a spot in the shade.: big rock candy mountain

Life is being lived here in Chile. I'm really enjoying myself. Of course I would like to have more money and more people here. I enjoy sharing my stories with you and hearing about your stories, but this place would be much different if i could share it with the familiar faces I love.

I'm really enjoying teaching. I'm always so happy after my classes. They usually go so smoothly and those that don't, I know what I could improve on for next time. I feel like I do a good job and it was actually proven in one of my classes last Thursday. My school has surprise observations of our classes every now and then and my first one was last thursday. I was prepared for my class and I knew how I was going to present the material. I was not aware of the visit until my students (who knew the observation was going to take place) filled me in. I went on with my class the way I had planned...I couldn't do anything about it now so I guess I just had to see if I was on the right page. 20 minutes into my class, my TEFL trainer Katie came in and watched 10-15 minutes of my class. The following day, I met up with her and the first words she said were "I really liked your class! I was excellent!". Phew!

Friday was a good day. I met up with Breanna and we walked around Providencia for a bit. I had been thinking about my sister a lot that day because it was her 18th birthday. I am very used to be away from family but I really wished I could have been there for her big day. To me birthdays arent a reason to expect gifts from others...but to give yourself gifts and reasons to look at the world a little differently that day. I don't know what it is about birthdays, but that day for me, really gives me an appreciation for how far I've come in so little time.

Happy Birthday Rebecca!

Later I had a meeting at my school and I met up with Jamie after. We made dinner at my apartment and then invited some friends over for drinks and a night out. A lot of the crew that night were teachers. My friend Corina was back in town after going on a trip around south america with her fiance after completing the TEFL class we took together and so she joined us for the drinking.

We played some really fun nerdy drinking games and headed out at around 1 30. We couldnt find a good bar and by the time we spent a little while in one bar...we were ready to call it a night.

Sunday, April 26th was by far one of the most memorable days here in Chile for me. Leslie invited me to go hiking with her, Wendy and Wendy's friend Cristobal. I was so close to saying no because they were leaving soon after she had invited me and I had yet to eat and get dressed. I wasnt sure if I had the energy or the motivation to do it.

I decided to go.

I cant even describe to you the amazing feeling of looking up at a mountain before you hike up it compared to the feeling of looking down from it. It took us so long to hike because Leslie and I are beginners at this sort of thing and at one point we thought we couldnt do it. But we pushed on and with short breaks along the way with pauses to take pictures and drink water, we made it to the very top.

4 days later...my legs are still sore. BUT that fades with time...the memories from that day will forever be with me and they will always mean so much.

Here are some of my favourite pictures from the great adventure