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!