It is so crazy to know we are leaving in 5 days!
I am flying home to San Francisco tomorrow morning and will spend the weekend packing, running errands, and generally just freaking out. Jesse, on the other hand, is very demure and relaxed about it all. lol.
We have one more run to the storage unit to make. I have yet to decide which clothes to bring with me, but will be keeping it very very light, as the airline will charge us for the weight of the bag and we can always buy what we need there for less than it costs here.
I have been in Kentucky for the last 9 days and had a great time seeing friends and eating/hanging out. It's been hard to stay calm, knowing I'm leaving for South America for a year!
I saw high school friends Lucy, Rachele and Cathy. As well as college friend Emily and her baby, Louis, who was so enjoyable and adorable. I drove up to Harrison, Ohio to meet her half way from Indianapolis. I also saw old co-workers from Lexmark and good friends, Mike and Brandon, who are always tons of fun. So it was a great time back in my homeland, and I am actually kind of sad to leave! Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Jeff all treated me to amazing meals and movies and presents, and am feeling a very lucky girl to be pampered so and heading off to South America to basically enjoy the hell out of myself with my wonderful boyfriend at my side.
On Sunday, the 2nd, we are having a going-away party at a favorite bar around the corner. But only after the Packers game is over, since the aforementioned wonderful boyfriend is from Wisconsin and will not miss it for anything, not even work. It will be great to see everyone, all the friends I've made in San Francisco over the last five years. My friend Nancy who moved to LA has said she is driving up for it! Which is awesome.
Then we are off early early on Tuesday morning for a 24 hour travel adventure to Santiago via LA and Bogata, Columbia. I have equipped the parents with booklets of information regarding our flight information, apartment information and all the phone numbers of every American embassy in South America. Suriname and the French Guineas don't have any, so I guess I may have to call home more often when we are in those countries. ;)
My biggest, most desired goal is to learn Spanish. Apart from just having fun. Oh, and learning salsa. And probably drinking lots of Chilean wine and eating lots of Chilean seafood. And... everything. :)
My next blog will be from Santiago hopefully the day or the next day after we arrive!
Will miss you all terribly, and invite every single one to come and visit us at any time during the year in any country.
Hasta Luego!
Annie & Jesse
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Twenty Days!
Only 20 days until liftoff! I am pretty anxious and excited! It will be so amazing to be wandering around Santiago.
We are in the process of wrapping up the final things we need to do. Have sold the car, and they will be coming by tomorrow to pick it up. Such a relief to sell the car! And the $1,200 will help too!
We have made 2 runs to our storage unit in Fremont, which is about 40 minutes away in no traffic, but the Bay Area usually always has traffic and the other day we were sitting in the car for almost 2 hours trying to get home.
The room is a total mess right now! But I've done a lot of sorting and packing and feel pretty good about our readiness. I want to have all of it ready to go for when I get back on Dec. 30th so we don't have to run around trying to get everything done. I have yet to go through my clothes to see what I should bring or not. I gave away my warm clothes a year or so ago, which is really annoying! But I'm sure it will be fun buying some in Santiago. I do have my ski jacket, so am definitely bringing that for when it gets 20 degrees!
We have a few more things to buy at REI for when we go backpacking. They don't have REI there.
One of my friends put me in touch with a friend of hers that is from Seattle but lives in Santiago with her husband now. So it's been nice have an American I know over there to ask questions.
What we really need to be doing is studying our English grammar to get ready for classes!
Hasta Luego!
Annie
We are in the process of wrapping up the final things we need to do. Have sold the car, and they will be coming by tomorrow to pick it up. Such a relief to sell the car! And the $1,200 will help too!
We have made 2 runs to our storage unit in Fremont, which is about 40 minutes away in no traffic, but the Bay Area usually always has traffic and the other day we were sitting in the car for almost 2 hours trying to get home.
The room is a total mess right now! But I've done a lot of sorting and packing and feel pretty good about our readiness. I want to have all of it ready to go for when I get back on Dec. 30th so we don't have to run around trying to get everything done. I have yet to go through my clothes to see what I should bring or not. I gave away my warm clothes a year or so ago, which is really annoying! But I'm sure it will be fun buying some in Santiago. I do have my ski jacket, so am definitely bringing that for when it gets 20 degrees!
We have a few more things to buy at REI for when we go backpacking. They don't have REI there.
One of my friends put me in touch with a friend of hers that is from Seattle but lives in Santiago with her husband now. So it's been nice have an American I know over there to ask questions.
What we really need to be doing is studying our English grammar to get ready for classes!
Hasta Luego!
Annie
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Tents and Sleeping Bags
While talking to Dad the other day I mentioned that we had purchased a tent and sleeping bag so we can camp while traveling around South America. He said I should put that on my blog. To which I replied, "I'm not sure how anyone would find that interesting." But here it is anyway!
Jesse says that we will be saving money by camping while we are backpacking. Even after the money spent on the tent and sleeping bags. Some of the hostels have campsites on location, and some campsites are out of town a couple miles. I am mostly concerned about showering then sleeping in a tent...
We also have signed up for couchsurfing.com. It's a community of people who have rooms/couches in their houses that they let travelers use, so that when they travel, then can do the same. We actually have a couch surfer on our couch here in San Francisco right now! His name is Antoine, and he is from France. We are hoping he will write a nice review about us so people in South America will know we are nice and normal people. :)
We have found a flat in Santiago to rent a room in for the first couple months. We got it through an agency that sets up houseshares for foreigners in locals homes. The place we picked is close to the school and in a good neighborhood. Let's hope the owner doesn't mind getting up at 6am to let us in when we arrive from Colombia! :) I will post a picture of it.
I have been studying Spanish AND English. The school gave us a study guide to work on that will help us get started on the course. Grammar is still as boring and difficult for me as it was in 8th grade! Do you know what an auxiliary verb is??
Jesse has bought 2 water purifying gadgets.. One is for taking water out of streams and rivers and the other is for purifying tap water. Apparently we aren't supposed to drink the tap water in Santiago. He also got a back pack for himself. I am using the one he used in Asia. It's still in good condition. The one he bought himself is pretty big since he'll put the tent in it. We then will tie our sleeping bags on the bottom. I have been working out (now and then) to try and get my back and shoulder muscles stronger! Hopefully I'll come home not only speaking fluent Spanish but looking like She-Ra. :)
I got my shots a couple weeks ago. Tetnus, Hep A, Hep B, Yellow Fever, Typhoid. Ouch. My arm hurt for a week! I couldn't lie on it or touch it the first couple days! And it all cost $440!
I am trying to sell my car... not going to well. I wonder who would want a scratched up Chevy Metro with 114,000 miles... but am only expecting $1000.
Only 4 weeks until I leave for Kentucky!
Hasta Luego!!
Jesse says that we will be saving money by camping while we are backpacking. Even after the money spent on the tent and sleeping bags. Some of the hostels have campsites on location, and some campsites are out of town a couple miles. I am mostly concerned about showering then sleeping in a tent...
We also have signed up for couchsurfing.com. It's a community of people who have rooms/couches in their houses that they let travelers use, so that when they travel, then can do the same. We actually have a couch surfer on our couch here in San Francisco right now! His name is Antoine, and he is from France. We are hoping he will write a nice review about us so people in South America will know we are nice and normal people. :)
We have found a flat in Santiago to rent a room in for the first couple months. We got it through an agency that sets up houseshares for foreigners in locals homes. The place we picked is close to the school and in a good neighborhood. Let's hope the owner doesn't mind getting up at 6am to let us in when we arrive from Colombia! :) I will post a picture of it.
I have been studying Spanish AND English. The school gave us a study guide to work on that will help us get started on the course. Grammar is still as boring and difficult for me as it was in 8th grade! Do you know what an auxiliary verb is??
Jesse has bought 2 water purifying gadgets.. One is for taking water out of streams and rivers and the other is for purifying tap water. Apparently we aren't supposed to drink the tap water in Santiago. He also got a back pack for himself. I am using the one he used in Asia. It's still in good condition. The one he bought himself is pretty big since he'll put the tent in it. We then will tie our sleeping bags on the bottom. I have been working out (now and then) to try and get my back and shoulder muscles stronger! Hopefully I'll come home not only speaking fluent Spanish but looking like She-Ra. :)
I got my shots a couple weeks ago. Tetnus, Hep A, Hep B, Yellow Fever, Typhoid. Ouch. My arm hurt for a week! I couldn't lie on it or touch it the first couple days! And it all cost $440!
I am trying to sell my car... not going to well. I wonder who would want a scratched up Chevy Metro with 114,000 miles... but am only expecting $1000.
Only 4 weeks until I leave for Kentucky!
Hasta Luego!!
Friday, October 15, 2010
Just Over 2 Months!
Hi All! Welcome to the Chile Blog! Should anyone be curious of our goings on, here is where we will post them!
The general plan is to go to school in Santiago from January 10th - February 10th to get certified to teach English. Then we will look for jobs in Santiago. Chile is a good place to teach English because the government encourages all the citizens to learn. There are a lot of private companies that offer classes on location for their employes. Private, corporate jobs are the best paying by far. But there are also English language schools and private tutoring options. We will probably work for 20 hours a week each. This is enough to cover living expenses, but hopefully I can find some dog sitting/walking and we can both find private tutoring to raise money to travel afterwards. We plan to teach for a season, which will be until July sometime. Then we will backpack around South America until our money runs out! I am sure wandering around with a massive backpack and camping/not showering every day, is going to be a huge adjustment for me!! Jesse has travelled in Central America for two months and also last year in Southeast Asia for two months. So he's used to it!
We have one-way tickets to Santiago, with a transfer in Bogata, for January 4th. I will be leaving for Kentucky on December 20th and returning to San Francisco on December 30th. So everything needs to be pretty much packed up, organized, and ready before I go home! There is a lot of sorting to do - I have acquired so much stuff throughout the years, and there is also stuff I just don't want to be paying to store. Between the two of us we have about 200 + books, and that will take up most of storage!
I am hoping to sell my car. I've spent so much getting the new tags, so hopefully I can sell it for a slight profit... not counting on it though! lol. It's got all kinds of scratches and scrapes.
I am most sad about leaving my amazing dog sitting clients. I sit for some adorable dogs for lovely people in lovely houses around the city. :( Hopefully they won't find anyone they like better while I'm gone!
I have been studying Spanish more this last week and hopefully will be somewhat operational by the time I get to Santiago! We'll see! Buen Suerte!
We still have to pay the remainder of our school fee, and find a place to stay for the first few months when we get to Santiago. We can do it online through an agency, so that's helpful!
Please come and visit us either in Santiago or come and backpack with us for a week or so in South America!
Hasta Luego!
Annie & Jesse
View Larger Map
The general plan is to go to school in Santiago from January 10th - February 10th to get certified to teach English. Then we will look for jobs in Santiago. Chile is a good place to teach English because the government encourages all the citizens to learn. There are a lot of private companies that offer classes on location for their employes. Private, corporate jobs are the best paying by far. But there are also English language schools and private tutoring options. We will probably work for 20 hours a week each. This is enough to cover living expenses, but hopefully I can find some dog sitting/walking and we can both find private tutoring to raise money to travel afterwards. We plan to teach for a season, which will be until July sometime. Then we will backpack around South America until our money runs out! I am sure wandering around with a massive backpack and camping/not showering every day, is going to be a huge adjustment for me!! Jesse has travelled in Central America for two months and also last year in Southeast Asia for two months. So he's used to it!
We have one-way tickets to Santiago, with a transfer in Bogata, for January 4th. I will be leaving for Kentucky on December 20th and returning to San Francisco on December 30th. So everything needs to be pretty much packed up, organized, and ready before I go home! There is a lot of sorting to do - I have acquired so much stuff throughout the years, and there is also stuff I just don't want to be paying to store. Between the two of us we have about 200 + books, and that will take up most of storage!
I am hoping to sell my car. I've spent so much getting the new tags, so hopefully I can sell it for a slight profit... not counting on it though! lol. It's got all kinds of scratches and scrapes.
I am most sad about leaving my amazing dog sitting clients. I sit for some adorable dogs for lovely people in lovely houses around the city. :( Hopefully they won't find anyone they like better while I'm gone!
I have been studying Spanish more this last week and hopefully will be somewhat operational by the time I get to Santiago! We'll see! Buen Suerte!
We still have to pay the remainder of our school fee, and find a place to stay for the first few months when we get to Santiago. We can do it online through an agency, so that's helpful!
Please come and visit us either in Santiago or come and backpack with us for a week or so in South America!
Hasta Luego!
Annie & Jesse
View Larger Map
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