Heading South

Work is slow right now, and since I chose to teach during January, tomorrow I'll be kicking off my February vacation with a 9 day trip to the south of Chile. Second summer of the year equals second summer vacation! The best part is that I found a stash of cash in my bag that I had forgotten that I had hidden there to use for my travels! Stay tuned for lots of pictures when I get back...

Summer

I loooove summer, but it's hot! Just to give you a little idea of HOW hot, you might remember a picture from one of Otto's last haircuts....

pobrecito

This time the official peluquero de perros showed up and went to work. This is the result...

I think he's digging his new hairdo, but his ego is taking a beating. Poor guy's been called a rat, a giant chihuahua, you name it. Most of all he's totally sick of the paparazzi following him around to take pictures of his new look.

3 Months

It's hard to believe that I've been here for 3 months already. Back when I was trying to piece together my time in Chile, I had to choose between leaving for only a semester or for a full year. Now that it's already mid-November, I can't imagine planning to leave at the end of December. Some of my fellow counterparts from Teaching Chile are in the midst of making their travel plans for the summer months, as many of them are on a university-like schedule, where they finish the third week of December and then they use the summer months here to travel around South America.

I plan to take the month of February as unpaid vacation and I've just begun to piece together some travel plans for February. The summer months are really slow when you do institute work, so I plan to work during January and entertain my guests that will begin to arrive here in Santiago at the end of December.
Meg and Javier (two of my bff's) December 22-January 1st.
My mom and Jim (January 8th to 15th)
My aunt and uncle (January 14th to February 3rd) They will spend a couple of days here in Santiago and then will set off to see the rest of Chile, and I'll meet them in the south at the end of the month!

Speaking of Teaching Chile, every semester they host a mid-semester reunion, so here are some photos that I took from the rooftop. I don't live in a high-rise apartment, so it's nice to have these views once in awhile and take some new photos. However, the best part of this event might have been all of the delicious food and Chilean beer and wine.

homemade grilled arepas, corn patty which is a traditional food in both Colombia and Venezuela. Delicious and gluten-free and the sauces were excellent!

Now for those city views...

My Summer Part 1

Spent a few days in Boca Raton with Meg and Jenna...

Celebrated Courtney being 14 years cancer free...

 Had a boating day with the girls and even got to drive a little...

 Borrowed some mint-green Manolos to wear to a fancy SATC 2 Party...

 Sold a bunch of my stuff at a yard sale...

Had my first going away party...

Dog-sat for my second favorite furry friend...

Watched the Cubs really suck it up...

Watched the Brazil v Netherlands game with a bunch of disappointed brasilenos...

Actually put some effort into celebrating the 4th this year...