never looking down I’m just in awe of what’s in front of me

walking on a dream by empire of the sun = new fave song

here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMJjF4LHOkY

         [this video makes me partially want to go to china]

last time i wrote - i talked about my weekend in Olmue/Vina. 

Many things of course have happened since then but all seem like distant memories. Here are the most memorable encounters from the last 20 or so days:

When i got back from my trip to Olmue/Vina, I received a call from my boss asking if I could accept a class that would be every Monday and Wednesday night. My boss told me that I would have to teach a very important student and it was mandatory that her class be fun and interesting. He said that he though I would be a perfect fit as her teacher. I was ecstatic because not only did this mean more hours...but my boss is impressed by my work which will in turn mean...even more hours. The next day I received another call from my boss about picking up yet another class. This particular one would be on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon. It was a perfect time slot and I would later learn that they were wonderful and fun students!

The teaching has been going well. I recently recieved a copy of a survey one of my students completed about how I have been a great teacher for her class. I also received another survey from my very first student Elena that I started classes with in March. Recently she had her last class with me and had a tearful goodbye. I told her that no matter how many more years I teach for or students I have - she will always be my first student. I later read her survey that said I was one of the best teachers she had had. To me, those are the things that matter. It's not the money I make (or don't make) or that amount of classes I have...it's the fact that the work I put into my teaching counts and makes a difference in someone's life.

I've been thinking lately about where this teaching career is going to take me next. I don't want to put too much effort into the decision making process of it all...I just want a sign. I'm waiting for that something to come along and inspire me to go somewhere. I know it will come. The only factor (which I hate to admit) in wherever I end up next year - I must be able to make a decent, savable amount of money to put towards paying off student loans...so that is why I'm focusing my search on Asia. I'll let you know when I find my inspiration.

Two weekends ago, I had a wonderful time. On Saturday I was invited to a cinco de mayo party...which oddly enough we celebrated on may 16th. It was being held at a friend of Leslie, Wendy and Alicia's out in La Florida (a neighbourhood near Providencia). Before we headed out, Leslie and Alicia came to my apartment to hang out and get ready. While I was waiting for them to arrive, I looked out my window and saw the craziest sunset I'd ever seen:

                                         

We hung out for a while together and eventually hopped on the metro. We realized we were going to the wrong way so we got off, changed directions and happened to get on the most interested metro car I had ever experienced. We sat down right where a drunken man was enjoying some sopapilla (a thin fried bread you can buy from street vendors for 100 pesos - 20 cents or so). he could not keep his balance and was leaning right into my friend Alicia. She moved. He came over by Leslie and I where he decided to lean into us almost as to suggest we take some of his sopapilla as well. No gracias said Leslie and as we were being silently harassed by this man, people watched and laughed under their breath. We on the other hand could not keep our laughter in. We laughed so hard and caused a scene. We agreed that when the train stopped next...we would run over into the next car. We did. A woman got on, sat down where we had been and automatically because this sopapilla man's next victim haha. 

And so we arrived to the cinco de mayo party. There was food, wine, tequila and so on. We chatted and met new people and had a great time. Before long, the hired performers went on stage. There was a Turkish band, a teacher who played guitar and sang, followed by a Mariachi band. 

It was so much fun and such a great time. 

Wendy and Cristobal met us there and after the party died down, we were off to a bar to meet some friends. 

We had some drinks and later made our way to a nice dance bar. We danced until 5 am when the bar closed and went home. It was such a fun night and we really enjoyed ourselves. The night seemed to last forever and had so many stories all in one.

The next day, Leslie and I were determined to find a hula hoop. She had heard of this large mall that we would have to get to by metro. So we did it. We got ready, met up and we were off to the mall. We arrived and say many toy stores but no hula hoops. We stumbled upon many stores that seemed somewhat promising but no....not hula hoops. We made our way to a store that sold bikes and exercise equipment and asked if they sold hula hoops. The man explained to us that the people of chile dont buy hula hoops - they make them...out of PVC tubing. ahhhhh riiight i forgot you could do that. so we asked where to buy PVC and luckily there was a nearby home depot type store called EASY. We bought two tubes of PVC, cut a little off and tada - we finally had hula hoops. I had been wanting one for over a month now and had asked many people to keep an eye out for them, btu unfortunately the search had always been unsuccessful until now!

We rode the metro home carrying our hula hoops - and agua de palo plants we had also bought and made our way home. 

The following day after work, Leslie came over to my apartment with her hula hoop and we hooped to music and chatted about living in Chile. It was a fun time and since buying the hula hoop - I've used it every day. It such a fun thing to do...especially while watching tv or listening to music.

The following weekend (just the one that has recently passed) was an extra special one. I was able to meet up with some friends I hadnt seen in along time, plus for me it was a 4 day weekend. Thursday May 21st was a holiday here in Chile so my day of 3 whole classes was cancelled. I had some friends that went away for the weekend but I on the other had a) couldnt afford it and b) wanted to discover more of santiago. 

So on Thursday I spent the day relaxing. For a large portion of the day I read outside on my balcony, it was a beautiful day and every now and then I took my attention away from my book and out towards the mountains. I stayed out on my balcony until the sun went down. It wasn't a special day by most people's standards...but it was beautiful and relaxing. 

The following day, Friday, I met up with Femi. It had been a while since we had seen each other and so we spent most of the day together. We went out for a sushi lunch near my apartment and then took a walk around Providencia. We walked along some of my favourite streets near my apartment and went down some new ones that caught our eye. We decided to venture along a street with walls covered in ivy and different vines. It was beautiful and what was even better was that it led us straight to a beautiful park. This particular park however was not green, grassy and vast but had fountains and benches and even municipal office buildings. We sat down for a while to admire the surroundings. I cant believe I had lived just 15 minutes away from this place and never knew about it. After enjoying our new finding - we headed back to my apartment to hang out on my balcony. We stayed out there for a few hours just chatting about Chile, appreciating small things and enjoying your time wherever you may be and whatever you may be doing. At the end of our chat, Femi had to go. 

The following day, I met up with Leslie. We bought a few small things for brunch and headed to my new favourite park. She fell in love with it right away as did I. We hung out there for a while snacking on our brunch. Later, Breanna came to join us and while we sat there, my roommate felipe walked by. He said hello and asked what we were doing there. We asked him what he was doing here and he said the buildings behind the park are where he works. We couldnt believe it. He works in the most beautiful part of the city (in my opinion anyways from the parts of the city I have visited). We said we loved the main building that sat in the middle of the park and he asked if we wanted to take a tour of it because sometimes they allow that. So he asked the people inside if we could walk around and they agreed. The tour was in spanish and I understood a good portion of it. I was proud of myself. The building used to be the house of the Valdivia family (the street this particular park was on is called Pedro de Valdivia) and it was now being used as the Municipal building of Providencia. After our tour we went for a walk up to another nearby park full of sculptures. I had been there before but not recently. In behind the park, there is a beautiful neighbourhood of sweetly arranged houses. We took a walk and decided what to do for the night. We met up with Jamie who I hadnt seen in many weeks and we decided to go to Wendy's apartment for a sushi making dinner. Making sushi is very fun but takes quite a while to prepare. So we worked for a couple hours and ended up with fantastic sushi which took about 5 minutes to finish. We had a few drinks and played some cards and ended up going out to a new bar we had been wanting to visit. It's called subterraneo which means "underground". 

We danced until the bar closed and had a blast. We met some fun people there but like most places gringas (north american girls) go to - there are always some interesting men. I was lucky enough to meet one of these people who just decided he would spend his night trying to convince me to dance with him all night...AND even had the guts to tell me (not ask) to kiss him after I repeatedly mentioned having a boyfriend. Needless to say, for most of the evening I tried escaping this man's creepiness and ended up meeting a cool guy from Chile who was not at all like the flaite (chilean word for creepy, trashy, rude) boys i sometimes pass on the street or meet in the bars. my friends and choose the harmless boys to dance with but mostly hung out with each other. While leaving the bar I met two people from France who I spoke a TINY bit of french to...but explained that since coming to a spanish speaking country I can only remember very tiny portions of my french education from school. We exchanged numbers and they suggested we get together sometime. I'm looking forward to it.

Leslie and I went to Breanna's apartment the following day for some food. We werent really aware that Breanna's friend who adores cooking would be the one preparing the meals for us.

 Here he is:                 

He whipped up a 3 course meal. The first of which was a crepe with mushrooms and greens inside with a milk sauce and fried oysters. The next dish was a piece of fish with bean paste sauce. The dessert consisted of chocolate ice cream topped with a fried apple slice. It was the most beautiful meal I have had here in Chile. The flavours were fantastic and it really did feel like a great meal. We chatted, told ghost stories and played the most successful game of jenga I have ever been involved in between courses. 

                                       

We had a great time and after coming out of our food comas, we all moved to the living room where Breanna's friends Jorge and Estaban from Chile taught us some Salsa dance moves. It was so much fun and we stayed for a while just dancing away. And so ended the fabulous weekend in Santiago. :)

It is my goal to find more and more beautiful parks and to continue hula-ing...also to make sure I appreciate every moment here in Chile because I know how quickly time can pass by and how if you're just conscious of what you do with your days - you'll always have a great time and be grateful for your days.

love and miss!

besitos

el gigante bonachon

the big friendly giant

sometimes you see something beautiful, you look away for 30 seconds or change position, climb higher and there it is again - the same view...but somehow mas hermosa (more beautiful).

revelations and snuggles from a weekend on the chilean coast.

My first weekend out of the city of Santiago since I got to Chile was absolutely fantastic. 

My friends Wendy and Cristobal picked me up on Thursday (April 30th) night. We bought some groceries for the weekend and picked up Leslie. Then we were on our way. We drove for about 2 hours and finally found ourselves in a tiny town called Olmue. We drove to our weekend home - a little ranch with cabanas (cabins/houses) for tourists called La Vida Sana (the healthy life). The place is owned by an older couple who really take care of you and make you feel at home. We were asked to take our pick of our favourite cabin out of three possible choices. We decided on a cozy two story house and moved in. 

We stayed up for some drinks and later crawled into bed. Although the particular place we decided on had 4 beds in total, Leslie and I decided to share one because it was so cold. Currently it's fall here. It's beautiful - but a little chilly. I went to bed that night with 3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants and socks and as many layers at that sounds like, Leslie wore the same but with 2 jackets. On top of us we had several blankets piled up...nice and cozy.

When we woke up the next morning - we decided to walk around the ranch and see what exactly La Vida Sana looked like in daylight. There were a couple horses, cacti, flowers, apple trees, figs, and so much more. We ate breakfast which was actually more like lunch. We had a lovely pasta meal, ate outside and then booked some plans to ride horses later in the afternoon.

Leslie and I chatted outside on the swings to pass the time. It was nice to be in a new place and to be sharing it with a familiar face. 

3:00pm came quickly and we gathered our things and went on our way to go horseback riding. I was really looking forward to it but had no idea what to expect. We paid 15,000 pesos (30 bucks) to ride horses up part of a mountain for a couple hours and then come back down. We were gone for a little over 3 hours and it was such a great experience. My horse didnt want to stick with the rest of the group really...he really didn't like to walk beside the other horses so we stayed towards the back of the group while Leslie, Wendy and Cristobal managed to stay in the front of the pack. It was a little frustrating but after a while I just had to remind myself where I was, what I was doing and how beautiful a day this way shaping up to be. It's not everyday I get to be in Olmue, riding a horse up a mountain. 

Here are some pictures from that day:

      

                

We got a picture with the wassos (cowboys) that were our tour guides and after stopping at a rest point, we rode back down to our starting point. Later that night we went out to a small restaurant in the town's centre (which was really a couple of dirt roads). We went back home and went to bed shortly after. Although the horses were the ones doing all the work that day, we were exhausted. We also wanted to get enough rest to start the following day off early so we could attempt to climb "La Campana" - a nearby mountain.

The next morning we were up at 8 and off to La Campana shortly after. We prepared our lunch for the day and packed water for us all. When we woke up it was very cold. We decided to dress accordingly - wear many layers. However, when the sun comes out and you're climbing up a mountain...many layers isn't always the best idea.

Here's a picture that describes the crappiness of wearing many layers while climbing a mountain:

     Beautiful right?

After climbing for a couple hours, we stopped to have lunch - pre-made sandwiches, apples and cookies. We admired the beautiful view all around us like we had during the hike up to our lunch spot. I can't even describe how empowering yet tiny a mountain can make you feel. At one moment you can feel like you are on top of the world - or soon to be on top of the world. But then it makes you realize how vast the beauty in the world is and how small of a part of that beauty we all are. It's amazing for me to think of how many people will never have the opportunity or ability to see what I saw that day at La Campana.

We finished lunch and moved on after taking some pictures at our lunch spot. Here are just a few of them:

           

                   

Lunch time was over and so we pushed on. We soon reached an area that was very steep and very very rocky. It was an intimidating section of La Campana but was even more intimidating was what my friend Cristobal said at the bottom of this part of the mountain: "A gringa died here a couple of years ago at this part. She went off the trail and got lost and slipped." (A gringa is the Chilean word for an American girl by the way). Of course looking down at this point was scary enough but the thought of someone dying there...doing the same thing I was doing - that was really scary.

We all looked out for each other and took it slow. We pushed on and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. It was a relief however to get past that part. Leslie and I looked at each other after going up and said:

                      

"now we are just going to have to worry about how to get down".

We walked up a little more and saw a beautiful rock face. As we got closer to it, we saw a plaque describing how Charles Darwin had explored this area as well way back in his day. What a cool feeling to have proof that I was standing in the same spot Mr. Darwin did many years ago. What an honour...and this is what we all saw:

We took a rest here to enjoy the view. We had been looking up at this rock face during most of our climb and now we were right beside it. It wouldn't be long before we reached the top. We had already been hiking for hours and we weren't totally sure how much longer we had to hike in order to make it all the way to the top but we weren't about to give up now.

We had a few more tough spots to hike through but right when we were getting tired and wiped out we came across some hikers that were descending. We asked how much longer we had until we reached the top - 30-40 minutes they said. We were almost there.

Right when we needed it, we passed by this rock "face" which gave us a little extra boost of confidence. 

Thanks little buddy.

A couple minutes later we approached the top of La Campana. Yes, I was on top of the world. Well to be honest I was 6,000 feet above sea level. I was in the clouds. I was at peace. It's amazing what a view like this can make you feel. Take a look:

After taking in the top of the mountain and realizing what the world looks like from 6,000 feet up, we started our hike back down. Leslie and I strayed away from Wendy and Cristobal because they were going slow and we were concerned about getting back down before dark. We went forward and had such a wonderful chat on the way down while we admired the view. On the way down I thought about the gringa Christobal told us about earlier - the one who died on this very mountain. All I could think was that I hoped she had died on the way down...after seeing the amazing view at the top. I hope she was able to experience the happiness and peace at the top. It's one thing to discuss life with someone - it's another thing to discuss these things with a backdrop like this:

The sun started going down and although it was breathtaking, it was a scary thought - we are not at the bottom and soon we will have NO light to guide us down this path. We kept going, stuck together and continued our chat about the importance of enjoying sunsets, embracing life, living, and being grateful of the opportunities we have available to us. By the time we got to the bottom, it was cold and dark. we made it down before wendy and cristobal so we waited and celebrated in the bathroom haha. we had just gone up 6000 feet and came back down together. I think we felt automatically bonded from that experience. 

Later we drove to town, picked up our friend Alicia who took a bus to Olmue to meet us. We picked up a bunch of food and went back to La Vida Sana. We had a lovely bbq with TONS of food and had a feast later. We ate and went to bed shortly after. 

The next morning we packed up our things and made breakfast from the leftovers of the previous night's bbq. We got ready, said bye to la vida sana and headed out to Vina Del Mar. Vina is an oceanside city which is very touristy. So in tourist fashion, we hopped on a horse drawn carriage and had a little tour around the city. Here are some pictures from our ride:

After our ride, we stopped at a cafe for some lovely ice cream and sat by the ocean. We took a walk along the sea side where there was a gigantic row of vendors selling jewelry, books, movies, trinkets and so on...all for very cheap. So I picked up a few things like earrings, hair clips and a little children's book "el gigante bonachon". It was such a fun afternoon. We ate at a pizza place after our walk and then started our trek home. We created a dance party in the car all the way home and just had a great time. It was a wonderful and fun ending to a wonderful and fun weekend. That weekend made for such a lovely bundle of memories that I'll never forget.

besitos

-jacquie