Happy 4th of July!

Well, it is the fourth of July, so Happy 4th of July!

What am I doing today? I will probably just relax. It doesn´t sound very exciting, but for me, it is exciting. It is a rainy day and last weekend I went to visit a family in a rural area, so I didn´t really have time to relax relax...so, this weekend, I am relaxing on my own time.

I have to apologize for being terrible at keeping up on the blogging, for those of you who are wondering what has been going on...wondering if I am still enjoying myself in Chile, etc.

I am doing very good. I have had my share of changes this past month...moving to a new place, starting a new job in a new culture, learning something new everyday, keeping up with bureaucratic bullshit (BBS), and trying to find time for myself to rest.

On the job front, things are looking better everyday. I am enjoying the challenge of my job and I am trying very hard to make my classes effective for all my students. With that being said, I think that we are done with our ¨testing the new teacher¨ stage and my students have a better idea of how I operate and what my expectations are. This is good, because it makes my job easier and more enjoyable. We are more comfortable and, because I know the personalities and tendancies of my students more, I can joke around with some of them, or give them a hard time about things in a loving way of course. So, I am more comfortable in my job everyday.

That being said, I have some issues to clean up by August, otherwise I won´t have a job. These issues are the BBS of life and something I could never be able to begin to accomplish without the help of my family, seeing how it is all work that has to be done stateside. I worry from time to time that things won´t result, but what will be will be....time will tell...

On the side, I have another job at an English Institute. I only work there on the weekend, Saturday morning. I really don´t like the person I work for, but I like the two students I have. I would leave the job, but I am still waiting for ¨the last straw¨ before I abandon my students. I don´t like to put good people in the middle of my issues with my boss. I don´t see my boss and I keep my conversations with the staff to a minimum. I usually leave the school to have coffee with my one student. They are both agronomists. One is a carrot specialist and the other is a Bruselas specialist...he specializes in whatever the name of the cauliflower family is. They are both very nice people, eager to learn, which, as I think I have said before, is a nice change after deal with students that could care less at school. Plus, it is nice to have adult conversations.

I also have three other clients outside of the institute. One is the owner of a coffeeshop I come to for checking my email and searching for material on the internet. I had my first class with him yesterday and he is very interesting. He has many projects going on and is a complete animal lover. His wife is a veternarian and they have all kinds of animals. He was telling me how he and his wife rescued the neighbor´s dog recently, as he left town for 2-3 weeks and left his dog chained up without water or food. Sad. So, given his attention to the well being of animals, I think he is a good person. He also mentioned maybe we could have an english class on the golf course one day. ha ha...I would love that!

My other two clients are my karate instructor (yes, I am taking karate...i love it, it is very good for my mind. It give me something to do...and now, I am going to the class with other adults, instead of a private class, and so it is me and about 8 men. I was a bit timid at first because they were all in their well worn suits, sporting their yellow, orange, and black belts, practicing jump kicks and fighting motions that i haven´t learned yet. Then there was me in my brand new white suit with a white belt...the only woman, the gringa...but, by the end of class I was more comfortable.). ANYWAY, this client is very interesting. Aside from being a master of karate, he has many other hobbies, like climbing, ice climbing, and travel. I call him, Mr. National Geographic.

My other client is the neice of Mr. National Geographic. She completed her international cooking degree and is learning English so she can travel. She is a very interesting person too. I am very happy to have interesting clients, and clients that are good people. It keeps me motivated.

Also, I am doing some translations from time to time. I enjoy the translations, but they take more time than I have, so I need to come up with a better pay table. I can read the document and understand it, but to turn it around into English is difficult. You don´t want to lose the voice of the spanish speaker, but you want to make it understandable to an English speaker....to eliminate the choppness of a direct translation. So, the 500 words I did the other day took me about 3 hours. It will get better as time goes on, especially if the context continues to be wine, because I will be more accustomed to the words and expressions.

On the new living arrangement, things are working out very well. I really enjoy my new place and my room. The room is very small, large enough for a twin bed and about a two feet to walk along side my bed. I have a large window that looks out to the patio of the house, which has a tree and plants, and about 10 cats. I have a small dresser for my clothes, which is just big enough for what I have. When things are put away, my room is the perfect size...other times, it seems just a little too small when I have my papers and things out. But, I survive.

The living room is right outside my door. We have a couch and matching chairs. They are very comfortable and sometimes I will work out there. The kitchen is a kitchen...fridge, sink, oven/stove, a table big enough for about 8 people, and the clothes washer is in the kitchen too...and the wood stove for heat.

There is only one bathroom in the house. It takes about a minute and a half to light the pilot flame on the water heater. I have to do this every time I want to shower. We could keep it lit, but this costs gas, which costs money...so we are conservative. Also, we are more conservative with the toilet water now. The objective is to not let the tank fully refill, so we use less water to flush. We are almost operating on the idea of ¨ if it is brown it goes down¨.

The house I live in is in a nice neighborhood. Some of the houses are beautiful, with pools, second stories, and nice cars. Our house is the run down house on the block, so to speak. But, I love the house I live in. It has alot of character. But, like in the states, if you live in a nice neighborhood, you pay a little more for some things...so we are very careful with resources such as water and electricity. Also, the antiguity of the house, the windows, create drafts, so we lose some energy that way, contributing to higher energy bills. We just split the bills this week, to pay my rent, and so I have a new perspective on what we are using and spending. I have a very economically friendly living situation and also, I am living with someone I can trust...that is very important. The other place I was considering wasn´t someone I knew...and I was a little weary of the situation, so I am very thankful for the living situation I have.

Outside of work, I am still getting to know my new town. Because I am so busy, I don´t have alot of time to explore and meet new people, aside from my clients, people at work, and karate class. However, I am happy with meeting people like this. I have to observe people for a while and observe how things work before I can commit to getting to know people and places. In Chile, you have to be very careful about trusting people, even nice people, because they can change so quickly. In Santa Cruz, I learned there were many people with two faces. It seems to be the theme in Chile. But, you have that in the US too. But, North Americans are more direct. If they don´t like you, they tell you...they don´t pretend to be your friend....at least I don´t. Also, I think we share more in the US...share experiences. Here, they hide more things.

All in all, I have learned to survive and keep to myself. I cannot explain the changes that I have gone through over the last several months, but I have learned to be stronger, more forward, and to trust my instincts or knowledge....to be more confident in myself and what I want. Also, I think I have a tendancy to be nice...to want to give things away....but I have had to stop. For instance, in my work...English is my language. It is my profession. So, if people want to talk to me in English, they have to pay. Sometimes it feels ridiculous to pay...sometimes I feel like a prostitute because I sit down and talk to people and then they give me $20 (about) for the hour. It seems like alot, but there are people that charge more. Really, I should be charging more...but I will wait until I am more established.

I recently bought a guitar to learn. I think I will have to swing by the music store I bought it from for a lesson because I have no idea what I am doing. I could just learn by reading on the internet and learning chords that way...but, I am struggling with tuning the guitar. So I might have to visit the guy who sold it to me.

So, this is what has been going on the last feew weeks. I have a two week winter vacation coming up and I am thrilled to have free time. I look forward to learning the guitar, continuing my karate classes, english classes, and relaxing. I hope to watch movies and eat ice cream. To go skiing. To visit friends in Santa Cruz, who have been good at checking in with me to see how I am and stopping by when they are in my neck of the woods to have a cup of coffee and chat. They have been wondering when I am going to swing by and hang out with them. Also, they have talked about coming here to go out and know the town. So, we will see. I am happy and comfortable. I worry from time to time what is going to happen at work with the papers and all, but I have faith that if things don´t work out there, I will find another way to support myself.

Alright, well, I better get going. I want to stop by the supermarket and buy somethings, but first I want to check out some recipes on the internet.

Ok...take care!

Jami