Mi Casa es Su Casa

Here are some pictures of "La Casita", as its owner affectionately refers to it. It's a small place, but very cozy, and let's face it, I'm in a big city now and most people don't live in giant spaces!

Here's a little "saludo" to 2 of the "Casita's" predecessors, Sara and Abby.  Thanks for recommending it to me and hopefully one of these days in the near future we'll all be sitting around the table here together telling stories with Ita about the many people who have lived here over the years...

The entryway

 Entry into the kitchen

The bathroom and tiny winding staircase

My bedroom...Big bed for tall girl makes me very happy!

The opposite shot of my bedroom

There is another bedroom upstairs right next to mine that my roommate S. occupies, but I didn't want to photograph her room without asking!

Time to be a Tourist

I arrived in Santiago just in time to begin working, so this was my first weekend to really get out and explore the city a bit.  Thankfully, I have found a good partner in crime, my friend A, who is better at reading maps than I am and can get to where she's going and then patiently wait for me after I phone her to ask which way I'm supposed to turn after I exit the metro.  I really do have a good sense of direction, I swear, it just hasn't quite kicked in for me here quite yet.
Yesterday, we decided to head up Cerro San Cristobal, which is a big "hill" in the middle of Santiago that is actually a little spur of the Andes and from there you can usually get some great views of the city. You can ride to the top on a "funicular", which is like a little cable car on a train track, and I have to say that it seems that I went on an extra smoggy day.

Smog exhibit A

A better view of the mountains as the sun is beginning to set

Today we paid a visit to the Museo de Bellas Artes.

Across the street, me posing in Parque Forestal

A stroll through the Plaza de Armas

 

So many hot dogs everywhere, sometimes I feel like I am still in Chicago.

Sundays are a great day to be out wandering around since there are so few people out and about.

That also amounts to fewer restaurant choices since so many places are closed on Sundays.  Here we are enjoying a nice Peruvian lunch.
Cheers!

My First Yoga Class

For those of you that know me well, you know that I like to hit up the yoga classes 2-3 times a week.  It's become a necessary part of my life over the last 8 years or so and I was excited to continue with my practice in a new place in a different city.  I'd like to thank Emily for recommending YogaLuka, and the nice part about it is that it's fairly close to where I live, it's really cheap, and there are many classes to choose from since my teaching schedule is different everyday and will continue to change over the months ahead.  Right now I happen to have a few holes in the middle of the day, so it's the perfect opportunity to do something productive.
I didn't think I'd already be signed up for classes this quickly, but in the last week I have carried ridiculously heavy bags around airports and up and down stairs, slept in a hostel, tried to get accustomed to a new bed, walked everywhere, and stopped going to the chiropractor, which is something that I had been doing regularly for about 7 months. I'm just one of those people with a lot of aches and pains and I have to do what I can to take care of myself.
The class was a little different that what I had become accustomed to, but it's always a good thing to switch things up now and again anyways.  I can't say that I understood everything that the instructor said, but it wasn't too hard to sneak a peek around me to see what was going on.  I'm going back for a different intensity class on Saturday, so we'll see what happens then!  I also need to get my hands on my own yoga mat, so I can start my own little routine out on the sunny patio right outside the door of the casita. 

Settling In

It's hard to believe that I haven't even been in Chile for a week yet.  It's so different than the life that I was living that sometimes I wake up in the morning and have to talk myself through what it is I supposed to do that day!  I was so accustomed to my teaching schedule that required me to do the exact same thing at the exact same time everyday that I'm still getting used to having a different schedule each day and also working at night.  I used to be able to jump in my car 5 minutes before I needed to be at work, and now I wake up and try to calculate how long it will take me to get to where I need to go based on how far the walk is, the time of day, and how busy the metro will be.  At least I'm getting used to doing all of this from the comfort of the casita  (will post some pictures of that another time).  If you want to see pictures of the hostel that we were staying in and of our weekend festivities, then check out Struan and Anna's blog.  They are 2 lovely teachers from England that I met who will also be here teaching in Santiago all year.
Now, I am waiting for Ita to show me where the grocery store is so I can go and buy myself some food, but thankfully in the meantime, she has served me a few delicious things that look like this.
 


The best part is that there are two vegetarians around already so everything that she makes is already half meatless. Let's face it, no one wants to be the only one picking out meat or asking for special things, so it is great to have delicious bean soups and things like this prepared already!  Soups like this also help to fight the cold, which has pretty much returned since that beautifully warm day that we had on Saturday.  I realized today that this is the first time I have ever left Chicago to come to colder temperatures (I mean, why would I do that anyways?) but it does take a bit of getting used to, the mittens coming out for the walk home after class and all.  And, for those of you who don't know, the reason why it's so cold is because there is no heat, so Chicagoans, imagine the month of April with no central heat.  This leads me to my next picture, my "estufa" which I light in my room at night.

Yes, we're talking matches, pilot light, gas and all!  But trust me, without this thing I'd be walking around with 3 layers and a winter coat.  In fact, my feet are pretty cold just sitting here right now, even with my shoes and socks on. I really didn't believe that I'd be cold with temps that say highs in the 60's, but trust me, I am!

First Post from Chile

I’m sure this will be a really random post just by the nature of my activities over the first 48 hours of my time in Santiago.  First, I’m at a hostel with other participants from Teaching Chile, so imagine a tiny little room with the majority of us being female and having approximately 4 bags each!  Second, I had only been here one day and had to attend an orientation at my institute for my classes which begin on MONDAY!  Yikes, I haven’t even had a chance to sit down and write a lesson yet for my Monday class, which thankfully isn’t until Monday evening, and I still have to make a trip down to pick up materials for my Tuesday/Thursday class, which I still won’t have time to do until Monday morning.  Tomorrow, hopefully I will get the heck out of this hostel since 3 nights will definitely be my limit here.  Thankfully I have met some really cool people and two of them happen to have birthdays this weekend so we plan to go out tonight to do a bit of celebrating! So far I am enjoying the city and trying to find my way around and get used to the subway lines so I don’t do something stupid and end up being really late for a class.  It’s a great city, and the weather has warmed up quite a bit since my arrival. It’ll be nice to get a little clearer view of the Andes at some point and hopefully see less of the smog blanket.  I’ve already eaten a great Peruvian meal and tried an empanada de choclo.  Keep your fingers crossed that I move into my casita tomorrow, get unpacked, and write a good lesson plan!

Cheers to the little ones

It's time for me to make my way south tomorrow!  I've said my goodbyes, seen my little brother marry the girl of his dreams, and done everything that I can do to prepare myself for the this next chapter of my life.  I know that a year isn't very long, and that most things here will remain the same while I'm the one who will probably experience the most changes...except for my friends and their growing families. Kids change a lot in a year, and it makes me sad to not be able to see a lot of these little guys and gals for so long.

So here's a toast to you my friends, I'll be running around South America while you are busy raising your beautiful families.  Give them all kisses for me!!!

Another woman's experience at the car dealership

If you've ever purchased a new car, then you might know that as your car depreciates, you periodically get offers from the dealer from whom you purchased the car asking you to trade it back to them and upgrade to a new car.  At first glance this idea seemed a bit ridiculous to me, but the last letter that I received was requesting to buy back my car and wasn't requiring me to buy a new one.  Enter my plan to easily unload my car before my move to Chile without having to do anything at all.  They appraise it, write me a check and I'm on my merry way. I had a great experience with the used car buyer M., who was nice enough to offer to let me use my car for the next couple of weeks until I was ready to leave the country and told me I could drop it off on a Tuesday or a Saturday (when he works) and he would cut me a check.  Fast forward to the next week and the follow-up call comes from one of the nice ladies at the dealership and she inquires about my experience and I tell her that I'd like to make an appointment with M. to drop off my car on Saturday and get my check.  My car registration was expiring on the 31st and I'm leaving town on Tuesday for Idaho so I thought I was being extra crafty when devising this plan.

I arrange for my friend A. to pick me up after I complete my transaction, collect my extra keys, dig up the car title, and I'm off.  Upon arrival, I quickly scan the office and don't see M. and immediately have a sinking feeling in my stomach.  I'm approached by a salesman on the floor who offers to help and I explain that I have an appointment with M. at 10:45.  He tells me that M. is not here today and that I'll have to come back on Tuesday.  I politely explain that someone from his place of employment called ME to set up this appointment and ask why they would do that on a day that M. is obviously not in attendance.  He brushes me off and says that there is nothing he can do, M. is the used car buyer and that I can return on Tuesday or Saturday.  Again, I politely explain that on both Tuesday AND Saturday I will out of town for a wedding and the following Tuesday is the day before I MOVE TO SOUTH AMERICA, and that there is no way I would take the chance of just popping in again and having him not be there they day before I get on the plane for Chile.  After I get another "I don't know what to tell you ma'am" speech, I collect my thoughts, take a deep breath, and ask to speak to the manager instead of sprinting out the door and starting to kick all the brand-new cars on their lot.

My lovely salesman proceeds to enter the manager's office, (while I'm still within earshot mind you) and say who knows what, because I hear the manager say, "Well you just tell her she can wait like everyone else and that we're here to sell cars not buy them!"  At this point I'm ready to run out and key the cars that I have recently kicked, but again I sit there and collect my hot-headed self and decide that in this situation, for me to get what I want, I have to ignore that comment and play all nicey-nice since all I really want is my check.  The manager comes out, I very politely explain my deal with M. and he says that all he has to do is give him a quick call to verify this.  REALLY?  Was that so difficult?  I'm pretty sure Mr. Salesman just decided to treat me like garbage since he knew he wasn't going to sell me a car and proceeded to approach his manager like I was some finger-waving crazy lady who was going to give him hell!

I don't have my check yet, but (fingers crossed) I'm supposed to pick it up tomorrow afternoon.  As I sat back and pondered this whole experience, I decided that it was a great pre-Chile lesson in having to remain calm, cool, and collected and not react too emotionally in a situation.  I'm sure I'll have many experiences where I'm misunderstood, talked down to, or less than satisfied with customer service.  For this reason I'm trying to follow this mantra and in every situation, no matter how it evolves, think about what it is I want or need and how to get it, and hope that I can achieve my goal without too many tears or too much yelling.