Week In Santiago

Hola Amigos!

I am writing this from seat number four on the salon cama bus en route Santiago to Antofagasta. It is currently hour SEVEN of TWENTY. Yes, folks, TWENTY. I’ve no idea how many km’s this trip actually is, but I imagine about 1600…pretty much like driving from NJ to Florida. The one upside is, however, that salon cama just so happens to mean sleeper bus – as in I basically have a seat that should belong in International Business class on Singapore Airlines. Not so bad really! Another interesting thing about buses in Chile: each one has a sensor that beeps when the driver goes above 100 km’s/hr (60 mph), and I think that sensor actually sends a signal to the bus company headquarters. Two words: Thank God. Peruvian buses really need to adopt that system, because they simply scare the crap out of me.

Sorry for the late post - this past week has been a complete blur filled with incredibly cheap Chilean vino and way too many orientation classes. In fact, I’m so sick of positive reinforcement that I just want someone to tell me I’m a fool and can’t teach for crap! Every single session went “OK, very good, here are some small things that you could change to make the lesson more effective, but overall a very nice job.” Some people really needed to be told that their lessons were awful, because they truly were, but the TEFL teachers were too nice way too often.

Monday was spectacularly exhausting. I got off the plane at 8am, only to arrive at the hostel at 10am to be told that I needed to take a Spanish evaluation test ASAP. I went straight into the classroom without having showered or brushed my teeth only to find the HARDEST damn three-hour Spanish test I could ever imagine. I ended up getting a 36/100, so clearly better than every AP Chemistry test I took in Senior year of high school, but still not too respectable. After taking that test I thought I was going to be the lone minimal Spanish speaker, but I ended up being placed in the intermediate Spanish class for some odd reason. Most likely because I am very good at pretending that my Spanish is passable…meaning I say the only things I know how to say very quickly and with the best accent possible. Still, this can present some especially challenging situations, especially when Chileans respond to my rapid speaking with something COMPLETELY unknown to me. Then, folks, I am immediately identified as a gringo, as if the really sweet zip-off pants doesn’t already do the job.

The rest of the week was a total jumble in my brain, although I managed two fantastic jogs up Cerro Santa Lucia and Cerro San Cristobal, followed by a fantastic asado, or barbeque, on Friday night. Just arrived in Antofagasta now, will write a larger update once I arrive in Taltal on Monday night. I also have a few very cool pictures that I took while in Santiago, but I can't seem to post them right now because of a sketchy internet connection. I will definitely be posting them once I get settled in Taltal!

Hasta Pronto Todos!