"Soberano"

Manos que fueron clavadas por mi
Heridas que hablan de tu inmenso amor
Por eso te llamo mi Cristo
Por eso te canto

Díos del universo
Salvador eterno
Rey de toda la creación
Redentor divino
Díos a ti me rindo
Gloria te doy

Santo Díos plan soberano es
El enviar tu hijo por la humanidad
Por eso te llamo mi Cristo
Por eso te canto
Díos del universo
Salvador eterno
Rey de toda la creación
Redentor divino
Díos a ti me rindo
Gloria te doy

Santo Santo Santo Díos
Santo Santo Santo Díos

Manos que se entregaron por amor
Lo que soy siempre te daré Señor
Por eso te llamo mi Cristo
Por eso te canto...


* This is one of my favorite songs by a group called Hillsong... the original song is called "Sovereign Hands", and this (obviously) is the Spanish version of it, "Soberano."

Thoughts

it's been three years since i've seen you
and really seven years since we've talked
and i find myself thinking you're one of the kindest guys i've ever met
and why weren't we better friends in high school
and why didn't we talk more
and you listen as i tell you about my adventures in Chile
and you ask about my boyfriend and if he has a cute accent
and i want to tell you how nice you are
and how refreshing it is to be in the company of someone like you
someone who is genuine
and genuinely kind
but i feel awkward so i hold back
and you remember my brother's name!
maybe you had a class together once
my thoughts come in a rush
i'm so glad i came tonight
to this impromptu class reunion
people i haven't seen in seven years
and you're the nicest person in the room
i drift away toward another group
thinking i should mingle more with others
it's like a slow waltz, the dance i do
gliding across the room
pirouetting around tables
(as if i had the grace for that)
and what do i find myself coming back to
but you
and not because of any romantic notions
i have a boyfriend, i told you about him right?
but because you're like a breath of fresh air
like breathing in cold, crisp, autumn air
in the midst of a smog-choked city
fresh air in the form of kindness
even if you wanted to hide it, you couldn't
it's permanently etched into your face
permanently illuminated in your eyes

I Love...

- The smell of pancakes and coffee when I wake in the morning
- A fire in the fireplace on a wintry day
- Babies. Everything about them. Everyone should be made to spend some time with a baby, or maybe just my nephew, who is the sweetest thing God has made in awhile
- Flannel sheets with snowmen on them, and electric blankets
- My family... 5 people who love me and care about me no matter how much or how badly I mess up. I can always come home
- Reading and writing. Or just words in general
- Spanish
- Music. What would I do without music? My life would be dull, I think.
- The mountains, the ocean, summertime, the sun, palm trees
- Finding beauty in the little things
The list goes on, and on, and on...

I Made A Mistake

They say first impressions are everything, but they're wrong. I have proof. I recently met someone who I grossly misjudged. And the worst part is, it was all based on 2 minutes of conversation. Think about it. Out of 20 some odd years, what percentage of a life is 2 minutes? How representative can it really be? And to write someone off based on that... I must be a horrible person.

Especially now because I realize my error. I discovered that not only does this person have a blog, but they write BEAUTIFULLY. In fact, they seem like an amazing person, and I feel about 2 inches tall right now. Every once in awhile I discover a writer who seems to articulate the beauty in this world in a form that I find breathtaking, and who describes things in such a way that they seem right there, tangible, for the taking. This girl is one of those people. For hours I've been trying desperately to think of who she reminds me of, and it finally comes to me: another blog writer I found last year, and then promptly lost when she stopped blogging. But I tucked away one of her descriptions, and I still remember the night I read it for the first time, and trying to tell D about it later. She was talking about a beautiful night spent with friends, and she wrote that she wanted to "take this night and break it into little tiny pieces and give one to everyone I know." Something about that just struck me... maybe because I've had nights like that, many of them in Chile, when I wish I could just infuse the indescribable beauty into everyone I meet. Either way, The Girl I Misjudged is much like Blog Writer Number One.

I feel ashamed, and I honestly hope she hasn't read my blog. If you do read this, just know that I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions. And also thank you, for inspiring me and providing me with some of the best reading I've had in a long time. It makes me think of Donald Miller, and I like to think we are kindred souls, he and I. To my fellow bloggers, if you haven't read "Blue Like Jazz", you are severely missing out.

I Don't Really Know What to Call This...

This blog entry, that is. But here I am back in North Carolina, and while the overwhelming part of me is very happy, there is also a part of me that already misses Chile, and most importantly, D. (I know, I'm only going to be gone for 2 weeks, but still). But what I want to write about right now is the former...

It seems I have developed a love affair with Chile. Only, now that I type that, I think it's not quite an adequate term. Because most love "affairs" are short-lived, it seems, and I certainly don't want mine to be so. I don't know what it is, but each day as my feet hit the blazing-hot pavement, I gaze up at the blue sky and palm trees (I have ALWAYS loved and wanted to live in a place with palm trees), and look around at the flowers and fruit stands and think, "wow, I love living here." Even that sentence doesn't even begin to capture it. In fact, the more I try to capture my feeling, the more futile it seems. Now, lest you think I am still in the "honeymoon" stage of culture shock, I have spent time in Chile before. And yes, I've spent an entire winter here. I know the realities of life without central heating. It sucks. But it seems a small sacrifice to pay to be able to be part of a beautiful culture.

The other day I went to barrio Concha y Toro by myself, and just wandered through the streets, admiring the architecture and stopping at the little fountain for a rest. It feels like a different world there. I went to what is quite possibly one of the coolest cafes in Santiago, and couldn't concentrate on the book I had brought to read, because my mind was flooded with thoughts of "I am so blessed to be in this place." I don't know if it was that day or another that I had the thought, "I could stay here for quite awhile." And by stay, I mean live, in Chile. How long is quite awhile? I don't know... I used to be scared by the idea of living in Chile for a number of years, but now I begin to think I could. Again, I'm aware I still haven't been here for a very long time, but each day renews my love for this place, and that is something I'm not going to argue with.

Why I Love My University...

Cuz we´ve got spirit! And we´re occasionally pretty crazy, as evidenced by the video I´m about to link (actually I´m not sure how to link, so I´ll just copy the URL).

¨On Dec. 9th, 2008 in order to break up the stresses of fall semester exam week, UNC-Chapel Hill students flash raved their Undergraduate Library. Without warning to those that were unaware, hundreds of students packed the library lobby and brought it hardcore for over 8 minutes.¨

Indeed. Final exam week has been known to bring out the craziest in college students everywhere, and students at my alma mater, Carolina, are no exception. Impromptu rave parties in the UL? Rock on. You don´t have to watch all 4 minutes, but fast forward to the end where the students show some Tar Heel spirit in the form of our alma mater and favorite game-day chant:

Hark the sound of Tar Heel voices
Ringing clear and true
Singing Carolina´s praises
Shouting NCU (N C U!)
Hail to the brightest star of all
Clear its radiance shine
Carolina, priceless gem
Receive all praises thine

And the chant...

I´m a Tar Heel born
I´m a Tar Heel bred
And when I die
I´m a Tar Heel dead
So it´s rah rah, Carolina-lina
Rah rah, Carolina-lina
Rah rah, Carolina-lina
GO TO HELL DUKE!

Can you tell I´m feeling just a little nostalgic at the moment? ;) Here´s the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruEMaDZWRcs

Shameless Plug Time

That´s right, I´m not above a little shameless plugging every now and then. Especially right now, since it concerns my lovely pololo. As it happens, D is the singer for a rock band here in Santiago. Aaaaand I´m betting you haven´t heard of them... BUT I hope a lot of people will soon, because (and I´m biased, but still) they´re pretty darn talented. Seriously, I really do think it would be hard to find many people more talented at guitar then D´s brother Felipe. Anyway, on to the point... if you have Thursday night free (yes, THIS Thursday, as in December 11), you should come to their concert!! Oh yeah, his band is called Los Hermanos Sì. They´re on Facebook and Myspace if you feel like looking them up. The concert is at Club Mist, which is conveniently located on Avda. Suecia 152, in Providencia. :) There are 4 bands total that will be playing, and the concert starts at 9:00, but Los Hermanos Sì will probably be playing around 11:00... but get there earlier just in case! I´m pretty sure it´s free to enter if you get there before 11:00. So... PLEASE come and support D´s band if you can! They are working very hard and I´m excited to see where they´ll go...

Carnet! And Other Assorted Randomness

After running around the lovely city of Santiago, I am now DONE with all my tramites, thank the Lord. The adventure started on Wednesday, when I had to go to El Centro to get my visa stamped into my passport. Miraculously, I only had to wait 45 minutes and it was done. Score. Yesterday, I went to the Policìa Internacional, conveniently located (note the sarcasm) on Calle Borgoño. I´m sorry, what? Where is this street I have never heard of? Luckily, I got D to go with me, so that made it a lot better. It was actually kind of a fun day, because we took some time to walk around the markets over there (near metro Puente Cal y Canto), and walked through the Mercado Central. We didn´t stop and eat lunch at one of the many restaurants, but we did swing by and get an empanada with queso y camarones. Yummy! At the Policìa Internacional, I only had to wait 2 hours to get my Certificado de Registro. Aaaaaand the final step today, I went to the Registro Civil (I think that´s it, I´ve been to so many places lately I´ve lost count) to get my Carnet. The good thing about this step is that the Registro Civil has many different locations, so I was able to go to one in Ñuñoa that is only about 10 minutes from my house. Again, I only had to wait about 45 minutes! The guy who helped me was super nice, too... he put all of my information into the computer, which assigned me a R.U.T. (finally!), took my picture (I think it turned out pretty well, miraculously!), and then put a crap ton of ink on every single finger. I mean, is that really necessary? But whatever, he gave me some lotion afterward to clean it off so it wasn´t really that bad. And now I´m done! So I just have to wait about 2 weeks and I can go pick up my Carnet. Let me tell you, it´s such a relief to have all this mess done. And.. knock on wood... this whole process has been incredibly smooth, which is surprising. :)

In other news, I met a teacher at the Institute the other day, and one of the first things she asked me was, ¨Where are you from?¨ Now, up until this point, she had been really friendly, so I wasn´t prepared for what was coming. I replied, ¨North Carolina¨, and she responded by smiling and saying, ¨Awww, that´s cute ... I´m from Chicago.¨ Hold on just a minute now... CUTE? The fact that I´m from North Carolina is cute? You may think I´m exaggerating or reading too much into things, but believe me, the way she said it (and the words themselves) were a bit condescending. It was as if she was saying, ¨Ohhhh, North Carolina... well fancy that, what´s a little country girl like you doing in a big city like this? I´m from CHICAGO.¨ I mean, give me a break. Sorry if I´m a little sensitive about this subject, but that´s one of my pet peeves. I can´t STAND it when people think they´re better than me just because they´re from a big city.

Alright, enough ranting. Have a good weekend everybody!

Decisions, Decisions

So much crazy stuff has happened recently and unfortunately, I have to be vague about it on here. But let´s just say I have some very important decisions coming up... some very HARD decisions, that could change life drastically. I feel a huge knot in my stomach right now... more like butterflies actually, that I am utterly incapable of controlling. My thoughts are tumbling through my head at a million miles an hour. Pros and cons wage war against each other, and I´m left only with a confused, empty feeling. Strangely enough, though, throughout all of this, there is one thought that permeates everything: I love Chile, with every fiber of my being. Yes, some days I feel angry and frustrated, just wanting to leave and never come back. But those days are few in comparison with the days when I look around and know with conviction that a piece of my heart will always remain in Chile. That with each day that passes, my existence is woven more and more intricately with the strands of this country. I honestly thank God for the opportunity to spend even a small portion of my life here. More on that soon, when I have a chance to collect my thoughts a little more...

Good News!

Well, my week just got infinitely better. Yesterday, I found out that the Institute has approved my nearly 2-week vacation, meaning I´m leaving on December 20th to go home for Christmas!!! I mean, I would´ve gone anyway, but I feel better now knowing that I have ¨official¨ approval and all that... because the truth is, this is a fairly good-paying job for Chile, and I´m getting a visa through it and all that jazz. So I didn´t really wanna rock the boat, if you know what I mean.

The other piece of good news is that I checked the status of my visa online today, and it has been officially approved! So now I just wait for the 2nd letter telling me about this official approval, and then I have to take a bunch of papers to El Centro and all that, etc etc. But point being, my visa is approved! And not the temporary one either, the real deal. So right now, I´m feelin pretty good... I think I´ll start making a list of all the things I want to eat and all the places I want to go when I get home in December. :)

Stop Blushing!

Memo to my cheeks: it´s not necessary to get THAT red, really. Especially over the most random things. Seriously, let´s stop this now before it gets more out of control, ok? Thanks.

I´m not kidding, people. I don´t know what my deal has been lately, but I seem to blush at the stupidest things. And I´m talking resembling-a-tomato red. It´s quite embarrassing, really. Case in point: yesterday I was at the Institute, sitting in the cafeteria and basically just killing time before my next class. Up walks a fellow newbie teacher, of the southern U.S. male variety. Good-looking, yes, but I´m taken and that´s really beside the point anyway. So he sits down at my table, we´re talking about our classes, and he asks me about how the final oral exam is supposed to work. The conversation goes a little something like this, as best I remember:

Southern US Male: So what´s the deal with the Final Oral Exam, anyway?

Me: Well, I had to do that the other day, and we´re supposed to switch teachers for it. I actually got really lucky with mine.

SUSM: How so?

Me: The class I had to take over was ridiculously small, so I only had to give the oral for one dude.

Me: (realizing what I just said) That didn´t sound right, did it?

Me again: (starting to blush really hard) Crap. I didn´t mean it like that. I swear I don´t have a dirty mind.

SUSM: Bwahahahahaha, you bad girl, you. Man, you´re blushing really hard.

Me: I know. Crap. I don´t know what my deal is.


Note: I swear people, my mind really isn´t in the gutter. It´s not like that.

I´m Lazy

That´s just all there is to it. I´ve been thinking about why I haven´t written a post in like, a million years, and have been trying to convince myself that I´ve been too busy. You know, because I have SO many classes to teach right now (insert sarcastic eye-rolling here). But nope, it´s just that I´m lazy. That, and I´ve had no inspiration as of late. As much as I love Santiago (and I do), sometimes I feel like the city and the insufferable heat is sucking out my soul. I desperately need an escape to Viña or La Serena, or somewhere that isn´t Santiago. Luckily, I do get an escape to cold weather in about a month from now. I think that´ll do a lot of good for me. To see my family again, play with my little 5-month-old nephew, drink REAL coffee again, go to Barnes and Noble, etc etc. O sea, all the stuff I´ve been missing for the past 3 months. Anyway, I´ll write a more substantial post later, but I wanted to at least write SOMETHING for now, if for nothing else than to reassure myself that I can still put together a cogent thought. Although maybe the jury´s still out on that one, you tell me.

Group Post: Spanish, English or Spanglish?

I happened to see this on Emily´s blog, so it looks like this time around, Fned is organizing a group post. Rock on, I say. ;)

This is a very interesting topic to me, and one that I am involved with on a daily basis, as I communicate with D. When we first started hanging out (as friends) in July 2007, my Spanish was definitely iffy... especially my listening skills. He would call me up to see if I wanted to do something, and the conversation would usually go something like this:

D: Quieres hacer algo esta noche?
Me: Ummmmm... (pause while I try to translate what I want to say in my head)... sì. (Real complex response there, Jessica.)
D: Yapo, estoy en la casa ahora, dònde estàs tù?
Me: Estoy en el departamento.
D: Ok, te puedo buscar en como 20 minutos, te tinca?
Me: Como?? (thinking, what the heck does ¨te tinca¨mean?)
D: Te puedo buscar en tu departamento, ya?
Me: ...... Ok.
D: Nos vemos en un rato entonces.
Me: Como?
D: Nos .. vemos.. en .. un rato.
Me: Ahhhhhhh ok, sì, nos vemos!

... Good grief, thinking back on our cell phone conversations pains me. It was so hard for me to understand him! Things were easier in person, but still. And now? Over a year later, I am glad to say that my Spanish is much improved, especially my listening skills. I now understand basically 100% of what D says in Spanish, and what I don´t understand is a great learning opportunity for me. The vast majority of the time that we are together is spent speaking in Spanish. For me, this is great, because I´m still not quite fluent, but I feel like I´m on the road to being so. I do try to encourage D to speak to me in English sometimes, because he´s definitely not fluent and needs to practice much more. His main problem though is that he´s shy when it comes to speaking English, especially in front of his family (which I don´t quite understand, because he´s the one that knows the most English as far as his family goes). But the boy is SMART, and whenever he does speak in English, it´s almost always correct!

As far as Spanglish goes, we definitely speak our fair share of that, especially me. Sometimes I´ll start a sentence in Spanish and then switch to English if I get frustrated. I know that´s not good to do often though, if I want to be fluent! A big part of becoming fluent is struggling through those times when it would just be easier to switch to your native tongue. But let´s face it, sometimes Spanglish is just easier, and can definitely make for some funny situations. ;)

Election Dayyyyyy

Alright, my blog has always been pretty politics-free, and I´d like to keep it that way for the most part. In fact, I don´t think I´ve even mentioned if I´m for Obama or McCain. But in the spirit of election day, I might as well come out with it: I didn´t vote for either one. I think I may be the only expat in Chile on our little blog network here that didn´t vote for Obama, but I´m perfectly OK with that. The truth is, I grew up in a very politically conservative, Christian family (and when I say Christian, I do mean Christian... my parents were and are good Christ-like examples for me). Growing up, I always adopted the stances of my parents, as children are wont to do. When I got to Carolina, a pretty liberal university, some of my views on things changed a bit. I am also a Christian (although I definitely mess up a lot), and that has influenced me politically as well. I won´t go into my stance on all of the issues, but one of the issues I have always been and will always be extremely passionate about is that of abortion. I am very much against abortion, and that, along with a few other issues, made me not vote for Obama. As far as McCain, I´m a bit fearful of him continuing on the road paved by Bush. I really wish there was a 3rd party candidate with a fighting chance, but so goes politics in the U.S. Anyway, feel free to comment if you´d like. Happy Election Day everybody!

Sick as a Dog

That was me on Monday night and part of Tuesday. I think I had the same thing that D had a couple of weeks ago, but man was it rough. I had a class at 1:30 on Monday and was fine then. But afterward, I had a class from 5:30 to 7:30 and actually had to end a few minutes early because I had started feeling pretty bad during the class. So I left and got on the metro, where I had to go 8 stops to get to the Institute. About 4 stops into the ride, I started thinking... crap, I´m not going to make it. I got off at U Catolica and sat down for a few minutes, hoping that would help. Yeahhhh, not so much. I got back on and made it to the Institute, thankfully... but barely made it to the bathroom before I lost it. Vomitando ALL over the place. Poor janitors. I was supposed to have a class at 8:20 that night, but I had to cancel that, because I knew there was no way I´d make it through an hour and a half of class. And it´s a good thing I cancelled too, because I ended up throwing up 5 more times that night and into Tuesday morning. Wonderful. Thankfully, I am feeling better now, but I´m still sick as a dog of something else...

NOT being told important things by the Institute. I know I´ve opined on the lack of organization here, but SERIOUSLY, this is ridiculous. It´s not like these are things you could intuit, things that should be obvious to any new employee at any random company. No no... these are things nobody would know unless they were told. And I haven´t been told jack squat. And I´m tired of it. What also sucks is the suckiness (lovely writing, I know) of the Institute reflecting poorly on me. Case in point, the class I had to cancel on Monday night... when I took over this class, they had already had 2 professors, just temporary teachers until the Institute finally found someone (me) willing to take the class. So the students were already fed up with the Institute constantly switching professors on them. So today while at the Institute, I talk to one of the ladies in charge of these classes and she tells me that the students were very ¨molestados¨ by having to have a substitute teacher on Monday night. She said that they understood the situation, that I was sick and everything, but they are still upset with having had so many different teachers for this course. So, to the Institute, I would just like to say a big, sarcastic THANK YOU. Thank you for screwing me over. Now I am actually dreading going to this class tonight and having to face my students. Hopefully they won´t be too pissed off... but seriously, I was throwing up like once every hour, what was I supposed to do?

A Brief Explanation...

Here I go again with 2 posts in one day. But I finally came up with a new title for my blog, so I wanted to explain just a bit... ¨Jet¨ is my nickname. Actually, I don´t think any of my new gringa friends here know that yet, so... now you do. It´s what all of my Chilean friends call me, and even D´s parents. I got that nickname about 2 and a half years ago. Sometime I´ll explain more. Anyway, I´m sort of the ¨jet-setter¨ of my family, since I´m the only one who really travels much. But now I feel more like I´m settling in Santiago, at least for a couple of years. Hence ¨jet-settling.¨ I actually felt proud of myself for about a half-second, thinking I was being innovative... then I did a Google search and realized I´m not as creative as I thought. Turns out someone had already coined the term ¨jet-settler¨, probably a long time ago. Oh well, whatever. So, welcome to my newly named blog!

Ain´t Too Proud to Beg

I suspect that what I´m about to say is probably a characteristic of the majority of people around the world...

I HATE to ask anyone for money. In general, I just hate to feel in debt to anyone. But this particularly applies to asking strangers for money, something that I actually can´t recall ever doing... until last night, that is. And now, to reveal the very unfortunate side of having a somewhat lopsided weekly class schedule. Here´s the thing... on MWF, I have 3 classes, so I lug around my huge bookbag those days, to fit all of my books, papers, and various other ¨necessities.¨ However, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I only have one class, so I switch the books for that class from my insanely large bookbag to my much more comfortable messenger bag. In the process, I also have to switch things like pens, markers, my BIP card, etc etc... and my wallet. Well, wouldn´t you know it... in my hurry to get out the door yesterday, I neglected to take my wallet from my bookbag and put it in my other bag.

Awesome. Particularly awesome because I only had enough money on my BIP card to get TO work, not home again. I was planning on charging it in the metro after class, with the money that was in my WALLET. Obviously, it´s kind of hard to use money from a wallet that you don´t have. Righto. So here I am after class, scrounging for change in my bag. I find 620 pesos, and carry this to the BIP counter, trying to pick the most sympathetic looking cashier I can, praying they´ll have mercy on me and forego the 800 peso minimum. No dice. Even after I explain that I literally have NO more than 620 pesos, I still get a bored look and a declaration that ¨You can´t put this amount on your card.¨ Greeeeeat. So now I have no way to get on the metro, I´m not about to get on the micro that would take me to a sketchy micro stop, and I have no money on my cell phone. What to do, what to do... I really wanted to find ANY other way to get myself out of this situation, because I knew the last resort would be to use a pay phone and call D to come pick me up. Where I work isn´t exactly the closest place to his house, so I didn´t want him to have to do that. So, I humbled myself and did what I was dreading the most... I asked a stranger for money.

It was hard, I admit. I stood there for at least 5 minutes in the metro, letting people pass me by, scrutinizing each one in a pathetic attempt to determine if they looked like they would help me out. Finally, I looked at my watch and decided I was tired of standing there, and just wanted to get home. I saw a pleasant looking man in a suit coming toward me, and thought, ¨here´s my chance.¨ I stopped him and politely asked if he had 200 pesos he might be willing to give me, explaining that I only had 600 and that this wasn´t enough to charge my BIP. He looked at me with a friendly glance, and pulled 200 pesos out of his pocket, saying, ¨200 pesos? No problem, here you go.¨ I thanked him profusely, and went on my way. When I finally got home and told the story to D, he looked surprised that I´d asked a stranger for money, but thought it was cool that I had. And my suegra´s reaction? ¨That was a very Chilean thing to do!¨

One Step Down...

Half a million more to go. BUT, the good news is, I sent in my visa papers a week and a half ago and got the lovely brown envelope in the mail! So now I´ve got my ¨temporary¨ work visa type thing... and now I wait for another lovely envelope, which I have to take to Policia Internacional, and 5 million years later I finally get my carnet! So what does it mean at this point? It means that I don´t have to deal with going to Mendoza every 3 months. I mean, I really do like Mendoza and everything, but I don´t have the money to be leaving every 3 months.

And, not to count my chickens before they hatch, but it seems the Institute is going to approve my vacation request. Which is great news, because I really didnt want to have to quit. AND, even better, they are willing to give me a few extra days. So if everything works out, I will be leaving here on Saturday, December 20 and not coming back until January 4. :) Thank the Lord for some good news!!

Time for a Change

2 posts in one day, I know, I know. It´s actually not annoying to me, though, when someone else posts more than once in a day. I enjoy reading everyone´s blogs, so 2 posts in a day just means more for me to read. :)

Anyway, I was inspired by Abby´s change in color scheme on her blog, and I was getting sick of my own. I decided a change was in order, and this is what I came up with. I like it, it´s brighter and sunnier, and since we´re in springtime now, I think it fits. Now I just need to change the title - after all, I started this blog when I was in the States, but now I´m back in Santiago, and so is my heart (insert cheesy ¨awww¨sound here). So, any ideas? I need some inspiration, people!

Oh, Gmail

If you have Gmail like I do, you´ve probably noticed the slightly-creepy tendency of this email program to take words from your emails and try to read your mind, offering you ¨related¨links. I put related in quotation marks because, really, 9 times out of 10 the links have nothing to do with your original thoughts. I mean, thanks Gmail, but no thanks. I don´t really need you pulling random words from the subject line or content of my emails and attempting to dazzle me with some amazing link.

Case in point: today, after checking my Inbox, I decided to click on the ¨Spam¨folder and delete all of its contents (what reaches that folder could be a whole post in itself). After doing so, the oh-so-helpful ¨related¨link caught my eye. But did it have to do with a random word from one of the spam messages? The subject line from one of said messages? Oh, no. It had to do with the word ¨spam¨itself. The link? A recipe for none other than ¨Spam Veggie Pita Pockets.¨ Mmmmmmm, nothing says delicious lunch quite like Spam. Heck, if it had just said ¨Veggie Pita Pockets¨, I may have been tempted to click on the link. But they had to go and ruin a perfectly good recipe with Spam. Figures.

The point of this post? It´s the small things in life that entertain me, folks.

If You´re the Praying Type...

Please pray that the Institute will approve my request for vacation days to go home for Christmas. I love Chile and everything, but I have never spent a Christmas away from my family, and I don´t want to start now. ESPECIALLY as this will be my nephew´s first Christmas. He´ll be 6 months old... I don´t even have enough time or space here to tell you how much he and the rest of my family mean to me. It kills me that I´m missing watching him grow up. I just went to the personnel lady´s office to turn in my vacation time request, and she told me to wait a few minutes as she talked to the director. During that time, I just about teared up even thinking of the possibility of them telling me no. When she came back, she told me to return again on Monday and she would have an answer for me. So if you´re the praying type like me, please pray that I´ll be able to spend Christmas at home with my family. If not, well wishes or positive thoughts would also be appreciated!

Group Blog: Hardest Custom to Adjust to in Chile

There are actually several customs that I have found a bit difficult to adjust to, but I´ll just focus on one: SOCCER. That is, the custom of watching soccer until your eyes bleed.

Good grief, even my pololo pointed this out to me last night after watching Chile lose once again in soccer, this time to Ecuador. He asked me a rhetorical question, and quite a good one at that: Why, in a country with such bad soccer teams, is soccer such an incredibly popular sport?

The answer? Heck if I know. I mean, we have Colo Colo, la U, Catolica, the national team, etc etc... and which team is actually good? Sorry if it sounds like I´m completely trashing Chile´s soccer program, but I happen to be having one of those everything-about-living-here-sucks days, so I´m feeling a little edgier than usual. Now, the real problem for me is not that the teams are so bad. That´s not the reason I detest watching soccer. The real reason is that I find it incredibly boring. Fact numero 1 about me: I am a HUGE sports fan. But that does not include soccer. The sports I really really love watching with a passion are college basketball, college and NFL football, and the NHL. Short story about my obsession with college basketball: I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill (hereafter referred to as Carolina). At Carolina, basketball isn´t just another sport, it´s a passion. People eat, sleep, dream basketball. And not just the players, but the students too, myself included. So in March of my senior year at Carolina (2005), we were set to play dook (Duke) as usual, as the last game of the regular season. If you´ve ever even heard the words college basketball, you´ve heard of the Carolina-Duke rivalry. It´s always a huge game, and it´s always an amazingly fun time (unless we lose). So my senior year, I had the fortune of getting riser tickets for the game - risers are the platforms right beneath the basket where students with those tickets stand. Those are the most coveted tickets, because they´re literally right on the court. The thing is, if you´re in the back rows, it´s pretty hard to see. So, to make sure I was in one of the front rows, I camped out (along with a ton of other students) at the Dean Dome for 3 days before the game. Believe me, I would have camped out longer if I´d needed to. It worked out too - I got on the second row, and watched us beat Duke in thrilling fashion. :) Carolina went on to win the championship, my senior year!

Ok sorry, I got nostalgic for a moment. But seriously, I LOVE sports. This is why it´s frustrating for me to live in a country where I can´t just turn on ESPN or WRAL (local channel in Raleigh) and watch a Carolina basketball or football game. I´m resigned to watching soccer. And bad soccer at that. You might say, but Jessica, nobody is FORCING you to watch a soccer game. Sort of true. But where I´m living right now, my boyfriend´s brother watches literally EVERY soccer game that´s ever shown on tv. It could be Señora Rodriguez`s cuarto basico class vs. Señor Bravo´s class and he´d watch it. So it´s hard to escape.

Anyway, it seems my choices are limited here - either cultivate a love of soccer (not looking likely), or buy a slingbox so I can still watch Carolina games. I love Chile, but man... I need my college sports!

An Open Letter to the Lady at the Notaria

Dear Lady Who Cut in Front of Me in Line,

I had been waiting for 20 minutes for the Notaria to open so that I could finally sign this contract for work. Oh, and by the way, those heels I was wearing? NOT very comfortable. In other words, I was excited to be 2nd in line, so that I could get the heck out of there and into more comfortable shoes. Meanwhile, here you come... you wait 5 minutes, compared to my 20, and then you proceed to cut in front of me when the Notaria finally opens. Thanks for ignoring my attempts to bring this to your attention. Also, thanks for wasting my time by discussing your personal hygiene habits as they related to fingernails as I waited in line. Clearly, that´s a good idea when there are 70 million people waiting in line behind you. You know, to make small talk with the Notaria worker about which nail polish color is currently in fashion. After all, it´s not like I had anywhere else to be. Wait, that´s right... I DID have somewhere else to be. Silly me. I hadn´t had time to eat lunch yet, so I was starving, and I also had to drop off this contract and get to my next class. But let´s forget about that... because after all, this is your world and we´re all just living in it, right?

Sincerely,
Chata de personas asì

Changing Lives for the Better

I´m betting if you´re reading this right now, you are also an avid reader of Kyle´s blog, Just Married Chilean Style. And if not, there´s never been a better time to start reading, because Kyle and her husband are doing something that will literally change someone´s life for the better. It actually makes me look at myself and wonder - what have I done lately to change someone´s life? Anyway, here´s the deal: Kyle and her husband, S., are good friends with a young man named Marcelo who works in construction. M. busts his butt everyday at his job and is quite talented at it. The only problem is, his level of education is holding him back from earning a more decent living and being able to adequately provide for a family. This is where Kyle and S. come in - they have pledged to pay for Marcelo to attend a great technical school and earn his degree, so that he DOES have the opportunity to earn a decent living. I honestly can´t think of many ideas that are better than that. Now for the part where YOU (and I) come in - Kyle is quite a talented photographer, and all of the proceeds from her photography business will go to paying for Marcelo´s education. I´m putting the link below to her blog post explaining all of this, but just know - every little bit you can give, every print you can buy, is contributing to the education of a young man that many people believe in.


http://ohquepasa.blogspot.com/2008/10/art-for-good.html

I May Rise, But I Refuse to Shine

That was the saying printed on a pajama top I used to have a long time ago - it rung true then and it still does today, sometimes. I have not ever been a morning person, and I´m not sure I ever will be. So this morning, I groaned when my alarm went off at 6:45 - knowing that I had to get up for an early morning class in Providencia. I had tried to go to bed early-ish last night, because of my class this morning and because I´d had a headache practically all day yesterday (side note: I had a great time at Basic last night watching the debates! I finally got to meet Sara, and hung out with Isabel and Shannon whom I already knew - wish I could´ve stayed longer!).

Anyway, I took the micro on Pedro de Valdivia and actually ended up getting to the company about 10 minutes early. Luckily, I had a good book with me (one I borrowed from Shannon, actually), so I sat and waited.

8:00 - I say hi to the front-desk receptionist. Me cae bien, he greets all the guys who come in to work there as ¨caballero¨, and always has a smile for everyone.

8:05 - My student is always late, so I decide to look over today´s lesson one more time.

8:17 - No more of that, I want to read my book.

8:25 - Some woman who works at the company comes in, looks at me in amusement and says, ´You´re still here, in the same spot as last night!¨.... yes, that´s true, but I did actually go home to sleep before coming back this morning, thanks.

8:30 - Receptionist: Do you want to walk around the office and see if your student is here somewhere? The cafeteria is right around there.
Me: Sure, why the heck not.
(I know you´re on the edge of your seat... I´ll give you one guess as to whether I found my student or not)

8:40 - Receptionist: Do you want to keep waiting?
Me (bleary-eyed, sans morning coffee): Eh, I might as well... not like I have anywhere else to be right now.

8:55 - The receptionist tries to call my student´s cell phone. No answer. This is about the 4th time he´s tried to reach him by now. By this time, me and the receptionist are good pals. He pulls out a camera and tells me to smile, saying he´ll show this as proof to my student that I was actually here this morning.

8:57 - I leave, kind of feeling like a loser when My Friend the Receptionist gives me a sympathetic smile and shrug.

9:00 - I get back on the same bus and head home to relax before my 1:30 class.

And, ladies and gentlemen, such is the life of an English teacher in Chile.

All I'm Askin is for a Little Organization

That's it. I really don't think it's too much to ask, but I could be wrong. Last week, the Institute called to offer me another class - MWF from 8:20 to 9:50 at night. Rock on, I'll take it. So I'm told to come pick up my books/materials for the class, which should include a roll book, etc. I go last Friday and am told the roll book isn't quite ready yet (what? the class starts Monday) - so I must come back on Monday. Oooook fine. Oh, by the way... turns out this class has technically already started. There have been 2 class sessions already, taught by 2 different fill-in professors while they were trying to find someone permanent. So in addition to coming to pick up the roll book on Monday, I am also expecting them to hand me a list of what has already been done the first 2 classes. Here's pretty much how that went when I went to the Institute on Monday:

Me: Hi, I'm here to pick up the roll book and list of material already covered for this class (handing the secretary a piece of paper).

Secretary (frowning): Hmmmm, yeahhhhh... see, the thing is, we have to track down the first 2 professors and ask them what they've already covered. You'll have to come back later.

Me: But this class starts tonight. What am I supposed to do with them?

Secretary: Yeahhhhhh umm.. I think they probably covered the first 2 pages last time.

Me: [silence]

*** crickets ***

Secretary: Hmmm, let me try to call someone.... (I wait). Oops, they didn't answer their phone. You'll just have to ask the students what they did last class.

Good grief, people. Honestly? Is it really that hard to get your crap together and organize a class? I ended up going to the class and trying to get the students to tell me what they did before. And then there's the old reliable "2 Truths and a Lie", which we played for a few rounds. About 20 minutes into the class, one of the secretaries knocks on the door and hands me a piece of paper - on it was the God-awful handwriting of someone who I suppose was the previous teacher for the class, attempting to communicate to me in one horribly written sentence what had been covered last time. I glanced at it, decided there was no way I was going to decipher it, and continued with my own thing.

After class was over and I was walking to the metro, a pigeon flew over my head, and for a brief second I almost hoped it would poop on my head - and that something equally as cool as what happened to Kyle would happen to me. Then I realized I really didn't feel like cleaning poop off my head. I would still like something good and unexpected to happen to me, though. :)

Might Be a Quarter Life Crisis...

I turned 25 years old today. Wow, that looks old when I see it typed out... does anyone else think that´s old? I´m not complaining, though... as my dad always says,¨beats the alternative¨(the alternative being dying, not growing younger haha). Today started out... well, in a way. I was supposed to have a class at 8:00 this morning, and I got to the company only to wait..and wait..and wait some more. Finally at 8:45, some woman came and told me, ¨sorry, your student had a problem and won´t be able to come today - he sends his apologies.¨ My first 2 thoughts: 1) Problem = couldn´t get out of bed in time? and 2) You´re telling me this at 8:45 WHY? ... But in the end, I figured, what the heck. It´s my birthday, and this is my first birthday present. Because I still get paid even though I didn´t have class. So I took myself to Starbucks and got a Grande coffee to wake up. And as I was sitting there, I thought.. I´ve been living for 25 years - have I even accomplished anything of merit in all that time? Then I looked at my watch and realized it was way too early in the morning for such deep thoughts. Better to leave that one until at least... noon.

A Haiku

Communication
Is severely lacking here
Oh Chile - why, why?

Show Me the Money

...Yeah right, I wish. BUT at least I do have a job now, which makes me very happy. So far, I have 2 classes. Not much, but they seem to keep adding more on, so that helps. One of my classes is a conversation class with 5 students, on MWF from 1:30 to 3:00. The other class has only one student (yay!), and is Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. I'm thinking of trying to do private classes too, to supplement what I'll be making at the Institute. And yes, it will always be referred to as the "Institute", after reading about the Big Brother-like activities of another institute that shall remain nameless . Anyway, I'm actually excited about my classes, so we'll see what happens!

In other news, I think I annoyed the crap out of the guy working at the little Kodak store in Lider the other day. I needed to get 4 photos taken, Carnet size, with my passport number on them. So he took the photos, and was editing them to include my passport number when he asked if I wanted to include my name too. I thought, "hmmmm, maybe I should, just in case." So I spelled out my whole name for him, he typed it in, etc etc. He was just about to print the pictures when he asked me if I was sure everything was fine with the pictures. I hesitated, and was thinking, "the director at the Institute just told me to put my passport number, not my name... I don't want to screw this up and have to come back AGAIN." So I asked him to erase my name and just leave the number. It was at this point that he informed me he was going to have me sent back to the U.S. Then he thought about it and decided he'd rather send me to Venezuela and let Chavez deal with me. I assured him there was a tip in it for him if he printed the pictures for me with just my passport number. It was tense for a second... I felt like I was on the hot seat on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?", with the Chilean version of Regis Philbin asking me, "Is that your final answer?".. yes, it's my final answer, please print the pictures this way. Poor guy.

Did I Mention I Love Spontaneity?

Because I do (did I spell spontaneity right?). And that´s why, this weekend, I will be going to Mendoza with Chabelita in Chile (why oh why can´t I find the button to create a link to her blog right now?!). I´m excited, being that I´ve never been anywhere in Sudamerica outside of Chile. Granted, Mendoza may not be a booming metropolis, but I´ve heard it´s pretty fun. And let´s face it, I´m always up for anything. Have a great weekend everybody!

Random Musings

1. You know those posters in the metro that say "En el metro siempre nace nuestro lado amable¨? To that, I only have one thing to say: Wishful thinking, party of one.

2. I almost offered some of my ¨Nuts for Nuts¨ to el tipo that makes sure people stay behind the yellow line in the metro stations. I don´t really know why... come to think of it, he didn´t even look particularly buena onda.

3. Yesterday was ridiculous. I left the Instituto at 5:30 (could I have picked a worse time?) and of course, it was pouring down raining. I waited for 3 trains to pass before I finally managed to squeeze onto the metro at Baquedano. But while waiting, I felt like I was being violated by the lady pressed up against my back. I was also about to have to fight her because she was about to push me onto the tracks. Hey, I don´t particularly want to be electrocuted today, thanks anyway.

4. My thought process today while in Paris, Ripley, and Falabella looking for some pants suitable for work - ¨Hmmm, that looks cute... [searching through the sizes]... ok, nevermind." Two minutes later... ¨Oooooh, I really like these! [pull them out and hold them up to me]... yeahhhhhh, these are going to be way too long.¨ And so it continues. Seems like the chances of me finding a pair of dress pants here that fit me are about as good as the chances of Chile winning the World Cup. O sea, not good.

5. Choripan + whatever flavor of Cristal we had last night = win. I´m normally not a fan of Cristal, but D picked a good flavor last night.

6. While sitting at Starbucks today (I know, I know), I realized my cell phone was still in my bag and I should probably take it out in case anyone calls. Upon opening it, I am told I have 11 missed calls. ELEVEN. And the best part is, I think they were all from the Instituto, wanting to offer me more classes to teach (thankfully, I finally got to my phone in time when they called, and now I have more hours! Woohoooooo!).

More to come later...

Help a Gringa Out, Part II

Thanks for the comments and advice yesterday, everybody! I appreciate it :) Now if I could bother everybody for one more question - what is the cheapest online TEFL course you have found? Recommendations for which one to do? I´ve been told at the institute where I´ll be working that I have to complete my TEFL certificate online, so I´m wondering the best route to go for that. Thanks!!

Help a Gringa Out...

I know there´s a completely easy answer to this that I´m overlooking right now, but quite frankly I´m too lazy at the moment to think of it. So, fellow gringa bloggers working here in Santiago as English teachers (or, as whatever, really) - how do you get the money that your employers pay you into your U.S. bank accounts?

Sopa Para Uno, Warmy, and Advanced Screenings

Man am I bored. I´ve been sitting at home all day (home right now = D´s house), because a) when I got out of bed this morning it was so frickin cold that it didnt give me ganas to do anything, and b) i´ve been hoping the English institute I went to yesterday would call me like they said they would. So, what have I been doing all day? A whole lot of not much, basically. I keep coming upon gringa-in-Chile blogs, and I find them terribly interesting as I am a fellow gringa in Chile, so I´ve been doing a lot of reading of those today. I pulled the little estufa, cleverly named ¨Warmy¨(I didn´t name it that, it says it on the space heater, I swear), out of D´s parents´room, and have been bundled up next to that reading blogs and eating Sopa Para Uno. I went downstairs earlier to get some, and was searching through the cabinets, wondering what delightful flavor I might encounter. I kept pulling out packet after packet of jugo, until I finally found 2 packs of soup... ¨well, looks like my choices are Choclo, or... Choclo.¨I´ll let you guess which one I chose.

Switching gears, last night was a ton of fun. D´s dad works for an advertising agency, and one of their accounts is CineMark. As such, from time to time he gets free movie passes. When D told me yesterday that his dad had movie passes for all of us that night, I thought, "oh, cool." But, oh no... MORE than cool. I was getting ready to go when I saw D pulling out a black tie from his closet. ¨What the...¨ I thought. I asked him what the deal was. Apparently we were supposed to dress up a bit, because this was an advanced screening of some movie, complete with a cocktail beforehand. So I put on a little makeup, the only pair of nice-looking boots I have, and pulled my hair back. Off we went to some mall in Las Condes (not Parque Arauco, another one I can´t remember the name of). I was starving because there wasn´t time to eat dinner before we went... and as luck would have it, the good Lord shined his face on us and there were waiters circulating with vino tinto, vino blanco (my favorite), some kind of raspberry drink, jugo natural, and Coke. And then there were little sandwiches, crackers, about 5 different kinds of cheese, and then to round it all out, chocolates. D´s brother made my day by telling me I looked like Julia Roberts. HA. The funniest thing was all the ¨pelo lice¨staring at him - D´s brother is really tall, cute, and looks kind of rock star-ish. Then it was on to the movie itself. The movie was a Mexican film, called La Misma Luna. I actually enjoyed it a lot, and was glad I understood most of the Spanish parts. I was surprisingly exhausted when we got home, and thankful that I didn´t have to get up early today. A very nice evening, overall. :)

Mapocho Urbano Limpio

the caps lock key on this keyboard isn´t currently working... awesome. i had to copy and paste the title of this blog, so just keep that in mind as you read and i don´t capitalize anything. :)

today as d. and i were driving in providencia, near estacion baquedano, we saw a sign for the project Mapocho Urbano Limpio. d explained some of the components to me, and i did a little research online, and it sounds pretty exciting. basically, anyone who´s walked across the bridge to get to bellavista has smelled that oh-so-wonderful odor that is the rio mapocho. it is, in a word, disgusting. but luckily, there are finally plans to clean it up! that´s what this new project (which is slated to begin soon and be finished by the end of 2009) is all about - cleaning up and giving new life to the river - and by extension, the city. as it is now, the river is extremely contaminated and has an adverse effect on the health of the citizens here. but se supone that this project will help diminish the risk of contracting diseases such as hepatitis currently present in the river´s water.

i´m very excited about the implications for improved public health that this project will provide, but i´m also excited about what this may do for the economy of santiago. i know it´s only one project, but it could prove to be a huge step... in addition to cleaning up the river, there is talk of making it a source of nautical recreation. imagine, the mapocho - navigable. i think there has also been mention of constructing more cafes, restaurants, who knows what, al lado del rio. basically, think of chile´s version of venice ;) maybe not quite so cool, but who knows. the project has an estimated cost of 57 mil millones de pesos and will provide jobs to approximately 2,000 people. overall, i think it sounds very promising... a clean river, hopefully a boost for the economy.. viva mapocho!

Estadio Nacional: Maintain or Reconstruct?

This is a topic I´ve been marinating on for several days now (gotta love the word ¨marinate¨), ever since I walked past the Estadio Nacional last week with D and his brother. I´ve been there several times before, but this day was somewhat different. We went to drop off D´s sister at her atletismo class, and after doing so, decided to walk through the ¨farm¨right beside it. As we walked down the pathway, suddenly the Estadio loomed ahead, and I looked up to see this piece of architecture that was stained with dirt and grime, and so much history. "You know,¨D´s brother said to me, ¨this was the site of so many executions in 1973... it was like Chile´s holocaust.¨ As if I wasn´t chilled enough already by the cold air and fine mist that was falling, those words chilled me even more. I knew about what happened in 1973, of course, but somehow I´d forgotten that a lot of it took place at the Estadio. I don´t really believe in ghosts or anything like that, but I did get a bad feeling walking by the Estadio. It´s hard to even explain, really. I guess just knowing the weight of what took place there so many years ago made me reluctant to look at it for very long. It´s better inside, but outside it´s just ugly. I´m sorry, but it is. It´s old, it´s grimy and dirty, it´s stained. But the thing is, so much history is enveloped by that building that currently, no one is allowed to tear it down and start over.

So my question is: should we? I say "we", but I really mean Chile. I´m a gringa, and as such, I figure I don´t really have much right to say that it should or shouldn´t be torn down. Anyway, it must be noted that of the history of the Estadio Nacional, there is both good and bad. I think this quote by Augusto Gongora sums it up pretty well:

"It is impossible not to ponder the history of the National Stadium: it was a refuge for Europeans fleeing Nazism in the Second World War; it was a joyous site of celebration when Chile won third place in the 1962 World Cup; it was made into a camp for the imprisoned, tortured and executed in 1973; it received the simple kiss of reparation from Pope John Paul II on soil that knew too much sorrow; it danced the "cueca" alone on March 12, 1990 in the days of “the fair and good homeland,” when Aylwin assumed power; it vibrated with music and human rights during the Amnesty International concert at the beginning of this decade. The National Stadium has more history than meets the eye."

The other day when I was thinking about it, I tried to think about it from the perspective of the families of those murdered in the Estadio. Wouldn´t leaving it as is be a constant reminder for them of what happened? Why not just tear it down and rebuild a new stadium, assuming money is not an issue? But then I thought... if they rebuild on the same piece of land, is it really going to help alleviate the concerns of those family members? And actually.. even if they tore this stadium down and built a new one in a different location, the memories are still there. The memories will persist, always, no matter what buildings are razed or constructed. So in the end, what is the point? Is there one?

Chilean Men: Friendship

Alright, I´m going to give this group blogging a try, because I think it´s a pretty cool idea. As far as the first topic though, I´m kind of struggling... I guess I´ve known my fair share of Chilean guys (and am currently dating one), but I´m not sure which aspect to focus on for this blog. I have to admit that I cheated and read ahead, looking at the posts of some others who have already written on the topic. I found myself nodding at many points, and even saying aloud, "Yes, so true!¨ :) So as far as my own post, I wasn´t really sure which direction to take. But then I started thinking about things I´ve learned during the various months I´ve spent in Chile (about a total of 7.5 months over the past 2 years), and one of the big lessons I learned from my pololo and his friends was about friendship itself. I guess this post is mainly about Chilean men and their relationship with other guys than anything else :)

I suppose it´s a function of living in a city with such an extensive public transportation system (say what you will about Transantiago, but it beats the heck out of Raleigh, NC´s transportation system), but it seems that get-togethers are so much more frequent here than back where I´m from. Not only that, but it´s not uncommon to be at a party until 2, 3, 4 or later and decide just to sleep over (your options for transportation are pretty limited the later it gets). And nobody minds! Not only that, but my boyfriend and his friends borrow each other´s clothes, DVDs, money, everything. I know it´s not uncommon for girls to borrow each other´s clothes, but I honestly don´t know many guys in the U.S. who do that ;) And I happen to think it´s pretty cool, how there seems to be such an emphasis on sharing here. Maybe it goes along with the whole chivalry idea, but I see it even in guy-to-guy friendships, just the aspect of making sure everyone is taken care of. Sure, on the outside they may try to maintain that macho facade, calling each other weon every other sentence, etc etc. But the friendships I´ve seen between my boyfriend and his friends go a lot deeper than many I´ve seen in the U.S. They get together ALL the time, whether to share a beer, catch La U´s latest soccer game, or jugar Playstation (ha). And not only that, but they make an effort to be at each other´s events, big or small. For example, when my boyfriend had his final concert upon graduation from la U, all of his friends made sure to be there. Some even helped him with aspects of the concert, such as lights and a PowerPoint presentation. D is also in a band, as are several of his friends, and no matter how often they play, his friends come to just about every one. Last week, one of D´s friends had an event that his church was putting on, that lasted from 8pm until about 1am... D, his brother and I went (although we got there a bit late!), as he´d promised he would. That´s a big deal to me - friends who are ALWAYS there for each other, at big events in life or small.

This is something I took back with me when I went back home in March. I told myself I´d get together with friends more often, invite them over to cook, just watch a movie, anything. I mean, come on, I had a car! Sure, I may have lived 20 minutes from most of my friends, but I didn´t want to get lazy and not hang out with them just because I didn´t feel like driving a little bit. I also told myself I´d be more open as far as sharing material things. Did I succeed? Not to the extent I wanted to, but I definitely think I learned something about friendship here, and for that I´m pretty grateful.

Esperando

That´s pretty much the stage I find myself in right now. From something so small as waiting for D to get back from running an errand right now, to waiting on my interview (and finding a job in general), to waiting on finding an apartment. Sometimes I think my personality is a bit ironic, because I get so impatient when sitting in a traffic jam... yet I find I have patience for the bigger, more important things in life such as waiting on a job or an apartment. Either way, this is the period of my life right now. It´s been almost a week since I´ve arrived back in Santiago, so I´ve been through the whole excitement of seeing D´s family and friends I haven´t seen in awhile.. and most importantly D himself, who I hadn´t seen in 5 months! Talk about waiting! Anyway, I just really want some stability in my life - a job, a place to live that is my own space, and a routine. Don´t get me wrong, I like to have my routine interrupted a veces for an impromptu party or trip to the beach or what have you, but for the most part I like stability and structure. So, here´s to me finding a job soon! Oh, and thank you to Shannon and Ro for hosting me and D at their house! We had such a great time we´re already planning on doing it again this coming weekend. :)

I Made It

Just a short post to say I made it to Santiago this morning... didn´t get ANY sleep on the plane, which sucks.. so now I´m gonna try to catch a little nap while D goes to band rehearsal. I´d forgotten how much it sucks not to have central heating. Bah. Oh well, I´m here and that´s what counts - let me know if you want to hang out.

Blue Heaven

Some places just possess a certain magic that is impossible to adequately put into words. There are a few places like that on earth for me, and one of them is Chapel Hill. When I was a senior in high school, I only applied to one university - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I've been a Tar Heel fan for as long as I can remember, and I never really wanted to go anywhere else. My brother was a sophomore at UNC at the time, and that was one more reason for me to want to go there. So I applied for early admission, and thanks be to God, I got in. The next 4 years were the absolute BEST 4 years of my life. It's frustrating to even try to put into words my experience at Carolina, but the best way to describe it is this: Carolina is a family. That's why on the day I graduated, in May 2005, I cried my eyes out because I knew how much I'd miss that place. Sounds cheesy, sure... but it's true. Carolina simply is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

It's hard to beat the beauty of the Old Well in the springtime, with the azaleas blooming around it. Or cool, crisp fall days watching football at Kenan. Or getting up at 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday to stand out in the freezing January morning at the Dean Dome to score basketball tickets. Or laying out in the sunshine on the quad, just as warm days were arriving. During timeouts at basketball games, they used to show a commercial for Carolina that featured Charles Kuralt, former CBS journalist and UNC alum. It featured part of a speech Kuralt had given during the celebration of UNC's bicentennial, in 1993, and I always used to love this particular part:

"What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls. Or the crisp October nights or the memory of dogwoods blooming. Our loyalty is not only to William Richardson Davie, though we are proud of what he did 200 years ago today. Nor even to Dean Smith, though we are proud of what he did last March. No, our love for this place is based on the fact that it is, as it was meant to be, the University of the people."

That, and this passage that Thomas Wolfe wrote for the UNC yearbook in 1920 captivate a little piece of what I feel about this place:

"But sometimes when the springtime comes,
And the sifting moonlight falls
They'll think again of this night here
And of these old brown walls,
Of white old well, and of old South
With bell's deep booming tone,
They'll think again of Chapel Hill and --
Thinking -- come back home."

I guess I'm getting all nostalgic since I'm leaving for Chile tomorrow, but I can't help it. I went back to Chapel Hill with my mom one day last week, and I had such a great time just walking around campus and looking at all the places I used to go. I also bought a children's book for my new nephew called "Hello, Rameses!"... there's a special story behind it for me. Rameses is the UNC mascot, and during the NCAA basketball tournament in 2007, one of the students who dresses up in the Rameses costume for all the games was hit by a car and killed. His name was Jason, and he was a wonderful guy, and it was a really sad time for UNC in general. Shortly after that happened, I was in the student bookstore at UNC and saw the book "Hello Rameses." It's a really cute kids' book, and each page features someone different seeing and saying hi to Rameses on campus. Well, the very last page is Rameses going to sleep at the end of the day and it says, "Goodnight, Rameses." I was standing in the middle of the student bookstore reading it, and when I got to that page, I froze. I felt tears stinging my eyes as I remembered what had happened to Jason, and that simple phrase, "Goodnight Rameses" seemed to so profoundly refer to him. After that, I always wanted to buy that book whenever I had a niece or nephew, and now I do. :)

Anyway, there is so much more I could write about Carolina and what it means to me, but for now I'll just leave you with a few pictures of campus. Which... apparently Blogger wants to add to the top of my post, so whatever. I'm too tired to figure out how to change that right now. ;)

Queda Poquisimo!!

Uuuuuuuuy quedan como 3 días y estoy tan emocionada! Y esta noche el Diego me dijo las palabras mágicas: "queda poco invierno"!

Wow, I can't believe I'm flying back to Santiago on Tuesday... it seems like just yesterday that it was April and I was thinking that this day would never come! But the time flew by (well, at some points), and here we are. I also can't believe I haven't written a blog entry in almost a month.. shame on me. But in my defense, I've been busy. Haven't we all, though? Anyway, here's something really cool: D's dad likes to paint, and several of his paintings are hanging in D's house... they're really abstract, but I like them. I'm absolutely in love with the colors in this one that he painted. But anyway, tonight D told me that his dad had painted one especially for me, to put in my apartment in Santiago (assuming I can find one!). I thought that was really, really sweet. Allow me to get cheesy for a moment and say that I feel incredibly blessed. I have a wonderful, supportive family here in the States (and a beautiful new nephew that I'm really sad to leave), and I also have a great Chilean family. D's parents really are pretty awesome. They NEVER let me sleep on the couch when I'm staying with them... even when I insist, "hey, seriously it's ok.. I'll be comfy on the couch", they still make me take one of their beds. :) Sweet, sweet people. So anyway, I'm really grateful for them because they always make me feel at home when I'm in Santiago.

I really want to write another entry about one of my favorite places on earth: Chapel Hill, North Carolina (aka "Blue Heaven"), but that's going to have to wait until tomorrow. For now, I think I'm going to try to sleep and not freak out about the fact that I haven't really packed yet.

Tengo Entrevista!!

Yayyyyyyyyy I have an interview lined up for a job in Santiago! Diego has a good friend at one of the institutes in Santiago that teach English, and he sent him my resume, which then was sent to his supervisor(s). That was a couple of weeks ago, and D let me know tonight that they want me to come in for an interview when I get to Chile... which, by the way, is in exactly 3 weeks from Wednesday!! I'm so excited :) Hopefully I'll get the job, cross your fingers! Either way, I'm stoked about finally getting back to Chile y mi amor, por fin!

Madly...

I'm crazy about music. It's one of my passions in life, so I love it when I come across a song that really makes me feel something - whether it's how the instruments combine, or the poetry of the lyrics, or both. One of those songs is "Madly In Love With You" by Sean McConnell - here are the lyrics... it seems to be speaking about God, and I really love the haunting melody of this song as well as Sean McConnell's voice:

I see you down there everyday
Trying to find a different way
To build some kind of ladder to the sky
You're trying to find some way to see
The secrets of eternity, and they don’t come all at once
And you don’t know why
Well how do you think it feels to hear you screaming out my name
While all the while I’m trying to open up your heart
I see you when you cry yourself to sleep
It’s tearing me apart

I know you wish you could see me
That’s the way it has to be
Someday you will understand,
But don’t you lose your faith in me
I know you wish you could hear me
Sometimes it’s so hard to do
But every morning sunrise says
I’m madly in love with you
Yes I’m madly in love with you
Yes I’m madly in love with you
Yes I’m madly in love with you

I know that you’re waiting for,
A chance to come in from the war
If only a moment, if only a day
A place where you feel safe and warm
A sanctuary from the storm
Until all of these questions fade away
But I cannot count all of the signs
You’ve passed away as mere coincidence
And I'm running out of ways to break through
But like a lonely lover waiting by the ocean
I'll never give up on you

I know you wish you could see me
That’s the way it has to be
Someday you will understand,
But don’t you lose your faith in me
I know you wish you could hear me
Sometimes it’s so hard to do
But every morning sunrise says
I’m madly in love with you
Yes I’m madly in love with you
Yes I’m madly in love with you
Yes I’m madly in love with you

Oh, cuán lejos llegarás!

That's how the book "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" is translated in Spanish :) Actually, that literally means "Oh, How Far You'll Go!", but whatever. I saw it at Barnes & Noble a couple of weekends ago; it's one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, and it was cool to see the Spanish version of it. Anyway, tonight I was thinking of the places I've been in Santiago and in Chile, and the places I still want to go. I haven't really been outside of Santiago that much - I've been to Viña, Valpo, El Tabo, a retreat/camp place called Pintué (GORGEOUS countryside), Portillo (ski resort), and Chillán (que fome). Now, where I'd LIKE to go, is a completely different story. Maybe I should just make a list:

- Algarrobo: beach town just a little bit south of Valpo. I absolutely love the beach, and I've heard that Algarrobo is gorgeous, and really nice, so I'd like to visit.
- San Pedro de Atacama: wayyyyy up north... geyser fields, old salt mines, Valle de la Luna... what's not to love? ;)
- Torres del Paine: wayyyyy down south... breathtaking views and great hiking.
- Valdivia: something about it just intrigues me... it has a big German influence, in the architecture, food and overall culture, which I think is really cool. And it just looks beautiful. ;)
- Isla de Chiloé: a completely distinct culture, a different dialect of Spanish, rich history of song and dance.

There are a lot more, but that's a bit of a start! Sadly, I don't know when I'll have the money to actually travel to all of these places... it cost me enough just for the ticket back to Santiago in August! But maybe someday...

For now, I'll just be in Santiago. And here is my list of favorite places in the city:

- Bellavista: awesome by day, PELIGROSO by night. Seriously. I went to a Chilean friend's birthday party at a club called Rockola one night, and was told to get a taxi literally right when I stepped out the door. I was warned NOT to walk down the street any farther than I had to. It's so crazy because Bellavista by day is one of my favorite places to be, I love the Bohemian vibe of it.

- San Cristobal: I think part of the reason I love it so much is that one of the best days I spent in Santiago was when Diego took me on a picnic here. It was really cute actually, he had gotten up extra early to go to Lider and buy everything necessary for the picnic... he had bought this really amazing bread, jamon y queso, drinks, and chocolate pudding for dessert. ;) But besides that, San Cristobal is just a really good place to go for a bike/hike/whatever, with spectacular views at the top.

- Parque Arauco: geez, this mall is nice. I'm fine with just going to Plaza Vespucio or La Florida, but every once in awhile it's nice to go to Parque Arauco... it's like the Beverly Hills of malls in Santiago... or at least to me. ;)

- UVA!!! This place deserves a blog entry to itself. This bar/restaurant we discovered one night by pure accident. I had gone with Diego, his brother, and one of our friends to what we thought was going to be a birthday party at a salsa place... only plans got confused, and the birthday boy didn't show up. So instead of just going back home, we walked up to Plaza Ñuñoa and were just walking on Irarrazaval and saw this place called Uva. Looking in the windows, it didn't seem too crowded, and we were hungry, so we went in... Best.Decision.Ever. We ordered this big plate that had a bunch of different cheeses and sauteed mushrooms - I think it was $6 mil, which wasn't too bad since we split it 4 ways. It was delicious! But besides good food, Uva also has really good amaretto sours, which is my favorite drink. AND a really cool atmosphere, as well as very attentive servers. Overall, one of my favorite places to go out with Diego or some friends and just get a drink and relax. Can't wait to go back in August!

There are more places in Santiago that I like, but that will have to wait for another day because I need my beauty sleep. ;) Chao!

I'm Just Not That Into You

You know that book "He's Just Not That Into You"? Well, if there's a version out there for men, this guy that works in my building needs to read it. BAD. In general, I consider myself a pretty friendly person. So when I pass someone in the hallway at work, I usually smile at them and say "hi." I didn't realize this would be such a big mistake. Now I've had not one, but two guys drop their phone numbers on my desk while I'm on a call with a customer. Very sneaky, guys. The first guy took the hint after I told him I had a boyfriend. This second guy, though... well, I've got to hand it to him, he's persistent. About 3 or 4 weeks ago, I was on a call with a customer and he did the whole slide-a-piece-of-paper-with-his-number-on-it-on-my-desk routine. This kind of annoyed me from the very beginning, because I couldn't even talk to him when he did it, as I was on the phone. BUT a couple of weeks before this, he had come over to my desk one day and talked to me for a couple of minutes, during which time we discussed the fact that I have a boyfriend, and he even saw the pictures of Diego I have up in my cube!

The thing about guy #2 is that on the paper where he wrote his number, he wrote "just for FRIENDS". Rrrrrrrright. Needless to say, I never called either of the guys. But guy #2 has started to creep me out, and mainly just annoy me because he won't leave me alone. He keeps coming up to me and saying, "you never called me." Then last week, I walked outside to my car to get something and he was standing outside and starts walking beside me. He looks me up and down and says "you're looking really good today." CREEPY, I'm telling you! Then today he comes up to my desk AGAIN when I was really busy with work, and says "I've got a new phone number... I'll have to get that to you by the time you leave today." And I'm thinking, what part of me not ever calling you in the last 4 weeks don't you understand? Can you not take a hint? Most normal guys would have given up LONG before now.

Basically it just frustrates me because I'm tired of having creepy guys hit on me at work. I come to work to WORK, to make money, nothing else (only because I hate this current job, so I just want to work my hours and go home). I have a right to do this, a right to come to work and not get hit on by weird guys, darnit! Oh well, only 17 more days of this job!! I'm definitely counting down the days...

The Time Traveler's Wife

This is the book I'm reading right now. In case I never mentioned it, I'm a HUGE fan of reading. I minored in English literature in college, and deep down (or maybe not so deep down?) I'm a big nerd, but I'm cool with that. ;) Anyway, my sister-in-law recommended this book to me, and let me borrow it. It took me awhile to get into it, and I started wondering if it was really my cup of tea... but I'm glad I gave it a chance, because now I love it. I'm almost finished with it, and I have to say, I'll be a little sad to see it come to an end - it's that way with every good book I read.

I'm not sure what direction this blog post is going to take. Thinking about this book has led me to think about a lot of things - one of them being how hard it is to find a lot of good books in English in Santiago, and how that's one thing I'll miss when I move back to Chile in August. I'm definitely bringing some books with me from the States, but I don't want to bring too many, because the weight adds up quickly and makes my suitcases ridiculously heavy! So ideally, I'd love to find somewhere in Santiago with a good selection of English literature. But I realize that's going to be practically impossible. The last time I was in the city, from January to mid-March, I found this place with A LOT of tiny bookshops, and a few of them had a little selection of English books. I actually ended up finding a couple of books I'd been wanting to read anyway, for $2 mil I think it was... which was a heck of a lot cheaper than my first venture to the Librería Inglesa, on Pedro de Valdivia. WAY too expensive, let me tell you. This place I found with all the little bookstores was somewhere really close to the metro Manuel Montt (I think - honestly I can't remember exactly where it was). I wandered there one day when I was out looking for some things to buy to make Diego a Valentine's Day present.

In my dream world, I'd open up my own English bookstore in Santiago, and it would be wildly successful, and I'd even have enough money to buy a perfect little apartment with a beautiful view of the Andes. Like I said, in my DREAM world. So in reality... when I get back to Santiago, I guess I'll just have to keep scouring the city for books. But that's just fine with me; I like a challenge. :)

So This is What it Feels Like to be an Aunt!

I LOVE IT!! That's right, I'm now an aunt ;) My nephew Jonathan Warren (Warren is his middle name, not his last) was born last night at 7:15... a healthy 7 lb, 7 oz. BEAUTIFUL baby! I cried when I saw him :P But I couldn't help it, he's beautiful. Here are a couple of pictures of him, more to come later!

Just For Fun, I Bring You...

The Top 10 Things I'd Rather Do Than Go to Work at My Current Job (in no particular order):

1. Wake up at 5:30 in the morning in Santiago. Walk to the micro stop in the pouring rain. Wait an hour for a micro. Take 2 micros. Go teach English classes until 7:30 at night. Walk back in the pouring rain to the micro stop. Wait another hour for a micro. Take 2 micros to get back home.

2. Listen to the latest Jessica Simpson album on repeat for a full 24-hour period.

3. In a similar vein as #2, watch a 24-hour marathon of "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila."

4. Watch any basketball game with commentary by Dick Vitale.

5. Clean every bathroom in my house. Clean the kitchen. Wash every window, inside and out. Dust every visible surface. Vacuum every room.

6. Clean up the porch where my dog threw up on it after eating some weird, unidentifiable object.

7. Try to run a marathon without training at all.

8. Read every William Faulkner book without taking any breaks, except to go to the bathroom and eat something.

9. Translate Don Quixote from Spanish to English in its entirety. Then translate it back from English to Spanish. Then back from Spanish to English again one more time, just for good measure.

10. Eat the hottest pepper on earth, without drinking any water afterward.

Chile, Here I Come!!!

Ahhhhhhhhh I'm so excited!! I finally have a date for when I'm moving back to Santiago, and a flight! I'll be flying out of RDU on August 12 :) That means less than 2 months to wait! Now, the next question is... does anybody know of apartments available?? Or people looking for roommates? If so, please let me know :) Woooooooo estoy tan emocionada!

A Few More Pictures

The first picture is a few years old, but it's from a photo shoot for Diego's old band - Aqui y Ahora. I just always loved this picture - he looks like such a brooding "rockero" :)

The second picture is of me and Diego at Parque Arauco (a niiiiiiiice mall in Santiago) back in November '07.

My, That's Quite a Large Sense of Entitlement You Have

I've been thinking lately about starting a completely different blog. I would still keep this one, because I like writing about everyday events, and I want to use it to keep people updated when I move back to Chile. But I would also love to start an entirely separate blog - a new, fresh idea that would keep people coming back to read. The challenging part is coming up with a concept. Well, here's one concept I will NOT be using, but one that would no doubt provide me with endless material (at least for the next 2 months): a blog that would be updated daily, spotlighting a different crazy customer that I have to talk to in my tech support job.

So, humor me, and let's just pretend I am actually launching that blog, and that this is one of the entries (actually I just need an excuse to write about these insane people I talk to at work - it's very cathartic). So, today's spotlight would be on Crazy Customer #1 - we'll just call her CC, for convenience sake. My morning was going so well today, and then the phone rang, and who was it? None other than CC, who had a problem with the cordless phone she had just bought. One of the phones was ok, but the other one had been fully charged up and still only displayed 1 bar of battery power - uh oh. Well, here's the thing. In the past, I would have immediately said, no problem, we can ship you some new batteries. But we received an email from the "higher-ups" in my company last week saying we were sending up too many battery requests (read: tell the customers to go buy their own replacement batteries). So I politely advised CC to simply replace the batteries in that phone, and if she was still having trouble, to give us a call back as we may need to replace the whole phone for her. Well good Lord - you would've thought I had suggested she go bungee-jumping without a cord, from the way she reacted. She was upset at the notion that I even suggested she drive to a drug store and spend a couple of dollars for batteries, when she shouldn't have to. For the record, I completely emphathized with her. If it's not working out of the box, she shouldn't have to spend more money to make it work. But I was just doing what I'd been told.

Well, if the customer insists that they don't want to go buy batteries, we are then allowed to send a battery request to our headquarters. So I politely informed her we could send her some replacement batteries - but when I told her how long it usually takes to ship them out (which really isn't long), she was indignant. She basically DEMANDED that we have a box of brand new batteries on her doorstep tomorrow. Yeah. Right. I don't know how many times I uttered the phrase "I'm doing all that I can, ma'am" to her - but apparently not enough to get it through her thick skull. Refer to my last entry, where I clearly stated that I am a PEON in this company. I'm not a supervisor. I don't have any power. None whatsoever. And this woman has the audacity to demand of me that I get those batteries to her house TOMORROW? That's rich.

The point of this whole post is to ask one simple question: Where does this sense of entitlement come from? Seriously, I've been puzzling over this for awhile now. What makes a customer think that by buying your product, they then have the right to call up customer service and act like a complete tool, demanding completely outrageous things? And expecting a huge company to drop everything and forget about all other customer orders ahead of yours and kiss YOUR butt?

This post isn't at all to say that when someone buys a product, they shouldn't expect superior customer service. I'm just saying it doesn't give you the right to call me up and cuss me out when you're having a problem with it, or to expect me to be able to work miracles. I'm not in the miracle business - sorry to disappoint.

Welcome to the Inferno

I was going to say "Hell", buuuuut I guess I shouldn't be so harsh on my job (although, Inferno and Hell pretty much carry the same connotation, but "Inferno" sounds a little more...poetic, maybe) - mainly because it's a job, and it pays. And it's in an air-conditioned office, which, given the recent tally of over-100 degree days in NC, is a great thing. But those are about all of its redeeming qualities. So, to all 4 readers of my blog, I present... (drum roll please) the list of things that suck about my job (job, company, etc.):

1. The training. Or, more accurately, lack thereof. I could write an entire blog entry just on this. But suffice it to say, I'm expected to do technical support on products for which the training consists of about 5 minutes in a conference room, with me hastily scribbling notes on a notepad as my supervisor talks a mile a minute.

2. The lack of resources. Once again, I am expected to provide technical support on products for which we have no user manuals... not even a leaflet... not even a product image. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada. Null (I'm running out of ways to say NOTHING). Now, one day I made the mistake of actually questioning this, asking one of my supervisors, "I was just wondering, I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, but... why do we do support for products that we don't even have a user manual on?"... Let's just say I received a less-than-satisfactory answer on this one, as well as a look that basically said, "How dare you question our ridiculous policies?"... YEAH... won't make THAT mistake again.

3. My supervisors. I basically have 3. One is cool, the other two are... well, not. Quite frankly. Look, I understand that their job doesn't revolve around answering my questions 24-7. But answering questions from their employees is certainly PART of their job. And when I ask ONE question in a 5-hour time period, I'm pretty sure I haven't maxed out my quota of questions for the day. But to judge by the looks on their faces when I go to ask them a question - I mean, they look at me as if I've suddenly sprouted 3 heads! This isn't exactly what you'd call encouraging.

4. The customer service policies of the company as a whole SUCK. And I have no control over them. Which for whatever reason, the customers calling in don't understand. "People!", I want to say to them. "I'm a peon in this company! I'm a tech support rep! I have no control over what goes onto the packages for these products! Believe me, if I did, I sure as heck wouldn't put GUARANTEED to work on there, because I KNOW it's not!" But alas, they don't seem to get this. Or maybe, they just need a scapegoat - so they choose me. So I get cussed out because the product they bought doesn't work, or because they're too stupid to read the manual and figure it out. Oh well.

5. I'm sure there's a 5th reason, but I'm kind of tired of typing for now, so I'll leave that for another day ;)

Sorry, fellow bloggers... sometimes it just helps to vent. And to realize that 2 months from now (Lord willing), I'll be back in Chile con mi amor! :)

I Can Finally Roll My R's!!! (And other good news)

Wow, where to begin. It's been an interesting (read: mostly good) day. Monday was a pretty sub-par day at work, yesterday was better, and today was still better. I'm liking this pattern! But not naive enough to think it will continue, with tomorrow being even better than today. :P Nonetheless, it was good. And yes, I discovered that at long last, I can FINALLY roll my R's!! This is a loooooong time coming, believe me. I'm 24 years old. The first time I remember having Spanish class was in elementary school, in 1st grade. I'm sure I retained little to nothing from that class, haha... but it was fun anyway. All I remember is that my teacher had this policy that when we played games or did activities or whatever, we could earn "Muy Bien" cards. Then, when we'd saved up a certain amount of Muy Bien cards, we could cash them in for a prize. 5 would buy you some candy, 10 something else a little more cool, and if you saved up enough... you could get a REALLY cool prize. But that took self-discipline, something I didn't have a lot of back then (and something I'm still working on to this day). Anyway, that's about all I remember from that class. Then I didn't take Spanish again until high school, and took 3 years of that, then 1 semester in college. Then I spent 2 months in Salamanca, Spain and a total of 7 months in Chile (broken up over a period of about a year and a half). Over that time, I've NEVER been able to roll my r's. Which has always frustrated me so much - and especially now, dating a native Spanish speaker who is BORN being able to roll his r's, it's doubly frustrating. So then today I'm driving home from work, and just practicing in my car (Lord knows why, I must've been bored sitting in traffic). And suddenly, it just HAPPENED. I could do it! Who knows what happened, but it finally just clicked. Anyway, needless to say, I was stoked. D used to tease me and say, "Di Carolina Herrera" and I never could! But now I can :P

In other news, my sister-in-law is due on July 4th, but the baby is still in the breach position, so her doctors went ahead and scheduled her for a C-section... and which day?? June 26, none other than D's birthday!! Haha, he thought that was so cool when I told him the baby would be born on his birthday :) (Assuming he doesn't decide to make an early appearance!).

In other not-so-good news, I just spent 48 minutes on the phone with my credit card company, all because I'm having trouble accessing my account online (I've never had problems with it before, until just recently). I got transferred 3 times and put on hold SEVEN times. At least the guy I talked to was nice... and he apologized profusely for all the trouble I've had, and the delay. Oh well, if the problem gets fixed, those 48 minutes were worth it. I mainly just spent my time on hold watching the Stanley Cup final game and talking to D, anyway. ;) Alright, this blog entry is getting entirely too long, and if anyone has actually read this far - wow. I'm impressed. Good night all!

Algunas Fotitos

one of me and Diego at a wedding in Santiago back in February, and one of just Diego ;) gotta show him off :P i'll post some more pictures later, but for now i'm off to bed!