I Survived Fiestas Patrias.

Alright, I'm a little late on this.

This past week the weather in Chile has taken a turn from quite cool to bright and warm. It takes more time to walk from my apartment to class since all I want is to soak up the sun. However, ask me in three months, and I'll be wishing for colder days when my pit stains weren't so visible and forgetting deodorant was forgivable. Also, along with the change in temperature, there was a tangible feeling of excitement around Santiago for the upcoming national holiday, Fiestas Patrias. Basically, if the Fourth of July and Christmas had a love child, this would be Dieciocho. It's a long weekend filled with barbecues, drinking, and music. This weekend was a non-stop party from Friday night through Monday. I called it quits after Sunday night, but there was still a disctinct smell of near by asados. What a great sidestep from the grind of teaching!

Friday, after a quick meet up with some of the characters from my institute, I headed over to a friend's house for fonda/bbq/terremoto/cueca madness. After a delightful time, we gringos called it a night and headed back to our appropriate apartments to get ready for the next day of celebrations. Saturday, a group of coworkers and I loaded into bus and headed out side of Santiago to the small town of Curacavi for more asado action as well as some relay races. After a full day of running around, eating, and drinking, I slept like a baby that night. Finally, I started Sunday with a barbecue and ended the day with the Chico Trujillo fonda which would have probably been a little more fun if I didn't whimp out in the end and take a (very expensive) cab back home. DEMASIADO CARRETE PARA LA GRINGA!

Essencial Fiestas Patrias vocabulary:
asado- barbecue
fonda- maybe similar to a festival or bazar. There's one in every neighborhood in Santiago and they have typical Chilean food, drink, music, and dancing.
anticucho- kebabs. Don't let people tell you different. It's meat and veggies on a skewer.
cueca- traditional Chilean dance. By the way- I'm fairly certain I offended people with my version of the cueca.
chicha- super sweet, super dangerous pre-fermentation wine. Or at least, that's what I gather.
terremotos- this means earthquake, but it refers to another very dangerous drink. Sweet white wine, pineapple ice cream and some sort of liquor (pisco or fernet).

That's all I can think of at the moment. Perhaps, someone with a little more experience can help me out.

Needless to say, the next weekend was spent in the sun or in my apartment sleeping.

Good News Bad News: Living in Santiago

Although teaching English in Santiago may have its many downsides, the few positives outweigh the negatives by far. My time here has only been sprinkled with a few bad experiences. When I finally decide to leave Santiago, I will take home the greatest souvenir- perspective. Living abroad truly enriches your life and instills in you a strong sense of confidence. If I can jump on a plane to South America, then I can do just about anything. Life is never without its bumps, but hands down, teaching and consequently living in Santiago has been the greatest part of my 24 years on this earth.

Bad News - Relax, there isn't much bad news when it comes to living in Santiago!

1. Expenses- Alright, everything here is very comparable to Texas (and I say Texas because it has a lower cost of living than other states). A trip to the grocery store costs about the same. In reality, this is only bad news if you have planned on lower expenses in a South American country. However, clothes and shoes run a bit high for the shoddy quality.

2. Less Amenities- I don't have a dryer, dish washer, indoor heating, air conditioning. To me, this is perfectly fine. Actually, I enjoy putting a little extra effort in hanging up my own clothes. Unless you want to pay a lot of money for all the comforts of your cushy life back home, enjoy this so called "suffering." It makes you a better person. 

Good News

1. Rent- I rent a room in a fairly large older apartment in Providencia. I pay about $260 a month and it includes electricity/gas/internet. My roommate situation is ideal. After I was hired at my institute, I had grand plans of finding my own apartment. However, compared to my month earnings, the feat is fairly unfeasible for a single person. Plus, if you do not have an i.d. card, I hear it's difficult to contract  internet service and it opens up more opportunities for someone to take advantage of your bright-eyed gringo-ness. On another note, finding a room to rent is another great way to meet people and practice your Spanish. It cuts significantly cuts down the amount of loneliness of the first month.

2. The City Itself- When I first arrived in South America I jumped off a plane in Buenos Aires. It was huge, the people were beautiful but cold, the downtown was a little dirty, the transportation was a nightmare, and I couldn't receive change anywhere. So, I was immediately relieved when I hit the streets of Santiago. There is smog and it may not be as fascinating as other cities, but it's the perfect first-time-living-abroad city: different enough to be interesting but similar enough to be comforting.

3. La Vega- This is wonderful. Just plain wonderful. The prices of fresh produce and everything else you could possibly want is sinfully cheap. It's about a 45 minute trek and a couple of hours of dedication. However, I leave with a bag (sometime a bag and a coche) full of beautiful vegetables, dried goods, and fresh eggs.

4. Wine and Pisco- Wine is good. Wine is cheap. Nothing is better than finishing classes a little early on a Friday afternoon, coming home, and pouring myself a little (or big depending on the week) glass of wine. As for pisco, the origin of this liquor is a huge debate between Peru and Chile. It's very difficult to find the US, but it's everywhere in Chile. Whether you like a sweet pisco sour or the ever popular piscola, you will have no problems ordering one at any establishment.

5. A Lot of Humans- I have met more people from around the world here than is anyplace in the US. Santiago is home to some very large university making it a hub for international students. I've met people from Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, Slovakia, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Ireland, California and almost every South American country. Whether you take a TEFL course, study, work at an institute, or just bum around, Santiago is a great city to meet other people.

DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! Move abroad, travel, open your mind, and change your perspective. Stop living with your parents or off of their money, step outside of the comforts of home, and enjoy something that reaches beyond the horizon of what you know. Sometimes it's difficult to read through pages of pathetic facebook updates. "My problem is this. My problem is that." NO! The problem is yourself. Now, do something about it and stop littering my newsfeed! Please, of course. :)

Life Currently: Aside from the impending excitement of the September holidays, the weather is by far the best part of this week. It has been in the upper 60's to mid 70's. Nothing brightens your day more than a dose of sunshine. Me encanta Santiago en la primavera! For the next three months, my goals are to eat more veggies, think more positively and kindly, and learn more Spanish. Just practicing for my trip home... which I purchased my plane ticket this past Friday!

La Malena- bad kitty, doesn't come inside when I call her!

air dried

welcome home

My first bottle of Pisco back last fall!

Good News Bad News: Teaching English in Santiago

Okay, seven months later, I think I have some experience to comment on the pro's and con's of teaching English in Santiago. I always prefer bad news first. So I assume you do, too.

Bad News


1. Uncertainty of hours. First, I love the English institute that I work for. It's probably the best in the city as far as I am concerned. However, no matter how many times my boss tells me "oh, Katie, we'll be filling up your schedule so soon that you won't know what to do," I always nod my head and smile while keeping a steady head. Unfortunately, for a small institute, a owner cannot guarantee that Chileans will sign up for classes during free periods in your schedule. For example, even though I was hired in March, I (as well as almost all other teachers at the institute) did not have a full schedule until June. Then, this year there has been student protests as well as a strike at the bank. In January/February/March, everyone and their dog goes on vacation.

2. Cancellations. Okay, so you have a full schedule (about 25-30 teaching hours per week). Beautiful! Now, your students will most likely cancel. My institute has a relatively lax cancelation policy of 3 hours prior other institutes require more notice from the student. I cannot tell you how many times I've received an e-mail or call EXACTLY three hours before my class saying that "something has come up." And you guessed it, you don't get paid for a cancelled class.

3. Commuting. I have a pretty sweet deal because most of my classes are in the center and I LOVE walking. I take the metro only a couple of times a week. However, I have friends who must take the metro all around town a few times a day. This adds up! Currently, the metro cost $570 CLP (roughly $1.25 US) for each trip.

4. Hourly Pay. This applies to me, but not to everyone. There are some institutes that offer some sort of base salary pay. Mine does not. So I do not get paid extra for planning, only teaching. Not a great incentive to plan exciting classes, right? For example, I have a class at a newspaper. And I had the wonderful opportunity to read and correct 10 articles from my students. Did I get paid while I sat in front of my computer? Nope.

5. Schedule. Since I teach business English, I teach before working hours, at lunchtime and after working hours. Although I am able to run errands between classes, I don't have to go grocery shopping everyday twice a day. There are two to three hour gaps in between my classes that start at 8/8:30am and  can end at 8pm.

6. Sticky Situations. I cannot speak for male teachers, but I've been in some interesting situations when it comes to male students. First, gringas have a stigma for being more sexually free than Chilenas. So combined that with the fact that we smile and make eye contact when speaking, you have a recipe for disaster. Once, I had a student who after our class was over I received an inappropriate e-mail from him. When I didn't respond, I received a skype request as well as about five calls after he had moved out of the country. I've had a few other sketchy ones, too. So, be on your guard, ladies.

Good News


1. Students. Although some students can be a real pain, cancel, and not respect the fact this is your job, many are taking classes to learn English. I can honestly say I enjoy all of my classes the majority of the time. Rarely, I have a class that is scant on laughter. Since I work mostly in banks, I am constantly challenged to learn more about the world of finance. My students are keen on discussing current events. This is could be the only reason to teach English in Santiago.  Because it is worth it! How many times in your life will you be able to discuss the movie Borat with a Chilean banking executive? Would it be too corny to say that I get true satisfaction when I see my students progress?

2. Walking. Alright this one is for me. I walk all the time. I walk a lot. I haven't talked about in my blog that much, but I've also lost weight because of it. It is awesome. My legs are killer...  minus the fact that they are blindingly white.

3. I'm in South America. Alright, so may be there are more negatives to positives, but the most important part about teaching English, is that you are living in a foreign country. You are (slowly but surely) learning a different language and culture. Every weekend is filled with some sort of adventure. It's not a fairytale and I've yet to meet single, young, sexy, Chilean prince charming (that doesn't have a child or live with his mother). Life is seldom boring. Also, I'm looking forward to traveling to Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina for a reasonable price.

Life Currently
Recently (as in yesterday and today), I have had a little meltdown. I don't wish to plaster my emotions all over the internet, but I would like to be honest. I've been planning on coming home for Christmas for the past several months, and according to current plane ticket prices, it's going to be dead expensive. The possibility of me spending a very hot Christmas away from home is enough to send me into a mode of over analyzing and worrying, something that drives me crazy with anticipation and a desire to make rash decisions. All I need is a little perspective and some Chilean wine.

Not your average dinner party.

Amid the insanity of the world that is today, three of us gringas sat down for a peaceful dinner last night. However, an hour into our complaints about teaching, we were interrupted by the banging of many pots or a cacerlazo. Although this symbol of defiance is not only specifically seen in Chile, it holds a special memory for its citizens dating to the 1970's during the food shortages of Allende's presidency (thank you Wikipedia for making me sound informed) and also in the last couple of years of Pinochet's dictatorship. My lovely Chilean roommate was the first of us on our balcony to join in the cacerlazo. Soon enough all of us decide to tocar las ollas and participate as honorary Chileans, banging in the name of education reform. After ten minutes, we took our tres gringas + una chilena gang to the streets, stopping at the corner where others had gathered to rally. I live in Providencia which is just east of where the more chaotic protests are taking place, so I believe this cacerlazo remained harmless while others in different parts of town turned a little more destructive. A student told me today that she and her family sat at the window to watch the barrier fires. Luckily, I avoided this.

In regards to the rest of the student protests, I have been able to steer clear of the more hectic parts. Last Thursday (August 4th), students rallied even though their protest was deemed prohibited. I tried to walk home after my class that day and found myself being trafficked down a side street. Normally, everywhere aside from Alameda (the city's main throughfare) is safe during a march. However, this day Alameda was off limits to protesters, therefore leaving them to congregate on the side streets. I witnessed students being forced into the back of Carabineros vans, smelled the faint scent of tear gas lingering in the air, and watched wide eyed as several students ran past me avoiding the water cannons. Please read more about the protest on Grace's blog.

In addition to the student protest, a group of employees at Banco de Chile have decided to stick it to the man as well and go on strike. Yesterday morning as I walked down the stairs to leave the bank after class, I was informed by the security guard that I couldn't leave. "uuhh, what?" I couldn't even respond in broken Spanish due to my shock that I was actually trapped inside Banco de Chile's headquarters (which occupies an entire city block). Finally, after some maneuvering and thirty minutes later, a group of other non-bank related people found an exit out of the building. I escaped, but only have my other classes cancelled due to the strike as well as other student protests occurring in the downtown. My next paycheck isn't looking so good at the moment. Perhaps, my next dinner party will consist of beans and rice and of course tocando las ollas.

gringas

por la educación

damage from the banging

Concha y Toro Vineyard

I can hardly believe it's August! As my friends and family are burning up in over 100 degree weather, I'm shivering in my non-heated apartment next to the a space heater. However, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Pretty soon I'll be showing off my sweating armpits and wishing it was cold again. Since arriving in a hot February, I had been told of the horrors of Santiago's winter. Half of me expected to return fingerless to the US after suffering frostbite, especially due to the fact I'm acclimated to Texas weather and central heating. I admit that some nights are pretty darn chilly (no pun intended). HOWEVER, I have not found winter to be the arch nemesis of my existence here. My advise: space heater, scarf, polar-wear, and some true grit. I may be about to go out on a limb, but try to follow me. I think that people (and especially expats) just like to complain and exaggerate. The worst part of winter isn't the cold and lack of heating but the copious amounts of pollution.

Anyway.... WINE.

I woke up at 8am on a Saturday to jump on the metro heading to the outskirts of Santiago to explore Concha y Toro Vineyard (Fact: it is the largest producer of wine in Latin America, thank you educational film). After a taking an unusually expensive colectivo from the Puente Alto stop on the metro, Nate, Tali, Grace, and I arrived at the vineyard. We each paid around $14 for an English tour which included two tasting and a wine glass. Even though we sold out for the English and not Spanish tour, it worked to our advantage in that it was a small, non-intimidating group of other foreigners. The second type of wine we tried was a 1995 vintage from one of their top lines, I do believe. I have to say that this is the most expensive wine I have tried in the my life and will most likely ever try. Unfortunately, I don't have $140 sitting around to spend on one bottle. I'll stick with my $3.50 bottle of Terra Andina Cabernet with twist off lid. I think I could possibly detect hints of cheapness with an underlying aroma of "I'm saving my money for traveling." What a delightful combination!

One final comment before I add the photos of my classy thirty minute wine tour. Grace and I said good bye to our fellow winos (Nate & Tali) last night. Although I am happy for their rekindled adventure in Vietnam, I couldn't help feeling sad as I left them in the taxi while I scurried home at three this morning. On so many occasions, we covered the table in empty wine bottles and cleaned plates while we discussed (usually very loudly) an array of topics from the types of conditionals to the US economy to attempting different accents to rolling hard boiled eggs own Cerro Santa Lucia. Saying good bye is not one of my favorite pastimes. Lamentably, it happens all too often when living abroad. On the bright side, I have quite a few new potential couches to crash on in the near future located around the world.

Tali and I in front of the winery.

Nate and Tali posing in front of the former estate's mansion.

Grace posing in front of the dead (and more expensive) grapes.

Casillero del Diablo

Don't ever doubt how classy I am!

"Skiing" in the Andes.

Alright, day one of my great blog catch-up endeavor.

Grace and I set out on a Gringa Adventure along with one of our friends, Rocio. I had never in my life been skiing. In fact, the most snow that I have ever seen is the meager amounts that fall in Texas on special occasions. At 6 am on a Sunday, the alarm sounded as we rushed around Grace's apartment gathering our things for a day in the Andes. After being suited up at a ski rental, my hopes were high, snuggled in a gigantic jacket and fitted camiseta. However, as we began to ascend higher and higher into the snow capped mountains, my confidence level began to plummet. I started to consider my extreme state of clumsiness and my complete lack of balance, a lethal combination on icy slopes. After arriving to La Parva, cramming our things into an overpriced locker, and orienting ourselves towards the beginner trails, I snapped my skis into place and prepared myself for skiing lessons that Rocio so nicely offered. To describe the following chaos would take too much time and dedication for both me and you my lovely readers. I was a hot mess, spending the next three-four hours falling, crying, and yelling down the Andes mountains. You may think that being thrown from the ski lift twice in a row was embarrassing enough, but I would have to say the breaking point was falling about three times in 15 minutes only to look up and realize that I had made it down about one fourth of the slope. With tears and snot covering the majority of my face, I took off both of my skis and stomped off for the lodge, trying to avoid catching the eye of any cute skiers. I decided to eat my lunch and retire from my skiing career.

Overall, it was an amazing experience that I wouldn't have traded even knowing the treacherous results. I wasn't just falling down, rolling around on, and trudging through any old mountain range. These were the Andes.

Rocio and Grace

La Parva

Aw, exhausted at the end of the day.

Half a Year.

Yes, it's been too long. Perhaps my vague promises to continually update my blog only serve as a jinx in disguise since the space between new post has become longer and longer. The past month and a half has been such journey of little ups and downs. I have battle the pangs of homesickness and fought through the desires to wander to another country. When living abroad, there comes a point when you realize that life is life. I wake up in the morning, go to work, come home, and then sleep. However, when I wake up in the morning, I know that I am starting a new day in the South America. When I teach my classes, I'm constantly making acquaintances with new people. When I arrive home, I'm arriving at the apartment I pay for with the money that I make. And I rest easy knowing that tomorrow is one day closer to the weekend. Life is so good.

Although I do not believe my six months here justifies a complete judgement of the country, I would like to comment on my experience so far. My list of grievances is short and somewhat petty; however, I deal with these on a constant and daily basis. On my daily walking commutes to and from my classes and my apartment, I find myself dodging a slew of erratically walking Chileans. If I'm not trying to pass a line of arm linked females, then I'm tripping over the youth that has stopped to light a cigarette. Secondly, the amount of PDA is ridiculous. I hate being stuck next to a pair of ugly, pimpled face teens seeming to suck the life out of each other on the metro. It's even worse when you make eye contact. Many have attributed this phenomenon to the fact that everyone lives at home until 30; however, I've seen some pretty old couples rolling around in the grass of Parque Forrestal. If you have read any expat blog from Chile, then you know other huge complaints are the number of cat-calls women receive, the innumerable amount of student cancellations and tardiness, and the pollution. So I will leave those alone.

I have had some significant experiences in Santiago that I'm sure (as always) you are dying to hear about such as falling down the Andes mountains, a student turning into a stalker, being ever so classy at a vineyard, learning more about the US economy than ever before, pondering the puzzle of Chilean food, passing through the student protests and experiencing the joys of teaching ESL.  Therefore, over the next week, I plan to catch up on so much lost blogging time. Get excited.

I leave you with a tribute to Oscar Wilde that I found walking through Providencia.