Chabelita in Chile

The next step...

2011-06-09T17:19:00.002-04:00

is this where I'll be blogging from.

Chabelita in Chile is no more

2011-05-26T13:10:00.002-04:00

So, this blog has been stagnant for a really long time and I just realized that it's going to stay that way. I'm pretty horrible at keeping up with a blog in general but despite that, I do plan on starting a new one, which I'll post here as soon as I figure out what it will be. For now, all I know is that this is the end of Chabelita in Chile.

Stay tuned for the reinvetion...

Summer Slump

2011-01-29T23:37:00.003-05:00

I inevitably fall into a bit of a down period during the summer months in Chile. I really hate summers here because it's so hot and there's no rain. That, added to the fact that I'm still reliving my wonderful trip back in Virginia, makes this time the hardest one to be living in the southern hemisphere.

What does help me get me through these months is after work beers and weekly trips to the produce market to get gorgeous fruit and vegetables to cook. I also took it up a notch this year and joined a gym and got a personal trainer to make sure I stay busy until Fall.

I won't be too much of a downer here because once we get the first rain here and I get a whiff of Autumn air, I'll be rejuvenated. There's something so wonderful about Fall to me. Harvest time is the most wonderful time, in my opinion. I haven't experienced a Virginia fall in four years and I'm going a little bit crazy without it, but I make do with Chilean Fall. This year will be so much better because my job mandates trips to the winery to be a part of the grape harvest (sucks, I know!).

Just being around the changing leaves and the night smell will make me giddy and energized and excited about what's to come.

I remember when I was in high school and my English teacher was going over possible college application essay topics and one was choosing your favorite word. Mine was then and most likely always will be harvest. There is nothing that makes me feel more comfortable and at home than that word. It makes me think of Virginia Falls and annual trips to the Farm Aid concert and horses and apples and orange-colored leaves and just pure happiness.

So, amidst this wretched heat, I am comforted by the thought of Autumn, which of course makes me think of one of my two favorite Canadian musicians, Neil Young:

You know you need a trip to the U.S. when…

2010-11-17T11:07:00.003-05:00

You get tears in your eyes just walking into the US Embassy.

YUP. That was me today.

I have to add more pages to my passport before my trip home so I went to the US Embassy this morning. I’ve never been there before so maybe my excitement was also seeing it for the first time but the second I walked through security, my eyes filled with tears. And then I thought about what I’ll feel when I FINALLY walk into baggage claim at my home airport and see my family and there were official drops dripping down my cheeks and I was THAT girl among the hundreds of people waiting for their visa interviews. Not gonna lie, I LOVED that all I had to do – literally - was flash my US passport to the guard and I was ushered in ahead of the 10 Chileans waiting for their interviews outside the embassy walls.

I’m always excited to go home and happy to see my family, but it’s been almost a year (the longest I’ve ever been away from home) and I am READY. This not-so-patriotic girl is ready to sing the national anthem, buy an Old Navy shirt, and eat some freedom fries!

But most of all, I cannot wait to lounge around in my parents’ house with my beloved dog, drinking wine and playing board games with my family.

My fix for today was Starbucks coffee and will continue into takeout sushi and illegal downloads of my favorite US shows. Oh hell, I’ll just say it, AMERICAN shows!

Working Girl

2010-11-09T19:30:00.005-05:00

So, not that I said anything about it on here (at least, I don't think I did), but according to my plans circa my last blog post I should be in Virginia eating pomegranates and drinking champagne with my mom right now...

BUT I'm in Santiago. With an incredible new job! No longer teaching English (no offense to English teachers. I love teaching, but never saw myself doing it long-term so I don't know how I made it through over 2 years of it).

I started my job at the beginning of October and tonight is the first night I haven't been too tired to do anything other than pour myself a glass of wine and jump into bed. Lucky for me I can still do that and on my new job's tab (not exactly but close enough).

I got a job working for a winery...a pretty damn cool one (winery and job), too. That means I'll be extending my life in Chile and maybe the life of this blog, although it hasn't had much of one lately.

After over a month of work, I'm feeling settled and comfortable and competent. My first few weeks were full of ups and downs as I was learning everything...EVERYTHING. You see, I went to this job interview and said, flat out, I have zero experience in two pretty big sections of this job description, but I really want it and I'll work hard and learn the stuff I don't know and presto-chango, I'm working 9-5 (in Chile it's actually 8:30 to 6:30 but there are no cool songs to allude to using that schedule).

So the job's going very well and I'm thrilled to have started what could very well be a *gulp* career, but my fingers are tired (I write all day for this job) and my glass of wine is full...or RE-full.

Yes, I'll have my coffee with some legs

2010-09-08T13:49:00.005-04:00

It's pretty clear that I am a proud resident of Santiago Centro and a morning like this one is exactly why. In under 45 minutes I cashed/deposited checks at two banks (NOT the norm for me), went to the supermarket next door, AND stopped by one of my favorite Santiago Centro cafes: Cafe Caribe. This incredible weather has a lot to do with it, but it's also the convenience of everything.

I have been thinking about Chilenidad since reading the past few posts over at Cachando Chile and talking it over with my students. Yesterday, we made a list of all the things that we think of when we think of Chilenidad and one of my students wrote Cafe con Piernas, which got me thinking about how much I love SOME of them and how much I would miss them outside of Chile.

I'm pretty confident that everyone living in Chile or even researching a trip to Chile knows about the famous Cafe con Piernas. I also think most newly arrived visitors hit one up within days of arriving here because they're written up in every guide book and even featured on the travel channel hit show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

I certainly visited Cafe Haiti my first week here and didn't plan on going back after my token tourist experience. I thought, "OK, weird and uncomfortable outfits, kinda skeezy men hitting on the servers, and I have to stand up--no thanks."

Now, I see Cafe con Piernas (the ones where you can SEE through the glass, not the strip club ones) in a whole different light. It's a place where you can get an espresso and soda water for about $1.25 in under a minute. Seriously, those women work FAST and they are equally nice to women as they are to men because everyone seems to tip prety well there. What I also love is that I can indulge in a cigarette as I drink my coffee (probably one of my favorite combinations in the world, as much as I try not to smoke) and feel blissfully at home among the groups of co-workers having a quick cigarette and coffee break together.

Don't get me wrong. There are things I don't like. I still hear some men saying gross things to the servers and watching as they laugh it off since this guy's a regular and he tips well. That part makes me skin crawl, but I'm also surprised at how ingenious the business idea is if you take out the skimpy outfits. I've always joked about starting a Cafe con Piernas for women, but I'd be happy with what they have now minus the dresses and heels because if you take that aspect out of it, it's a cheaper and faster alternative to Starbucks and it's just around the corner from me.

So, thanks to my student (who I hope was talking about the same cafe I'm talking about), I'm adding Cafe Caribe to my Chilenidad list. I love the place and will go more than usual this month.

Anyone else like them as much as I do? Anyone think it's horrible for a woman to go to a place like that? I'm interested to read what others think.

Qualms and Tights

2010-09-07T00:23:00.008-04:00

For anyone who knows me, it goes without saying that I almost always wear a dress or sweats--there is no in between for me. If you stop by my apartment, I'll be in my pjs 99% of the time and if you see me on the street, I'll have one of the, ummm, 5 dresses I have here on. With a dress comes tights or leggings and then the problem.

I have such a hard time buying tights in Santiago. Well, that's not true. I have zero problem buying tights, but a big problem with making them fit correctly. One brand's size chart is nothing like the other and the whole talla única (one size fits all) thing doesn't work for me or anyone else I know. Seriously. This winter I bought this gorgeous pair of wool tights I was so excited to wear/be warm in and they didn't fit me or two of my other friends (we all have varied body types so it's a pretty good test of what this "one size" should be).

Today, I decided my outfit for something important would include black tights and then realized that I, with the help of my cat, had ruined every pair I had and thus needed a new one. My saint of a boyfriend went to about 10 different stores looking for what I wanted while I got ready. Saint Italo came back with 4 pairs that were all the same size and yet only two ended up working.

This is frustrating because I lose money when a pair doesn't work out since you typically can't return tights here, but also love the selection here in Chile so much I'd rather run the risk of losing out on some money.

What is my point here? Because I'm caught in this vicious tight buying and wearing cycle, I am in possession of virtually the entire Monarch inventory. If anyone should ever need tights or leggings in a pinch, just ask me! I've got about plenty of pairs to spare (yes, think Seinfeld).

Cooking Again

2010-09-04T15:23:00.002-04:00

Because Italo has class every Saturday and I tutor, we usually grab a quick bite to eat on the way to somewhere else and have gotten out of the practice of going to la vega and cooking a big meal. Today, my kiddies were down south with their parents so I got back in the kitchen. I bought some reineta and veggies and grabbed the coconut milk my friend gave me and made Moqueca, a Brazilian fish stew. It was delicious, but the coconut milk makes it a heavy dish that would make my cuñada sick just thinking about how that mixes with the paprika, red pepper, and other spices. It's perfect if you want to lounge around afterwards, but now I need to go out and all I want is a nap!

I finally decided to take a picture, but it's from my computer so it's no masterpiece:

Vamos a Decir que NO!

2010-09-01T10:29:00.009-04:00

I don't know how it took me so long to see this video, and the others, but I'm glad I finally did:

This is from the 1988 Chilean National Plebiscite-where the Chilean people voted to end Augusto Pinochet's 16 1/2 year rule. Well, 56% of the Chilean people voted that way. The others were singing a different tune. Literally:

If you type anything about the Chilean Plebiscite on youtube, you'll find plenty of videos from both sides (more from "no") and if you're like me, you'll get lost watching the doctored videos with red images dripping down the screen to reveal burning buses and chaos.

Now, I'm certainly not going to get into a Pinochet discussion per se, but lately I have not been able to avoid this taboo conversation topic as much as I'd like to sometimes.

Because of my job, I teach mainly one type of man (nope, no lady student of mine fits the description) who share many things in common. They are wealthy, Catholic (more precisely Opus Dei), and conservative engineers who studied at either Universidad Los Andes or La Católica. I'm not generalizing here. It's a fact. I have all of their information in my teacher's binder. Here in Chile, these characteristics are pretty much code for "I'm a Pinochetista, or at least my parents were. And I voted for Piñera."* Most anyone in Chile will tell you that they can figure out (and they do try to figure it out) which "side" of the Allende/Pinochet uhh, "issue" a person is on within the first few minutes of meeting them and quite frankly, it's impossible not to. The signs are obvious and it's just something you pick up on here.

When I teach I don't bring up the old Allende/Pinochet** discussion ever for many reasons. Recently, however, my students have wanted to talk about this and everything associated with it when they've never even mentioned it before. Last week, one student laid his opinion out on the table and then went on and on about his feelings on having kept his mouth shut before. It was more like a therapy session on not being able to talk about his beliefs than anything else. Then on Friday, I had a much louder student give me an angry history lecture on the Chilean military (not at all what I learned from 4 years of Latin American Studies and 6 months of Chilean history courses here). Not a huge deal, but it's just so out of the norm that something's got to be going on. I really got the sense that these two students are fed up with being quiet about things and aren't going to stand it much longer. I'm extrapolating A LOT since I only have two examples to go by, but I definitely sense a change in how people who hummed along to the sí song back in 1988 talk about their political beliefs and I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience.

*Someone pointed out that I'm making a direct comparison between Pinochet and Piñera, politically speaking, which is not what I mean to do, but I guess I need some writing classes to get that point across better :) What I mean to say is that this group of students I'm talking about supported Pinochet and also voted for Piñera. Piñera is not at all like Pinochet and I don't want to make readers think it's like that or that I think that.

**I'm also not saying that Allende was some dream president. AT ALL. I definitely sympathize more with the left in this case, but it would be naive of me to think one's the bad guy and the other's the good guy. And I tend to think every politician has a little (maybe a lot) of bad in him/her anyhow.

Milk Money

2010-08-18T10:16:00.003-04:00

First, welcome my mom (and I'm sure my dad, too) to the blog. I have never told anyone at home that I have this, but a few internet savvy people have found it anyway. I guess it's time to come clean to the folks back in VA and admit I'm a blogger:

Hi, my name is Isabel and I have a blog.

----------------------------------------------------

I'm in Starbucks right now. I'm in A Starbucks at least 4 times a week. I sit and use the free internet and drink an OK coffee of the day. I have almost always ordered the coffee of the day because it's quick and it's cheap. They fill it up while I'm paying and I get out of Starbucks within minutes.

This is not the case in Chile. Because I ask for a coffee with "one finger of milk" (this is our system so that I don't get a cortado, or half coffee/half milk because my "poquito" is not the same as other peoples' "poquito"), the coffee must go down the line to the espresso bar. Always. Without fail. Inevitably, I wait along with everyone else to get my coffee with milk. This is because there is no milk on the counter with the sugar and the napkins. Once, I went to a Santiago Starbucks and there was milk on the counter, but I haven't seen it since then. I have wondered why they don't put the milk out here and have come up with two possibilities:

1. The milk isn't hot if it's out on the counter. Many Chileans I know love hot milk. They drink it at breakfast and they buy a cortado mostly for the heated milk. When your coffee goes through the espresso line, you get warm to hot milk and sometimes even foam (I love those days) in your coffee. It sorta makes sense that the milk isn't out on the counter if people are going to be asking the employees to heat it up anyway.

2. People will use the free milk too liberally. Again because many Chileans love their milk, maybe Starbucks is worried some will help themselves to glassfulls of it once they've finished their coffee. I'm pretty positive this is at least part of the reason, but you never know. It's just funny to think about because it would never occur to me to refill my cup with milk, but it has always occurred to me to refill my soda at Taco Bell even if you're not supposed to.

The kitchen/bedroom??

2010-08-15T00:53:00.004-04:00

It's been a lazy saturday evening after a crazy busy week and I'm topping it all off with a big glass of wine in bed while I stream Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations episodes. I pretty much always watch Anthony Bourdain and drink wine frequently, but I just started to think about how much of the wine I drink in Chile is drunk in bed.

Eating/drinking in bed is one Chilean (or maybe just the Chileans I know?) habit I've adopted. I kinda hate it/kinda love it. Italo and I often eat breakfast in bed on Sunday mornings and since we both work late, we also end up crashing in bed when we get home at night and because I require a glass of red wine after a long day, I end up drinking it in bed because I'm so tired. This may seem symptomatic of alcoholism to some, but I see it as my adaptation of a pretty universal Chilean custom: eating in bed.

I was never, EVER allowed to do this growing up and I had no problem with it. Eating in bed just doesn't feel right. I hate crumbs in the bed and since I'm a messy person, they're inevitable. But when I first got here, my host family would always encourage my breakfast and me to get a room. In fact, we all went our separate ways in the morning to "enjoy" our crappy nescafe "en cama" and then I just sort of picked up the practice and never looked back.

Now, I rarely have time to eat breakfast and I almost never eat lunch at my apartment during the work week, so I've taken to eating my dinner or at least taking my wine to bed with me. Since I'm messy, this also means that halfway through the next day, you're almost sure to find an empty (SOMETIMES half-empty, but not often) wine glass on my nightstand. Some people have a glass of water next to them. Others just a bedside lamp and a magazine. But me? No. No. I have the remnants of my nightcap.

I don't think many other people drink wine in bed, but plenty of Chileans drink tea and eat bread inbed. I still hate that I do this because the thought of crumbs in my sheets drives me crazy, but I haven't been able to fight it, either.There's something so decadently wrong about making your bed your kitchen table, too.It's also completely understandable sometimes. Especially during the winter months where the only semi-warm place is under the covers, it's hard to argue against it.

I've resolved to kick this nasty habit once I have heat and manage to get the tv out of the bedroom and into the tv room where it belongs (another Chilean habit I cannot shake), but in the mean time, salud and goodnight!

All Dried Up

2010-07-19T11:06:00.005-04:00

This winter is incredibly dry. Most winters in Santiago are dry, but this one is taking its toll on my body. To start with the ugly, it gives me dandruff. Generally I buy shampoo for oily hair, but that's all changed this winter. Even my face flakes if I don't moisturize it 3 times a day. EW, I know, but I buy special moisturizer that I've never found here so this winter is costing me dolla dolla bills.

Second comes the gross. I got my first nosebleed in about uhhhhh 15 years yesterday. I was talking on gchat with my sister and thinking, wow one of my nostrils is bigger than the other and then I realized it wasn't bigger, it was just dripping blood and looked bigger in my computer's camera. My dad's side of the family is known for nosebleeds in winter time, but it's never happened to me. Santiago winter has changed that. I am now my father's daughter. I can feel the sting each time I breathe deeply through my nose.

Third comes the OLD. My hands are absolutely, positively 40 years older than I am. They are so wrinkly I can't look at them without freaking myself out. If anyone's seen the movie The Others, remember when you think you'll find a little girl playing under a veil, but rather you see an old lady's hand sticks out from underneath it?? Sorry if I ruined that surprise but my face is the little girl and my hands are the old, wrinkly lady. I'm resorting to sleeping with Vasoline smeared hands in cotton gloves.

I never thought I'd say this, but I think I miss (SOME OF) the humidity of Northern Virginia. At least my hair, skin and nose are normal there. Now, I have to worry about things I thought I'd get to put off for almost another 10 years. Thanks, Chile, thanks.

Cat Castration

2010-07-15T12:16:00.002-04:00

I'm sure someone has already posted about this, but it cracks me up/infuriates me how so many Chileans view fixing your male cat (and dog) as cruel and unnecessary.

This morning I had an early private class and then I went to return my friend's cat carrier that I had borrowed last week to take McNulty to get the big snip. I brought the empty carrier to my student's apartment and naturally, he was curious about it. When I told him what I used it for he said, "PLEASE tell me it was a gata and not a gato!!". The look on his face when I told him McNulty is indeed a gatO was that of excruciating pain. He just couldn't understand why on earth I would do such a thing to an animal I supposedly love, especially since he's not the one who would make the mistake of getting pregnant. This CRACKED ME UP and made me want to give him a little refresher course on the birds and the bees. Hello! It takes two to tango.

This student is otherwise very intelligent, but he just can't grasp why it's necessary to both spay female cats AND neuter male cats. To him, it's not my problem if McNulty sleeps around the town because we won't have any of his illegitimate kittens to deal with. When I brought up the fact that other people would have to deal with them he said, "wow, that's very considerate of you to fix him for other people." And then he went back to the fact that it was painful to even think about what I had done when in reality, it is much more invasive and painful for female cats than it is for male cats to get fixed.

Now, I don't want to single just this one student out because I've heard it from so many people, which explains why so many Chileans prefer male pets to female pets; because then they don't have to "worry" about anything. This is one of those cultural differences that I can laugh at, but when I really start to think about what's behind that thinking it's upsetting.

I won't get into that (in this post, at least), but come on Chileans. Take animal balls for what they are! In fact, take all balls for what they are: 50% responsible for offspring.

These boots really are made for walking

2010-04-27T10:59:00.006-04:00

So maybe I've lived in Chile too long to know any better, but I've had a lot of luck shopping the past week...so much so that I'd say I really like the clothes that are out right now. In fact, I LOVE what I bought. Granted, one thing was a ridiculously cheap dress originally from J. Crew but my other purchase was a pair of Chilean boots I just adore. I might even go as far as to say that Chile has a better boot selection than the US. WOW, yup. I said it.

I think I can rationalize this by saying that I prefer one Chilean style (the shorter, wide boots with no heels). The U.S. is teeming with sexy, tall boots that I'll never even try on. Why? Because I cannot wear them and if "what not to Wear" and my mother have taught me anything, it's that good fit always trumps what's fashionable. I'm too short and my calves are too big for anything tall to go on them so I adore the tiny Chilean boots that don't come up far enough to turn my ankles into those dreaded cankles. What I also love about my recent purchases is that both were very reasonably priced which is a rarity when shopping in Chile.

What's going on here? Are things "en oferta" actually going to be a deal? Are we going to see a Target and an H&M pop up so we can look both stylish and afford our apartments? Is Chile finally realizing its clothes are ridiculously overpriced??

HAH, NO! I know it was just luck. I don't think Chile's quite there yet on the affordable, well-made, fashionable clothing. But I'm happy with my two good deals.

Here's a picture of my beloved footwear (I originally took that picture to show my mom/get her approval which is why you can see newly-mohawked Italo in the background):

Show me the [Meyer] lemons

2010-04-20T11:21:00.005-04:00

Saying that I love to cook is an understatement. When a student or two cancels a class and I have some extra time, I browse my favorite food blogs, make a list, run to la Vega to get ingredients, then come home and put on my favorite music and start cooking--this is when I'm happiest.

I've always fought female stereotypes and anyone who knows me knows that in my relationship, Italo and I tend to swap positions and I do a lot of the "husband" things and he does a lot of the "wife" things. With that said, if I could stay at home and cook all day for my friends and family I would live a wonderful life. Ask me to clean the place afterwards and I'm not so thrilled.

Now, this obsession with cooking and food combined with my living in Chile often poses problems because it's simply too expensive or downright impossible to buy certain ingredients. I like to cook according to the seasons so I get the best deal which makes it hard to run out and cook whatever's all the rage among the U.S. foodies. This makes it almost unbearable to read posts and see pictures of certain things.

Today and for the past several months it has been Meyer lemons. I am absolutely DYING to try these things. People are writing about them like they're the cat's pajamas and I want one! I want one so badly. I want to make ginger lemonade, and these unbelievable sounding puddings and I just want to bite into one to see what the fuss is all about.

Meyer lemons are supposed to taste like a mix between a lemon and a mandarin or sweet orange. Some people eat them like apples which gets me really excited because I have always loved eating the insides of orange and lemon peels. This is what they look like and they are taunting me everyday:

If anyone finds them in the Santiago area (I WILL travel for them), PLEASE let me know and I will invite you over for whatever I make with them if they are all they're cracked up to be (if you're not a creeper, that is).

Vengo de la Cordillera al Mar

2010-04-19T11:09:00.012-04:00

Well over a year ago my sister got the idea of hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and started planning a trip with her boyfriend. My first thoughts were, "hey! you're going to fly all the way to South America and NOT visit your little sister in Chile?" But on Christmas morning 2009 I opened up my gift from my sister and guess what it was: a trip to Machu Picchu!

Fast forward four months and my sister, her boyfriend, two friends, Italo and I meet up in Cusco (Italo and I had just taken the 24-hour bus ride from hell but the second we got to Cusco almost all was forgotten). We had a few days to tool around before our trek and got to know the city which is gorgeous. Then, it was time to meet our guide and pack our packs.

I was particularly nervous about the hike because I had vowed to quit smoking 1 month before the trip, but after the earthquake I gave myself an extra week, you know, because I thought I was going to die then and didn't so may as well ruin my lungs. Then, I quit for about a week and then, all bets were off. During this time, I was also running to get in shape (I live in Santiago Centro so that's almost equally bad for your lungs) and that plus altitude got me really nervous.

Meanwhile, my boyfriend who refuses to exercise and will not quit smoking could probably run a marathon in record time tomorrow because he's just annoying like that.

Anyhow, back to the hike. Our first day we met the 2 other people in our group (we made up 6 of the 8) and immediately hit it off with Frank and Andre. This was a relatively easy day until the last 2 hours that were straight up. I hadn't slept the entire night before so I'm pretty sure I shed a tear halfway up because I was so tired and dreading the next day because everyone says day 2 is the hardest.
This is me before the rain and before it got rough

Luckily, a lot of coca tea and a good night's sleep pumped me up for the next day and we all had a blast despite walking 4 hours up the steepest stairs/rocks/dirt I've ever seen and then straight down only to eat lunch and do the same thing again. The views we saw were absolutely incredible and made it ok that I'm now missing two toenails because of the downhill parts (duct tape is god-sent on hiking trips when your body starts falling apart).

We were all smiles from here on out

From night 2 on out everything was a piece of cake (not really, but in hindsight it was) and so much fun. The company we used provided us with some of the best food we had in Peru and really high quality service so I was sad to say goodbye to our crew at 4am on the last day until I realized it was only a few hours to our final destination. It was kind of a race from the entrance to the Sun Gate, but since it was overcast that was a big letdown and we just pushed on to Machu Picchu.

Our wonderful group

Let me just say that it REALLY is all it's cracked up to be. I'm the kind of person who is usually let down when something is hyped up, but this was incredible. We were all like little kids taking pictures and marveling at the views while our tour guide got angrier and angrier because we just couldn't sit still and listen to him. Unfortunately, our camera died on our 2nd picture there so I don't have pictures on my computer, but Italo was clever enough to film some videos with our Flip Camera set to, of course, Los Jaivas--a Chilean band that was invited to play on Machu Picchu, which explains the title of this post. That song, Pregón para Iluminarse (not one of the songs they played on Machu Picchu, but it's my favorite), was stuck in my head the whole hike, but I couldn't get the tune right and it became a running joke. I still can't do it!!

The rest of the trip was great, but nothing compared to Machu Picchu. I was really disappointed in my Lima experience but I'll blog about that and the really stressful parts of our trip (it ended with an email from my suegra saying our entire apartment had flooded and we would be coming home to a floorless, empty apartment) next time. Before; however, I'll leave you with my favorite picture from the trip because I love getting dipped :)

Fuerza Chile

2010-03-08T13:07:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted since before the earthquake and am just getting the inspiration to write about it.

I was in my apartment, about to get into bed when the earthquake hit. Luckily, I was with Italo and we both reacted quickly and ran to the doorframe. It was the scariest experience of my life and at one point, I thought we were going to die because I mistook the sound the buildings made moving for crashing down.

Having said that, I am so lucky. Even though it was a horrible experience for me, we didn't so much as lose a glass or plate. So many people here lost their houses and loved ones and I feel fortunate to say that my loved ones are OK.

I think everyone in Chile was in a grieving state last week because we all went to work, but didn't really work and we all hung out, but only talked about the earthquake. We've also had plenty of tremors to remind us that it's not over yet.

I have also been inundated with friends and family contacting me because they want to help in any way possible. Any way, that is, that does not involve donating money to the big organizations. So, it has become my job to find other ways to use the money my amazing family and friends have so generously donated to help Chile.

Last week, we found plenty of wonderful people taking supplies to their families and friends down south and now, Italo and I are getting money together to travel down south once we can be of more help.

My question is what is everyone else planning on doing? From reading posts on facebook, it's clear that all of my gringa/o and chilean friends alike helping and I would like to put together a list of all the ways people can contribute to write a letter to my local newspaper in the U.S. I am aware of all of the big organizations, but am not interested in involving them so anything small-scale would be better. Thanks in advance!

Dude, where's my (Italo's) bike?

2010-02-24T20:42:00.010-05:00

In order to save money and get a little more exercise, I started riding my (well, Italo's) bike everywhere. At first, I was terrified of getting hit by a bus, but I soon felt (almost) comfortable riding everywhere. My place in El Centro to El Golf? No prob! Riding with the micros through the center down to Barrio Brasil? Chya, easy peasy. Riding the bike to Providencia and locking it up outside? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

So, I had a 1-hour class yesterday in Providencia. I picked my pole carefully and since I had locked my bike there before, I felt comfortable it would be OK. I wrapped my lock through every spoke and bar and wheel I could. I wiped the inevitable sweat off my forehead, drank Santiago's finest tap water, and took the elevator up to the 22nd floor to my class with my helmut swinging from my backpack, feeling cool.

Fast-foward 1 hour and I'm a lot richer since my student paid me for the whole month. I call my honey to plan to meet for lunch and round the corner to get on my sweet ride and then, I'm brought back down to Earth when I realize my boyfriend's pride and joy (OK, that's a little overkill, but he loved that bike!) is nowhere to be seen. Feeling like an idiot (and a jerk for getting my boyfriend's bike stolen), I manage to tell Italo (since I'm talking on the phone with him when I realize his prized possession is gone and probably halfway to Las Persas to be sold by the motherf**ker who cut my lock and stole our ride). Being the greatest guy in the world that he is, Italo doesn't miss a beat in telling me to get home and not to worry about it and that the important thing is that I'm OK.

What's lamer than someone thinking they're so cool for riding their bike everywhere, you ask? I'll tell you. It's me, helmet still in tow, having to buy a metro ticket since I ditched my BIP pass when I ditched Transantiago for the bike.

So here I sit, next to my bike-less boyfriend, feeling like a jerk and hoping I never see that model again because I think I may accuse some innocent person of stealing from me.

After researching it, apparently this is the only kind of lock that works so I will be buying several and putting them all over the next bike:

So, my dear boyfriend, even though you don't want to hear it because you really don't seem the slightest bit mad at me, this is my public apology. I'm sorrrrrrrry that beautiful bike isn't sitting outside on our patio tonight.

----------------------------------------

On the bright side, we have a kitten who is adorable and fitting in wonderfully here. Say hello to McNulty:

This Must be the Place, my packing song

2009-12-13T11:36:00.006-05:00

As I pack today, I can't help but think about the amazing first season of the tv series Rome I just finished or how great it would be if by some miracle I found out before stepping on the plane that Frei and Piñera weren't the two candidates to go on to the segunda ronda of the presidential elections (big fat chance, I know, but I'm dreaming big).

And I'm also excited to see my sister graduate from Georgetown after 27 months of hell in their nurse anesthesia program because that's means that we all get her back after her almost 2 1/2 year stint of nothing but studying and working (we're really kicking it off with a 2-week trip to Peru in April).

I also get to see one of my absolute favorite people in the world after almost 2 years apart, my best friend from college whom I adore/admire/respect/have the most fun ever with, H. She's flying to Virginia from Seattle on Friday and I have the perfect and most fitting surprise planned for when I pick her up at the airport (I'll post pictures from my NEW laptop that actually works once I get it from the DC apple store).

And of course, I am so happy to be spending the holidays with my parents and my sister. My family needs some quality holiday time together this year after the year and a half we've had with two untimely and obviously painful deaths in the family and my parents' ongoing struggle to keep their house. Of course, it would be so much better if Italo were going with me because he seems to make everyone feel better, but it just wasn't in the cards this year so we'll have to make due.

Off to try and fit as many bottles of wine in my suitcase possible without going over the 50-pound limit. Here's a great live version of the song:

Happy Holidays!!

How to Alienate a Gringo

2009-12-11T14:50:00.004-05:00

I'm following Heather's and Abeja's lead on how to alienate a gringo. Since we offend easily, this could be an endless list but I'm keeping it short and Chile-specific:

1. Say you don't understand their Spanish
This is certainly true sometimes, but come on, you reallllly can't understand that she just said hola? I can always call the moment a cashier or taxi driver is going to quadruple the speed at which he speaks (yes, this is Chileno-specific) and the number of chilenismos he uses. Lots of Chilenos LOVE when Gringos don't understand them and Gringos, of course, hate it.

2. Ask, "are you all really as cold/unfriendly as you seem in movies"?

This question itself doesn't bother me at all, it's just the number of times I've had to answer it.

3. Cut in line

short Chilena with her empty shoulder bag pushes in front of you in line to cargar her Bip--nuff said

4. Give your children bebida when they say they´re thirsty

This one's obvious, but it gets to me more and more as I see the children drinking coke getting younger and younger (think a baby who can't walk yet drinking it from his/her bottle)

5. Make Jote(wine + coke = gross) out of the nice bottle of wine they brought for you

i may have to continue this one but that's all I've got for now...

I stole a kitten last night

2009-12-06T17:53:00.004-05:00

Yes, my two group blog posts are half-finished and yes, Italo and I accidentally stole a kitten last night.

We were enjoying a Saturday night at home with wine, peruvian takeout, and Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes after an exhausting afternoon translating and editing for my boss, but we were interrupted by the persistent cries of what was clearly a distressed kitten. Larry David had to wait while we got the keys to our rooftop hot tub (had NO idea we had one) to see where this kitten was. We didn't find anything up there so we started down the stairs so we could check out of the hall windows.

On the 7th floor, we realized the cries were coming from an apartment which was strange because any cat owner in their right mind wouldn't let cries like that go unattended. So, I peaked out the hall window and saw a kitten stuck out on the edge of the apartment balcony and started freaking out because I thought the kitten would either fall off of it or try to jump to me.

Fast forward to after Italo tried to fit through the window that wouldn't slide open while I held his legs so he wouldn't fall and we had successfully saved/stolen a beautiful kitten from our building supervisor's apartment. By the time we got to the first floor, I was so worried the guy who owned the cat would no doubt think we were NUTS for taking his cat and also probably think we were trying to rob his place. Luckily, our doorman had our back since several people had called down asking about the kitten and he promised to keep calling the guy on his cell phone and to leave a note for him when he got home if he didn't pick up.

So that's how we spent the night with the cutest, but most messed up kitten I've ever seen. I think the fact that his owner leaves him out on the balcony for 24-hour stretches doesn't help his issues. We ended up having to call the owner early this afternoon to come get him even though apparently he got home last night. That's almost as weird as our "taking" the cat in the first place, ja.

And all today I've heard his cries from the balcony which kills me. He didn't cry at all in our apartment so something's up with that guy. A picture or two is coming (yup, we took pictures of our loot) while I try to figure out the deal with this guy. We named him Balconcito in honor of our first encounter.

Thanksgiving Apartment

2009-11-26T11:09:00.012-05:00

I wanted to tap into my Thanksgiving spirit today and say that I'm thankful for a lot of things in my life: my family, my friends, my job, my amazing boyfriend, my education, my dog, free podcasts in the morning, Chilean wine, and Felicity reruns on Sony, but that post would get too cheesy. So I'd like focus on one thing and declare that I am shamelessly and forever grateful for MY APARTMENT!*

It may sound materialistic and shallow, but I am totally, as in 100%, obsessed with my apartment and neighborhood. So much so that I had to write about it and clearly, i don't get inspired to write that much so it truly is a great place, hah.

But back to the place. Each time I walk out the door I feel lucky to live where I live with the new coffee shop with good wifi literally 3 steps from my door and my pal across the street at the liquor store who sells us overpriced bottles of wine almost daily (yikes, we drink a lot of wine!). And every time I walk in the door I think, "I'm so lucky to have this huge patio and honest and friendly doormen."

And yes, I'm a Santiago Centro girl and proud of it. I love the convenience of living near tons of banks, restaurants, servipags and sencillitos. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the city...at all...ever. And I've lived in Las Condes, Providencia and San Ramon so it's not that I don't know what I'm missing or in the case of San Ramon, not missing (sorry suegra!).

OK, I know that no one would be jealous of my siutico landlord or the absurd gastos comunes we pay, but there's no way I could afford our place in the U.S., especially not smack dab in the center of the city and I'm eternally thankful that I can here.

I guess I can't say that with a straight face since all you have to do is read back a few months to read about my bitching and moaning, but it's partly true.

Anyway, happy Thanksgiving and happy eating to everyone, and a special shoutout to my adorable little place: I appreciate you (and of course my family, friends and Italo).

*After reading Lydia's mi mama/nuestra mama post, I feel Chilean saying my apartment since it's OUR apartment, but it's MY post :) and it's riddled with the word my to prove it

Culture Shock?

2009-11-13T10:39:00.004-05:00

I was talking to my best friend from home the other day about how much happier I've been lately when it comes to my life in Chile. Granted, I attribute a lot of this to the fact that I love my new job and hated the old one, but he attributed it to my having finally gotten over my culture shock.

At first, all I could think about was the silly seminar on culture shock all study abroad students at my school had to attend before they left for whichever country the had chosen. Then, I took offense and thought, "Hey, I've lived here for more than two years now. I'm way past that study abroad stage.". But I thought about it more and I think he was right. I think I've moved on to another level of what I like to call "cultural comfiness".

I really resisted Chile when I first moved back here without realizing it, but it manifested itself in my never doing "permanent" things here. I never got health insurance, I never bothered to get a cuenta rut and I was always planning for when I left in a year or two. Now, I'm making up for that lost time by really living here.

I think my job change factors in here again because not only do I like it, but I also think the experience I'm getting there will help me in the future regardless of where I end up living and working. Also, the people there are more settled here. There's no group of foreigners here to teach for 6 month or a year and then leave. Everyone's here now and maybe for good if they're not already from here. It's a really good feeling to know your boss hired you to stay as long as you want instead of until your 1-year contract expires.

Also, I don't know what changed but I've been able to get closer to Italo's family, especially his mom and sister. Our relationship is stronger and a lot less tense, but I can't explain it well beyond that. All I know is we're communicating so much better now when before, I was always frustrated because there was always a barrier that made it really hard for us to see eye-to-eye.

Going along with this idea, I'm able to think about Chile on its own, not compared to the U.S. Instead of thinking how it would be in the U.S. and bitching about how it is here, I can (sometimes!) avoid that entirely. For example, Italo and I went to Oktoberfest in Malloco last weekend and I had the best time ever. Normally, I don't like big events like that here because the lines are a mess and it's impossible to get water (see my Cumbre de Rock Chileno post) and good food. And to top it off, getting back by bus takes forever. This time, I not only didn't mind any of that, I hardly noticed. And I remember thinking, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here right now (I only tried 3 beers the entire day so it wasn't the alcohol talking).

Lastly, I'm not as anxious about being away from my friends and family back in the U.S. I was having a really difficult time feeling at ease knowing I was so far away from "home". This made me a nervous wreck at the strangest times because I always thought something bad was going to happen. I still feel like that because bad things have happened, but I have a much more grounded and logical approach to it.

I guess my friend was right that it was a sort of culture shock I had to get over to get to this point because I've never hated Chile, I've just never felt completely comfortable here. Now, I can honestly say that it feels like home for the time being. Maybe it's because we might be leaving next year?

Hummus in Chile made easy (well, easier) and Pho

2009-10-07T12:32:00.006-04:00

I make hummus a lot wherever I am because in my book you can't go wrong with lots of olive oil, garbanzos and garlic, but here in Chile it's much more of a process because you have to soak and cook the garbanzo beans before you even start. I'm so used to soaking and cooking beans that that part doesn't doesn't bother me, but not having a food processor for after I cook the beans is a bit frustrating.

I've often gone to town with my pot and "masher" (a.k.a. glass cup) for over an hour trying to turn those darn beans into a smooth paste, but the finished product is never what I'm hoping for. I have a blender, but it can't handle too many solids so it's been useless so far. But on Sunday, I finally did it!

I always buy garbanzos without the skin and this Sunday at la Vega was no different. What was new was that they only had the really small beans without skin which seem to be the answer. I also put them into the blender immediately after they were done so they were really hot. Then, I added all of the other ingredients and was finished in under 10 minutes which beats my previous "making hummus in Chile" record by a ton.

Italo has become a master pita chip maker so we had a delicious Sunday night snack with a bottle of Concha y Toro Riberas Camenere (not as good as the Syrah or the Cabernet Sauvignon in my opinion) and scrabble.

Earlier that day, I made Vietnamese Pho from what I think is the perfect recipe because it's so easy to follow and delicious. It turned out a lot better than my first attempt a few months ago because I bought more beef bones for the stock and did a better job cutting off the fat before I cooked them. What's so wonderful about being in Chile and making pho is that churrasco is a cheaper, easier to find and still yummy alternative to flank steak and the spices and sauces that go in it will last me forever.

All in all, I had a very successful Sunday cooking which is my all time favorite way to spend a day of rest at home with my man. My next cooking adventure will be trying this ridiculously delicious sounding stew recipe my mom gave me that involves soaking a pork shoulder in 2 bottles of red wine and TWENTY cloves of garlic over night.

"Chilean" Craving?

2009-09-08T19:51:00.004-04:00

Today for lunch I didn't feel like cooking because I've been sick in bed all day, but I was pretty hungry and craving what is to me a really Chilean lunch even though I'm not sure it qualifies as a plato (dish). When I mentioned it to Italo, his jaw practically fell to the floor since I almost always insist on 1 of 2 things: picking up takeout or going to la vega and cooking some elaborate meal. So when I suggested something easy and inexspensive, it was surprising.

What was it you ask? 20-minute white rice, a tomato, and one of those frozen hamburgers from the grocery store although I would have been happy with any meat. What makes it so Chilean to me is that it was arranged on my plate so that the tomato juice dripped onto my rice making it kind of a soupy concoction and I ate it all with a dollop of MAYONNAISE!

One thing I love about a meal like that is that it's so filling and inexpensive, but what I have always complained about in the past is the fact that a "meal" that is a very common lunch special or menu at countless restaurants here is (to me) something you make in college when you're too broke to go to the grocery store so you throw together whatever's left. Granted, I'll never consider it a culinary treat, I will admit that I overreacted a little bit and that it leaves me totally happy and satisfecha (full)...sometimes.

My question is what are other people's not-so-Chilean Chilean cravings? Rice, tomatoes and meat are certainly not what I think about when I think of Chilean cuisine. Instead, I think of cazuela, pastel de choclo and machas a la parmesana, but perhaps it's the combination and the memories of eating it with my host mom while I was studying abroad here (think the Clos commercials in the metro when he remembers la despedida de su hijo) that instantly remind me of Chile.

New Style

2009-09-06T20:31:00.004-04:00

*I'm ignoring the hiatus from the blog world to write this as if that didn't happen

I've decided that I'm only going to write about food and alcohol and any establishment associated with the two. My favorite thing to do in Chile is find a new anything: new pikada, new wine store, new restaurant or my new favorite fruit and veggie stand. Anyone who knows me knows that I love good food and good wine and will go to great lengths to have it.

Unfortunately, I'm so in love with my neighborhood that it's really hard to get me to leave it. There are tons of restaurants I want to try or have tried and loved, but I haven't and won't go to them anymore because it means taking a taxi or the metro. To remedy this problem, last Thursday my boyfriend suggested we just head out on foot and eat at the first place that looked good--such a good idea and an excellent attempt to deal with my being picky since we could stay close to home and walk around my favorite place in Santiago.

So, we headed towards the patronato/bellavista area looking for a hidden gem. I started to lose hope quickly as we passed empty restaurant after empty restaurant. I wanted to head back and just get a pizza and a great bottle of wine, but Italo was determined to find a great new place.

As we got closer to bellavista, we started dreaming of yummy peruvian food which was when we noticed the El Otro Sito sign. We checked out the menu and everything looked as amazing as everyone's described it, but it wasn't a night to shell out 10.000 clp an entree and then worry about the wine so out of starvation we opted for the meat restaurant next door called Vaquita Sabrosa.

Walking up the stairs, I sort of regretted our snap decision to eat there because there were noticeable stains on the floor and all of the chairs. And when I tried the complementary cheese empanada that came in the bread basket, I almost had to spit it out because it had an unidentified gritty substance all over it. Clearly, they had been sitting out for hours because they were cold and stale.

To save the moment, we rushed to order a familiar bottle of Santa Ema Cabernet Savignon and checked out the menu. Granted, a lot of items on the menu were cheaper than at restaurants like Las Vacas Gordass, what we ended up getting was just about the same price--beef medallions wrapped with bacon for 4990 clp a plate. To go with it, two orders of french fries and a house salad (yup, we're chanchos).

Our food came quickly and it looked a lot better than I thought it would after the empanadas. The french fries were delicious! They were nice and crispy which is hard to find I think. The meat was just as good as other more famous meat restaurants, but I wasn't blown away by it. Bacon can mask a lot of things and make anything taste delicious, but I still think it could have been better. And the salad we ordered was a joke. The vegetables looked and tasted like they had been sitting out all day so I was really disappointed since I love a great salad.

We finished up and had those ridiculous bajativos (they were served with kids' straws!!) and paid the 22.000 clp we owed. We had 2 main dishes, 3 sides and a bottle of wine so that's not too bad, but it's a little steep considering it's ust an OK restaurant.

All in all, I'll never go back there. There's another meat restaurant nearby that's really touristy, but has great salads, free and delicious empanadas and a much better wine list (I think it's called Los Socios) so I'd definitely opt for that and take the clean seats as a bonus :)

I love Chile right now...

2009-06-07T12:13:00.005-04:00

because a lazy Sunday in bed after waking up before 7am Monday-Saturday is not only acceptable, it's expected of you. And I am living it up in my new sheets, pillows and comforter while I wait for my homemade bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich (thanks to my man). And then I'm going to drag myself out of bed and go for a jog, but it doesn't matter because my classes are all prepared for tomorrow and I have nothing that needs to be done today. Happy Sunday!

Far

2009-06-06T12:37:00.005-04:00

I am counting down the days until the new Regina Spektor CD comes out on June 23rd. At least once a day, I watch the 3 new music videos she posted and listen to the 2 other song without videos, but most days I listen to all of the songs way more than once (just ask Italo!). It makes my ears happy and my day that much better. I don't have a favorite song from the new ones, but I do really love the video for Dance Anthem of the 80s. It's a Regina-ized version of an excellent and iconic 80s movie scene (Say Anything, anyone?)

.Dance Anthem of the 80s

Only 17 days left :)

Bad Belmont Lights

2009-04-09T18:38:00.000-04:00

So, I´ve been smoking a little bit for the past few weeks and I need to stop. It started with all of the stress of moving and then didn´t stop there.

I´ve never been a heavy smoker, but I smoked for almost a year in high school and quit. Then, I switched to stress and social smoking in college. I´d sit with one of my roommates and smoke one cigarette after another over coffee during exam time. I´d also always smoke a cigarette or two or three or four or five on a night out with friends.

Then, I was never worried about it because I was stupid. But also because it would often be after a long day of hiking or snowboarding or doing something active and it was always isolated to a few days out of the month. I never felt the effects of it. Now, I´m living in smog city and not getting the amount of exercise I used to and it makes me feel disgusting.

Simple solution? STOP SMOKING!!!

But it´s not quite that simple for me because I´m weak under peer pressure. We´re going to my suegra´s house tonight where smoking never hurt anyone and going to the gym doesn´t exist. If there´s alcohol involved in our San Jueves (Saint Thursday--their name for a night of drinking, cards, and smoking) that means double the nicotine inhaled and double the number of times I´ll have to say no because boy are they all generous with their smokes. It´s a constant test of my will power. At least my mom will be here on Tuesday which will give me the perfect excuse to stop again because everyone except Italo pretends they don´t smoke when my mom´s here so they´ll be inhaling cigarettes when she´s not around which means I most likely won´t be around either.

OK, now why am I posting this? Because I´m going to report back here after my weekend and if I have an audience, I think my results will be better. So, I promise to be honest and if I smoke, please feel free to chew me out. Once I´m over this few day hump, I´ll be fine.

no phone, no internet, and no tv....

2009-04-08T11:28:00.003-04:00

make Isabel a dull girl.

Don´t worry, I´m not about to chase Italo into the bathroom with a knife or anything, but I am going a little crazy feeling totally disconnected from everything and everyone. And it also explains why I haven´t posted in forever.

Our new building only allows VTR (our previous provider)to install cable and internet, but no phone so we have to use Telefonica. And let me just say that I hate telefonica after this. We called and they said that because of our comuna, it will take 14 days to come and install everything. That is absolutely absurd, but the bastards know we can´t do anything so they CAN take their sweet ass time heading over to install everything. When we called VTR, they were there within a few hours. Then, we called them again to come install cable and they were there first thing the next day. It may be a fluke, but I love VTR.

The no TV thing is fine, but the no internet and phone thing is killing me because I feel totally cut off from my family and since I don´t like talking on skype in internet cafes where everyone is listening, I´m a lonely girl in my new apartment when Italo´s gone.

The good news is that I absolutely love my new place and my new barrio. It makes me happy to walk down my street to run errands and my favorite restaurants are all
within walking distance. Hell, I could shout my order from my apartment to my favorite sushi place.

Also, my mom and her friend are coming next week and I cannot wait. I am so excited to show my mom´s friend around because she´s never been here. This will be my mom´s fourth time in Chile so she feels like a pro, but I have a bunch of new places to take them both. I just wish my father and my sister were coming, too. Maybe they can take a trip together later in the year (hint, hint!!).

Anyway, I´ll keep reading everyone´s posts, but my blog will stay dull for a while. I need the time to sit down and explain my moving fiasco, but I promise thatit´s coming.

very brief update

2009-03-29T23:14:00.003-04:00

I haven't written anything in a long time, but with good reason because I've been ridiculously busy. Here's a quick replay of my week:

-decided we had to move
-worked
-found a great place that was a little too expensive
-worked
-got the owners down 30.000 pesos-->planned to sign contract
-worked
-ended up throwing up all day Thursday from something I ate so we didin't do anything about moving and I did nothing about working.
-signed the new apartment contract
-broke the news to our landlady who took it HORRIBLY (I rescind my recommendation of her and our soon-to-be vacant apartment to my two fellow bloggers)
-packed up our entire apartment and arranged to move for almost no cost
-ran into 10,000,000 problems with our building, landlady, and the law about moving our furniture across town
-called my contract lawyer student hysterical over everything who assured me it would be OK by Monday
-had to spend all of my chanchito I had saved for my mom's visit which left me with less than 5.000 clp to my name until payday
-maybe/sort of/kind of have everything straightened out for getting our salvoconducto (license to move our furniture from one building to another), evil landlady meeting, work, and another almost as good deal on moving.
-OH, on top of it all, Italo has to defend his thesis Tuesday morning so he's super stressed about all of this plus his thesis/he hasn't been much help in the packing process ;)

To say the very least, I'll be THRILLED when this is all over. It will be nice to finally sleep next weekend. I'll expand a little more on the move and whatnot, but for now my pillow and a borrowed copy of Anthony Bourdain's book (thanks, Heather!) await me.

Group Post: What drew me to Chile?

2009-03-20T20:40:00.011-04:00

This is part of a group post that took place on Friday. I am way behind on mine, but you can read the others here.

Much like Abby says about her reasons for coming to Chile, mine are boring. I was a Latin American Studies major at the University of Virginia and studying abroad was always a part of my plan. I had a gut feeling that led me to Chile, but no specific reasons as to why I chose it. When people ask me here I always say that it was because of the history, the Andes mountains or the fact that a professor from my department started the study abroad program and it had a great reputation--but that's not really true. I have no idea where Chile popped into my head, but I remember thinking I'd go to Chile years ago and I never really changed my mind. Again, this isn't that interesting. What might be a little more interesting is why I chose Latin American Studies which then drew me to Chile.

My grandmother's family on my mom's side is Puerto Rican with some distant Mexican relatives. While my grams (Carmen) grew up in New York City, she spent a lot of time on the island with her family. Her father used to pal around NYC with his beat generation cousin Luis Muñoz Marin (yup, I'm a Marin). My grandmother was fluent in Spanish and very latina in many ways, yet she somehow lost touch with a lot of her family and never seemed to be too proud of being Puerto Rican/Mexican/American (she would say her family got there by way of Spain).

When my grandmother got divorced, she moved to Mexico to live with family with her two young daughters. There, my mom learned the Spanish she's never forgotten. She also picked up her taste for delicious Mexican food and her tendency to want to have her entire family under one roof.

Right when I was born and a few years after my sister was born, my mom hired a nanny from Bolivia, Deisy. From then on, she and my mom only spoke in Spanish so my dad was left to fend for himself, my sister picked it up right away, and my first words were "jugo" and "gato". We ate chicharrón and I was (and still am) Deisy's little chanchita. I switched from Spanish to English with ease since my mom, grandmother and Deisy only spoke Spanish in the house. But when I was still very young, Deisy got another job and left and we had many other latina babysitters and nannies, but I don't remember them well. The only one who sticks out in my mind is Deisy because she was (and still is) a very important person in my life. The Spanish, however, left with Deisy.

After that I never really thought about Spanish. I remember a trip to Puerto Rico when I was 12 and I didn't understand anything my family said to me in Spanish, but they all understood everything I said in English. It was then that I decided to take Spanish in high school, but I was horrible. I'm really a brick wall when it comes to teaching me a new language and it only got harder as I got older, but at least my interest was piqued.

When I went to college I decided to take an introductory Latin American history course just for fun and because I wanted to know a little more than I did about Latin America (which was next to nothing). During my first class of my first semester of college, I was hooked. I was fascinated by the history and everything my professor said. I really started trying to speak Spanish and trying to learn more about my mom's side of the family. When I decided I was transferring to another school, I based a large part of my decision on my study abroad options and the school's Latin American Studies programs. At UVA, I continued.

In October of 2005, my grandmother died. This was a huge blow for my sister C. and me because she was living with C. 10 minutes from my college dorm so we spent tons of time together. Even though you can't say she didn't live a full life, it was still so shocking. My sister and I had a really hard time dealing with it and I was already struggling as a transfer student so I decided I'd take a semester off from school and move to Puerto Rico to be with my incredibly warm and loving family there. They welcomed me "home"* with open arms and I made all of the arrangements to leave school. At the last minute, though I decided I'd stay at school which was the right decision for me in the end, but I was left with this yearning to go abroad and learn the Spanish I'd lost.

Going to Puerto Rico would have been an amazing time, but I was really set on going somewhere new when it came to picking a program. I wanted my own experience living abroad alone and if I had gone to Puerto Rico, I bet my mom would have been down there every weekend and I would have probably spoken more English than Spanish. And since Chile had always been in the back of my mind, I started checking into programs there. After months of fighting with my study abroad office, I finally got my program approved and prepared to leave for Chile.

Like I said before, basically nothing drew me to Chile specifically. It was just a feeling I had. A lot of people even tried to convince me not to go, but I was dead set on it. My advisor said that Chile was too dull for me and that I would be safe, but bored. Another professor thought Mexico was the only way to go. My mom, grandmother and Deisy certainly weren't tied to Chile either. If I followed any of them, I would have gone to Mexico, Bolivia or Puerto Rico, but I think I wanted Chile to be all about me. It was a good time in my life to go away and be with new people which would force me to learn Spanish, but it was also so much about those 3 women and feeling connected to them.

I've always felt latina. Maybe it's because everyone says how much I take after my mom's side of the family, but I'm really not latina. I have the same heritage my sister has (1/2 Irish, 1/4 Puerto Rican and 1/4 Norwegian) and she looks like the Irish side of my family and doesn't speak Spanish. There's no reason for me to have come out more hispanic, but I did. I really identify with the culture, the food (not Chilean food, though), and the people. I love the history and feel totally at ease in Chile and in every other Latin American country I've been to. I've always had the urge to know more about my family which then turned into a need to know about Latin America in general. When I go back to the U.S., I want my life to remain part latina. I want to work with latinos in the U.S. and I want my future children to grow up speaking Spanish just as much as English. Now, Chile's a part of me even more than Puerto Rico (although I'd like to change that) and I'll always feel part Chilean after I leave here.

I realize I haven't really answered the question of what drew me to Chile, but it's because I don't know the answer. Chile is totally different from Puerto Rico, Mexico and Bolivia, I know. Why I didn't go to any of those countries (and territory), I don't know. I plan on spending a lot of time in Puerto Rico and hope to get the chance to get to know Deisy's family in Bolivia, but Chile is so special to me. I bitch and moan about a lot of things here, but I also know that when I leave here I'll miss it like crazy. It'll always be a big part of my life regardless of what the future brings.

Oh hell, maybe I came here just to meet Italo :) who knows...

*My grandmother's cousin always calls Puerto Rico home so when I talk to her, she says, "when you come home to us"....and "We're so glad you're home". It's the cutest thing.

Fear and loathing in Lapiz Lopez. No, just loathing.

2009-03-05T09:31:00.005-05:00

I hate the store Lapiz Lopez. It's overpriced, poorly run, and under-stocked. As an English teacher, I need to have some office supplies so I occasionally wander into the store and always always always leave annoyed and stressed.

I am not a patient person, but for some reason Chilean bureaucracy rarely gets to me so this has to be bad. Sometimes, I even enjoy taking a ticket at the bank so I can sit and read while I enjoy the air conditioned room. If I had a car, my feelings would be different, but since the metro is expensive I try to take it only twice a day and it's virtually impossible to run more than a handful of errands each day if you have to go to different comunas on top of working, I'm OK with it. I tend to space out what would be a day's worth of errands in the U.S. over the course of a week here. It lets me be a little lazy and not feel guilty about it. Shopping at Lapiz Lopez, however is never a pleasant experience.

I just started the largest private English class I've ever had so I decided I need to be much more organized about archiving lesson plans and keeping track of what we cover each class. Since I live right by a Lapiz Lopez, I stopped in after my first class with these students to get some notebooks, paperclips and some sort of binder to keep all of our handouts. What should have taken all of 5 minutes ended up taking 20 because of 3 people who do their job horribly.

In a nutshell, I walked into the store, picked out what I wanted to buy in 2 minutes, then waited and waited and waited. I'm sure everyone living in Chile has been into one of these store, but for anyone who hasn't, it's a school and office supply store that has little counters setup all over. If you want to buy a pen, you have to ask the person behind the pen counter to show you each one until you find the perfect pen for you. This person then has to write down the price of the pen so you can take the pen and piece of paper with the price so professionally scribbled down and pay for it.

This day I was there, there was a woman having a particularly difficult time deciding on a pen so I was stuck waiting for 2 boxes of paper clips that cost around 75 cents each. I tried to reach over the counter and grab what I needed, but the woman snapped at me. I was in no mood so I went to another person working there (I have NO IDEA what his supposed job there is) and asked him to hand me the paperclips. Then, I took my paperclips, two notebooks and plastic file-thingy to the counter to pay.

I got the "you poor, stupid foreigner" look from the cashier because no one hand-wrote the prices down for me. I told her all the prices, but she said I had to take it to someone else and have them do it (WHY doesn't the cashier have the prices listed at the register??!). I went to a guy doing nothing who said to drop my items off and go wait for them at the counter so I did. Then I watched as he walked around and asked his co-workers how much each item cost and they all sort of guessed as he wrote down the prices. I ran over there and said that the prices were clearly marked on the items but he said he had it covered and to go wait for him.

I was pissed by now and intent on making sure he actually did have it covered so I checked over the official torn off piece of scrap paper and sure enough, he had written the wrong price for my paperclips. The total was about $1 more than it should have been which isn't a huge deal, but I certainly wasn't going to pay for nothing. I told him he wrote the wrong price down and pointed to the shelf where the paperclips were hanging behind the security-tight desk with the price clearly marked yet he STILL wen to ask a co-worker instead of checking the marked price.

Finally, he got the right price and scratched out the incorrect total and I went to the cashier to pay. She about chewed my head off because she thought that I had changed the price to make it cheaper. This really pissed me off because she wouldn't listen to me so I said "Oye, no me hables asi. Anda a hablar con ese hombre si no me crees pero estas loca si crees que voy a pagar más por un error de la tienda" (lHey, don't talk to me like that. Go ask that man if you don't believe me, but you're crazy if you think I'm going to pay for the store's mistake). She did, changed the price and took my money and practically threw the bag and receipt at me and I left the store.

As I walked to my apartment, I was fuming over the experience. I always try to be nice to people in customer service jobs because they're constantly subjected to people's bad sides, but in situations like that I can't help it because costumer service doesn't even exist. Plus, I am so chata (sick of) with what I think are people taking advantage of the fact that I'm foreign. So many times people try to scam me because they think I'm stupid or because they think I don't understand the system. Now, I fight it every time but it makes me wonder how many times I was cheated when I first got here in 2007 and didn't even realize it.

What's more is that of the 3 times I've been to Lapiz Lopez, there's been a mistake with the bill each time and it's taken much longer than it should have. In the U.S., I absolutely love shopping for pens, pencils, folders, and anything associated with organization and now, I would love to get some binders and plastic bins to organize the tons and tons of English books and handouts I have, but the process is so unpleasant and expensive here that I just end up throwing everything on any open counter space I can find in my apartment.

It may just be bad luck, but unless I have an office supplies emergency, I will never set foot in another Lapiz Lopez. Shame on me for going in a third time after 2 already bad experiences, but I won't do it again. At least when I go into the small, privately owned office supplies stores I expect it to take a long time so I'll be more patient. But Lapiz Lopez, you won't get me again.

Chilly in Chile

2009-03-03T19:10:00.003-05:00

I couldn't be happier with the weather today. Chilly, rainy days just before fall begins are pure bliss. Today I stayed in bed with a big cup of coffee way too long, went to see a great movie with great friends, and am looking forward to a glass of wine and Italo's cooking followed by one of my new favorite series, The Big Bang Theory. I'll save my mujer pesada story for another post so as not to ruin the onda of this one.

Entertainment

2009-02-24T14:04:00.002-05:00

i've spent way too much time on this website today. I thought I'd share it because it's hilarious.

the Expatriate Price

2009-02-23T08:01:00.004-05:00

There are many things we expats miss out on while living outside of our mother country. So far for me, it's been 2 weddings, 1 funeral, and many family gatherings and mini-trips . It also means missing out on daily life and happenings that can make you feel like an outsider when you're out of the loop. It's the price we all have to pay for living our lives in another country.

I get this feeling when the actual day comes of the event or holiday I'm missing and sometimes it puts me in a funk. This year on Halloween I just sort of sulked around my apartment watching The Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus .

I'm the younger sister so I think my "not being left out" syndrome is more severe because I've had it since I could talk and my sister got to go to the New Kids on the Block concert with my dad and I didn't. The rest of what I feel when things happen there while I'm here I think is pretty universal: It sucks not to be with your family when good and bad things happen.

Last night, I found out that the store where both my sister and I worked all through high school and part of college is closing. It's a small, family run ski and snowboard shop and I'm devastated that it came down to this. I really feel like a part of my childhood is disappearing and I desperately wish I could at least be there for the end. When I think of how it must be for the owners, it reminds me of Meg Ryan's character in You've Got Mail when she closes The Shop Around the Corner.

This couple B. and N. built the store from scratch and really offered a superior service (repeatedly voted best ski boot fitting on the east coast). It wasn't like working at a typical store, either. I babysat for their children, we all went skiing/snowboarding together most Sundays after work, they were there to celebrate my high school and my sister's college graduation and at our Christmas Eve party. They never forget a former or current employee's birthday and they consider us all part of the "fam" for life (even though I haven't actually worked there in over 4 years).

This feeling will pass and this couple will move on with their lives and excel at something else, I'm sure. We'll all have the great memories and it will be OK, but for now, I'll be dramatic and self-pitying because I can't be there. And then it will pass until May when my dad's side of the family (HUGE Irish-Catholic family) goes to New York for my cousin's wedding.

For anyone who might read this blog from the Northern Virginia/DC area, this store is having a going out of business sale that is sure to be great for customers. They have ski, snowboard, hockey, and skateboard equipment so go here if you want to read more.

Pre-Academy Awards Show Thoughts

2009-02-22T21:16:00.005-05:00

EDIT: I JUST realized that E! isn't showing the Academy Awards, just the pre and post shows. How did I realize that? I just watched 2 hours of pre-show only to see it repeat. There goes my Oscar night, haha!

Could Ryan Seacrest lack any more tact when talking to anyone who's not white?

I REALLY hope Penelope Cruz wins for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona because I just watched that on Friday and she was wonderful

And I hope Doubt and Revolutionary Road (Titanic Dos as a certain Chilean man calls it) win something

I don't think I'll be able to stay up to see the good awards

La Vega

2009-02-17T21:21:00.005-05:00

I have only been to La Vega twice (a market in the center of Santiago). This is mainly because I had no idea I lived so close to it and because I almost always do my produce shopping in San Ramon at my suegra's Sunday market. I went for the first time last week with a friend and fellow blogger who led me around so I could see what it's all about.

First and foremost, I think the prices where we went, which is actually farther back from LA VEGA and even La Vega Chica, are unbeatable. I'm a frequent feria shopper (at least once a week) so I'm always checking out produce prices and the prices I saw both Vega trips were lower than anywhere else I've been. I spent around 4.000 to 5.000 pesos each time and saved around 2.000 pesos in total. That's a pretty large amount proportionally speaking so I was pleased. I also liked that there was a lot more to choose from that my San Ramon feria and the smaller one close to where I live.

I think that you can get quality produce at a great price so I will continue to go there since it's a nice walk for me that will continue to get nicer as it finally cools off here. With that said, I think there are some definite negatives to shopping there alone which I did yesterday.

First, I get the feeling (and about 5 billion Chileans have told me) you REALLY need to watch your things there. Yesterday, I was right next to a woman who got her necklace ripped off and the weon culiado took off too fast for the woman to catch him and no one paid the slightest attention to the hijo de puta charging through the narrow stalls of La Vega Chica. I quickly took off my silver necklace that has immeasurable sentimental value to me and stuck it in my backpack that I always wear on my stomach with my arms wrapped around it and kept going. I'm always careful with my things, but never paranoid about being robbed, but I was yesterday.

Second, is that the SMELL walking through the meat section is nauseating. I seriously can hardly take it. It makes me want to vomit and my being nauseated certainly wasn't helped by the fact that I got unidentified meat juice splashed on my feet both times I walked through there.

Third and last, are the catcalls. I never write about them but the obnoxious catcalls the male vendors make bug me enough to say something. In general, I don't like the "casera! casera! que andas buscando?!" at the markets here because I like to take my time and walk though the produce sections a few times before deciding on the best options. But the pressure to buy the vendors' food together with the catcalls make me particularly uneasy.

Basically, I will continue to shop there because I love buying fresh produce at a good price, but I'll always be a little on edge because I'm determined not to get robbed here and I like to associate the words "browse" and "stroll" with my shopping experiences, but I can't really do that there.

He IS just that into you

2009-02-16T19:29:00.005-05:00

I'm not writing this to sound like a cocky little b*tch, but I can't help but post after going to see He's Just Not That Into You with two friends tonight. I still have a copy of the book because I loved it, but I did try to sell it at a yard sale so someone else could use it. I think it gives great general advice to women about not obsessing over plain old shitty men and it's fun because that episode of Sex and the City is hilarious. It really did open my eyes to a certain situation (junto con all the great advice my incredibly honest friends gave me, of course) and I vowed then and there never to make any of those "mistakes" again.

I'm not sure my revelation had anything to do with my meeting Italo, but he was and still is the first guy I dated seriously after a series of flings and kinda sorta boyfriends that would have made very comical (or tragic?) vignettes in the film. As I was watching the movie, I kept thinking two things:

1. I didn't make even one of those embarrassing and needy mistakes that I had made before when Italo and I first met

2. He IS just that into me!

haha, I didn't need a movie to tell me that, but it's refreshing to be reassured. Oh, and by the way, I AM just that into him, too :) :)

Music videos belong on MTV and VH1

2009-02-13T17:27:00.004-05:00

And the irony in that is that they're not there anymore, yet you can find them on other stations without video or music in their titles.

You know the music videos the Sony channel plays here over and over and over and over and over (like Motel right now) until they find a new one to play over and over and over and over? Well, I think that I see them so much that when I hear the song on the radio or somewhere else, there's a split second where I think I must like the song and that's why I'm singing along, but then i realize where I recognize it from and change my mind.

I ALWAYS have the kinda new Juanes song in my head and it drives me insane: "es tiempo de cambiar....it's time to change", but I just cannot stop singing it.

I'd have to say that the most annoying one was that Belanova song "1 2 3 Go" with the "Oye niño no tengas miedo" bit and I think the least annoying was the Sarah Bareilles one "love song". i never liked that song when I heard it in the U.S., but after hearing it about 100 times here and watching her little interview, she and the song grew on me.

The Alicia Keys/Jack White song from the James Bond movie was OK, but it was so long with the interviews and it bugged me how many times Alicia Keys said "scat" or "scatting".

Anyway, I think this means that I watch way too much t.v. and I'm out of blogging material for now, but I was just watching the new video of the month and for a second there I thought I liked it, but I definitely don't.

---------------------------
Dylan-the-dog update: He had to have another operation because he was spiking a fever and had a lot of fluid in his stomach which meant infection. The vet flushed out his intestines several times to be sure to get all of the infection out, but he said you never know. It's too soon to tell if he's in the clear, but as of 2 hours ago when I last talked to my mom he was OK and is going home for the night to sleep. He's not eating which isn't too surprising because he never eats at the vet's even when he hasn't had 2 major surgeries but it's important that he does tonight. If all goes well tonight and tomorrow, they're going to send him home and put him in the almost all clear. I'd just like to get to Sunday with his being OK so we can all relax and I can look forward to seeing him when I go home again.

What a difference a day makes

2009-02-11T12:39:00.004-05:00

Just a quick update on my emotional state, haha. Things are much better today. It still looks like my mom can't come in April, but my wonderful man called me shortly after posting yesterday with his "solution" which was to use the money he has saved to invite my mom to stay with us and cover all of her expenses. She would never go for it because she's thrilled that he and I are saving for graduate school applications, GRE and TOEFL tests as well as an English course for Italo, but it's a very nice gesture that my mom appreciated. I may try to change my ticket in July to April so I can fly home for a month and substitute teach ($110 a day!) and babysit to pay my mom back and maybe save a little bit, too. Either way I think it will work out.

(Maybe?) more importantly, my dog is still being monitored at the vet, but he did really, really well last night in the overnight clinic and the vet thinks he may be able to go home tonight which I think will help him recuperate faster. Another good thing is that the enormous vet bill isn't going to be quite as enormous as my mom thought originally so I think I can pay her back in a relatively short amount of time ($2,600 down from $6,000). And I know, a lot of people think it's absolutely insane to spend so much money on animals, but I don't care. My relationship with my dog is the simplest, most rewarding relationship I have so it's totally worth it. And just look at how adorable/regalon he is:

Thanks so much to those who commented for your kind words. I'd never shared a personal problem like that before and hope I won't have to for a while (but come on, that's life, right?) but it was a really nice outlet for me and I appreciate the comments so THANKS! :)

bad, bad day

2009-02-10T12:28:00.002-05:00

Today has been just awful. I got some bad news around noon today and it just kept piling on from there. And what just makes it unbearable is that it's been a ripple effect and I can't see the end of it yet. I think I'll wait to delve into some of the details in the hopes that something miraculous will happen to change things, but for now I'll just say that today, among other things, brought me the news that my beloved dog Dylan is very sick in the animal hospital and will remain there for at least 3 more days so the vet can monitor his system after having a piece of a towel removed from his intestine (the vet and I have noooooooo idea why my pick eater of a dog would eat a towel). It absolutely kills me to know that he's in such a grave condition and that that I'm here and not with him. What's worse is that he's my dog which means he's my responsibility yet I'm in no position to pay his vet bills. Partly because of this, I also just found out that my mom isn't coming to visit me in April because she can't. And that was horrible to hear because it makes me so sad and because I know it's so much harder on her. It totally sucked to hear how upset she was and I had no idea what to say to make her feel better which I hate. For our family, 2008 was a very, very rough year so a day like today just magnifies an ongoing bad situation. Normally, I'm a (somewhat) optimistic person, but I'm having a hard time seeing the bright side of things today. Here's hoping that tomorrow's better...

The Chilean Wonder Woman

2009-02-09T11:55:00.006-05:00

I have posted about my suegra P. before and how wonderful she is, but I didn't touch on her superhero traits. She is a Jack(lyn?)-of-all-trades. In her family, they (we) all play a game at almost every family gathering where everyone has to go around and list one "profession" or responsibility she's assumed without repeating any of them . The list is endless (seamstress, nurse, butcher, carpenter, vet, therapist, grill master, life coach etc) and the point of it is to show that there seems to be nothing this woman can't do. Common sense doesn't even begin to describe her approach to EVERYTHING. She's just one of those people who always knows what to do in any situation and yesterday, I witnessed her newest skill as a bombera (firewoman).

I was walking from the market with P. and my cuñada when when P. said, "I smell something burning...it smells like plastic.". Two seconds later she was sprinting down the street and around the corner while my cuñi and I were still trying to figure out what was going on. Once 4 or 5 others dashed around the corner screaming "agua!!! agua!!!". we realized there was a fire. My superhero suegra threw her groceries down, ran into the house next door, dumped their trash out and filled the bin with water and then darted next door to throw it on the kitchen fire in under a minute. I don't think the owners of the house would have realized she had been there if she hadn't told them afterwards. There were several people there before she got there and they were all helping in some way, but no one took action like P. did (including me).

The fire turned out to be a small kitchen fire so it was under control within a few minutes and everyone was OK. The woman who owned the house was crying and obviously very shaken up, but that was to be expected. Everyone else in the house was calmly cleaning up the mess and all of the people from the street went back to what they were doing before the fire. P. came out the house, picked up her bags, and we walked home to eat lunch. She probably would have left it at that, but her daughter and I were amazed by how naturally she ran into the house not knowing how bad it would be (there was thick, black smoke EVERYWHERE). Her children are semi-used to her doing stuff like this, but it still totally blows my mind how quick she is to help ANYONE who needs it.

Not only that, but it's truly a gift that she always seems to do the right thing. I remember her brother telling me a story about the guy next door shooting (and eventually killing) himself and P. running next door to help with whatever happened when she heard the gunshot. My first reaction to a gunshot would probably be something like "take cover" or "hide", but hers is, "go help".

"Go help" seems to be her mantra and she never strays from it. She went with her niece to pick up her furniture after a nasty divorce, she went with her sister to every doctor's appointment when she was going through radiation, her other niece confides in her regularly and seeks her advice and she calls me everyday to make sure there's nothing I need and if I were ever to need any thing, she'd do or get it for me.

She is always the first person to run to any family member with a problem and she's always the first to offer any kind of help. She knows things you only learn through experience and boy, has she experienced a lot.

While I'm geographically very far my family and the important women in my life, it is a great comfort to know I have such a talented and wise woman so close. I have a kick-ass mom at home who can do anything and an awesome sister as well as everything my late Grams taught me, but here I have my Wonder Suegra and I think she's a fine addition to the group of women I admire.

WEIRD and possibly disgusting question

2009-02-05T21:30:00.005-05:00

OK, I hope I don't gross anyone out with this post, but I'm dying for someone who knows something about German men (and their peeing habits) to help me out with this.

Tonight, I was chatting with Italo and he mentioned that a friend of his who is dating a German girl told him that German men pee sitting down. He said this because when this friend went to visit his girlfriend in Germany, she and her friends were disgusted that he peed standing up (not sure how they ALL found this out) and told him that all German men pee sitting down.

Anyone know anything about this??? I have no idea why I want more information, but I guess I'm just so used to crossing the tiny plaza by my apartment and seeing men stopping to take a standing leak in front of everyone in broad daylight without so much as batting an eye--It would be interesting to know that most men from an entire country actually take the time to sit down and get 'er done! I tried to google it, but as to be expected I got a bunch of porn sites instead of what I was looking for. I did find a guy's blog about posted signs in public restrooms in Germany that prohibited standing, but it was a kind of crazy blog so who knows if he's reliable or not.

OH, and I totally understand if no one wants to reply, haha..

WOOHOO/YUJU

2009-01-30T07:09:00.004-05:00

I FINALLY got my visa. Well, I mean I'm on my way to get it stamped in my passport which means maybe in a month I'll have my carnet and be able to do things like get decent health insurance and go to the doctor when I'm sick instead of self-diagnosis.

Since I slept in about an hour I'd say I'll be waiting a good, hmmmmm 2 hours up down at Extranjería, but the point is I'll have it--YAY!

Homage to Professor D.H.

2009-01-29T11:19:00.006-05:00

My advisor and absolute favorite professor from college is being nominated for an award and some of his former students were asked to write a letter in support of his nomination. I got the email a few days ago and need to finish my letter now because it's due today. Now, I am thrilled to write it because anyone who knows me knows how influential this professor was for me, but I'm having a hard time writing a letter that's as good as I want it to be. I figured I'd use this post as an outline to help me organize my thoughts and I'd get a chance to talk about at truly amazing professor.

Professor H. really took me under his wing when I transferred schools and was having a really rough time with it, to say the least. We bonded talking about my Puerto Rican family whom he had met while working on his college thesis (over 40 years ago!) and he gave me brutally honest, but priceless academic advice. He listened to me talk, as I held back tears, about my transfer woes and about wanting to take time off to figure things out. He gave me all the academic support I needed to make a decision about what I wanted to do. He signed off on my petition form to take time off, but encouraged me to find a way to stay in school. Just his caring enough to listen made a world of difference considering I felt totally insignificant in all of my classes where not one of my professors knew my name (seriously, I made a comment halfway through the semester in a religion class and the TA asked if it was my first day there!). Now, obviously a lot had to happen to change my situation at school and a large part of it had to do with getting involved in extracurricular activities and improving my social life, but Professor H. absolutely shaped and guided my academic life in college.

A year and a half after transferring and finally finding my niche at UVA, Professor H. went to the mattresses for me and my fight to study abroad with a particular program in Chile. My school had some sort of deal with a certain study abroad program and would not let me study with the program I chose (I chose it over the other one after a lot of research and many recommendations from students and professors alike, mind you). If it weren't for him and his effort (think very firm/angry phone calls and letters to stupid 20-somethings in charge of ALL of study abroad programs) to make sure I got my program approved. I did! but it's only because he fought for me and got the entire Spanish department to do the same. I'd probably still be speaking Spanglish at best if it weren't for him and the program, of course!

Professor H. is also the most interesting and engaging professor I've ever had. He is an expert on Brazilian history, literature and culture and he's fluent in Brazilian Portuguese (including ALL slang), but what's more, is that his passion translates into excellent teaching. I took each of the classes he taught at UVA because his history lectures were fascinating and his Portuguese classes were so entertaining we students all brought friends to class with us. I worked my ass off to get good grades in his Portuguese classes because he really challenged everyone of us to excel.

Perhaps most importantly is Professor H.'s dedication to his students both inside and outside of school. Granted his classrooms were always small because there isn't a huge interest in Brazil and Portuguese at my alma mater, but he still went above and beyond for his students. Proportionally speaking (# of students and department $), he invited more people (professors, friends, famous musicians) to our school than any other professor. He often took his students out to dinner just to be able to practice Portuguese outside of school. I also remember he helped pay for a student's plane ticket to visit his father in the hospital because the student couldn't afford it. And for me, he is the reason my boyfriend got his visa to visit the U.S. last March, but I probably shouldn't get into it here or in my actual letter, haha. (NOTE: We have NEVER lied to the embassy! I can assure you all of that.)

I think I feel so compelled to share about this professor because I don't think he'll get the award, even though he deserves it. He singlehandedly created the Portuguese department at UVA and is a favorite among everyone from my major, but people at the top don't really care about. Portuguese and Latin American Studies don't bring any money into the school and things like that matter to the point that I think it would affect the outcome of a prestigious award like this. I hope I'm wrong, but if he's gone over 30 years without the recognition he deserves, I doubt "they'll" even throw him a bone as he retires. What's worse is that I think the Portuguese department will disappear after he leaves. He created it and I think his life's work will virtually disappear since he hasn't found a suitable replacement. It's tragic to think about, but it's very likely. Here's hoping...

Recommended "I've been Wronged" Playlist

2009-01-21T12:15:00.007-05:00

No, I haven't been wronged recently, but one of my closest friends here has. What she (and I) thought was a wonderful man recently behaved like a motherf*cking sh*thead. The point is that the other night, instead of crying at home being miserable, she washed her face, dressed herself up and went out (still miserable, but at least she tried!). I really admire her for being so honest about her feelings and then picking herself up because she knows she's an amazing person. Before going out, we talked about it at my place over a bottle of wine. I put on some music, but wanted to be very careful not to play anything that would make her sadder since there are so many amazing songs that just make you cry your eyes out in a situation like that. We didn't get a chance to listen to everything I had in mind before we left, but I decided to post some of it incase anyone else [hopefully none of the ladies who read this blog] needs it.

1. Let it Die ~ Feist (Ok, so obviously if you're going to talk about it, you're going to cry so this one's to get that out of the way quickly!)

2. The Million You Never Made ~ Ani DiFranco (Now, be angry!)

3. Bloody Motherfucking Asshole ~ Martha Wainwright (different stage of anger)

4. Breakin' Up ~ Rilo Kiley (dance and sing it on out. I wish this song had come out when I could have used it because it's so fun to dance and workout to)

5. See Line Woman ~ Nina Simone (if done well, a song about a prostitute can make you feel gooooooood)

6. Radio ~ India Irie (i love a little girl power..OK, clearly i love a lot of it)

7. Not About Love ~ Fiona Apple (a deeper insight into the whole shebang)

8.. Single Ladies ~ Beyonce (too little, too late. Learn the dance and get Beyonce's body for that extra KICK)

9. Ella ~ Bebe (some Spanish reinforcement)

10. Precious Things ~ Tori Amos (One line in this song makes it just so amazing. Hint: it starts with, "so you can make me..."

11. Untouchable Face ~ Ani DiFranco (you just have to get that one last f*ck you in there)

Santiago's toll on my feet

2009-01-13T16:10:00.004-05:00

My feet are not very pretty in general. Unfortunately, I inherited my dad's feet which not only means two ugly big toes, but foot problems as well. Then, I didn't help things by breaking both feet (at different times) so badly I had to get pins put in in them to correct the break.

So, the point is that my not so attractive feet also hurt me a lot because I refuse to wear tennis shoes around all the time. I LOVE cute flats and sandals and wedges (although I broke my foot wearing wedges so I seldom take them out of my closet here on these sidewalks), but since I walk so much in Santiago, I am constantly comparing the cuteness to comfort ratio before I walk out the door and I always carry backup band-aids just incase.

I thought I was in heaven when I found a pair of adorable Puma flats that were both comfy and stylish, but they turned out to offer zero support and I felt every uneven step in the city. Walking down Paris or Londres near my apartment just killed me. So, lately I've opted for a newer pair of flip flops, but my feet get totally destroyed in them and I get very grossed out when I step in unidentified liquid knowing it hasn't rained in forever. I went to get a pedicure once and the woman spent the entire time scolding me about neglecting my feet when I'm actually very good at giving them extra care in the summertime--they just suck!!

So now after a day of opting for cute flats even though I knew I had a lot of walking ahead of me, I'm suffering enough that it prompted me to dedicate an entire post to my feet woes! I'll use better judgement tomorrow.

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sidenote: I'm doing pretty well on my resolutions so far. I'm farther along in Cider House Rules and loving it of course, I've been good on my diet except for Saturday at our asado (yummmm choripan!), and my man and I have a movie date tonight with our usual snuck-in wine and home-popped garlic popcorn.

A brief appearance at La Cumbre del Rock Chileno

2009-01-11T18:24:00.004-05:00

So, Italo's sister scored 4 free tickets to La Cumbre del Rock Chileno today and invited her friend, Italo and me to go. I was pretty excited because Italo and his sister went last year with tickets from the same person and got to sit in the VIP section. I was hoping for shade, seats, and easy access to refreshments--not quite.

We got there at around 2pm armed with some sandwiches we snuck in and realized we were going to be with everyone else roasting under the sun in the big field(full of litter, mind you). We were going to buy water and any other food once we were inside. Once we got in, we realized there was a ridiculous, yet all too Chilean system for buying food and drinks. You have to wait in a huge line to buy a ticket for your food and then go wait in an aggressive crowd and push your way to the front to actually get your food or drinks. Now, I'm not knocking the ticket thing entirely because I've seen it done well at other concert venues, but it clearly didn't work there today. There were way too many concert goers and too few people working.

By the time the four of us got our water (30-40 minutes from the time we first got in line), the heat had ruined me. I drank my cup way too fast and was left worried about when the next time I'd drink water would be. The lines had gotten even huger and no one was very interested in paying 1.000 pesos for a cup of water and then actually getting it an hour later. I am a very hydrated person so thirst is my nightmare and thirst plus heat minus shade makes for a miserable me.

We sat down for a while and ate and played the cards I'd brought as I baked in the sun. Now, I am a baby when it comes to heat so I admit I can't handle situations like that very well, but everything was made worse by the thought of 8 more hours outside with no water, food or shade. I didn't say anything, but Italo knows when I'm uncomfortable and he very sweetly said, "let's go", but I insisted I was fine, in fact thrilled to go home by myself so he could stay and enjoy the day with his sister and friend. He was impossible to convince so we both ended up leaving early (exactly 2 and half hours after we got there). I was a little embarrassed because I hate being finicky around Italo's family. I think they think gringas are more high maintenance in general and I know I've done some things that are totally normal in the U.S. that they view as complaining or being particular (like asking to be switched from smoking to non-smoking because I made a non-smoking dinner reservation or insisting on renting an apartment with heat and having a fan in the summer). I don't like to perpetuate the stereotype nor do I want them to get sick of my gringa ways, but I think it was all worth it for the sheer bliss I felt chugging my first and second bottle of water just as we exited the the concert gates. Then, the cool breeze walking to the bus and the yummy ice cream we bought on the way back made me almost forget we had even been to La Cumbre...almost.

Maybe next year I'll try it again with a big umbrella and buckets of water, but this year it just wasn't for me.

Big sigh of relief/What the f*ck?!

2009-01-08T12:35:00.003-05:00

This past Monday I went into work to pick up my paycheck and get my attendance book for the one class I had that didn't end in December. To my surprise, SOMEONE there told me that my students had asked to stay with the teacher who subbed for me because there weren't many classes left and they didn't want to switch around anymore. I wasn't sure how to react because that didn't make sense considering I've been with these students for 4 months so I asked, "en serio?!?" and the response I got was, "en serio!". I was assured that it had nothing to do with my teaching, just convenience for them, but I found that hard to believe. I asked a few more questions because I wasn't satisfied, but I got to the point where my only options were to cry because my students didn't like me that much after all or, just leave and deal with it like a big girl. I chose to walk out and deal with it, but it was still really bugging me today. These students and I had such a fun time in class. They're the same ones who invited me to their company's big anniversary party. I brought stuff back from the U.S. specifically for them and we had planned to get together this weekend. So naturally, when I thought about it more it seemed really mean of them or highly unlikely that SOMEONE was telling the truth. Well, just a few minutes ago the mystery solved itself. I got an email from one of my students saying how upset they are with the new teacher and that they're trying to get me back because they don't know what happened. Ok, so 1. YAYYYY! They like me! They really like me!! and 2. Why the fuck did the institute take that class away from me and then lie about it???!!!! I am very relieved three people I really like don't hate me, but I am also pissed at SOMEONE from work. I am waiting to calm down so I can ask about it again without getting angry, but I am determined to get this class back!

Morning thoughts and resolutions for the new year

2009-01-07T08:47:00.005-05:00

I am experiencing a very blissful morning. I got the best night's sleep I've gotten here since getting back and woke up just as reruns of my favorite show, Gilmore Girls came on. i am lying in bed, feeling the nice breeze of my fan, drinking coffee and planning my day. I've only been back at work 2 days, but for some reason I felt like I really deserved an undeserved break. Luckily (not for my bank account!), two of my classes don't start until next week so I'm still on a semi-vacation which gives me time to catch up on my doing nothing. Although, I am adding more reading, gym time, and healthy cooking to that so I'll be slightly busier.

I haven't posted about New Year's Resolutions like many other bloggers. It's probably because I kinda hate New Year's, although I like the idea of resolutions. And I made some resolutions without thinking about them going along with the holiday, but I guess even I got into the New Year's spirit so I thought I'd share them even though they couldn't get more cliché.

1. Keep our apartment cleaner. As my friend L. put it once, Italo and I are like two little kids in the kitchen who don't want to take responsibility for the messes we make. We both think we're master chefs which means there's no one to clean up at the end of the meal since we both did the cooking. We get into the nasty habit of cooking dinner at night and leaving the dishes for the next day. I really want to stop that because in our tiny kitchen, one dish, let alone many that not put away makes it very cluttered. I also want all of our books, work things, and clothes where they belong. This is my resolution, but it pertains to us both. Luckily, Italo is right along with me on this one. My next one is slowly breaking him down, though.

2. Eat healthier foods. My last 2 years of high school and my first two years of college, I was a health nut. I tried to eat all organic foods and snacked on nuts and freeze dried berries. I was also a vegetarian so I lived on tofu, beans, cheese, fruits and vegetables. I loved eating like that (minus the vegetarian thing now) and I'm not sure what happened. I looked back on the last 6 months in Chile and realized my eating habits had gone to shit so now I'm determined to bring healthy back. That means absolutely no deliciously disgusting Chilean white bread. It also means no more bleached grains like pasta and rice and no more (or very, very little) red meat. I can't do the no carbs thing because I'm a carb addict, but I can cut way back. So far, I've only bought whole grain pasta and the rest has been legumes, fruit, veggies, eggs and cheese. I've also switched my quick dinner recipes from Rachel Ray to Ellie Krieger (her recipes are easy and delish!). I've been making and storing snacks incase Italo or I get hungry between meals (hummus, roasted chickpeas, almonds, yogurt popsicles, etc). Drinking less beer and other alcohol on the weekends is a must, too. The one thing I cannot and will not give up is red wine. It is too wonderful and inexpensive here and I love it too much. After 3 and a half days of this new diet, I feel great. I have more energy and I just feel happier. Italo was starving the first 2 days, but now he's into it. He's lost about 5 pounds (I hate that about men!) just because he's not eating white bread so I think he's pretty motivated, too. I'm also being really creative with our dinners so he doesn't miss the breads and pastas. All in all, I think I'm on the right path with this resolution

3. Exercise More. I know, I know. EVERYONE vows to workout more at the start of each year. I'm doing it too. This is another thing I used to be adamant about. I want to get back into the routines I was in before. I'm not worried too much about being heart healthy because I walk everywhere and now that my discount metro pass ran out, I'll be walking even more. I'd just like to get back into my strength training routines and be able to mix it up. I found some pretty cool variations for cardio and strength training in some fitness magazines and I'm going to get a new gym membership so I can do my trusty elliptical workout. Italo and I have also been saving to buy bikes (and helmets!) so we can do cerro San Cristóbal and Santa Lucía on the weekends. I'm terrified to ride my bike in this city, but I'll have to overcome it. In general, I want to be more active. I miss that drive to workout everyday I had in college. I'm trying to get it back.

4. Be better at keeping in touch with friends and family. I haven't been very good at writing some people on a regular basis and they told me that when I was home. I can be pretty bad about responding to emails and messages sometime and I have no excuse. It's not that I don't want to keep in touch, I just get distracted and forget sometimes. I promised I would be better because I miss these people a lot while I'm here and I'd like them to know that. So far, i've been doing a good job about it and I hope I can keep it up.

5. Prepare better classes for my students. It took me a while to take my job seriously, but just before Christmas, I started really getting into my lesson planning and enjoying my classes more. I'd like to continue with that and make them even better and more organized. Since teaching English looks like my occupation for a while, I want to feel like I'm good at my job and I'd like for my students to know that I'm trying. So far this semester, I have some great students so it shouldn't be hard.

6. Read more books people recommend to me. I have a lot of friends and family members who constantly recommend great books to me. Some of them even give me the books. I am always very grateful and have every intention of reading the books, but I seldom get around to it. I am going to change that. Especially because two people in particular always read the books I recommend so I need to stop being lazy and do the same. Yesterday, I finally started Cider House Rules by John Irving given to me by a certain A.H. I've read A Prayer for Owen Meany (it's on my top 5 favorite books list) and The World According to Garp so I really have no excuse for not reading his other books. Then, I'm going to start on another one and another one and hopefully another one and so on...

7. Spend more quality time with my man. For those of you who know me, you know I spend a lot of time with Italo, but during the week, it can become very routine-like since we both work. True to my astrological sign (Sagittarius), I hate getting locked into a routine, especially when it involves love, so I want to change that. I want to be able to devote time every day just to hanging out and doing new things. And actually, I think this diet and exercise thing goes along with this resolution. It's been fun grocery shopping and cooking together the past few days and once we get bikes, it means another shared hobby (aside from eating!). We went for a bike ride when we were in Virginia and it was the first time we'd done that. I loved it! Italo's first love was a bicycle (ok, not really), but I wouldn't be surprised to see him tear up talking about his old bike, and I just loved that we were doing something together that he was so passionate about.

OK, I had more resolutions than I thought! Also, Happy new year to everyone!

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random comment because I don't want to post another blog, but for anyone in the U.S., I have to recommend the movie Doubt. I went to see it with my parents and sister and we were all extremely impressed. It was by far the best movie I've seen in a long time. it's pretty impressive that my whole family thought that since we all have different tastes in movies.

Single Ladies and Christmas time in Virginia

2008-12-22T12:27:00.009-05:00

Ok, I should be kicked out of the blogging community for being so neglectful of my blog. It has been well over a month since I last posted and I have no excuse. I had plenty of exciting things happen, but I just didn't feel like blogging them. Now that I'm home in Virginia for Christmas with my family and my Chilean love, I feel like sharing.

Italo and I flew to Buenos Aires on Friday and spent about 22 hours in the city trying to find great Christmas gifts for my family with the small amount of money we have, but were not very successful. Then, we flew to Virginia and got in at 6:30am yesterday morning. Italo's airport experience was a nightmare and there was one point where I was hysterical outside of customs thinking my boyfriend wouldn't be let out of the airport. He was sent quickly to "C area" which ended up being a room of foreigners waiting to be inspected thoroughly. All in all, Italo spent 2 hours with Dulles Airport security proving he would go back to Chile at the end of the month. It ended up not being so bad since he's here in my house, but for a while I was terrified he would be treated horribly and would understandably never want to come back here again. Luckily, he was very relaxed and calm unlike me and we made it home by around 9:30am.

Now that we're both here, I'm enjoying everything. This is the first time in a long time my parents, my sister, our boyfriends and I have all been together. This will be our first Christmas all together and it's shaping up to be wonderful. It is so nice to come up to cold weather and Christmas decorations all over the town. My mom really outdid herself with the decorations this year because she was so excited to have us all home. The house looks amazing and feels like home. Our kitchen is stocked with delicious food you can't find in Chile and my parents even froze part of Thanksgiving dinner so Italo and I could make the yummiest sandwiches in the world.

Another thing I love about being home is watching movies and playing games. Last night, we all watched Love Actually which has become sort of a tradition for us and then Italo, my best friend A. and I kicked butt in a game of Cranium against my sister, her boyfriend, and my mother.

After dinner every night we always have champagne or more wine and inevitably sit around and quote movies and look up videos on youtube. As I mentioned in a previous blog about my sister C., she and I are master movie quoters, but we also love sharing funny youtube videos so last night turned into watching wedding dance videos to famous movie dances. The best one was a wedding where the couple did the Dirty Dancing final dance. They were AMAZING and Italo and I along with C. and her boyfriend T. are already practicing it (or, C. and I are practicing while the boys try to ignore the fact that we're already planning choreographed wedding dances). BUT, the best part of last night was another video.

Living in Chile, regardless of how much I love it, always means that I will miss out on some popular song or video or current event. This time, it means I lived in ignorance for about a month and missed the best new pop song and video plus the funniest parodies. I'm sure most people have heard the Beyonce song "Single Ladies", but I hadn't. It is such a fun and just all around great pop song. The video is great and Beyonce looks the hottest she ever has and the dancing makes you want to get up and dance (and possibly learn the dance for your wedding, haha). Now, you have to watch the original video first to appreciate the two, erm "interpretations"

ok, after watching that one, watch this guy dancing to the video:

and NOW watch Justin Timberlake backing up Beyonce on SNL (you can't see the whole thing because NBC won't allow it on youtube, but you get the idea:

So, I'm not sure anyone else will enjoy these as much as I do, but I cannot stop watching them and for anyone else who misses pop culture when living abroad, this is for you!

I probably won't blog much while I'm home (surprise, surprise), but I will post pictures of our awesome Christmas Eve party. I'll be wearing my House of Dereon shoes and my sister will be debuting her Chirstian Louboutin's (an early Christmas gift from her boyfriend T.) I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas (or Hanukkah or anything else).

I need a 3B outfit!

2008-11-14T10:34:00.007-05:00

So, 3 of my favorite students invited I. and me to a very fancy anniversary party for their company at Casa Piedra in a few days. YAY! Delicious food, open bar, entertainment, and dancing. My students have been talking about the clothes they bought for the party for over a week so I know the dress code there. The invitation says "formal dress" so my first thought was, "Yay! I'll wear my great Anthroplogie dress with those fabulous shoes my mom bought me for graduation" And my second thought was, "Fuck! I took them to the U.S. in October because I NEVER wore them here and couldn't think of any occasion where I would wear them."

So, now I've got to find a short, but formal dress and some great shoes and of course, they both need to be inexpensive and I need to find them soon. I'm thinking I'd like to spend more money on the shoes (I like bright colors, but comfy heels/wedges) and I'll just try to find some sort of black dress that I can dress up with jewelry, red lipstick, and other accessories.

Ok, my problem is that I never go shopping in Chile. I think that in over a year, I've only bought 4 to 5 pieces of clothing and most of them were too expensive for what they are. I need help! Does anyone know where to go to get cute stuff?? I would love something like this dress or this dress or anything else black or red.

Anyway, this is my plea to all of you fashionable ladies living in or who have previously lived in Chile...help! And, thank you!

Primer Matrimonio Chileno

2008-11-11T14:48:00.011-05:00

This past Saturday I attended a Chilean wedding for the first time. I.'s cousin got married and the whole family was there. If I could sum the wedding up in 3 words, I'd use the Chilean expression "3B" for bueno, bonito, and barato (good, pretty, and inexpensive). I was VERY impressed by all aspects of the wedding without considering how much it cost, but when they told me how much (little, really) they spent on everything AND that they had to change the location 2 weeks before the wedding, my jaw dropped to the floor and I vowed right there and then to get married in Chile.

First and foremost, the most beautiful aspect of this wedding was that the bride and groom are madly in love with each other. I'm very realistic about the probability of a couple staying together (so I often think they won't), but I'd put a good amount of money on the success of this couple. Sharing their special day with them was a wonderful experience.

Second, the location was AMAZING. It was up in the mountains in (or just outside of?) Lo Cañas. Seriously, why someone doesn't own a little vineyard/hotel/restaurant up there is beyond me since it seems to be geared toward the wealthy. If I could invest in something, it would be Chez Shea, Lo Cañas, Chile. Anyway, this place is comparable to the gorgeous wedding my best friend just had in Virginia which cost much more (as most US weddings do). Now, her wedding was magical and the place where she got married was so beautiful (same goes for how much she and her hubby love each other), but this place at Lo Cañas was magical and beautful, too. There is the most amazing view of the mountains and Santiago at night. It was breathtaking. The house/event place was gorgeous with an ivy-covered walkway and garden around it. The grounds weren't as well maintained as they should have been, but it was still impressive.

Third, the catering company was excellent. Their service was remarkable by anyone's standards and all of the employees were very friendly and accommodating, which is something I've learned not to expect while living in Chile. Whenever you wanted a drink or mini empanada, they were right there helping you. And, they had a perfect number of staff working, not too few which was a big problem at my friend's wedding.

Now, it's not that I expected a mediocre wedding from C and her hubby; it's just that there was no fuss at all about it from anyone. I'm used to American weddings where often the bride, groom and family start planning at least a year in advance and inevitably run into wedding party and/or planning problems. I've seen brides forced into including disliked family members in the wedding party just to make grandma lay off the guilt trip and, fancy wedding planners blatantly lying about how the wedding will be while charging an arm and a leg for their services. With this wedding, there was none of that. Over the past few months you'd hardly know they were even planning one, yet everything turned out beautifully and I doubt they ever broke a sweat over any of it. How refreshing! The most important day of their relationship was stress-free and perfect. I can only hope for so much.

Here are some pictures from Saturday:

Obama and my sister

2008-11-05T14:17:00.013-05:00

First, I am very happy about Obama being elected. He was the deserving and capable candidate and he won. Now, let's hope he comes through on all of his promises.

Ok, so my point in this post is not to talk more about the election, but to introduce my sister. She just started reading my blog so I thought I'd give her a proper introduction since she's the best (and only) sister I've got.

This is me with C right before I left for Chile the first time:

And here we are again:

We often dress the same, especially when snowboarding together. That's us in our personalized neighborhoodies we made in honor of our grandmother, Carmen. And yes, we also own the same snowboard and both have pink goggle buddies on our helmets. We do that because it doesn't matter how we dress when we snowboard because we're GOOD. And I don't feel bad saying this because we're not good at much else (although, my sister is a good horseback rider and can beat anyone at movie trivia). I have to milk my one talent for all it's worth so, I'm GOOD! AND, my sister's good, too!

C is 26 and a true Taurus. She graduated from UVa in 2004 and I followed in her footsteps this year. She is a lot more organized than I am and she goes to bed earlier, but we love the same food, wine, music, and cherish staying in when on vacation and ordering room service and a movie. We quote movies and tv shows to no end and probably annoy a lot of people because of it.

C is also on her way to being a badass nurse anesthetist which is why I hardly hear from her now. She sleeps, studies, and goes to the hospital. She's a graduate student at Georgetown and is part of an insanely intense and challenging program (but, it should be since her patients' lives will be in her hand once she graduates). In a little over a year, I will have my sister back, but for now our virtual relationship will have to suffice.

Elections from a Chilean Perspective

2008-11-04T13:20:00.008-05:00

I just got back from an English class with some of my favorite students. This is a great class because my students are employees of a certain Seattle-based specialty coffee store so I get all of the free coffee and tea beverages I want while I teach. I also get paid double since I have to schlep up to Las Condes and eat some of the best salads there are in Santiago to teach it (notice my sarcasm since I LOVE any excuse to go get a yummy salad for lunch). But the best thing about my students is that they are fun, intelligent, and love speaking English.

Today, was so great because we didn't even crack open our textbook since everyone was so excited about the U.S. elections. They were really interested in how I was feeling, in what it's like in the U.S. today, in how my parents and sister and everyone else I know living in the U.S. are feeling today, and in what all the Expats were going to do tonight to celebrate (or grieve) when the results come in. They also talked about how terribly upset they would be if Obama is not elected. It was so interesting to hear how much faith they have in Obama as a world leader. Now, neither my students or I are under the impression that Obama is any sort of savior. I really believe that big change takes a very long time and is extremely difficult within any government, but I (and they) also believe that voting for Barack Obama over John McCain is the right choice*. They are excited about the same things I am: what this would do to improve the U.S.'s image all over the world and its international relations, what this could mean for Black men and women everywhere, and what would happen in the U.S. once its president is not totally and completely worthless.

Now, I would consider these particular students more informed on world issues than most Chileans I know, but all of my students (the dummies and the smarty pants) have been talking about the elections. They've watched the SNL clips, seen the Sara Silverman Obama endorsement, and laughed at my "Sarah Palin is a retard" comments. My point is that it seems that the whole world, or all of Chile at least, is more interested in this election than elections in the past and it's because of Obama (and that Obama also means the end of Bush). I also have not met one Chilean rooting for McCain (but was unpleasantly surprised to find out through facebook that I know many more McCain/Palin supporters than I thought).

So, during my next class on Thursday, my students and I are either going to celebrate together or cry together.

Tonight, I'm going to Basic Bar (when do I not go there?) with some other lovely Chile-Gringas (Sara, Jessica, and Shannon) as well as a few Chileno spouses to watch the election coverage. Anyone else who reads this, come on out if you can! Here's hoping for happy results!

*My dream democratic ticket would be Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson with the next best being Clinton/Obama and then Obama/Clinton. Hillary will never cease to amaze me and Richardson is an experienced, intelligent and moderate man so they would make a dream team in my opinion.

Significant Other Brag Tag

2008-11-03T14:35:00.009-05:00

Amanda tagged me

1. Where did you meet?
We met on September 18, 2007, at my host brother's best friend's parent's house (otherwise known as his aunt and uncle's house)

2. How long did you date before you were married?
We're not married yet but I'm guessing (and hoping) that it will be between 2 and 3 years

3. How long have you been married?
We have been living together and supporting ourselves economically for almost 5 months now so I consider that practically married

4. What is one thing he does that surprises you?
He irons his shirt before work every morning. This is a man who needs an hour between when his alarm goes off and when he actually gets out of bed, yet often turns his alarm off in his sleep without realizing it and then jumps out of bed with 5 minutes to spare, BUT he always has time to iron his shirt and most of the time, make coffee (the real kind!)

5. What is your favorite feature about him?
Not to copy Amanda, but his eyes. He has the kindest eyes I've ever seen. They are so telling of his personality. The second my mom met him, she turned to me and said, "I love him! He has the sweetest eyes."

6. What is your favorite quality about him?
His kindness. It just pours out of him and it only takes one hug from him to understand how sincere he is. (some of my mother's friends always talk about how his hugs are amazing)

7. Does he have a nickname for you?
Yes, "guachona" and "amorcita" (which is making fun of the fact that I thought since our puppy is a girl, she was amorcita, not amorcito...wrong!). Jokingly, he also uses any petname from the Cuppycake song

8. What's his favorite color?
Blue (I had to ask him to be sure on this one)

9. What's his favorite food?
All food, but more specifically, pizza and all other Italian food, bread, palta and tomate, rueben sandwiches, five guys, and kebobs with creamy cilantro lime sauce from Sticks in Charlottesville, Va

10. What's his favorite sport?
It was mountain biking until his bike broke

11. Who said, "I love you" first?
He did.

12. When and where was your first kiss?
The night I met him while we were dancing to cumbia at a fonda with my host brother, his date, I.'s cousin and cousin's girlfriend watching us.

13. What's your favorite thing to do as a couple?
Lazy Sunday (we have a better nickname for it). We alternate with serving each other breakfast in bed, then we both cook something new together for lunch, and we relax and watch movies or tv or read or listen to music and talk all day. Our best lazy Sunday was when we first started dating which turned into a lazy Friday-Monday and involved Sade, a bottle of rum, a bottle of pisco, lots of never have i ever and other fun games and no food because I was too happy/excited/nervous to eat (it was totally PG, by the way!)

14. Do you have kids?
No, but we have a puppy

15. What's a hidden talent of his?
He's really good at drawing and excellent at all games that involve strategy.

16. How old is he?
24

17. What do you admire most about him?
His patience. He has more patience with everyone than anyone else I know. He is a born teacher and listener. I'm learning from him.

18. What's his favorite past time?
Lounging around when it's not Sunday and getting me to do it with him without making us both feel guilty about not "doing" anything

19. What's his favorite type of music?
Haha, we have had our fair share of arguments over who gets to pick the music! His favorite band is Tool which is great with me, but we part ways at Slipknot, yet have found neutral ground with bands like The Killers, Rage Against the Machine, and any music released before 1995.

20. Do you think he'll read this?
Definitely

Visa things, Sunday things

2008-10-27T10:11:00.005-04:00

So, today is the last day I'll get to sleep past 7:00am since I'm getting another class. I can't complain about that since it's a normal time to wake up, but I LOVE sleep. I absolutely cherish it and I seem to be getting worse and worse about it. Today, I slept blissfully until I. called me at 10:30am which made me feel so guilty since he has to get up at 7:30am everyday to go to a job he's not that interested in. So, I jumped up after an amazing dream that I met Oprah at the Emmy's and got to tell her about one of my friends who is her protege, and decided to check on my visa status with extranjería.

The last I checked, they claimed my paperwork hadn't arrived and after going to correos de chile and seeing the high-tech, classified mail system they have that I paid for (come on, have you ever heard of COMPUTERS???!!!!), they wrote in pen a confirmation that it had been delivered. My logical question was, "is there a more official document I can bring to extranjería to show that it was delivered". The response I got, "No, no. This is the official time. If you want a copy you'll have to go to Plaza de Armas and see if they'll let you have a copy, but I don't think they will". So, I'm thinking "alright, where the hell in Plaza de Armas do I go?" And the nice, but dense man tells me that I'll know it when I see it. I was late to meet my cuñi so I just left it at that.

So, back to this morning. I call and the woman actually finds me in the system this time and says that I was missing a piece of paper in the envelope and that they had sent it back. Even though the woman at my institute supposedly put my envelope together the way it should have been and just handed it to me to send, That's an OK answer for me. The woman at my institute is relatively friendly and everyone makes mistakes. I don't even mind using the mail that takes at least a week when I could drop it off by hand in 10 minutes. I think I've always been pretty patient with Chilean bureaucracy as long as the last person I'm sent to actually gives me a useful answer (it's normally an address on the other side of the city). The people at extranjería have been surprisingly helpful and friendly to me, but my problem is that I really need to get that visa in the mail ASAP, If for nothing else than not to give the new guy at Ekono a heart attack when I use my passport number and not my carnet number when I pay with a credit card. But seriously, I need you visa, I want you visa, so hurry up!

On a totally different note, yesterday was election day. And the craziest thing about it to me is that men and women vote in different colegios. That just seems way too old-fashioned even for Chile, but as my suegra said (and I couldn't help but laugh), laws are just too hard to change here so most of Pinochet's legacy is the same because it's next to impossible to change. That to me just sums up most Chileans and their views on politics, but that's another post in general.

But my point in mentioning elections was to talk about my Sunday. My suegra actually warned me not to go out. Or rather said it would be better if we didn't go out. I'm still not sure why, but I have a feeling it had nothing to do with elections and everything to do with the fact that she wanted us to go to her house for the day, but we already had plans. And it seems like everyone else had those same plans: Parque Forrestal. I. and I had a picnic there and let Olive run crazy for a few hours while half of Santiago walked by. I have never seen the park this crowded and we are there almost every weekend. There were more shows and people selling things than ever. I love to watch all of the circus talent there. There were a group of people climbing and swinging off two rope-type thingies that seem to be all the rage (when I saw Justin Timberlake in concert, Pink opened for him and was swinging all around the stage on them). Even though it was incredibly crowded, we still had a really nice, quiet place to eat the yummy potato salad I made, sneak-drink a bottle of wine, and play cards. And now it's back to work...

P.S. I've been thinking about my group post and am having a hard time narrowing down my post so it may not be until tomorrow or later tonight...

The Great Schlep

2008-10-21T16:18:00.007-04:00

In the spirit of it almost being election month in the U.S., I wanted to share a "political" video with everyone. My inspiration for sharing this video comes from a wonderful blog, Mandy Moves. She posted a great video made by and for women to raise awareness about what Sarah Palin's possible vice presidency (and if that happens, likely presidency) means for women and their rights (about 100 giant steps back in time). Check it out here.

Now, my video comes from Sara. But I'm not talking about Sarah right-wing-idiotic-barbie doll Palin; I'm talking about Sara possibly-the-funniest-woman-alive Silverman. For anyone who isn't familiar with her, I warn you that her genial humor is based on offending EVERYONE so don't watch if that's not your cup of matzoh ball soup (but, come on, it's so obvious she's a smart and liberal-minded person).

Anyway, she made a video called the Great Schlep supporting Barack Obama and it's probably the only celebrity endorsement of a politician that isn't so cheesy it makes me want to vomit. More importantly, it's absolutely hilarious! For any Jewish bloggers (or just Jews-at-heart like me), it's that much funnier.

Check it out below and enjoy (I hope!). I apologize for my computer illiteracy, but I don't know how to put the video directly on my blog so I'm just posting the link

The Great Schlep

Job Woes

2008-10-20T09:52:00.000-04:00

I think I can safely post about an institute (without naming it) since I totally didn't get the job there and I have to vent.

So, about 2 months ago I interviewed at an English institute that actually offers full-time contracts with a salary. I was sooooo excited because a monthly salary, regardless of how small it is, is so exciting to me I'd take half of what I've made some months here teaching by the hour. So, I have this great interview where we just end up chatting about this professor from my old school (UVA) and this grammar book we both love. Anyway, this woman tells me that I am definitely getting the job and that I have a second meeting with their HR person to discuss contract possibilities.

I am so thrilled at this point because I had just recently quit a job I hated and was making half of what I did the 2 months before. So, I go back and meet with this woman who then says that the fact that I was going to the U.S. or a week caused a little bit of a problem, but they were going to figure out a different contract and let me know that week, but that I definitely had the job and would start training the next week. Here's where they get horrible and unprofessional.

I don't hear from them that week. Nada. So, I wait until Monday and write a polite, just checking in email to the HR lady. No response. A few days later, I write the woman who interviewed me to check in. No response. A week later, I write again almost just for fun because I know I'll get no response. Frantically, I drop my resume off everywhere and get a job at an institute that pays o.k., but I really wanted the salary job.

SOOOOO, 2 months and 4 emails with no responses later, I get a bullshit email saying "Oh, I'm so sorry but your email got lost. Contact me ASAP if you still want to work with us." MY first reaction, was are you f-ing kidding me with this ASAP crap???! But, my second was YAYYY possible job. So, I emailed her back as per her annoying request asking about a contract job. She emails me back saying I should come in for an interview this Tuesday when I have a class. I write a polite email back explaining that I have to work then, but that I'm available anytime after that class. I also ask what the content of the meeting will be so I can properly prepare myself.

OK, so 2 hours later I get this totally bitchy response saying "I only emailed you because you still seemed interested in working with us, but I never wanted to waste your time (as suggested in your email below), so I think it's best to cancel our meeting for Tuesday."

I'm sorry, but I didn't know that asking about the meeting so I can be prepared could be translated as "you're just wasting my time", can it? And even so, is it really allowed to send an email like that when you're supposed to be a professional? It's totally fine to decide not to hire someone based on that, but I think there are much better and more professional ways of handling it.

So, now I'm back to my old ways of panicking about my class hours every month and searching for any type of full-time job.

"I've had plenty of Joe jobs. Nothing I'd call a career. Let me put it this way: I have an extensive collection of name tags and hairnets"

2008-10-16T15:36:00.000-04:00

Today started out as a busy and early day. I had several classes to go to and lots of catching up to do now that I'm back in Chile. I got a great start and happily walked to work to get my materials from the substitute who was supposed to drop them off for me. So, I got to institute #2 today only to find out that all classes were cancelled (i.e. I'm not getting paid today) because of día del profesor. HAH!

I'm sorry, but I find that ironic or maybe just really crappy luck. Yay, let's celebrate teachers. Yeah. Great! But, I'm not a teacher. Or at least, not a salary-paid one. So, if you're going to celebrate me, pay me double or at least give me double the hours to work. But please, PLEASE don't cancel my classes and tell me happy day.

But, I'm actually not as upset as I know I should be about not getting paid. Why? Because I love doing nothing in my apartment and I found the best source for it: Movies. Free movies. Lots of movies. Legal movies. You can basically stream any movie you can think of and it's pretty quick.

So, for all of you English teachers out there who frequently go from a very busy day to a practically free one because of your classes being cancelled, be a bum like me and start brushing up on your best movie quotes.

I'm starting Wayne's World right now...

Airport Thoughts

2008-10-15T10:08:00.000-04:00

I´m waiting to board a plane to Santiago after almost a week at home in Virginia for my friend´s wedding (pictures to come). After about an hour of panicking about my bags getting to Chile, I am calm now and resting after running all over the airport in Buenos Aires. I have no money to buy food so I´m stuffing my face with the Halloween candy I brought back ¨for my students¨. I cannot wait to get home to my I., Olive, and apartment. But I am dreading going back to work because I´m afraid they took my classes away from me or aren´t going to pay me because I wasn´t here to turn in my hours. BUT, I will save the bulk of that worrying until tomorrow morning at 8am when I have my first class.

In the meantime, I can´t help but think about 3 lovely Argentine women I met on my flight from Washington to Buenos Aires. The first, I met in a panicked state while walking to my gate. She was screaming in Spanish and the information desk employee was begging for a translator so I thought I´d try out my frantic Spanish comprehension. I think I just cut it because this woman was yelling and sighing and running back and forth so I really had to concentrate to get all she was saying.

It went something like this (in translation, of course):

my girls, they took my girls!! the police...because of dolls!!! i was in New York and now I´m here and my girls!! We have to go home and the police have my girls and we bought those dolls and my pássport and I need to go to Buenos Aires!!!!

Finally, she got a call (from international police, I guess?) that her girls were being released from custody and when I saw her at our gate she was a totally different person and calmly explained that she and her daughters were basically stripped and searched and then brought into one of those little rooms all because they brought those little tiny snowglobes on. Needless to say, they´ll never go back to Dulles Airport because they were so hysterical and scared and it´s all because they accidentally brought something through security and then couldn´t speak English well enough to explain it.

Minutes before I met the first woman, I was in line at security thinking about how it had changed a lot and hired all new people since the last time I´d been there. This may have just been my particular line, but all of the employees seemed a lot meaner than usual and I heard several extremely racist comments told as running jokes coming from the NSA employees in the short 3 minutes I was there. I think it´s more than coincidence that I noticed those changes only to witness their product minutes later with the mother of the daughters who were detained.

This treatment of people is disgusting. I won´t get into details about my views on national security and the threat of terror (yet), but I have a problem with NSA´s changes after September 11, 2001, and I hate that 3 extremely friendly and wonderful women will never come back to the U.S. because of the experience they had last night.

I am grateful to have met them and then coincidentally sat next to them on the plane because they were so sweet and it´d be so nice to visit them when I´m Buenos Aires this December.

That´s about it! Can´t wait to land in Santiago!

Oh, and I voted yesterday! All I can say is take that, McCain and retarded Sarah Palin

good ol' U.S. of A.

2008-10-07T15:05:00.001-04:00

For one week, I will be in the great EEUU. I am going home for my best friend's wedding and am basically coming back right after. It will be a short trip, but I basically can't afford to not be working any longer than a week. I am excited to see my sister, my dad, my best friend, and my dog. Not to mention other close friends and family. I cannot wait to eat cheddar cheese and vietnamese pho. I'll also take advantage of cheap and good used book stores and new John and Kate Plus 8 and The Office episodes.

Pathetically enough, I am really sad to say goodbye to I. (I'm switching to this now) and Olive even though its for such a short time. Regardless of how long I'll be gone, it still means a huge side of my bed will be empty every night I'm not here. But, I am so excited to see my best friend marry her perfect mate. After almost 10 years together, there is no doubt in anyone's minds that they are meant for each other and I can't wait to be simultaneously sobbing and laughing right next to her as she fulfills her dreams this Saturday (she has been waiting for this day since we were in 8th grade).

I'm sure I'll post from home, but it will be Izzy in Virginia this week which doesn't quite have the same ring as Chabelita in Chile, but oh well!

Blog with a great cause

2008-10-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure that everyone who reads this blog also reads this blog by kyle, but just incase, I'm linking it here. In short, she and her husband are sponsoring a very talented man's education so that he can make a decent living in Chile.

For anyone who doesn't know, getting paid well and getting good jobs depends so much on what you studied and what type of degree you got which means raw talent doesn't carry much, if any weight. You can be the most amazing teacher there is, but if you don't have your MA in education, you will not be paid the same as other mediocre teachers. This is the case with Marcelo, the man Kyle and her husband are putting through school. He is a very talented surveyor (I think this is the correct translation of trasador) and loves his job, but unless he gets his degree from an institute, he can be the best there is and still get paid nothing (and I mean nothing).

The point is that Kyle and her husband have offered the incredible: to cover all of his education expenses. This is amazing. These are two enormously generous people who are doing a wonderful thing for their friend. Any readers can help out by buying Kyle's pictures from her photography website because 100% of the money she makes selling her prints goes to Marcelo's education. Check out her link here and see how good she is. The US embassy just bought several prints from her so she's got to be damn good!

Go read about it and then if you have a blog, put a link in it. If not, put it up on facebook or myspace or something

Good luck, Marcelo!

Kyle's blog

Disappointing debate/really fun night!

2008-10-03T00:19:00.000-04:00

Debate wise, tonight sucked. Palin did what she does best and avoided answering any question, but I think Biden and the moderator were more at fault for not calling her on it. Now I know Biden has to be careful because he's a man and he can be seen as attacking a woman or whatever, but come on. He had a real opportunity here and he came out just OK. All I can think is how AMAZING it would have been to have seen Hillary up there against Palin. She would have ripped her head of, chewed it up, and spit it back out (literally and figuratively speaking) and one one could have accused her of being sexist. You can only accuse her of being intelligent (and determined/bitchy/whatever). Big mistake, Barack!

Anyways, my night was saved by great company and delicious food at Basic. I can't praise that place enough. Obviously, my mom and boyfriend were there which makes things great, but I also met two other blogging gringas (Sara and Shannon) who are just fabulous! And not to mention Jessica who I already knew was fabulous. So, the mediocre debates were evened out by fun people.

Ok, I'm going to sleep since I have class bright and early. I can't wait to hear and read more about these debates...

Debates, debates, debates!!

2008-09-29T12:56:00.001-04:00

ok, so I'm just a blogging machine today after my blogging hiatus. As I've read in some other blogs, people are as excited or riled up about this year's presidential election in the U.S. as I am and the VP debates (If they don't pull Palin off the campaign) are this Thursday at 9pm. Basic Bar in ñuñoa is having a debates night because they have a satellite and a big projector (not to mention delicious salads, pizzas, french fries, and tacos). There will be drink specials for all Gringos with proof of gringoness and I think a few newspapers there interviewing expats. All in all, I think it will be a great place for anyone without a satellite to watch the debates. I'll be there with my mom, Italo, and Jessica from I left my heart in Santiago. I hope other people can make it out there!

holiday in pictures

2008-09-29T11:49:00.000-04:00

Me with my mom and mi suegra at the airport

Italo and my mom dancing cueca

My adorable abuelo-in-law

Suegri and Primas doing what they do best

Me with my amorsote

The Perfect holiday

2008-09-29T09:33:00.000-04:00

These are the first minutes I've had alone to write since September 16th. My dieciocho holiday weekend turned into 2 weeks and it has been amazing. My mother came to visit me the morning of the 16th and is here until we both fly to Virginia for my best friend's wedding on October 7th and it has been nonstop since she got here. Briefly, here's 10 reasons on why it has been so amazing for me:

1. Italo and I celebrated 1 amazing year together on September 18th and it was the best day I've had in Chile so far

2. My mom and mi suegra have formed this unbelievable bond that makes me think they may be long-lost sisters (uhhh without the creepy implications about Italo and me, that is). This has included sleepovers, trips to viña and cutting and styling hair.

3. In a matter of days, Italo's entire family has really become my family's family, not just my family and I think we have about 7 asados, 20 empanadas, 40 bottles of delicious wine and 2 extra kilos each to prove this.

4. I am actually sore from all the dancing and laughing that has gone on.

5. My mother decorated our apartment so now it really is the cutest apartment in Santiago.

6. We're finally getting cable so I can keep up with all of the crazy election news and the rest I'll get from watching Bill Maher on youtube.

7. I found this amazing seamstress who took in my bridesmaid dress for about a 1/7 of what it would cost at that damn Priscilla of Boston who tricked me into buying a dress 2 sizes too big.

8. Olive the puppy is exhausted every night from playing with her Chilean dog family which means she doesn't bite my face, chew my shoes, or steal my pillow at night. I can finally sleep comfortably.

9. I have eaten about 15 delicious and huge salads since the 16th and for anyone who knows me, a good salad in Chile is worth writing about.*

10. I have never been more comfortable or confident in the way my life and relationship are going. This is where I want to be and who I want to be with. We won't be here forever, but for now it's the perfect place for us.

*I will do a follow-up post with my favorite salad places because I have hunted them down

Note: I will post pictures once I make more space on my computer.

Speedy Argentina Trip

2008-09-12T10:48:00.000-04:00

So, I am in this little predicament because my visa expires September 16th, I am leaving the country for a wedding soon after, and I just got a contract or a job that will give me a visa. All this and still, I have to get out of here before Tuesday or I could have a problem coming back. I spent all morning in Extranjeria and was finally attended by the nicest and most helpful lady, but unfortunately she couldn't do anything about the fee for extending your visa. I totally understand that they charge you to stay longer here, but it's cheaper for me to hop on over to Mendoza than pay the fee so I'm definitely doing that.

Sounds fine, but I really only have less than 48 hours to do so because my mom is coming to visit me (YAYYY) and she would not be thrilled to get to the airport only to find out I'm on a bus in Mendoza. SOOOOOO, I think I have to use half of the money I saved to be able to treat my mom while she's here and hop on over to Mendoza. Any other gringas who need to renew their visas wanna join me? I think the buses don't leave at night during this time of year, but I'm going down to the bus station this afternoon to check out my possibilities. Odds are, I'll be leaving bright and early tomorrow morning and coming back Sunday night.

Luckily, this will be the only time I'll have to do this...

Sensationalism

2008-09-11T20:31:00.000-04:00

Ok. After watching the news on one of the only channels we get in our apartment, I can't help but write more. In general, I hate the news coverage here. I think it sucks. There is never much world news covered and the Chilean news is generally a little bit about what did or didn't happen during the day and the rest is an exposé on the dangers of __________. These clips are always accompanied by a lot of dun dun dun and other ominous sound effects or music. This sort of coverage perpetuates what I posted about in the previous post. Tonight, it was announcing several deaths and robberies and at the end, saying they happened in the past and not today. We all know we were meant to think that they happened today.

In seeing that tonight, I can't help but think about a particular day last year when a college student committed suicide in Las Condes. Someone had taken pictures from their cell phone and sent them in to all of the news channels. Fine. That always happens. But for 20 minutes, every channel flashed the 3 or 4 pictures the person took of this person on their balcony, climbing over their balcony, and then the worst, in the air.

I'm not saying at all that other countries wouldn't do the same, but I would hope that it wouldn't be for that long or at least that it wouldn't be accompanied by the "reporting" that went on whilst these pictures were being shown. It was just chatter. Meaningless speculations about why this person might have done this and what they think the family and friends might be feeling. meanwhile, they were not only being disrespectful to those family members and friend affected by this death, but they were also not doing their jobs. I'm sorry, but that is not journalism. I know that news anchors in the United States are very frequently criticized for this same thing so I'm not saying it's just Chile. I think the shootings at Virginia Tech prove that the most. Instead of good journalism, famous faces walked around shoving their microphones in students' faces asking them, "how do you feel?" and "I bet your sad about what happened and it was scary. What do you have to say?". I think that type of "interviewing" really demonstrates a lack of understanding and certainly a lack of professionalism.

Ok, enough complaints for a while....

Is today really all that dangerous?

2008-09-11T16:47:00.000-04:00

3 out of 4 of my classes today were cancelled today because it's September 11th. And yes, I know it's not OUR September 11th (you would not believe how many people spend a good amount of time explaining what happened in Chile on September 11th even though I say I know. Even when I have already mentioned that I studied and majored in all things Latin American and that Chilean history and culture are why I came to Santiago in the first place, people just love teaching me a thing or two about it). Ok I'll stop complaining about how almost nobody here seems to think it's possible to get a degree in Latin American Studies...or, I'll just save it for another post.

Anyway, what I meant to say without digression was that I was here last year for September 11th and it was a very uneventful day. I think I went to my morning class in San Joaquin and then stayed on my little block in Providencia eating sushi, studying at starbucks, and then going to the gym. After all of the hype and warnings, it ended being such a tranquil day that I was almost bored. This year has not been much different except that I'm not bored because now I absolutely love being at home with Olive and playing blogger. I also went on 3 enormous walks, the best one being with Olive and Italo in Parque Forrestal. And to top off, I ate yummy chocolate and bought delicious and cheap bottle of wine. Now, I cannot say that it is a tranquil day for everyone. I know in the past policeman have been killed and stores broken into and everything. I'm just saying that it hasn't affected my day at all; aside from my not being paid, that is.

Originally, I was told that the worst of today would be in the center of the city (I live right there. Seriously, I'm practically live on la Alameda). After having made several "it's not that bad" comments, I was then told the action is more towards the outskirts of Santiago and it has to be late at night. Ok. I'll accept that. But I do have my doubts about the severity of the situation here today mainly because I have my doubts about what most Chileans (especially older Chilean women of a certain class) think is dangerous. Here's why:

While I was studying here last year, my host mother repeatedly told me how dangerous everything was. On September 11, 2007, it would have been too risky to go to the Baquedano metro to go to my class that day. I ended up going; not out of rebellion, but out of fear of not meeting the attendance percentages of my class. Everything was fine through Baquedano. Now, I'm not much for tear gas nor am I interested in placing myself in the middle of the action for the sake of experience or good pictures, but I also have a bucket full of anecdotes to back up my skepticism. I did not come here this way, but I quickly learned that most of the things my host family and other people warned me against had next to no possibility of happening.

If I were to follow their advice, I would never leave the apartment with more than 300 pesos because otherwise I'd be robbed of all my money (the 300 pesos would be to give to the person that would still rob me anyway so I'd be screwed either way). I would also never walk from the metro to my apartment without my boyfriend there to pick me up and defend me from potential robbers or anything else bad there is. Talking on my cell phone outside of my apartment would never be an option because I would be knifed and then robbed. And I could never wear any jewelry, no matter how inexpensive, unless I were going from my building to a car (obviously driven by a man) and directly into the restaurant, bar, what have you.

Now, this certainly doesn't mean that I walk around thinking nothing will ever happen to me. In fact, I'm quite the opposite. I am overly cautious when it comes to walking around alone. My friends from college always made fun of me because I walked around with my purple mace in my purse and always had my key wedged in between my knuckles incase someone attacked me from behind. I think I was just being cautious, but perhaps they would write about me in the same way I write about Chilean women of a certain age and class (if they had that much free time on their hands, that is). But unfortunately to my defense, I went to a school where there was at least one known and yet to be caught serial rapist and on average, one rape and murder a year. That is plenty to scare me into being careful and will most likely continue to do so.

I guess my point is that if I, Isabel the one who's afraid of everything, don't walk around sans rings, cell phone, and mil pesos or so, then things must be okay. I am the wimp of the bunch. The one who says "maybe we shouldn't" or "I'd rather not" yet I still do not see where these ladies are getting it. I feel so much safer here in Chile than I ever have in the United States and I think plenty of statistics will validate those feelings.

And I definitely wish I had worked and been paid for today!

(and I did just see the news with all of the stuff that has happened in the past on September 11th so I know there definitely is at least some raucous going on)

*After Italo read this, he pointed out that when i said, "I know it's not OUR September 11th" it comes off as my thinking ours is more important or historically significant and that's not what I meant to say. I meant that despite common assumptions that all Americans are ignorant of things going on outside of, or even within, the United States, some of them do know at least a little bit. In my mind, it would read as more of a jab to my fellow Americans (as in estadounidenses) than to Chileans. I think almost every American friend or family member I can think of right now would, without thinking twice, only think of the United States 9/11 and certainly not the Chilean one.

My (tiny) handful of Chilenas

2008-09-05T16:45:00.000-04:00

I tried not to read the other posts on Chilean women but couldn't help but read two of them before I started mine which got me to thinking that I am not all that fired up about this topic as I thought I was or as I was when I was studying here. I think it's because when you're studying here, you're like a little puppy who's interested in anything and everything you can do that's Chilean with the highest goal being Chilean friends. One of my friends on the same program with me ended up with her feelings seriously hurt at the end of 6 months because regardless of how hard she tried, she could never cross that line over to friendship with a Chilean (she stayed a year and actually succeeded with 1 or 2). The rest of us either turned bitter or met wonderful guys so we didn't really care, or both.

Now, since I'm going to be in Chile for a few more years, I'm not all that interested in doing Chilean things because my life is already a Chilean thing. I get way more excited when I meet other gringas in Chile because my day is 80% Chilean so maybe my initial bitterness turned to apathy and now it's just sort of nothing. I totally agree that women everywhere can come off as bitchy and that Chileans come from a very closed society so those are 2 obstacles to overcome as a foreigner. I have many ideas about other contributing factors, but I think almost everyone has mentioned them. Instead of my confusing and indecisive analysis that may come off as pesada, I want to talk about a few of the amazing Chilean women in my life here. It may come off as incredibly cheesy and and a little pathetic because most of them are related to my boyfriend, but oh well!

First, Paulina, my boyfriend's mother. She is one of the most amazing women I have ever met and someone I admire greatly. She has raised her 3 children beautifully and without much emotional or financial support from their father. She is the hardest worker I know but receives a crappy Chilean salary, yet I have never heard her complain once. She is neither bitchy nor timid. I see here almost daily for coffee and a crossword puzzle and it's by choice. Since the day I met her (which incidentally was the day I met my boyfriend Italo as well), she opened up her home to me. She is both a motherly figure and a friend here to me. And she doesn't hate me for plucking her eldest son out of her house for the first time (or, at least not openly!). Life for me in Chile would be different if it weren't for her.

Now, Mayo, mi cuñada. She had me cracking up laughing even before we met. And she was kind enough to try to speak in English my first months here so that I didn't feel so ashamed of my accent and funny enough for me to understand her Chilean sense of humor right away. She is the most outgoing person I know and I genuinely enjoy spending quality time with her (she's playing wii right now in my apartment as I'm writing this). She has befriended all of my family (seriously, even my sister's boyfriend who doesn't speak a word of Spanish) and is much better at keeping in touch with everyone than I am because that's just her nature. She is another essential aspect of my life here.

In addition to Paulina and Mayo, I am in daily contact with some of the most admirable and kind women I have ever known and they all happen to be Chilean. Having said that, I must also admit that when people say they haven't made very close friends here, I am the first to blurt out that it is next to impossible to make Chilena friends because Chilean women want nothing to do with us gringas. I totally cheated and made friends out of in-laws and their friends, but I am perfectly content with that because I still think it's ridiculously hard to get a Chilean woman to trust you enough to be your friend, and I'm not interested in their playing hard to get!

Metro Faux Pas

2008-09-04T14:24:00.000-04:00

This morning on the metro I realized that on a daily basis, I experience a series of emotions in a matter of minutes during my commute to work. I live near the Santa Lucia metro stop and only go 5 stops away to Pedro de Valdivia (it's around an 8 to 10 minute trip), but in those 8 to 10 minutes, I often go from panic, to rage, to sympathy to relief and then back to rage. Here's an example:

7:37am: I know I have to be at work by 8:00 and it's a 7-minute walk/run from the metro so I book it down the left side of the stairs to try to make it on the metro before the doors close. I fail at the first attempt.

7:39am: The second metro comes by and I pick my spot according to which cars look less crowded, but a few shorter and more experienced Chilean women beat me to the spot I thought I had and I experience my first wave of panic because I am sure I won't make it by 8:00 (although none of my students ever arrives before 8:10am, I hate being late)

7:42am: The next metro comes even fuller, but I turn my panic into determination and hold my ground against the people trying to cut in the imaginary line I create since I was there first. I succeed in that I squish my way on the metro, but 4 people squeezed and pushed their way ahead of me

7:48am: A young woman gets on the metro with her infant and just misses being knocked over by someone else trying to get on in front of her who may or may not have seen her precious cargo. I get so angry I want to scream, but then a man jumps up from his seat, pushes through the crowd, and makes sure the woman sits down with her baby and within seconds, my faith is restored in Chileans.

7:52am: Pushed up against the door with an 8-year-old boy gleefully playing bumper cars with me without my consent while his father just smiles at his darling son (I want to punch them both), we get to Pedro de Vadivia where about half of the metro gets off. I dash up the steps in hopes that I don't get stuck behind the chilenas on their way to their colegios and begin my practice of darting in and out of pedestrian road blocks on my way to work.

7:59am: I run up the steps to work and am sweating a little from my 7-minute speed walk. I breathlessly say hello to the secretary who always laughs when I run up the steps to my empty classroom.

8:00am-8:10am: I twiddle my thumbs and drink coffee until my students arrive

I was thinking about why I continue to have the same experience and I think the easiest answer is that I'm a foreigner from a country where personal space is important and where most people follow relatively strict rules in public. For example, I'm originally from outside of DC where the metro is only crowded in the mornings and the evenings, but no one's face is ever jammed against the door. If some woman were to push by me and through the 10 people trying to get off of the metro, 5 bystanders would say something either under their breaths or to her face about how rude that is. Here, if you don't hold your ground waiting to get on the metro in the morning, you will never get on. While I was studying here, I often let 2 to 3 metros pass before I found a decent-sized space without having to push or shove. Now, I find myself committing several transportation faux pas according to the imbedded American rules I always carry with me, but I chalk them up to necessity without thinking twice. I often think that if New York City metro-goers or DC riders could see me, they'd shake their heads in disapproval, but then I think about the other side of it and decide they have no idea what it's like here (and I had no idea before because I almost always got around by car or by foot and saved metros for vacations and day trips to DC). But there are some people, like my sister, who will forever be disgusted and annoyed by how not all countries respect a line of people waiting for something or personal space. She visited me in Chile last year and it drove her crazy how lines quickly dissolved as people dashed to be first and how pedestrians did not follow the same "stay on the right side" rule as cars. I think my daily metro rage comes from that thinking and then I quickly calm down. You could call it a mini-culture shock I will never fully adjust to or perhaps plain stupid Americanness. Either way, I don't think I'll ever get over being slightly annoyed when people arrive at 9:25 when we planned to meet at 9:00 or when people step all over my feet and push me into a position that makes them more comfortable on the metro.

My baby step into the blogging world

2008-09-03T23:38:00.000-04:00

Ok, I have avoided blogs for years now and I'm not exactly sure why. I think it may be because I've always seen them as public diaries which is an oxymoron for me. Or, it's because I am an absolute moron on a computer and so I never know how to start one (thankfully, my boyfriend set this one up for me in about 1 minute). Regardless of my "reasoning", I am no longer able to resist the temptation. So here goes...my first blog (I'm nervous!):

Why Chabelita in Chile?

Chabelita is the Chilean equivalent of Izzy, my most commonly used nickname in the United States (there's also Iz, Izzer, Isa, Wizard, Jingle Bell, Taco Bell, and my favorite from my oldest friend Phil: Izzysmell). Basically, anything that has a bel or an iz in it, I'll answer to. I had never heard Chabelita before I came to Chile, but I love it. Nicknames are wonderful in that certain people never use them and others meet you and 10 seconds later they start throwing out the craziest nicknames right and left (snl making the copies, anyone?). I love both types of people. I have an ongoing bit with one of my friends because she will not call me anything other than Isabel by principle so I use every occasion to try to get a nickname out of her. Almost 5 years and counting and nothing!

In Chile is where I live. Since June of 2007, my life has been full of all things Chilean. As much as I'd like to think it's not true, my story is not unique in any sense. I studied abroad here for 6 months, fell in love with a Chilean and my life has become more and more Chilean ever since. After returning to the states to graduate from college, I have been back to Chile twice and am now here for who knows how long. I live with the love of my life in an amazing and cheap apartment with our adorable puppy, Olive. I work as an English teacher (again, nothing new here) and also teach private lessons to two very interesting Chilean students. This is my (and my boyfriend's) first time living alone with no financial support (oh, how I took college for granted) so it's wonderful and terrifying at the same time (Chilean salaries suck!). Luckily, we both have an endless amount of emotional support from both sides of the equator (I'll stop saying we soon, I swear!).

Why blog now when I've been so obnoxiously and pointlessly against it?

I have 3 reasons:

1. I'm fickle and a total hypocrite. Or, at least I am concerning this, but hopefully not in general!

2. Some of my friends keep blogs while they're living abroad to keep their friends and family updated without sending out mass emails and I think that's a great idea.

3. There is a very active community of gringa bloggers in Chile and I have become obsessed with their blogs and want to stop semi-stalking them and actually post my comments ;) I hope that came off as flattering and not creepy, hah!

There you have it, my first baby blog post. My next one will most likely be part of a group blog on Chilean women because, as anyone close to me knows, I find this an interesting, perplexing and in some situations, frustrating topic.