Pictures

First month in Chile

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=317720&id=592286065&l=610bd50edc

Traveling up the Coast
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=330711&id=592286065&l=53f329164a

Trip to Mendoza
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=339763&id=592286065&l=ecb270f91e

Living on a Tourist Visa

Since we have no working visa here in Chile we are living and working on a tourist visa. Not the most condoned thing by the government, but not illegal as long as we keep leaving the country every 3 months, which is why we went to Mendoza, Argentina last weekend. We left on Friday about 1:30pm and rode through the Andes on a huge bus for 8 hours. The drive is breathtaking, the Andes are gorgeous. Since it's fall right now, they are all hues of green, red, brown, and then some are snow-capped. There are little streams running down them, and they are very majestic. At the border we had to get out and get our passports stamped and our bags checked. We got to Mendoza about 9:30 and we were really tired and hungry. Our hostel was a very cute Mediterranean style house. We had a private room, but shared bathroom. It was very clean and the people were lovely. We got to take free books! Which is very exciting because books are really expensive in Chile and I had nothing left to read.

After we checked in and put our stuff down we went up the street to a restaurant Claudio, the hostel manager, recommended. Argentina is famous for it's parilla, which is grilled meat. We had decided we had to try it, even though Jesse hasn't eaten beef for 5 years and I haven't eaten beef or pork for a combined 4 years. This restaurant was a perfect re-introduction. We almost cried with joy at the amazingness of it. We got a skewer of mixed beef, pork, and chicken. It was like a huge shish-kebab. It tasted unbelievable.

On Saturday we took a local bus out to wine country and rented bikes. Mendoza produces 70% of Argentina's wine, so it's a must-see when there. I was pretty doubtful I could pull bike riding off all day without a crash, but I thought it would be fun and I didn't want to walk between wineries! There was only one small crash when I ran into Jesse on his bike, but neither of us fell. The first place we went was a chocolate and absinthe tasting place. We also got to taste local olive oil and jams. Everything was SO good. Except the absinthe. It was like drinking anti-freeze, or what I think drinking anti-freeze must be like. It burns all the way down. Apparently too much absinthe drinking is what turned Van Gogh nuts and made him cut of his ear. It used to be illegal in the US (surprise), but if people like drinking burning liquid why not let them?

Then we went to a winery called Vina Maria. It produces reds with it's Malbec grapes. It's a small, quaint little vineyard and we loved it. And there looked like very very few fancy wineries, which makes for a pleasant change to Napa and Sonoma! We tasted some of their 2005 and 2008 Malbec and then headed for the wine museum. After the museum we cycled to the beer brewery and hung out with some Americans we had met at the absinthe place. There were 3 of them, all MBA students from Rutgers who had taken a 15 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires just for the day, where they were on a school trip. They got pretty tipsy and made it back to the bike rental place 20 minutes after they had closed with a local cop following them back to make sure they didn't crash!

Saturday night we walked around and found some more parilla, but it was not nearly as good as the first night's. Then Sunday we headed out only to find the whole town shut down. I was hoping to do some shopping because Santiago is so expensive, but nothing was open! So we walked around town all day visiting the town open-spaces. There are many of them because in 1861 there was an earthquake that destroyed the city and the local government decided to build lots of squares to use as evacuation/shelters during the next earthquake.

We sat down for dinner and met a couple from New Mexico sitting next to us. They were lovely and we chatted with them for a few hours before heading to the artisan fair nearby, where we found some cool stuff for our walls.

Monday was the long but beautiful bus ride home. I was having a great time looking out the window, and then the bus started showing the movie Bloodsport in dubbed Spanish! It's this really really corny 80's American kung-fu movie with Jean Claude Van Dam. Jesse of course thought it was great.

And now we are back in Santiago and back to work. I have picked up 3 new classes that start this week, which is exciting! I only need 6 more hours, which is about 2 classes a week, to fill up my schedule and be making some decent money.

This weekend we are going to relax and visit some museum's in Santiago. But we hope to be able to make little weekend trips as much as possible!

Teaching English!

This week has seen a slight drop in temperature here in Santiago, which is both welcome and sad. It really got hot during the days, to where it was uncomfortable. But with the decreasing temps comes the warning that winter is coming! And who likes winter? Only polar bears!

This morning was the earthquake in Japan, and we are waiting to see what the ocean will bring about 11pm tonight. The schools and businesses all closed on the coast this morning. So many massive earthquakes in recent years. My cousin and her family live in Tokyo, but they are all okay, which is a relief.  Hopefully there won't be much loss of life from the quake or the tsunamis.

I found a few classes this week, and Jesse picked up some more. I had my first class last night at 8pm in a suburban neighborhood of Santiago. It took me an hour to get there because the Metro trains were so packed that I waited and let them pass because I couldn't bear to be squished in like a sardine. When you try to get off the train people are pushing their way in and it's chaotic and impractical. The problem is that the trains don't hold their doors open very long because they want to get a move on so the next train can pull in. And there are a lot of trains, which is very convenient. But in rush hour it's so packed that people are in a state of hysteria almost and just push and never give way. NOT fun. Chileans can be very pushy and blatantly butt in front of you in lines at stores and to get on buses. It's really baffling how rude they can be in this regard. Luckily I can just tell them off in English to vent my frustrations. Lol.

We are settled in the apartment and have bought some of the extra kitchen stuff we needed that wasn't here. We got Jesse some work shirts, and I need to get myself some too. We packed really lightly so that when we go backpacking around South America we won't have much to mail back. Also, Jesse told me it would be cheaper to buy things in Santiago - which immediately proved untrue as soon as we got here! I keep thinking of all the stuff I could have brought and not have to go out and buy them now! We haven't got internet or TV in the apartment, and I have read the 4 books we have, some twice. So it's pretty boring. We have free wi-fi in the lobby of our building, but we are on the 20^th floor, so it's kind of a hassle to go down every time we think of something we need to email or check. Our apartment came with a TV but it's a piece of junk and doesn't pick up any stations. We'll be calling the landlady to see if we can get a new one. Even if it's all in Spanish, I need something to stare at catonically now and then, especially after battling the streets and Metro of Santiago! We've asked the downstairs neighbors, who have a strong wifi signal if we could pay them to use it, but they have not responded, which is so frustrating and weird!

Last Saturday we went to an “asado” which is the Spanish word for “grill.” It's like our BBQ's. It was held by a friend of Joanna and Jorge's (who we were introduced to through a friend in San Francisco) and who we had met at Joanna's asado a month before. We were the only gringo's there and everyone seemed enchanted with us and sat around practicing their English on us. And now we have an invite this weekend to another asado from someone we met at that asado! The problem with evening asado's in Chile is that they start at 10pm, but no one really shows up until 11 or 12 because that's how Chilean's do things, and it lasts until 5am. I am not kidding. We were there until 5am. I was completely lifeless and exhausted! I don't know how these people live like this!

The smog here is unbelievable. LA really hasn't got that much compared to this. There are days when I can't see the mountains from my balcony it's so smoggy! My student told me last night that sometimes there are air pollution emergency days when industrial production is stopped and people aren't allowed to drive their cars. Can you imagine the Metro on those days!!? Terrifying! Luckily, this state of emergency hasn't happened for 3 years.

Today I had to go to the Department of Interior to get a new tourist visa. When we entered the country, customs stamped the form we filled on the plane and gave it back to us, without stapling it in our passports or even letting us know it was our tourist visa and we needed it to get out of the country. This, to me, is by far the most retarded thing Chile does so far. So of course I lost it. I went to one building, was sent to another, and for some reason, got a copy of my visa in about ten minutes. The one thing that you would think would take forever to do, doesn't. But try to do anything else that requires waiting in line in Chile, and you'll be there for an unnecessary about of time!

Missing you all, thinking of you often, hoping all is well and good and happy in your lives.

Hasta Luego!

Beach Weekend

This past weekend Jesse and I went back to the coast, to a town called Maintecillo. We had passed it in a bus the last time we were on the coast and wanted to go back. We caught a bus out of Santiago at 6:30pm on Friday, which put us in Maintecillo at 9:30pm without a place to stay. We learned that the town only has cabanas (basically cabins/small houses) to rent, there are no hotels. We found a cabana, but it wasn't very clean so we got our money back and started wandering around looking for something else. Everything seemed closed. We walked for about half an hour or more looking. Finally, as we wandered into a place, we were told we could rent a house up the hill. The woman, Anna-Maria took us up in her car. It was much cleaner and also cheaper. We were so relieved! We were starving, and so Anna-Maria drove us back down the hill and dropped us off at a restaurant. She was really funny, so warm and sweet and accommodating. She knew someone that worked at the restaurant and so came in with us, but he wasn't there. Then just as we were paying the check, she was back! She drove us back to the house and we collapsed, not believing our luck and what a crappy time we'd had walking around looking for a place to stay.

The next morning we walked through the dirt road village to the store and got some eggs and bread and lunch for the beach. We cooked the eggs at the house then went down to the beach. We sat on the beach all day. We ate our chips and fruit, read, drank beer, splashed a little in the ocean. It was really cold. Then we went home to shower and go back out for dinner. At the end of dinner when we tried to pay with a credit card we were told the restaurant doesn't accept them. We didn't have enough cash on us. They said there was an ATM next door, but when Jesse went it was closed. The family at the table next to us overheard the conversation, and the Dad, Javier, offered to take Jesse to the ATM since it was near where he parked his car, and then come back to pick up his family. I waited with the Mom, Anna-Maria (another one), and the 3 kids. The kids were only 5, 2 and a half, and 9 months. It was already about 11:00, and the kids were exhausted. (Chileans stay out late with their kids. It's not uncommon to see kids at a restaurant at midnight). After about half an hour, we started to wonder where they were... turned out, after an hour, that the ATM's they tried all didn't work and Javier insisted on driving until they found one that worked. Jesse kept telling him not to worry, but he insisted. Meanwhile, I felt awful because the baby was fussing and the toddler started waking up and crying. Finally, they came back and Jesse had cash and we paid the bill and left. The next day we bought them a bottle of wine but they had gone to a neighboring town for lunch and our bus back to Santiago left before they got back. Since they live in Santiago, we will have to bring it to them here.

Sunday was overcast, but not cold, so we took a long walk on the beach then had some lunch on the beach. It is such a cute town. It's not over-developed or fancy. It's still very casual and rugged and more of a “beach” town kind of feel as opposed to a resort. We had told Anna-Maria that we would meet her at at the house at 4pm to give the keys back. But she called as soon as we got to the beach and said she was leaving town so needed the keys back now. So we walked up the hill to meet her, but when we got there she called to tell us to just put the keys under the mat. Tad bit annoying.

We then caught our bus back, which was thankfully uneventful and speedy. However, when we got home Jesse realized his camera was missing. So that has been the second thing lost! Such a bummer. Luckily it wasn't in such great shape. My camera is worse off, so hopefully that will get stolen too. :)

Today, Monday, we moved into our new apartment. It's in the central of Santiago, thus there is a lot of traffic noise during the day. It's on the 20^th floor of a modern building. We have a pool, workout room, and wi-fi room. Already, on our first night we are having house guests! They are two Australian guys we met in Valparaiso. They have been traveling around South America and are on their way home from Santiago.

Jesse has already found some classes he is teaching. One is just a Skype conversational class and the other is a one-on-one lesson with a lawyer. He starts that one tomorrow morning. 

We both have great leads for more classes - the work is just now coming in since it's the end of summer, so we are waiting for it to get organized and distributed. Ideally, we would each have 20 hours of work a week. As a teacher, 20 hours turns into about 35 hours, because of lesson planning, prepping, and travel time. It seems like for the first few months we will be working as freelancers, picking up classes from different companies, but then usually one of the schools will start offering you more classes if they like you, and you become more full-time with one school/company.

So our working life embarks!! We are excited to have our own place to live, as we have never lived alone. And we (well, Jesse mostly) are excited to work and put our learned skills to the test and hopefully see our students learning English!