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!!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
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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