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!