Working 40 hours a week, trying to work out a few times a week, and balancing my personal life has made time FLY by here in Chile. The month of July was 100% winter here in Chile. I almost think it has been colder here this year than it was last year. Although, I think it got colder earlier on this year and it is starting to warm up and feel more like spring. This whole week has been 70 degrees! It feels like spring (but I don't want to jinx it because knowing Chile it can get cold instantly). Anyway, I have been busy working (at Integra and teaching classes). I moved into a new apartment with my friend from last year Holly. I am SOOO glad to be living with her and in a nicer apartment. For those of you who don't know, my first apartment this year I lived with a Chilean guy and he NEVER cleaned and we had cockroaches in our apartment. YUCK! So Holly and I decided to move in together. Holly is MUCH cleaner and nicer and she is a really good cook (and she helps teach me how to cook which is great). Our apartment is in a great location (close to TWO metro stations/lines) and close to a great park (the park I always went to last year). It is also close to some of my other friends I have met this year. I have attached pictures of the living room, kitchen, and my bed (which is SO much bigger than my bed last year haha)
I started off the month of July by going to the Daddy Yankee concert with my friends Alex and Kris. It was REALLY fun. I had never been to a Reggaeton concert and I had always liked his songs. There were definitely a lot of younger teenagers who are somewhat "flaite" (somewhat trashy) but it was still a lot of fun. He sang a lot of his famous songs and my friend Kris wore a fur vest to the concert and he is tall so everyone kept staring at him (Chileans are pretty short so even I stand out for being tall even though I am average height in the States). Also, during July I went to a couple of asados (Barbecues) with some friends I met last year and who also returned/stayed in Chile this year. My friends Ryan and Samantha are two people who also taught at Duoc last year. Asados are wonderful because you get to socialize with friends, meet new people, speak Spanish, eat Choripans (Sausage and bread), steak, guacamole, etc. Samantha, my friend from last year, and I had a good time asado-hopping.
Next, I went to Valparaíso (an important beach town about an hour outside of Santiago) to be on the radio with my boss at Integra. We arrived and went to Radio Valparaíso. The whole interview was in Spanish. My boss did most of the talking, but the host asked me a few questions about my opinion on Chileans and why I chose to come here. I responded saying that was a "heavy question" meaning a tough, deep question. That is a typical Chilean phrase and I said it jokingly and everyone laughed and loved it. I told him how I studied in Spain and the same program that I studied in Spain (CIEE) had a program to teach English here last year. So I came here last year. I said how I really like how Chileans are nice and talkative when they first meet me and ask me all about where I am from and want to learn more about me. I said the part that I dislike the most is punctuality and how 10:00 here means 11:30. I also explained the types of jobs the Chilean students can work at in the States when they participate through Integra. Yerko, my boss, explained more of the logistics of the program and how much it costs. I was nervous and didn't understand some of the questions but for the most part I think I did a good job. I have attached the link to listen to the interview. The first five minutes is just music as we are waiting to be interviewed but then we start talking around minute 6. After the interview, my boss took me to lunch at a beautiful restaurant that overlooked the Pacific ocean. I ordered a delicious white fish with a curry sauce and rice. It was a great experience and cool to say I was on the radio!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM4l1m2-IHE&feature=share
Last weekend, my friend Megan was invited by some of her Chilean military friends to go to a beach town called Maitencillo. She invited my other friend Alex and I to tag along with her. Alex, Megan and I all taught at Bridge and now we all teach at eClass to teach business professionals. We arrived in Maitencillo (about an hour and a half outside of Santiago) and immediately went to the grocery store to buy stuff for the asado and for the evening. Then, we went to the beach and watched the sunset. It was a BEAUTIFUL sunset over the Pacific Ocean. We ate some delicious fried empanadas in the meantime and then went back to the military cabin to get ready for the asado. The military guys cooked for us and we ate delicious steak and pork grilled to perfection. The next day, we went back to the beach and ate some lunch then drove back to Santiago. It was a great weekend getaway in a beautiful beach town.
Finally, this week has been wonderful. I only had to work on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was a feriado (a national holiday) and I went to Fantasilandia (The amusement park). I went last year, but this year I was able to go on more rides. It is similar to amusement parks in the States and it is the only theme park in Chile. One of my favorite rides was called Tagadá where you spin around and there is no seat belt it just uses the centrifugal force to hold you in your seat. It also bounces to the music that is being played. So you just spin and bounce around and your legs going flying everywhere. It definitely made me laugh. I also love the upside down rides. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't want to lose my camera. But it was definitely a fun time. On Friday, my boss gave me the day off because we had gone to Valparaíso to be on the radio on a Saturday. So he said since I worked on Saturday I could have Friday off. I just relaxed, went to the gym, and then ate delicious Thai food. Yesterday, I went trekking (hiking) with my friend Heather (who was also here last year and decided to stay this year) and her boyfriend. Her Chilean boyfriend, Marco, is an experienced trekker and knew where to go. We started to hike at 9:30 and I thought it didn't seem that bad at first. It was pretty warm and very sunny. We got closer to the top around 2 and we approached snow. We literally hiked through the snow and hiked very steeply. I felt like I was hiking a ski slope (yet there was no chairlift to bring us up to the top). We had to stop every few minutes to catch our breath because it was so steep. I got really nervous that we weren't going to make it to the top in time to turn around and come back for it be dark. Luckily, we made it to the top in time. It took us almost 6 hours to reach the top. We turned around and literally slid/ran down the mountain because of all the snow. It was so easy to go down. It felt like I was bouncing on a trampoline. It took us 3 hours to get back to the bottom. It was definitely intense and my legs are very sore. We hiked a total of 13.5 miles and climbed 10,500 feet in a total of 9 hours. It was a long day but beautiful and worth it. I put on sunscreen but of course I got burned because of the strong sun and the reflection of the snow. And the temperature was perfect.
Finally, today I went to the giant central market La Vega to buy fruits and veggies. I have been there before and each time I go I am more and more shocked, surprised, and happy with how cheap everything is. And the quality is incredible. I bought: 5 lemons, 8 bananas, 4 avocados, 2 onions, a head of garlic, 2 cucumbers, 2 zucchinis, 6 apples, 4 giant tomatoes, 8 kiwis, 2 green peppers, a 1/2 kilos of almonds, a 1/2 kilo of raisins, and a kilo of cereal for TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS!!!!!!! Yes that's right $25! SOOOO Cheap!!! And so incredibly delicious!
Well, thanks for taking the time to read this! Sorry I am not updating very often. I am loving that the weather is getting warmer. I am ready for spring and summer. I like having a structured work schedule. I like speaking Spanish everyday. I miss my family and friends and a lot of food back home, but I am appreciative of every day I have here. Hope all is well back home! <3
