Last Two Weeks in Chile and Reflection

The last two weeks in Chile included reflection and a lot of fun. The second to last weekend the roomies and I had a "Friendsgiving" on our roof top. We had never used the roof before, and the space turned out to be great to have a get together. We decorated the roof with orange and yellow streamers and brought up chairs from our apartment. We grilled chorizo, and made a pasta salad, potatoes, and decorated sugar cookies with little turkeys on them! We had about fifteen friends in all there, it was great!I said good-bye to many of them, since it would probably be the last time I would see them. The last two weeks in Chile included reflection and a lot of fun. The second to last weekend the roomies and I had a "Friendsgiving" on our roof top. We had never used the roof before, and the space turned out to be great to have a get together. We decorated the roof with orange and yellow streamers and brought up chairs from our apartment. We grilled chorizo, and made a pasta salad, potatoes, and decorated sugar cookies with little turkeys on them! We had about fifteen friends in all there, it was great! I said good-bye to many of them, since it would probably be the last time I would see them. Sunday evening Erin and I went to see the Hunger Games at the movie theater in the Costanera center. It was the first time either of us had gone to see a movie in Chile, so it was fun.

The last week at school was nice and easy. The school year is ending for the kids, as it is getting hot and almost summer here. Most schools in Chile end in mid-December, right around when kids in the U.S. would go on holiday break. This week I got to do more fun things like teaching English Christmas songs, and coloring ornaments. Wednesday was my last day with many of the kids so I brought in over 200 little ornaments. Erin and Emy helped me write "I love English" and "From Miss Ciara" on them with permanent marker. Also, that morning when I woke up, my roomies had dozens of yellow balloons all over the apartment with cute little sayings like, "Last full day of work!" "5 more days in Chile" "We already miss you!" and more. It was so sweet of them! Thanksgiving day was my day off here, so I started packing. Erin and I also went to eat at a place called Lime, which is similar to Chipotle with one of her friends from school who is also living in Santiago. I then finished up some souvenir shopping and bought Erin and Emy little Christmas presents since they will be here until the end of December. Friday was my last day of school...and I almost missed it. My alarm sound wasn't on, luckily Erin happened to wonder if I was up yet, and knocked on my glass door at 7:15a.m. I shot out of bed and literally ran out the door, since my ride picks me up at 7:20a.m.! Luckily I made it. Friday I visited my kindergarteners and they gave me a little book full of drawings they made for me. I went through each one and had them tell me about them. One drew a picture of him and I walking on a rainbow, and his "Papa esta escalando las escaleras, y mi Mama esta manejando el auto." (My dad is climbing the stairs and my Mom is driving the car!) Kids are so funny. I then had classes with the second graders, who were definitely my most challenging groups. But, they all made me really sweet cards...including some that said, "I'm sorry if we behaved badly, I really love you," and my favorite one was a picture of an American flag with, "This flag is special, because it's YOUR flag." So cute! I kept them all. The hard teaching moments were made worth it when they gave me their cards and asked when I was returning. After the kids left for the day, my boss Alicia, told Noah (my good friend who got me the job at San Nicolas) and I that we had an "important meeting." We went to the English room, and our colleagues, our boss, and the principal were all there and they had a special lunch of Paella, which is a delicious Spanish rice and seafood dish. We toasted to Noah and I's future and they thanked us for a great year. Then, they gave us presents, which was a picture of the English team singing karaoke at the teacher appreciation dinner. It was really sweet. Then, Kevin, who will replace Noah and has been shadowing the last month or two, prepared a slide show for us. They showed all of Noah's classes and colleagues saying what they appreciated about Noah and saying bye on the video. Then they went around to the classes I taught and filmed the kids saying, "Good-bye Miss Ciara!" I got teary eyed! And then, suddenly Bill's face popped up on the screen! He said "Happy Thanksgiving, and see you soon!" My co-teacher Pamela (we share and teach the same grade levels, and she is so awesome!) had Facebook messaged Bill and asked him to send in a short video for me. Then I REALLY got tears in my eyes. Everyone was so thoughtful. It made me feel really loved and like I made a difference. That night, our friend Dave was having a Thanksgiving dinner at his house. Erin, Emy and I made two huge pots of yummy mashed potatoes. Riding the metro with the huge pots of potatoes was exciting too! We had turkey, asparagus, a green bean casserole, potatoes, and an interesting Chilean apple pie. It was nice to eat some typical American foods. I still really want stuffing, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows all over them, and homemade pumpkin pie. I'll have to have them at Christmas! The next morning, we woke up early and met up with another girlfriend, Taylor and headed to a little area outside of Santiago in the mountains called Cajon del Maipo. When I was researching what activities to do, bungee jumping caught my eye. "Let's do it!" I told Emy and Erin. They agreed almost without any hesitation, (this is why I love them.) When I told Bill about my exciting plans, I think he almost had a heart attack. He brought up some good points about how the safety regulations might be different here, and tempting fate...(since it was the day before I was suppose to come home) But, you know me. Instead of saying no, I just researched the likelihood of dying, and read some articles and sent some horrifying videos to Emy and Erin. Don't worry everyone, it's like 1:500,000 or 0.0005% chance...something like that. Hehe. The metro ride took about forty-five minutes, but it was beautiful. We then took a colectivo taxi up into the mountains. The taxi dropped us off by a dirt road and we followed the "Bungy" signs. A guy about nineteen years old was in charge. He had a Steelers hat on, so I trusted him. Ha, NOT! Anyways, we all had small heart attacks when we saw the contraption and the river far below us. Emy bravely went first, then Erin, who lost a shoe into the river, then Taylor, then finally me. With each girl that went, I got a little bit more nervous! After being strapped in and me asking about five times, "Is my harness tight enough?" and "Please don't let me die! I'm going home to my fiancé tomorrow and he'd be really mad if I died."On the count of three and a slight hesitation I jumped. I'm not a screamer...but wow, the scream that came out of me surprised me! It was absolutely terrifying! The free fell felt forever, and after the first bounce you soared right back up, which was equally as terrifying. After I was safely back on land, I was relived. But, it was a trill. I would totally do it again! After bungee jumping, we went and ate lunch in the cute little town of San Jose. I ate a shrimp and cheese empanada-my favorite!

Then we walked down to a river where we sun bathed and waded in the river. As we were enjoying ourselves, some younger kids were messing around and hurled a television set into the river! I couldn't believe it! I waded in as fast as I could and grabbed the t.v. and hauled it to the shore. The kids stared at me, and in my best Spanish I yelled to them not to throw trash in the river. They then picked up a tire and tried to roll it in as well. But, I grabbed my camera and pretended to take pictures of them and told them I was going to call the "Caribineros" or the police in Chile. They all dropped the tire and ran away. Yay! After laughing about the t.v. incident and properly disposing of it, we ate ice cream and then headed back to Santiago on the metro. That night, since it was my last night in Chile, the four of us went out for Pisco Sours. My friends Noah, Simon, Laura, and a few others all came to to say good-bye. It was a great last day!

Sunday after hitting the gym for the last time, the roomies and I walked to a special bridge where couples hang up locks. Bill and I talked about doing it together, but didn't quite have time, so I took my gym lock and wrote our initials on it to put on the bridge. Before I left, Erin and Emy got me a little going away present. The got me some snacks for the airplane and a cute ornament that says "Chile 2013, love Erin and Emy." It was so sweet! I got them gifts as well, that I told them they could open on Christmas. Then, after doing a few inspections of the apartment to make sure I had everything, our friend Simon came with his car and picked us up. The gang helped me into the airport with my three huge bags and then we said good-bye. I got a little teary eyed as we hugged good bye. I was sad to leave the best roommates and friends I lived with for six months. On the long flight home, I had a lot of time for reflection and contemplation. Chile was an absolutely amazing and life-changing experience. There were many times I wanted to give up and come home. I really learned a lot about myself. Above all, I'm proud of myself. One of my dreams since I was young was to live abroad in another country. I always wanted to learn and speak Spanish. I wanted to have an adventure and be on my own for a while before settling down. And I did just that. It wasn't easy, and I questioned myself. But looking back now that I'm back in Colorado, makes me realize all the personal growth and strength I gained. It is so clear to me that I wouldn't have made it without the amazing support of my fiance, my family and my friends who encouraged me and had faith in me. Another thing I'm completely clear about, is that I made life-lasting friendships in Chile. I feel so incredibly lucky to have met and lived with Erin and Emy, my roommates. We had so many great times together. We all truly connected and I know that our friendship will last forever. I'm thankful for meeting the group from Notre Dame and all the fun times we shared: Fourth of July party, going to Los Moelles, Flannery's, Snowboarding, the Color Run, dancing, and much more. I'm thankful for Noah, who was also a part of the Notre Dame group. We all met at the grocery store, Jumbo and got me a teaching job at his school. We became great friends while working together at San Nicolas as English teachers. Overall, my experience in Chile was an amazing, life-changing journey and I will cherish the many memories, adventures and amazing friends I made. For now, I'm on to applying for my teaching license, looking for teaching jobs, and wedding planning. Since I've been back Erin, Emy and I have sent videos and talked everyday! It's been an adjustment being back. The weather, for one thing-85 degrees and sunny to -8 and snow is a change! Driving my car again, and Bill and I deciding who's doing the dishes, (which I remembered after a few days of doing them that we have a dishwasher, since I'd been doing them all by hand, ha!) It's been fun meeting Bill's new friends and seeing old friends as well. Thanks to all who followed my blogs and kept in touch while I was in Chile. Now, on to the next adventure!

Color Run and Surfing!

Today as I write my blog I am starting my countdown for the LAST two weeks here in Chile. Wow! This last month I´ve been trying to plan each weekend with something fun since my time is limited. The first weekend of November after Mom returned to the U.S. Emy and I did some souvenir shopping around Santiago. We bought Christmas presents for our family and friends, then after working up an appetite, went to eat at a famous burger place called Mr. Jacks.  We each devoured our enormous burgers (my cheat meal since starting my Bombshell eating plan!) Sunday, was the Color Run! Erin, Erin´s boyfriend Tyler who was visiting, Emy, and lots more friends met up early Sunday morning. Before the race even started we all started throwing our colored power on each other. During the 5K there were four “Color Stations.” The first was purple, then pink, yellow and finally green. By the end, we all looked a dirty brown color. We all danced together and threw more colors on each other at the end! I found dark purple and pink spots stained on my skin in random places for several days after the race.

Before

 The next week I started teaching the kids Christmas songs in English to practice for the parents. We´re singing Rudolf, Jingle Bells, and a few other simple songs. It sure doesn´t feel like Christmas with 80 degree heat here! On my day off on Thursday, I slept in, worked out,  and met up with one of my old students for lunch at a Peruvian restaurant. We ate octopus and I tried a typical Peruvian drink made with purple corn, yum! Friday, my girl co-English teachers and I, (Cata, Pamela, and my boss Alicia) went out for Sushi after school. It was fun to talk and they gave me a cute little Chilean flower calendar as part of my going-away present. 

Rodi, Kevin, Alicia, Noah, Me, Catalina, Pamela

Saturday morning, Emy and I left on the bus for the famous surfing city, Pichilemu. Pichilemu is a one of the most popular surfing cities in Chile where they hold surfing competitions each year. It is about four hours south of Santiago. When we arrived, we checked into our cool hostel, named Sunset Hostel, then headed to the beach. The weather was beautiful and sunny. As we were walking on the beach, we signed up for some surfing lessons.  After stretching ,  jogging on the beach and practicing, we hit the waves. The water was really cold, so we wore wetsuits and booties on our feet.  The waves were perfect for us beginners.  After many tries I managed to get my balance and "ride" a few waves! It was really fun. After, Emy and I laid on the beach and soaked up some sun. It started getting cloudy, so then we walked into town and shopped around some little shops and bought souvenirs. For dinner we ate at a restaurant on the beach and had Causas. This dish had shrimp and avocado in between two mashed potato patties. Que rico! (How delicious!) Back at our hostel, we played some card games and drank wine with our fellow hostel-mates, four girls from the U.S., one Chilean, and the hostel worker from Switzerland. Sunday morning we slept in. I slept great that night, the hostel beds were very comfortable, even though I had dreams about being late to my wedding, ha!  Emy and I borrowed bikes from the hostel and rode about 4 miles to the most popular surfing beach, Punta de Lobos (Sea Lion Point). It was pretty cold and cloudy, but we watched some surfers ride waves and jogged along the beach for some exercise. Finally, we took the 5 hour journey home to Santiago. Despite the long bus ride, the views were gorgeous of the country-side.

As I write this, I´m finishing up the last week before my VERY last week in Chile. This weekend my roommates and I are planning a “Friendsgiving” at our apartment with food and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving and  to say good-bye since many of us are leaving Chile soon.

Miss you all, and see you very soon!

Halloween and Mom´s Visit!

As I scroll through Facebook, friends at home are bundling up with Pumpkin spice lattes and scarves (jealous!) But...things are warming up here finally, yes! I've really been enjoying the sunshine and blooming flowers.  A warm Halloween without a snow flake in sight, now that's a first! The night before my Mom was due to arrive in Santiago, our friend Noah and the other Gringos were having a Halloween party. Erin, Emy, Taylor and I dressed up as the band Kiss but with a twist. We wore Hershey labels and a silver ribbon in our hair and were "Hershey's Kisses." It was fun painting our faces and walking through town to the party...we sure got some looks! The party was fun, Noah and the old ChACEers were Disney Villains and the new group that arrived a few weeks ago were the Mario Kart video game players. We had fun dancing and hanging out with friends.

That next morning, Sunday I met Mom in the lobby of my apartment. I met her just as she was attempting to explain to the doorman who she was in Spanish. (I had her write down things to say just in case!) After catching up a bit and unloading her suitcase with things for me...(peanut butter and Quest bars, yesss!) we took a bus to the nearby mall, Parque Arauco and took a tour bus of the city. The tour was a hop on and hop off tour. We first stopped at Bella Vista, a great bohemian part of the city with fun little restaurants and bars. Then, we road a funicular, which is like a wooden train cart that goes up on a track, to the top of Cerro San Cristobal where the statue of the Virgin Mary is. When we got to the top we took in the smoggy, yet pretty view of the city and the Andes and Mom ate her first Chilean pino empanada. A pino empanada is a typical kind with meat, onion, hard boiled egg and an olive. The next stop was Plaza de Armas where we walked through the popular square and visited the huge cathedral with beautiful stained glass windows.  From there we walked through the street vendors, visited the Mercado Central with the fish market, and La Vega, with fresh fruits and vegetables. Finally after a long city tour, we ate dinner in the Bella Vista area and Mom had her first Chilean drink, the Pisco Sour!

On Monday, my Mom's friend Karen arrived in the morning and we hopped on a bus to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.  The morning was a bit cloudy, but we still got to explore the city of colorful houses and hills and take lots of pictures of the cool graffiti.  After exploring the port city, we took a bus to Vina del Mar and walked along the beach. The sun finally came out and we took off our shoes and socks and dipped our feet into the cold ocean to cool off. Before heading back to Santiago we enjoyed drinks in the sun at a cool little restaurant on the beach. That night we all went to bed early and got ready for our flight to Pucon the next day.

After a quick airplane ride of about an hour, we landed in Temuco on Tuesday . We then took a two hour bus ride to Pucon. The drive was spectacular! It was very green with winding rivers and forests.  Our hotel was great. It was located right on Lago (lake) Villarrica  and close to town. We had a porch that overlooked the black sand beach of the lake. After checking out the hotel, we went and grabbed lunch outside at a nice cafe called Cassis. It was delicious and the weather was gorgeous. We walked through town and checked out some neat little artisan shops and booked some tours for the next few days. My Spanish improved a lot over the past week because I did a lot of translating for my Mom and Karen, especially while booking the tours.  After a good night's sleep, Wednesday while Karen went to our little gym to work out, my Mom and I explored the beach and walked some cool trails through the woods. It was very peaceful.  For lunch we tried out an Arabian restaurant owned by Palestinian immigrants and had some yummy authentic Middle Eastern dishes like pita bread and falafel. That afternoon we went on a rafting tour! Luckily, (for Mom and Karen) our guide spoke English. We were in the English raft, and there was another raft guided in Spanish. In our boat was a couple on their honeymoon from Ireland. After practicing a few stroke movements as a team, we hit the river! The surrounding area was beautiful. In between the rapids, we got to enjoy the green mountains and the view of the white topped Volcan (Volcano) Villarrica.  After rafting, we enjoyed some Pisco Sours and I talked with two girls from Venezuela. We agreed to meet up later at a popular bar called Mamas Y Tapas.  After making some yummy nachos and enjoying a glass of vino on our patio, we when to Mamas Y Tapas for drinks. It was fun and good practice for me since I spoke Spanish to my new Venezuelan friends. A man at the bar who called himself the "Conductor" and coordinator of the streets of Pucon had eyes for Mom and bought her a drink. I translated for them a bit too! Overall, it was a fun night.
Thursday was very rainy and cold, so it was a perfect day to go to the hot springs!  We went to Termas Geometricas about two hours drive from Pucon.  There were many different pools with different temperatures in a jungley-canyon. At the top of all the pools there was a large water fall as well.  After a nice, long soak, we snoozed on the bus back home. We got into town around 9pm and went to our tour company to try on our gear for our next adventure...climbing Volcan Villarica! It is one of Chile's most active volcanos at 9,383 feet. We woke up early the next morning and met up with my roommate Emy and our friend Dave at the tour place at 6:30a.m. We got on all our gear which included snow pants, a parka, hat, gloves, helmet, and a back pack with crampons and an icepick! We drove about thirty minutes to the base of the volcano and began our trek with about 200 other people who also had the goal of ascending the volcano. After about an hour of hiking in the dirt, we put on our crampons. The crampons were metal daggers that wrapped around our hiking boots to help us hike in the deep snow. We also used our icepicks as a sort of hiking stick, and if we fell while hiking the steep slope, we were instructed to quickly dig the icepick in to stop us from tumbling down...yikes! The hike up was pretty tough, once the sun came out it was hot, and most of us hiked in t-shirts. After five grueling hours, and a few snack breaks, we all summited the volcano. The top of the volcano was fuming a sulfur mixture which burned your nostrils a bit, but it was a great view. From the top you could see the regions' three lakes and the Andes mountain range along with a few more volcanos in the distance. The way down the volcano was the best part. We attached plastic discs to our pants and sledded down the whole way! It was a blast! The only way to break was to use your icepick to dig into the snow. Needless to say, there were some crashes, but all in good fun. The sledding down definitely made the hike up worth it.
 That night, we were exhausted and all wanted a big juicy steak. My mom, Karen, Emy, Dave and I met up with Noah and Ryan for dinner at a highly recommended place called La Maga. We all split a parrillada which is grilled beef, sausage, chicken, and ribs turned slowly over a wood fire. Yummy! After dinner, we ate ice cream and walked back to the hotel. Then, Emy, Dave, Noah and Ryan and I drank some wine and walked on the beach and talked.
Saturday morning we took the bus to Temuco, then flew back to Santiago. When we landed we checked into the Holiday Inn across from the airport, then took a taxi towards Concha y Toro winery in Pirque, about 30 minutes south of Santiago. We were a little early for our tour, so our driver took us to a delicious Chilean restaurant. I finally tried Pastel de Choclo which is a sweet cornbread type dish with vegetables and chicken. It was yummy! Then we headed to the winery.  Concha y Toro produces the most wine in Latin America and started in the 1800's by aristocratic Chileans. The wine tour was great! It was a beautiful, sunny day to walk around in the vineyards. Our tour guide was actually from Thornton, Colorado, and we graduated in the same year! Small world.  We tried three different types of wine and toured the cellar where the wines are stored at specific temperatures and humidity levels. We then went into a special cellar called Casillero del Diablo which means the "Devil's Cellar." There is a rumor that the Devil lives there, and if anyone tries to steal wine, he'll come after you! After the tour I bought a Rose Syrah from the "Devil's Cellar"  to bring back for Bill and I.  Next, since Karen hadn't really seen much of Santiago yet, our driver dropped us off at Plaza de Armas in downtown Santiago. There were a lot of fun street performers, like clowns, comedians, and a really good Michael Jackson impersonator singing "Billie Jean." We walked around and Mom and Karen bought little souvenirs from the street vendors. Then, while waiting to cross the street, I heard a zapping noise. Karen suddenly yelled, and as I spun around a guy was trying to cut her silver chain necklace off her neck! We must have yelled loud enough because he ran off immediately. Luckily he didn't get Karen's necklace, and just scared us a bit. After that, we decided we'd had enough excitement, so we took the metro to Bella Vista area and had our last dinner in Santiago of pizza and Pisco Sours.  That night we slept all slept in the hotel near the airport, since Mom and Karen had an early flight the next day to Peru for their Machu Pichu trip.  In the morning, there was some confusion with American Airlines canceling Karen's trip to Lima, Peru. So, after running around the airport and over $1,000 dollars later buying a new ticket, I said good bye to my Mom and Karen.

Later that day, I prepped my meals for the week since I started back on my Bombshell plan. I'm excited to get back on track since my friend Sarah and I want to compete in April together in a bikini competition.  Then, I met up with my new Venezuelan friends I met in Pucon for coffee near my apartment. They were visiting Santiago for a few days before returning to Venezuela, so we decided to meet. It was cool to be able to hang out with them, especially since I'm not exactly fluent in Spanish. It felt good to know that the girls wanted to hang out with me, even though there was a bit of a language barrier!  One of the girls, Andreina, is studying abroad in Dublin, Ireland starting in January. She invited me to visit, a long with visiting Venezuela some day!

On to a new week! It will be nice to get back into the swing of things at school. Only four more weeks until I come home. Time has really flown by! I'm really proud of myself for sticking it out and staying in Chile. There were definitely times where I wanted nothing more than to come home. But, I don't regret a thing. I've learned so much about myself and have had amazing experiences. The next couple weekends are already filled with fun new things.

Until the next adventure,

Ciara

English Week, Mujeres 5K Run

It is finally warming up here! The past two weeks I have enjoyed many beautiful, sunny days.  It is weird to see the pictures of snow and sweaters back home, while it gets hot here.  Last weekend was relaxing. Friday night was a big Chilean soccer game against Columbia, so my roommates and I went with some friends to a fun bar and restaurant to watch the game. After, we explored a new street by our apartment named Manuel Montt. It has a lot of cute little bars with great atmospheres. We went to a bar called Teclados, or “keyboard” in Spanish. Erin and I both tried new drinks and ordered a “Teclado” which was close to a heart attack on a plate-it included French fries, cheese, meat and sour cream. Needless to say, it was delicious!

Saturday after an early morning workout, Erin and I tried out a new running group.  It is called Hash House Harriers and they have the club all over the world in various different countries. Their motto is “A drinking club with a running problem.” Every other Saturday they set up a new route for us to run on and then they usually end up at one bar where they have a beer and then run back to someone´s apartment  or house to have an asado or bbq. There are new hosts every other week and new people who lead the runners on different trails through the city. It is only 3 luca ($6) and that includes a beer and the asado after (everyone is supposed to bring something to share). Erin and I decided to take part yesterday and it was quite the experience.

We showed up at around 2pm with some supplies for the asado after and met the group. There were about 30 people, some new and some old. We got in a circle said our names and were then told about the route. The theme of this run was Texas themed since the two leading were from Texas. At different corners along the running route we had to do things like the two step across the Mapocho bridge, a type of line dance across a street, and say “howdy” to people along the way. The leaders put flour and chalk on the ground along the way as a type of bread crumb to tell us where to go next. Whenever we saw flour we had to yell “on on.” The run was about 4-5 miles and there were also people who walked a shorter route. We all met back up at the apartment and had a big asado. There was even a pool at this one so it was nice to lay out for a bit. Once everyone had arrived back at the apartment complex, we all got in a circle and different groups of people were brought to the middle of the circle and were told to do things, mainly drink a small cup of beer. On your second “hash” you don’t have to pay the 3 luca, and on your fifth hash you get a nickname. At the asado we had a lot of meet, chips, pebre, and beer. We stayed for a few hours and then headed home at about 7pm. We plan to join the next one in a few weeks!

Sunday we met some of our friends at Zumba at the park, and I did some grocery shopping and preparing for new week.

The next week was a big week at my school. It was English Week! Each day, different grade levels presented a play, skit, song, or poem, etc. in English that my fellow English teachers and I had taught them. I taught the Kindergarteners about different countries that spoke English, and they recited them as poems with cute actions. The preschoolers sang songs like “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, The Wheels on the Bus,” and more. All the parents came as well. Throughout the week, even though I teach Second grade and lower, I helped out the other grades during the week. I was the presenter, and also judged the 5^th-8^th grade spelling bee. Overall, it was a busy week, but very fun to see the kids show off their English skills.

This past weekend seemed to fly by, but it was nice and relaxing. Friday night, our Gringo group of friends invited us over to watch my favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus.  Saturday, Erin and I went to downtown Santiago and shopped around Plaza de Armas, and Patronato. We finally checked out La Vega, a huge indoor fruit and vegetable market. It was full of smells, people and fresh food galore! Saturday night we went to our friend Dave´s Halloween party and enjoyed catching up. We didn´t stay out too late, because Erin and I woke up early on Sunday for our 5K McDonald´s Mujeres race. I didn´t formally register to run, because my shins and ankle are still giving me some issues, but it was a lot of fun. It was a women´s only race to raise awareness about Breast cancer. A sea of pink shirts warmed up to Zumba dancing, then we started the race! I walked most of it on a beautiful course in a neighborhood to the north of Santiago. After the race, Erin and I signed up for another 5K run in November, the Color Run! In this run, you wear a white shirt and get colors thrown on you.

One more week until Mom is here! I can´t wait to see her and show her where I have lived for the past 5 months.

Until next time!

Ciara

Los Molles-A beautiful beach getaway...

This past week has been busy at school, as we are preparing for the English Week. Each grade level in the school is doing something special to show their parents what they have learned in English so far this year. It has been fun teaching the kids songs like "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes", "The Wheels On the Bus" and more. I'm also teaching the Kindergarteners about English speaking countries, and they will be presenting some facts as well.

Last weekend the roomies and I joined Noah and the rest of his friends from his Notre Dame program to celebrate his birthday in Los Molles. Los Molles is an adorable, small beach town about two hours north of Santiago. The group of 15 or so left Friday night, and Emy and I left Saturday morning since we had classes. Saturday when we arrived, it was sunny and gorgeous out! We stayed in three little cabins on the hill that over looked the ocean. When we arrived, Noah led us on a hike through a park called Puquen. There was a lot of cool looking flora and fauna and the views of the ocean were breath taking. There was also a colony of Sea Lions living on a big rock.  After exploring and hiking around, we headed down to the beach. The water was freezing, but I dove in and swam for about one second. Then we ate shrimp and crab empanadas at a little restaurant on the beach, yum! That night, we went back to Puquen to watch the sunset.  After, we had a big asado (BBQ) to celebrate Noah's birthday. We grilled lots of different kinds of meat, made guacamole and pebre (similar to salsa) and ate cake and some peanut butter brownies I made.  The next morning, a bunch of us were suppose to go Scuba diving, but there was some confusion with the coupons we had and scheduling, so the instructors never showed up. It was a rainy and cold day, so we relaxed and then went to a famous restaurant that cooks fresh fish daily. Emy, Erin and I split a parmesan shrimp dish and fried Reineta, a local Chilean fish. It was probably some of the best seafood I have had! Finally, all fifteen or so of us packed up and walked to the highway to catch a bus back to Santiago.  It was a beautiful and relaxing weekend.

Things are starting to come together for my Mom's visit! Still planning some little details, but I can't wait until she arrives.

Until the next exciting thing! Love and miss you all.

Ciara

Bill's Visit, San Pedro de Atacma, and Chilean Independence Day!

What a fun past couple weeks! September was full of fun and festivities. The weekend of the 8th, the school I work at, San Nicolas, had a Fiestas Patrias celebration. September 18th is the Chilean Independence Day. (Read all about it here :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiestas_Patrias_(Chile) ) Each grade level of students did a different type of Chilean dance. The Cueca is the national dance, and it is a flirty dance between a man and a woman.  I helped watch the Kindergarteners, and really enjoyed watching all the students dance, they worked hard! After, the only other Gringo teacher, Noah and I experienced a true Chilean Fonda. Fondas are venues, often tents, prepared and decorated for the Fiestas Patrias where traditional Chilean dishes and beverages are served. The most popular food associated with the Fiestas Patrias are Chilean empanadas, which are a sort of bread pastry. The filling of the empanadas consist of pino, a mixture of chopped beef and onion, as well as half of a hard-boiled egg, raisins, and an olive. My favorite is the plain queso empanadas. Many Chileans also throw a barbecue for the Fiestas Patrias. During this time sales of meat products exceed $50 million! The preferred drink is chicha, a lightly alcoholic beverage typically made from grapes. Alfajores are a typical dessert. Alfajores consist of two lightly breaded cookies joined with manjar, a sweet filling made from caramelized condensed milk. They are delicious! So, Noah and I had our fill of empanadas, choripan (Chorizo with bread), completos (hotdogs with avocado on top) and anticucho, (grilled meat) and watched some of our fellow teachers dance in a Cueca competition.

The next week flew by, and the 40th anniversary of the Coup d'état in 1973 on September 11th was recognized. Many people protest to remember the horrors of that day, so many places closed early, and the teachers left early as well. September 11th was a sad day for the United States, so I took time to reflect as well. On Friday the 13th, (Bill's birthday!) Erin, Emy and I left for San Pedro de Atacama. San Pedro is to the far north of Chile in the middle of the driest desert in the world, the Atacama desert.  We took a two hour flight to the city of Calama, and hung out there for a few hours, then caught the bus to San Pedro that evening.  After a rough sleep in the "party" hostal, Erin, Emy and I walked around the charming town of San Pedro. The first day it was very hot and dry. In the afternoon we went on a tour to Valle de la Luna (Moon Valley.) On the way we stopped and hiked in Valle de Los Muertos (Death Valley) and got to run down big sand dunes! We then hiked up to the tip of Valle de la Luna and watched the sunset. As soon as the sun goes down, it gets very cold in the desert! That night we walked out to the desert with some friends from the hostal and looked at the stars. I saw four shooting stars! The sky is much clearer than in Santiago. The next day we rented bikes and biked 18km to the Cejar Lagoon, which is a big salt lagoon in the middle of the desert. The ride there was nice.  When we got there, we were expecting it to be hot, so we could lay out and relax in our swim suits and swim in the lagoon. Unfortunately, it was windy and really cold, so we dipped just our toes in, took pictures of the Flamingos that live there in their natural habitat and started our bike back home. On the way back , the real adventure started! Erin, Emy and I got caught in a windstorm! The winds must have been almost 50 miles per hour, they were so strong, and the sand was blowing so hard, we couldn't even stay straight up on our bikes! So, we ended up walking about 10 miles back in the crazy wind and sand. It took us several hours, and my pictures on Facebook show how much dirt and sand piled up on our skin and clothes.  After an exhausting night, we made homemade guacamole and chorizo at our hostal and went to bed early. The next morning,  we headed to the Tatio Geyser tour. The tour bus picked us up at 4:30a.m. from our hostal and we drove about two hours north of San Pedro to the geysers. When we got there, it was very cold, around 15 degrees Fahrenheit! The sun was starting to rise and hit the mountains beautifully as our tour guide explained the different steaming geysers.  We we're around 13-14,000 feet high. After our tour, we had a yummy breakfast. Our tour guide put eggs and chocolate milk into one of the geysers to boil, so we had boiled eggs and hot chocolate, yum! We then had the opportunity to sit in one of the hot springs. Erin, Emy and I stripped down to our swim suits and got into the water...it was definitely not hot. There was one little stream of hot water, where around 15 people were gathered around, but the surrounding water was only luke-warm, so we only stayed in about ten seconds-but we got some good pictures! On our way back to San Pedro, we saw wild vicunas, which are like small llamas. We also stopped at a little village with a cool church and took pictures. There are only five people living in the village. They sold empanadas, llama meat, and little handy-crafts. I got a goat cheese empanada, and Erin and I tried llama meat. It was good!  After relaxing a bit at our hostal, we went on a sandboarding tour with some friends we met at the hostal. It was a blast! It was very similar to snowboarding in deep powder. It was a great workout climbing up the sand dune too.  After watching the sunset, we headed back into town where there was a parade through the streets in celebration for Fiestas Patrias. They had Cueca dancers and we tried Chicha, the sweet wine drink. Then, our hostal friends took us to a little restaurant in a house outside of town. Three women lived there, and made us a delicious home cooked meal. I tried Chilean soup, Cazeula. It contained a piece of beef, sweet corn, potato, and pumpkin.  It was delicious. On Tuesday, our last day in San Pedro, we took a bus to a small town right outside of San Pedro called Tocano. The town was pretty empty because people were preparing for the holiday, but we took pictures of an old church. While we were wandering around the town, a man with five young girls came up and asked us if we spoke English. He explained that he was the town's only school's English teacher and they were preparing for the national English spelling contest. He said the girls had never heard a native English speaker before, and asked if we could read and quiz them on the words! They were used to hearing them with a British accent, so Erin, Emy and I did our best to read them with an accent. The girls spelled every word correctly! The teacher told us that they would be the only rural school there, and that the last few years they've placed in the top five! They hope to get first this year. It was really neat to be able to help them. We then walked around some little shops in the town. One nice lady let us go in the back of her shop where she had three llamas. We got took pet them and feed them hay! When we got back to San Pedro, we shopped around a little more and got on our bus to start to head back to Calama, then on to our flight to Santiago.  We got back to our apartment from the airport around 2am, and Bill was due to come in around 9:00 am that morning.   I set my alarm to get up so I could wait for him outside once he arrived in a taxi. I woke up and started getting ready when my apartment telephone rang. A little worried, (because our apartment phone only rings when the doorman needs to buzz someone up) I answered. The doorman started speaking very fast Spanish, but I replied, "Grande gringo?" And then Bill started talking on the phone. "You didn't give me your apartment number!" He said. Oops! Apparently, Bill's flight had gotten in early, and he had been trying to communicate with the doorman for about thirty minutes about how to get to my apartment. (I forgot to give him my apartment number!) He showed the doorman pictures of Erin, Emy and I and finally the doorman knew which apartment to call. After the confusion, I met Bill and the bottom of the elevator and we hugged and kissed for the first time in three months! I was so happy to see him. The day he got in, was the 18th, or Deiciocho, the Chilean Independence Day, and we had Fondas to go to! While Bill napped, I baked him a chocolate cake with my new favorite manjar (similar to caramel) and sprinkles on top for his belated birthday.  Then, Erin, Bill and I brought along some Pisco and went to a Fonda in La Reina. The Fonda was huge! It is like a big carnival or fair. There was a rodeo arena, a petting zoo, horseback riding, carnival games and rides, lots of typical Chilean food and drink stands, people dancing the Cueca, and the Chilean military had big tents as well.  Bill started talking with one of the Chilean Airforce men who spoke pretty good English. They talked for a while and then the man asked for a picture of them together. When we said good-bye, he handed Bill his Airforce patch from his uniform. It was a really special moment, and so cool! After all the festivities, we were all pretty tired so we came back and watched a movie and relaxed. The next day, Thursday, I gave Bill a tour of the neighborhood, then we went to the most famous Fonda in Chile at Parque O'Higgins. It was easily the biggest and most crowded Fonda in Santiago. It had all the same things as the Fonda from before but it was much bigger with many more people. We ate empanadas, completos, and chorizo, and drank Terremotos, or "Hurricanes" which consists of a sweet wine, pineapple ice cream and a flavored syrup. The 19th is Chile's national Armed Forces Day, so there was  huge parade with different Chilean forces marching. The Chilean Airforce also flew over lot of different kinds of airplanes. Bill told us the name of each kind and the purpose of course!   That night Bill took Erin, Emy and I out to the Hardrock Cafe of Santiago. The Hardrock Cafe is special to Bill and I, because when we first started dating, we went to the one in Times Square in New York together. We had a bottle of wine and some good burgers! Friday, Bill and I left for Valparaiso and Vina del Mar on the bus. Our first day in Valparaiso, we explored the whole city. We walked to the port and watched the ships, rode the Ascensors (elevators) and took in the beautiful views, went to the Naval Museum, and ate dinner while watching the sunset. It was nice to spend time together. The next day, we went to Vina del Mar and took a horse and buggy ride to tour the city, and walked by the ocean. That night, when we got back to Santiago, we went to a pretty park where they have a fountain light show, and walked around the cute, Bella Vista area with little restaurants and shops. Then we went to one of my favorite restaurants, California Cantina. We got yummy nachos and Chilean beer and watched some United States college football live that they had streaming. Sunday was Bill's last day here, so we woke up early to tour more of Santiago.  It was a gorgeous day, so we went to some beautiful parks, toured the Human Rights museum, visited the cathedral in Plaza de Armas, walked through Mercado Central and the fish market, then walked up Santa Lucia to take in the beautiful view of the city. It had recently rained, so the smog was down, and the Andes were wonderfully clear for Bill to see. Finally, we met up with Erin and Emy at a park to say good-bye then headed to the airport. Bill's visit went by way so fast, but we had a lot of fun together.  Saying good-bye at the airport was tough, I cried, but we're over the hump, only two more months until we see each other again!

The first week back at school was a reality adjustment...and I am back to bribing kids with candy, hey what ever works right? On Thursdays, I have a day off, so I went to the rock climbing gym with Emy. She taught me how to belay and we took turns climbing, it was scary and fun! I'm going to start going more often. This weekend was nice and relaxing. Friday night Emy, Erin, Noah and I had went to Salsa lessons, then went to another fun dancing club. Around 2am (early for Chileans) we met up with Noah's roommates at Denny's for some breakfast. Everyone was excited to go, because it had just opened. Saturday was spend Skyping friends and family, and cooking and cleaning. I did some honeymoon research as well, fun! Today, the roomies and I ran to a park and did free Zumba outside! It was fun to dance around and be silly.

Mom comes to visit in about a month, so I also have been doing research on hotels, flights and fun things to do while she and her friend Karen are here. The weather is finally starting to warm up now here now, as it turns to fall back home. I keep seeing delicious pumpkin recipes though, which makes me miss the season!

Until the next adventure! Love and miss you all!

No Problems, Only Opportunities

Most people in my life, relate to me as a positive and outgoing person. I have always seen the positive and optimistic side of things in difficult situations. I can honestly say I feel like I've always been relatively happy and optimistic because of the people that support me and care for me. I haven't been writing many blogs lately for several reasons. First, I don't think many people read it anyway, but I would have had a lot of negative stories and I would occur as being a pessimist. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I am not telling a fairy tale. I am blogging about my life. Life is not perfect, I am not perfect, just like everything has not gone perfectly while I've been here in Chile. I can't expect myself to write sugar-coated blogs with all the things I think people expect me to be doing-traveling, learning Spanish, having the time of my life. I'd be lying and it wouldn't be realistic. I've been writing what I think people reading my blogs expect to hear. The truth is, I feel like I left my life behind. I was in a place where I was about to start my life:  planning a wedding, starting a career, training for a bikini competition, and more. I have so much waiting for me at home. Honestly, living here has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. My positive attitude, patience and sanity are tested daily. There have been many days where I have just wanted to give up and go home. Are the miserable circumstances worth it? What is making me stay? My own stubbornness? To avoid looking bad? To avoid regret? But, all of these statements are just my thoughts. Everyday is a constant battle to stay positive. I know that my thoughts create my reality, and what I believe is what I get.  I am currently working on building a stronger self-image. I am telling my self, "I am okay as I am right now in this moment." I am unique, no one else has my thoughts, I can do anything I put my mind too. From now on, I am going to start looking at the "problems" in my life as simply opportunities. My attitude, weather positive or negative, greatly impacts the quality of my life!
I do not want sympathy, only to show people what life has really been like...any yes, I have had many fun times here as well, which is what I'll focus my blog on now!
The last three weeks, I have been teaching at Colegio San Nicolas, which is about a thirty minute drive (in a car) north of Santiago. I catch a ride every morning and then I have been having to leave around ten of eleven to catch the bus and then take the metro back to Santiago to  teach night classes with my language institute, Bridge.  With commuting, I've been working over fifty hours per week. So, I've felt pretty run-down the past few weeks.
Overall, teaching at the school has been challenging, but fun.  I teach a pre-school class, two kindergarten classes, two first grade classes and two second grade classes. It is a lot of planning, but I am starting to get the hang of it. After planning the lessons, I then translate much of the lesson into Spanish. Most of the kids know some English vocabulary, but I translate mostly for classroom management purposes. The hardest part to get a handle on is the classroom management. It is hard to discipline when the kids don't know what I am saying to them...so my Spanish is quickly improving and includes many new demands and "teacher words". I teach the kids from an English curriculum and I use a lot of songs and chants. My roommates just love to hear me practicing! In October, there is a school-wide "English" week. During this week, each class does something to show off what they have learned in their English classes.  My co-teacher, Pamela and I are working with the kindergarteners. We are teaching them about different English-speaking countries. This week I showed them some PowerPoint presentations on Canada, the U.S., England, and Australia. We are working on having the kids present one fact about the country in English. All in all, I'm learning quickly to keep the kids engaged by changing the activity every five minutes or so.  It has been hard to keep their attention, so I started bringing candy, which seems to help. The classroom management board on Pinterest has been a new favorite for sure!
Last week, Erin, Emy and I went to get our temporary residence visas at a place similar to the DMV back in the States. They were suppose to come in the mail, but the mail men (Correos de Chile)  were still on strike. (They currently just went off strike-YAY!) We arrived about forty minutes before it opened and the line was wrapped around the whole building and then some-if you think the DMV is bad...you ain't seen nothin! We ended up waiting about four hours, which we had expected, so we came prepared with a picnic and books to read. Since getting my visa, I decided to quit Bridge.  I felt a bit guilty, but working every night until 8:00p.m. or later after working at the school was getting to be too much. I am relieved to say that this Friday will be my last official day working with the institute.
Finally, on to the fun things I've been up to the past few weeks! A few weekends ago, Erin, Emy and I went to a cool Easter Island, or Rapa Nui dance presentation. It was at a fun bar and the dance was very cool, we even got our faces painted! Two weekends ago, the roomies and I went to our Chilean friend Simon's birthday party at a cool club. We all had a blast dancing and having the typical Chilean Pisco Sour drink. We danced the whole night-literally. We got home around 6a.m. like true Chileans. I was proud, even though, it took us Gringas about three days to recover. This past weekend was also a blast, and much needed after a long week. Friday night, after I met up with one of my private students, the roomies and I had some friends over for a game night. Our friend Noah, who I work with at the school came, our friend Dave, Emy's friend Taylor, and Erin's friend Molly and her Chilean boyfriend Pato all came. We ate chile, (pun intended) played card games, talked and laughed. It was really nice to relax and have fun with friends. Saturday was spent cooking, and watching my new favorite show, Dexter. On Sunday, the roomies, Dave, Taylor and I went to Aguas de San Ramon. It was a beautiful hike just outside of Santiago. We hiked to to waterfalls, and enjoyed the green mountains and sunshine. It was nice to get out of the city and enjoy nature.
This weekend, I am going to my school to see the typical Fiestas Patrias celebration. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiestas_Patrias_(Chile) September 18th is the celebration of the signing of independence of Chile from Spain, so the kids are performing a dance and there will be a typical Chilean celebration. I am excited to experience it! Also, my roomies and I have been planning for our vacation to San Pedro de Atacama. We leave next Friday morning and will be flying to the northern region of Chile. San Pedro is in a desert and has salt lagoons, wild flamingos, and much more exciting things. Then, on September 18th, Bill will be arriving. September 18th is a huge celebration in Chile for the independence, so we will go to a Fonda, or big outdoor BBQ (similar to big BBQ's we have in the States for the Fourth of July.)
So, there are a lot of fun and exciting things coming up. Having things to look forward to helps me get through the tough weeks.
Look for another blog sooner rather than later!


Miss you all!