Teaching!!

So much happens each day, and I wish I could remember every tiny thing and blog it. I need a little voice recorder!

There are so many reasons why Santiago is wonderful. I feel so excited to be in another culture, and another culture that is not obsessed with material things and marketing and food and money and petty discourse and rigid work ethics.
Chileans are SLOW. They take their everlovingsweeatasstime doing everything. Going to work, standing in line at the grocery, eating, drinking, talking, walking. On Sunday's the couples lie in the park making out for hours. Few shops are open. The streets are barely patronized. During the week though, it's like a jungle. It is absolutely crowded, packed, disorganized mayhem. People jaywalk constantly and cars just honk and do not slow down. I am terrified of seeing someone get plowed down in the next moment. You spend your time winding your way around people as you walk down the street. It's enormously annoying for me, and I am hoping that wears off!!

Last Saturday at the "asada" (Chilean barbeque) we had a fantastic time. Our host, Joanna, who is friends with my friend in San Francisco, was so wonderful. She made sure we had drinks and food and sat with us and chatted and also pointed out who spoke English (from a bit to a lot) there, which was mostly for my benefit as I certainly do not have conversational Spanish squared away! :) We talked with Joanna's husband as well, a Santiagoan, Jorge. He is a journalist and has written a book recently which has received a lot of attention. It's quotations from prominent Chileans covering the last 200 years. Jesse and Jorge got along great as they both are interested in history and music, and Jorge took Jesse off to introduce him to Pisco, a Chilean favorite alcohol while I chatted with Leslie and David, more locals. Leslie's English was almost perfect. She understood everything I said, which really made me feel spoiled in my luck to find her to chat to! She wants to teach English in the schools in Santiago and is entering a Masters program to get her certificate. So we exchanged numbers so we can meet up and do language exchange! Our second Chilean friends! So exciting!

After the asada we headed over to the California Cantina to watch the Packers game. Our classmates, Walt and Chelsea joined us and we had a great time watching the Packers steal the show!

On Sunday we did not do much. Went to the huge market and bought veggies and fruits. We have found that some of them go bad very quickly, even though we put them in the fridge. We then took a walk down to the supermarket to get some supermarketish kind of things. We walked through this gorgeous old neighborhood called Belles Artes. It's called that because the huge Museum of Belles Artes is there. The neighborhood looks like it was lifted right out of Paris. Beautiful stone buildings with tall, wide windows and shutters. Street cafes with the young and chic lounging and socializing. We saw a "For Rent" sign on the edge of the neighborhood and went to look. It was affordable, but was unfurnished. Sad!

Yesterday Jesse and I taught our first class! We were teaching the servers at the bar next door, the California Cantina, and they were beginners. I taught numbers and Jesse taught greetings and names. It was, obviously, rather flawed, but I found it fun and really exciting. We teach again tomorrow!

Jesse has been cooking our dinners and we have been bringing sandwiches to school to save money. We eat chicken and veggies and rice, spaghetti, etc. It's so hard not having a Trader Joes!!!!

That's all for now!

Hasta Luego!