on MSN and told him I wanted to get together, but our schedules are so different that it was hard coming up with a time. I started crying.
Then I left for work and was waiting at the bus stop. There were about 10 of us there and a bus was approaching. At least three of us put our hands out. The bus was not full by any means. It went sailing right by. I was so mad I started crying again, even though I knew another bus would come in a few minutes and it did.
What's WRONG with me? I'm not normally an emotional person unless the situation merits it. Has anyone else experienced these negative emotions without any sort of logical explanation? Is it a normal part of being an ex-pat? I would understand if my negative emotions were accompanied with hatred towards Chile or a strong desire to go home, because that would be culture-shock or homesickness. The thing is, my mom and sister are coming in a week and so I'm the opposite of homesick, because I'm too excited to see them!
Maybe though, it is a little bit of homesickness, because I can barely even THINK about my dogs before breaking down and crying. I miss them so much!! Ahh...here come the tears....
I mean, how cute is she??
And don't even get me started on her. She is my LOVE and it breaks my heart that I couldn't explain to her why I was leaving.
This time, it makes no sense date-wise. I wonder if it has something to do with culture shock/homesickness, but I honestly don't feel like I hate Chile or want to leave, I just feel frustrated, sad and sometimes angry.
Today, it was sad. First of all, I talked to F. on MSN and told him I wanted to get together, but our schedules are so different that it was hard coming up with a time. I started crying.
Then I left for work and was waiting at the bus stop. There were about 10 of us there and a bus was approaching. At least three of us put our hands out. The bus was not full by any means. It went sailing right by. I was so mad I started crying again, even though I knew another bus would come in a few minutes and it did.
What's WRONG with me? I'm not normally an emotional person unless the situation merits it. Has anyone else experienced these negative emotions without any sort of logical explanation? Is it a normal part of being an ex-pat? I would understand if my negative emotions were accompanied with hatred towards Chile or a strong desire to go home, because that would be culture-shock or homesickness. The thing is, my mom and sister are coming in a week and so I'm the opposite of homesick, because I'm too excited to see them!
Maybe though, it is a little bit of homesickness, because I can barely even THINK about my dogs before breaking down and crying. I miss them so much!! Ahh...here come the tears....
I mean, how cute is she??
And don't even get me started on her. She is my LOVE and it breaks my heart that I couldn't explain to her why I was leaving.Thursday, May 7, 2009
Nameless in Santiago
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I go teach a private class up near metro Vespucio Norte. Let me tell you, if you think it's cold down here in Providencia/El Centro/Ñuñoa, it's WAY colder up there.
But I digress.
At the business I go to, there's a security guard at the door. I don't quite understand their schedule, but there is a different one when I go in and a different one when I come out. Also, the one when I go in tends to rotate as well. Because of this, I always have to give my name and explain where I'm going in case they think I'm going to run off with all the silverware instead of just (trying) to teach English. (The company rents out dishes to restaurants).
This morning, however, I recognized the security guard on my way in. He was the one I have seen the most often, so I assumed he would recognize me. I waltzed, in, said "Hola, buenos días!" and continued on my way. About halfway to the door to the building, I hear "Señorita! Señorita! Tiene usted un nombre?" ("Miss! Miss! Do you have a name?")
Do I have a name? Ha. I felt like telling him, "You know what, I don't have a name! My parents forgot that very important step 23 years ago when I was born and I've been going through life nameless until now. But now that you mention it, I'll be sure to get one!"
But instead, I just spelled out Ab-eee-gah-eel (no, tiene b larga, no v corta!) and my last name (no, no se pronuncia ahjjj) and I was on my way.
But I digress.
At the business I go to, there's a security guard at the door. I don't quite understand their schedule, but there is a different one when I go in and a different one when I come out. Also, the one when I go in tends to rotate as well. Because of this, I always have to give my name and explain where I'm going in case they think I'm going to run off with all the silverware instead of just (trying) to teach English. (The company rents out dishes to restaurants).
This morning, however, I recognized the security guard on my way in. He was the one I have seen the most often, so I assumed he would recognize me. I waltzed, in, said "Hola, buenos días!" and continued on my way. About halfway to the door to the building, I hear "Señorita! Señorita! Tiene usted un nombre?" ("Miss! Miss! Do you have a name?")
Do I have a name? Ha. I felt like telling him, "You know what, I don't have a name! My parents forgot that very important step 23 years ago when I was born and I've been going through life nameless until now. But now that you mention it, I'll be sure to get one!"
But instead, I just spelled out Ab-eee-gah-eel (no, tiene b larga, no v corta!) and my last name (no, no se pronuncia ahjjj) and I was on my way.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Owl scissors and tylenol, never to be seen again
This blog post originated over at Eileen's blog, Bearshapedsphere.
I've never had anything taken away from me by customs officials, but I have been the victim of other travel officials, namely airport security.
The first time I was ten years old, and flying for the first time to Florida to go to Disney World with my family. My dad had warned me to take out any sharp objects from my carry-on, which happened to be the backpack I also used for school.
Apparently in my ten year old brain, "sharp objects" did not mean my green owl safety scissors. They were so cool. The handles had a drawing of an owl on them. I wish I had a picture of them, because I know my description does not do them justice.
And unfortunately I will never see them again, because TSA took them away. I asked if they could send them back to my house. They said no. I was devastated.
In 2006, I was a few days away from returning home from El Salvador when the whole liquid-bomb fiasco happened in London. So when I flew home, I had to make sure that I had no liquids in my carry-on. I think at that point they weren't even allowing 3 oz containers.
Security took forever, because after going through the regular security checkpoint, a man opened up your bags, took out all the items, and made sure there were no liquids.
I had no liquids, but I did have some generic brand Tylenol. The guard took it out. He tried to read the label but it was obviously in English. He asked me what it was. Not knowing the Spanish word for acetaminophen (paracetamol, por si acaso) I told him it was "medicine for headaches." He asked to see my prescription. I told him it wasn't a medicine that required a prescription. He told me I would have to give up my tylenol. I asked him why. It CLEARLY wasn't a liquid. He told me it didn't matter, since I didn't have a prescription.
I knew I would never win this battle, so I gave up my Tylenol.
And as luck would have it, I had a splitting headache all the way home.
I've never had anything taken away from me by customs officials, but I have been the victim of other travel officials, namely airport security.
The first time I was ten years old, and flying for the first time to Florida to go to Disney World with my family. My dad had warned me to take out any sharp objects from my carry-on, which happened to be the backpack I also used for school.
Apparently in my ten year old brain, "sharp objects" did not mean my green owl safety scissors. They were so cool. The handles had a drawing of an owl on them. I wish I had a picture of them, because I know my description does not do them justice.
And unfortunately I will never see them again, because TSA took them away. I asked if they could send them back to my house. They said no. I was devastated.
In 2006, I was a few days away from returning home from El Salvador when the whole liquid-bomb fiasco happened in London. So when I flew home, I had to make sure that I had no liquids in my carry-on. I think at that point they weren't even allowing 3 oz containers.
Security took forever, because after going through the regular security checkpoint, a man opened up your bags, took out all the items, and made sure there were no liquids.
I had no liquids, but I did have some generic brand Tylenol. The guard took it out. He tried to read the label but it was obviously in English. He asked me what it was. Not knowing the Spanish word for acetaminophen (paracetamol, por si acaso) I told him it was "medicine for headaches." He asked to see my prescription. I told him it wasn't a medicine that required a prescription. He told me I would have to give up my tylenol. I asked him why. It CLEARLY wasn't a liquid. He told me it didn't matter, since I didn't have a prescription.
I knew I would never win this battle, so I gave up my Tylenol.
And as luck would have it, I had a splitting headache all the way home.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
If you're going to do it, overdo it
Curicó was fun. I can't say much about the city itself. On Friday almost everything was closed and the streets were pretty dead. The Plaza de Armas was beautiful and it had some interesting looking churches too. We tried to go to a vineyard that is just outside the city, but ended up wasting 600 pesos each because it was closed for the holiday. Boo.
But we ate some pretty good pizza that night and went to bed early to start our adventure to Siete Tazas National Park.
We didn't exactly know how to get there, but we decided it was better to try and not succeed than spend a grey day doing nothing in Curicó. So, we left around 9:00am and took a micro to Molina. There we were hoping for a bus to Siete Tazas. We were momentarily hopeful because there was a sign reading "Buses, 7 Tazas" with a bus underneath, but our hopes were dashed when helpful Antonio let us know that the next (and only) bus of the day didn't leave until 5pm. But, he informed us, we could still get there. How?? We anxiously wanted to know. Oh, by hitch-hiking, of course!
Hmm. We debated it. We decided not to. Then we walked around Molina and decided to go for it.
We took a micro to the last point before a VERY long dirt road (40km, to be exact). Then we waited at a dilapated old micro stop across from a school. And then waited. And waited some more until finally a pick-up with a nice old couple stopped. Would they bring us to Radal? Why yes they would. Perfect!
After being dropped in Radal and realizing it was another 7km to the park (uphill) we decided to set our goal to get to "El Velo de la Novia"...a huge water fall that looks like a bride's veil. This was only 3 km away. So we set off, enjoying the beautiful scenery and farm animals along the way. We reached the water fall and met a couple who offered to take us in their car to 7 Tazas. Score! So we spent the rest of the day with them and they ended up bringing us back to what we thought was almost to where we needed to catch the bus. In fact the woman told us "No queda nada...solamente 7km hasta Molina!" We had to catch the bus before Molina, so we thought that meant that our bus stop was relatively close. Hmm...not so much. We walked on a yucky gravel/rock road for about 45 minutes until we finally reached our stop, where it said "Molina 8 km." So obviously her house wasn't only 7km from Molina.
All in all, it was a great adventure. I was pretty freaked out about hitch hiking, but we did it safely. We agreed only to take rides with groups of both men and women or couples or families (or gringos, if any happened by!). We refused to go with truck drivers, in the back of a pickup (too cold!) or with only men. We were also super lucky to find the couple who drove us up to 7 Tazas and back, or else we would have had to wait for a bus from there that didn't leave until 7:00pm, and that would have made for a VERY long day.
If you want more advice about getting to Siete Tazas off season and you're up for an adventure, leave me a comment and I'll fill you in.
P.S. For pictures you'll have to look at facebook. Because I just wasted all my precious lesson-planning time writing this post and now I have to go to class. Without a lesson plan. Maybe we'll talk about Curico and hitch-hiking.
But we ate some pretty good pizza that night and went to bed early to start our adventure to Siete Tazas National Park.
We didn't exactly know how to get there, but we decided it was better to try and not succeed than spend a grey day doing nothing in Curicó. So, we left around 9:00am and took a micro to Molina. There we were hoping for a bus to Siete Tazas. We were momentarily hopeful because there was a sign reading "Buses, 7 Tazas" with a bus underneath, but our hopes were dashed when helpful Antonio let us know that the next (and only) bus of the day didn't leave until 5pm. But, he informed us, we could still get there. How?? We anxiously wanted to know. Oh, by hitch-hiking, of course!
Hmm. We debated it. We decided not to. Then we walked around Molina and decided to go for it.
We took a micro to the last point before a VERY long dirt road (40km, to be exact). Then we waited at a dilapated old micro stop across from a school. And then waited. And waited some more until finally a pick-up with a nice old couple stopped. Would they bring us to Radal? Why yes they would. Perfect!
After being dropped in Radal and realizing it was another 7km to the park (uphill) we decided to set our goal to get to "El Velo de la Novia"...a huge water fall that looks like a bride's veil. This was only 3 km away. So we set off, enjoying the beautiful scenery and farm animals along the way. We reached the water fall and met a couple who offered to take us in their car to 7 Tazas. Score! So we spent the rest of the day with them and they ended up bringing us back to what we thought was almost to where we needed to catch the bus. In fact the woman told us "No queda nada...solamente 7km hasta Molina!" We had to catch the bus before Molina, so we thought that meant that our bus stop was relatively close. Hmm...not so much. We walked on a yucky gravel/rock road for about 45 minutes until we finally reached our stop, where it said "Molina 8 km." So obviously her house wasn't only 7km from Molina.
All in all, it was a great adventure. I was pretty freaked out about hitch hiking, but we did it safely. We agreed only to take rides with groups of both men and women or couples or families (or gringos, if any happened by!). We refused to go with truck drivers, in the back of a pickup (too cold!) or with only men. We were also super lucky to find the couple who drove us up to 7 Tazas and back, or else we would have had to wait for a bus from there that didn't leave until 7:00pm, and that would have made for a VERY long day.
If you want more advice about getting to Siete Tazas off season and you're up for an adventure, leave me a comment and I'll fill you in.
P.S. For pictures you'll have to look at facebook. Because I just wasted all my precious lesson-planning time writing this post and now I have to go to class. Without a lesson plan. Maybe we'll talk about Curico and hitch-hiking.
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