Monumental Movements

     I forgot to tell everyone about the earthquake! and the rain !!!

Dithering Weather

     While it has been getting a little chillier down here in Chile, (haha, see what I did there?) I am left more than a little confused by the weather. In terms of seasons, we have the opposite of what it would be like back home. Here it's fall moving into winter. Basically, it's November. Except, this is what most people are dressing like in the streets: (pic) and here is what I wore today: (pic). For real??? No wonder they all look at me like I'm a crazy gringa. I don't feel crazy though; today it was at least 75 degrees outside. Earlier in the week, however, it was below between 55 and 65 every day. Make up your mind temperature!! It's very difficult to dress for the day, like my eloquent friend Kris said in his blogpost, when it's freezing in the morning, warm to almost hot in the afternoon, and then freezing again at night (and that's not including what clothing weight you do or don't want to lug all the way to your classes all day).
     Now, I tend to wear the same style of outfit to work everyday, with an occasional long-sleeved cardigan instead of a short or three-quarter sleeve one, the Chileans are bundled up like they're going to brave their way through the tundra on their way to work. It's like these Santiaguinos (people from Santiago) were just desperately waiting for a cool autumn breeze, so they could whip out their beautiful, luxurious alpaca scarves, sweaters, caps, gloves, socks, and who knows what else they've woven from llama hair? While it all looks delightfully snuggly, I can't help but wonder if they're sweating buckets underneath, or if they really are that cold already. I'm a little frustrated that I brought so much "cold weather" clothing, especially since it weighs down my luggage and I don't seem to need it! Yes it gets colder at night, but by then I'm snuggled in my bed next to my best friend and we don't have a problem (or a heater that functions surprisingly. Most places in Santiago do not have indoor heating.) So much for the 8 pairs of tights that I brought, and my thick woolen skirt, and my North Face. I barely even wear my sweatshirt here! Plus, I just realized, when it's coldest in Santiago, we'll be going North where it's warmer.
     Oy vey, talk about climate change complaints. Oh well, I guess if you're gonna be called a gringa, might as well be for my clothes rather than my hair or skin or mannerisms. Oh wait, you mean, regular Chileans don't walk around listening to Harry Potter on their iPods and crying to it? Hmm, I guess I don't blend in here as much as I thought... ;)

TripAdvisor -y Warning!

¡¡¡Use Caution and proceed slowly when attempting to plan prolonged backpacking vacations!!!
      Today Jess, our friend Amy, and I met to start planning our big trip at the end of July. When I say end, I mean, the three weeks of July we have off because the children go on winter vacation (it's South America- opposite seasons people ;D ) Anyway, we figured it was high time to start booking tickets and such since we only have a month and a half left before we leave! Where does the time go? We were a little preoccupied moving apartments and getting settled into the new routine and location, so we finally got down to business today. Originally we had planned to work our way north through Chile and South America, then take a quick hop over to Buenos Aires to check out this AMAZING zoo which my lovely sister brought to my attention back in March. Once she showed me pictures of people holding baby tigers!!!!! I knew I would just have to go there. However, upon beginning to work through logistics today, we realized that it would just be easier to take a small side trip to Buenos Aires in June, and then spend more time in each location at the end. We will fly straight back here from Ecuador instead of all the way down to Buenos Aires and THEN back to Santiago.
     So, surprise! We're going to Buenos Aires in two weeks :D I can't wait to pet the tigers and hold baby Simbas in my lap oh my god!! It's going to be so wonderful; maybe we'll even learn how to tango, who knows! For now, I will just enjoy my Friday night in, planning tours, booking hostels, and dreaming about all the wonderful places we are going to go in a little over a month! Here's our new itinerary: Santiago -> San Pedro de Atacama, Chile -> Uyuni, Bolivia -> La Paz, Bolivia -> Lake Titicaca, Bolivia -> Cusco, Peru -> Lima, Peru -> Guayaquil, Ecuador -> Galapagos Islands!!! -> Quito, Ecuador -> Santiago, Chile. Jealous? ;)

Happy One Week Anniversary!

     So yes, a day late and a peso short, whatever. Happy one week in our wonderful new apartment!!! So far, we are LOVING it. Here is the grand tour: (pic pic pic)

Literary Transportation

     No I'm not talking about books on wheels, or even bookmobiles, but we'll get to that in a second. Sorry it's been a while, and sorry in advance for whining about being sick. This past week I was a little sick (read: I slept the entire day Sunday) but thankfully we had a national holiday on Tuesday, and most of the children had off from school on Monday as well, so I had plenty of time to recover. Until Wednesday when I hurt my ankle. Oh well. Made it through the week. It was tough having a full three classes for the work-week, let me tell you, but I braved my way through it ;)
    Lately I've been walking a lot and listening to Harry Potter audiobooks 1) because Harry Potter is amazing, 2) because it's the only set of books on my iPod, 3) because it's very boring to walk for over an hour anywhere even with music and 4) because I refuse to give up my daily walk to work even though we moved 8 metro stops further away. Am I crazy? Probably, seeing as I decided to stubbornly walk home from a class in Vitacura, a neighborhood THREE HOURS away from mine. However, my stubborn butt made it the 8.6 miles home in only 2.5 hours. Hence, the crappy ankle and countless blisters; nonetheless, the walk was enjoyable thanks to Harry's courageous efforts in the graveyard where Voldemort attempts to duel with and kill him yet again (HP and the Goblet of Fire, for those less crazy fans).
     There's something about listening to a book as you walk instead of music. I just feel more removed from everyone, more in my own world. I even cried a bit at this moment, "Mrs. Weasley set  the potion down on the beside cabinet, bent down, and put her arms around Harry. He had no memory of ever being hugged like this, as though by a mother." It was too dark for anyone to notice thankfully, but there is something magical about a book that can move you to tears. I've only read a few books in my time here thus far, but traveling and reading go hand in hand for me. For many people I believe. There are countless book exchanges in hostels across the globe; people read on trains, in airport terminals, on the bus, and waiting for whatever journey is next on their list. If you don't have the means to travel, books can take you just as far away from your home without even having to deal with the smelly man who stole your aisle seat on the plane or the nonexistent "breakfast" your hostel guaranteed you.
     Though I have been extremely lucky in my life to travel so much in such a short time, I continue to make leaps and bounds across our planet, through space and even time, with books. They have such a power that many people ignore. I can be living in Chile while on a train through the Alps. This summer I hope to expand and then shrink my reading list with many new titles recommended from fellow travelers. What's on your reading list for the summer? Any good titles I should look for in the next hostel?

Courageous Cooking Adventures

TUESDAY MAY 21st, 2013
     The challenge: 6 recipes, 11 hours, 2 girls, one small Chilean kitchen. Can they do it??

We moved!!!! Again!!

     So, we finally moved to a new apartment, thanks to a lot of stress and planning and some help from our coworker Daniela, and Andrea at TeachingChile.
Here are some pics of the apartment set up for a dinner party :)

Happy (Belated) Mother's Day

     Happy Mother's Day to all my child-bearing readers out there. I hope everyone enjoyed their day. Jess and I took a nice, long walk to get some fresh air and exercise after a rather lazy Saturday in. On our walk we noticed many, many families out to brunch or another meal to celebrate. Even the nasty woman we live with went out to eat, which was surprising since her family usually comes to our apartment every Sunday for dinner. Now today, obviously, Jess and I were both missing our moms big time, and our families in general. We both Skyped with them however, and I was so happy to watch my mom open her presents and tell me about her life lately. I wish I could have sent her a card, but it would only arrive in time for Father's Day- mail back and forth isn't too speedy. This holiday is a big deal here, and seemed almost as commercialized as it is back home in America. TV commercials, ads, store displays, everyone selling chocolates and spa-type supplies for el Día de la madre. Even our company suggested we create English Mother's Day cards with our kids as a warm-up activity. Mine usually ended up taking at least half the lesson to create one, but all activities are useful as long as learning (and English!) are involved. Here is the result of 40 minutes of hardcore coloring and spelling (and re-spelling, and some writing and copying) of one of my students, Cecilia (9 years old):

And here are my two elementary girls, Helena and Isabel (yes they're blonde and yes they're Chilean) hard at work on their cards:

     How do you celebrate Mother's Day, wherever you are in the world? Let us know in the comments!

Happy Birthday Jess!!!!

     This weekend, it was my best friend Jess's birthday (check out her blog here). Technically it was today, but who has a birthday party on a Sunday night? Anyway, we decided to celebrate her American-ness by going to Applebee's! There is one in the mall near our house, so we invited all our friends down here to come out and celebrate with us. We walked around a bit beforehand, got a delicious ice cream to share, and then we headed over. The Applebee's here has a special, 1 appetizer and 2 entrées for 15,000 pesos, roughly $30 or 15 each between the two of us. We chose boneless buffalo wings for the appetizer. Sadly, they were nothing like the real deal, very greasy, not at all spicy, and made with dark meat. Oh well. Next up we enjoyed our main courses: chicken alfredo pasta for Jess and petite sirloin with mashed potatoes and a salad for me. These were accompanied by our delicious strawberry daiquiris.

     We had a great time chatting with our friends, Daniel and John, and loved meeting John's girlfriend Viviana. To wrap up our delicious meals, we splurged on churros with chocolate (that's cho-co-lah-tay haha) and manjár. Manjár is a scrumptious, sweet, thick sauce, made from boiling cans of condensed milk. It's a little like caramel but definitely different. We all battled each other's hands to get our churros into those amazing dipping sauces. I wish I had taken a picture but at that point, we were so engrossed by all the sugar in front of us, cameras were far from our minds.
     Next up, we stopped at our place to strap on our high heels and head out for a night of awesome dancing. Here are some pictures of our fun:

      HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS!!!! My best friend and possible soulmate, I couldn't have gotten this far in Chile without you <3

It's Labor Day

     No, I'm not confused. In most of the rest of the world, Labor Day falls on May 1st. To celebrate, everything is closed. Yay, a day off. Oh wait, when you say closed you mean all the things we want to do with our day off are closed as well? Oh...
     I spent about 2 hours between the day before and the actual holiday walking around to different stores trying to grab some staples for the next few days. I was sadly mistaken, as each time I reached a store, it had closed 5 minutes earlier. Brisk walk to Lider, arrive at 935? Closed at 930. Run to the mall to go to Jumbo, arrive at 950? Closed at 10 but they weren't letting people in anymore. Ugh so frustrating! No indulging in any cravings, no chocolate, no Ramitas (amazing, salty, mini breadsticks), nothing. I ended up catching up on some photo editing and organizing, computer backing up-ing, and one single blogpost. I had the blues. I felt lazy and unaccomplished for the day. Blah. I'm sure most of the Chileans were celebrating and enjoying themselves, but I'm trying to save up some money for Jess's birthday party this weekend, so I stayed in.
     I did try to get a little exercise, but after lesson planning for most of the afternoon, by the time I got out of the house and on my way, it was already dark. I liked the route I had planned, but was nervous to be walking roads I didn't know by myself at night, so instead of the full 3 hours, I called it quits 50 minutes in and just doubled back on myself. Even that plan remained unaccomplished.
     One highlight of my evening was learning that my favorite show New Girl had aired again this week and I enjoyed one of the best episodes so far while having some tea in my room. Yes, I have become a convert. I wouldn't say I'm addicted or anything like that, but I do enjoy a nice, sweet cup of flavored water, beyond my usual cold tap H2O :) It's soothing and the warmth is especially nice during nights, which have become fairly chilly here in spite of the hotter temperatures during the afternoon. Originally, Jess and I had hoped to have tea and toast as our real dinner each night, but we can't bring ourselves to have such a huge meal at lunchtimes, and also, our class schedules are not very conducive to eating a lot at 2 and then nothing again til 9. Oh well.
   So, who else enjoys tea out there? Any brands I should try? And what do you do to get yourself out of a do-nothing slump? Suggestions in the comments :)