Well, I arrived in Santiago safely today. The flight was about 12 hours total, but luckily I slept through most of that. There are about 130 volunteers in all that will be doing the teaching program here in Chile. I met eight of them from the flight to Santiago. We spent the day walking around Santiago and sightseeing. It is pretty cold here. In the morning and evenings it is around 35 degrees Farenheit. It warms up during the day and the sun makes it appear less cold. It should be warmer at my site, as I will be in the northern part of the country. We will be in Santiago for the first week, taking Spanish classes, TEFL classes and taking care of paperwork. Next weekend I will travel to my site (still unknown) and meet my host family.
Ironically, many of the volunteers do not know much Spanish at all, since it technically wasn't required. I think it's pretty brave of them to travel to a country not being able to speak the language. Santiago appears to be a well-kept, developed city. They have an extensive metro system, which we rode today, several parks, universities, numerous shopping areas (including jewelry shops with lapis lazuli, a blue stone that is only found in a handful of countries, including Chile).
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Home Free!
Well, she's back in the States. Turnaround time til Latin America trip: Two weeks. Things to do: Get a haircut (1st in 27 months...), take the GRE (Good luck!), find a wardrobe for winter in Chile (currently ongoing... crazy Southern Hemisphere). Probably a half dozen other things besides, plus see friends and family, gorge on American food, etc.
I'm in Georgetown, living out the last two weeks, doing some work and decompressing. In the last two days before he left (unfortunately, right after she left) the Hospital Playground Rejuvenation Project -- a title I just made up on the fly, but which makes it sound was more ambitious and awesome than it really was -- was finally enacted. The welder showed up and repaired the swingset and slide skeletons, I painted the swingset, slide, and merry-go-round with the help of the hospital guards, and local boys showed up with electric planer, sander, and drill to treat the wooden swing and slide board. She and I had been working on rehabilitating this play area for... I dunno, a year or more. So the fact that it was only just completed as we left our site, while ironic, is no surprise and frankly a relief.
So I'll be home in late July, after which time we might even start mentioning our names and general locations. We don't brag about it a lot, but our host country does have a few problems with angry young men, due to the usual reasons: High unemployment and poverty, low education, and a history of not-so-friendly U.S. involvement in their politics. This is why we've been a little, um, discreet (call it "annoyingly vague", "ninja-esque", whatever) with using proper nouns over the last two years. Sorry about that, and the weirdness will end in a couple weeks.
I'll be travelling around the Midwest a bit for a month or so after I get back (August-ish?), seeing family, before settling down a bit and seeing who wants to pay me six figures (that's, um, including the two decimal places) to do something fun and rewarding. Otherwise, there's a cool game on PSP called LocoRoco that I find oddly relaxing.
In the meantime, call, email, and Facebook-wall her to wish her luck on her four months in Chile. After two years in equatorial weather and two years in mid-Florida, she'll get two legitimate winters in the next 6 months. I think she's almost as excited for that as I am. Not to mention the copious amounts of wine available there... can't wait to visit.
I'm in Georgetown, living out the last two weeks, doing some work and decompressing. In the last two days before he left (unfortunately, right after she left) the Hospital Playground Rejuvenation Project -- a title I just made up on the fly, but which makes it sound was more ambitious and awesome than it really was -- was finally enacted. The welder showed up and repaired the swingset and slide skeletons, I painted the swingset, slide, and merry-go-round with the help of the hospital guards, and local boys showed up with electric planer, sander, and drill to treat the wooden swing and slide board. She and I had been working on rehabilitating this play area for... I dunno, a year or more. So the fact that it was only just completed as we left our site, while ironic, is no surprise and frankly a relief.
So I'll be home in late July, after which time we might even start mentioning our names and general locations. We don't brag about it a lot, but our host country does have a few problems with angry young men, due to the usual reasons: High unemployment and poverty, low education, and a history of not-so-friendly U.S. involvement in their politics. This is why we've been a little, um, discreet (call it "annoyingly vague", "ninja-esque", whatever) with using proper nouns over the last two years. Sorry about that, and the weirdness will end in a couple weeks.
I'll be travelling around the Midwest a bit for a month or so after I get back (August-ish?), seeing family, before settling down a bit and seeing who wants to pay me six figures (that's, um, including the two decimal places) to do something fun and rewarding. Otherwise, there's a cool game on PSP called LocoRoco that I find oddly relaxing.
In the meantime, call, email, and Facebook-wall her to wish her luck on her four months in Chile. After two years in equatorial weather and two years in mid-Florida, she'll get two legitimate winters in the next 6 months. I think she's almost as excited for that as I am. Not to mention the copious amounts of wine available there... can't wait to visit.
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