Exploring Santiago and the Coast

Even though I have lived in Santiago, Chile for 2 months, I still haven't explored much of the city (let alone the enormous country). Santiago is broken down into "comunas" or different communities. When I lived in the hostel for the first month, I lived in Providencia, which is a nicer, more upscale part of town. Now, I live in Santiago Centro which is still a nice area but is more crowded. I work in La Florida which is south of the central part of the city. Basically, I have gotten to know these 3 "comunas" of the city and there are at least 20 other "comunas" that I would like to get to know. So my goal has been to continue to get to know the city. One of the ways I have been doing this is by creating a goal of taking a picture every single day I have and will be here. I have been here for more than 60 days and I have only missed one day in taking a picture (I was very mad at myself for forgetting to take a picture, but I will be here for another 8 months so I think I will be able to make it up). Anyway, I get done with class on Fridays in La Florida at noon so I pretty much have the whole day off. A few Fridays ago I decided to explore the city with another English professor and a local Chilean friend. First, we went to "Mercado Central" which is in between Santiago and la comuna "Recoleta". Mercado Central is notorious for its cheap and delicious seafood. (On a side note: lunch is the biggest meal of the day in Chile and almost every restaurant has "una promoción" or a deal for a lunch meal). We ordered Pisco Sours for our starter drink which only cost 900 CLP (about $1.75). Then, we ate Machas a La Parmesana (clams baked in parmesan=SOOO GOOD) for our appetizer. For my main meal, I ordered Pastel del Jaiba ("Crab Pie") which consists of crab, cheese, more cheese, onions, pepper, and deliciousness. Finally, we ordered an after dinner drink "manzanilla" which is a "bajativo" to help digest the food. For all 3 of us, our entire bill cost 23,000 CLP (approximately $46...not bad for a meal filled with great food, drinks, and company). After Mercado Central, we walked around Recoleta and went to Patronato (the clothing market). Then we went to Bellavista to enjoy the beautiful sun and some happy hour drinks. That night, I went to a Chilean rock concert to see a band called "Los Tetas." The concert was in Vitacura which is another comuna that is very "cuica" (ritzy, snotty, upper-class). The concert was really fun and it was cool to go to a local concert, even though I didn't know any of the songs. The band was really popular and they had separated and finally reunited after a while. Overall, this was a very fun Friday that consisted of lots of exploring and trying new things. These pictures pretty much sum up the day:

Santiago is about an hour from the mountains and an hour and a half from the coast. I went to Cajón del Maipo in the Andes a few weeks ago so it was time for me to go to the Coast. This past weekend a group of us from Santiago went to visit some friends we had met at orientation who moved out to the coast to teach. First, we went to Viña del Mar. We met up with our friends Mary Kate and Pete who have a nice apartment in Viña. We ate a quick "churrasco" (steak, cheese, avocado, and tomato) sandwich and then walked to the beach. I saw the "flower clock" which is literally a clock of flowers that tells time. From here, I was able to look at the Pacific Ocean and the Andes at the same time. Pretty sweet. We walked to a local market, then went back to Mary Kate's place to have an asado. Pete grilled some chicken, chorizo, and delicious squid while we snacked on chips and guac. That night, we reunited with some friends and played some fun games. The next day, we went to Valparaíso which is about 20 minutes away from Viña. Valparaíso is notorious for its hills, colorfully painted houses, and graffiti. We explored the city and saw some amazing views. Eventually we met up with some more people who moved to the coast who were able to take us to Pablo Neruda's house. Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet, diplomat and politician. I didn't explore his museum but I was able to look at some spectacular views from his house. Later, we went to a local bar to watch the "Clásico" fútbol game between Colo-Colo and La Universidad de Chile (La-U). These are the two most famous soccer teams in Chile. Chileans are either die-hard fans of Colo-Colo or La-U but never both.  A few weeks ago a bunch of us went to a Colo-Colo game but we were told several times not to bring our cameras due to safety reasons so I didn't take any pictures. It was a fun experience but definitely pretty crazy. You don't want to get in the way of Latinos and their soccer. Anyway, the bar was pretty full and La-U eventually won 5-0. After the game, we drove back to Viña for some dinner and arrived back in Santiago. I am so glad I have been able to explore more of Chile and can't wait to get to know Santiago and the country even more. I am also excited to go to another country such as Argentina or Bolivia. Tomorrow is "el día de los trabajadores" aka Labor Day so I have the whole day off :) I hope you all are enjoying my blog posts as I keep you up to date on Mi Vida Chilena :)

Avocados, Tests, and Mountains...Oh My

April showers brings May flowers....Nope not so much here in Santiago. First of all I have been here for almost 2 months and it hasn't rained once (maybe a slight drizzle but nothing more). Next, that is one of the things that is the weirdest and most difficult to get used to: the opposite seasons. I have been seeing all of my friends Facebook posts saying that Colorado has been having 80 degree gorgeous weather! Well here in Santiago it is still about 80 degrees in the day but it is definitely getting cooler. In the morning when I am on my way to the metro to go to school it is probably about 50 degrees and very chilly. During the day and in the sun it is still hot. I finally cleaned my room and put away my "summer" clothes and I was in denial. Oh well. Sometimes there is nothing better than coming home, changing into comfy sweats, and wrapping up in a blanket on the couch and watching a movie or reading a book.

Anyway, as the title of my post says, I have been eating lots of avocados ("palta" here in Chile, which I had originally learned in Spanish  as "aguacate") . I split an avocado with my roommate Abby almost everyday. They are ridiculously cheap which is amazing. We have been to a few "asados" (BBQs) in the past week that have served generous amounts of guacamole which I can never say no to. Due to my teaching schedule, I am almost always gone during the day so I always pack my lunch. I usually make a sandwich with Turkey or Ham, Avocado, Cucumbers/Peppers, Aji Pebre Sauce (a sauce that is similar to Pico de Gallo but better), and Olive Oil. Here is a picture of my daily sandwiches and I must say they do look quite appetizing :)

Moving forward to the subject of tests: I was not a fan of tests when I was a student. Especially foreign language tests. But somehow I managed to pass all of my Spanish classes (hence why I am living here in Chile). Giving tests is a whole different story. Some of the other TIPS teachers here have been teachers before and they have given tests. Most of the time they create their own tests and know how to teach their lessons geared toward their tests. I have never had to give or create tests before. Yet I am almost done with my first week of giving tests in Santiago. I have been teaching almost entirely from the book so I tried my best to prepare my students. However, I didn't even get to see the tests until FOUR days before the test. The test was written by Duoc so I had NO idea what was going to be on it. Also, last week was Semana Santa (Holy Week). My University is a Catholic university so we had a half day on Holy Thursday and all day off on Good Friday. That means that 4 of my classes didn't get a chance to review for the test, whereas 2 of my classes were able to review. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week I gave the written test. The test consisted of: Multiple Choice, Scrambled Sentences, Incomplete Sentences, 2 writing parts, and one reading section. Some students gave me blank stares and even left half of their answers blank. Some students didn't even come to class. But some students tried and passed! I have done most of the grading and gave a lot of partial credit. Studying and learning a foreign language is about communication. Even if my students didn't give the EXACT answer I still gave them partial credit if I understood what they were trying to say. For example, they learned "What do you do?" to ask about a job. Lots of students put "What is your job?". Even though this isn't the exact way to ask about a job, it still gets the point across so they absolutely got credit for it. Also, the grading system here is extremely different. The scale is out of 7 and a 4 is a passing grade. The written test was out of 30 points so I would add up how many points the students got and then I put it into an XCEL spreadsheet to convert it to a scale of 7 and see if they passed. A few students in each class got close to or exactly a 7. I also had some students who got a lot lower than a 4. Seeing my students fail is not a good feeling. I know it is not entirely my fault but it feels like I could have done more. However, teaching and learning is a two-way street: I have to teach to the best of my ability and students have to come to class, learn, and study to the best of their ability.

I also gave oral tests. These tests are weighed more in the final grade because speaking is more important in language. The oral test went as follows: The students would come into the room in pairs. I would ask each student 2+ questions and they would respond. Then they would each pick a card with a theme on it and say 4 full sentences according to the theme of the card. Finally, they would pick another set of cards with a theme for the pair. The students would then talk among themselves and ask questions and respond to each other. I graded them according to Grammar, Fluency and Pronunciation. If they didn't give complete sentences or I couldn't understand them, I would mark them down. But for the most part if they tried and I could understand them, they would pass. I could tell they were nervous. But I am proud to say that they have completed their first Unit in Basic English 1!

Enough about school and work. As I said, last week was Semana Santa so that meant I had a little break from teaching. Thursday I went to La Piojera for the infamous "terremotos" drink. Then we went to Karaoke. I had actually never sung Karaoke until that night. But I don't think you could consider what I did "singing." I mostly just stood up there and danced and mouthed the lyrics while Abby sang haha. Friday I relaxed and then went to my friend's asado where we ate lots of Guacamole, Meat, and Pebre. On Saturday, we finally got out of Santiago. Abby, her boyfriend Sebastian, his brother Jorge, and I all went to Cajón del Maipo which is about an hour and a half outside of Santiago. It is a gorgeous mountain town in the Andes. There were "termas" or hot springs. Some of the termas were almost too hot to sit in. One of them was a much more warm and comfortable temperature. Then we ate some empanadas and Sebastian drove us to a lake about an hour away in the opposite direction. The lake was crystal clear blue due to ice melt from a glacier. The view of the lake up against the mountains was spectacular. It was also great to see the Andes surrounded by clear skies instead of smog. However, once we returned to our apartment, Sebastian's car and all our clothes were covered in dust. After a long day in the mountains, I went to sleep "early" for a Saturday night.

Easter Sunday consisted of going to my friend Chadd's Apartment for another asado. This asado was on top of Chadd's building on the 18th floor. He made guacamole, pebre, choripan (chorizo and bread sandwiches), chicken, and it was all delicious.

Some of the CIEE teachers who moved to the coast even surprised us by showing up! We had no idea they were coming! It was great to see them because they moved to the coast about a month ago and we hadn't seen each other in so long so that was nice. They seem to be liking the coast and I can't wait to go out there to visit. Kimberly, one of the girls, even has a blog from the coast so if you want to check out her blog here is her link:

CIEE Blog

Some more people from the coast are coming this weekend to go to a Colo-Colo "fútbol" soccer game. Stay tuned for pics and posts from a typical Chilean "partido de fútbol" :)