house and the neighborhood

Have I told you guys about it yet? I think not, and am starting to get worried that I will be repetitive..someone let me know...So let me tell you, I live in a neighborhood called Puente Alto, to some it is low income, but they probably say the same thing about PA that they would say about Live Oak. which in my opinon is not bad. Plus, we live in a gated community, so no one can get into your house, yard, etc. there are guards...it is very common, but sounds kinda wierd-scary to say that... but all the houses are behind gates, so it is not like apartment community, etc. we are very close to the metro which is great since that is how I get around etc. but Carla has a car for shopping, etc. but metro is very economical. and a fun way to look at people and get around...The metro runs early AM to like midnight, then there are buses 24 hours a day, or cabs, or cabs that have a pre-paid amount. on the metro there are not many scary folks, though today I did see a clown which kinda freaked me out. sometimes on the buses people sell candy, or there are folks selling pastries infront of stations, I have not really been interested in buying for a variety of reasons..ya to not getting sick!!

You would love the place I am staying at, Carla´s Aunt, who basically raised her, ... anyways, she likes to prepare meals for the whole family, and makes a big effort for it to be food I can eat. chicken fish, they eat white rice, and white bread, which my dad would love. and makes me laugh as I am the brown-whole wheat kind, but who am I to complain to homemade meals??So in Chile they really only one meal a day (lunch, it is later after 1pm). the rest is bread, tea, etc....so for the last week I have been eating with them at lunch when Carla works..(the grown up daughter comes to eat lunch with the family just about everyday with her daughter who is turning 1 in Septemeber).so since I got a job Tia Patricia is packing up my lunch (how crazy is that)..I tell her not to worry, but she does the same thing for her son and Carla..quite the treatment...she trys to bring me tea to my bedroom in the AM and make my bed...weird, but sweet...Their Grandma lives on the other side of the house, basically it is a 2 houses turned into one. anyways, grandma is a little cooky, but always nice to me, we have fun with the language barrier..and well you know about the puppies..whenever I feel bummed I grab one of them...

so more desciptions on the house, you can walk in through one side, pass a laundry room, office, living room and go upstairs to one side of the house with 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms, all rooms are very small..Carla and I share a room, we both have a twin, one pulls out from the other...and then the other side is where Abuelita lives and I think it is the same set up, with another dining room and the kitchen....outside is BBQ and there is a front yard too. I love the way Tia decorates, lots of bright colors for the wall mixed with neat art work. and some cool vintage-anitques...

one of the things I love about Chile and esp the folks I live with here is that nothing goes to waste...hmm, not sure where that thought came from..ok, before this becomes any more fragmented...

xoxo
Dawn
ps today I learned about present simple and present continous! tomorrow I will teach it..wo ho

and

two puppies on my lap. which makes typing a little more difficult. they are really cute, black bear and old man. black bear, is well, black, and very rambunctous, old man, has beautiful puppy dog eyes and a pouchy stomache. I want to keep all 4 dogs, one has already gone to a new home (there were 5). but that would probably not be the best of ideas....what would imigration say?


ok, so back to the job..so I am working as an english teacher-advisor to buisness folks in Chile. One of the companies I work at is Unitel, they sell Dove, Knorr, and lots of other products you might know of. problem with the job is the hours are kinda wierd, like 8am, and then not another class until like 1.30pm. so I am not sure if I will stick with the company. overall I do like the people that work there....and who I am teaching, but the logisitics of the job are not the best...so who knows..

ok, time warp time to............

um, last weekend, I went up the Mountains a bit, got some home made bread, and then went to a bar-lounge place downtown. pretty fun. Sunday chilled because a cold came upon me and then on Monday had my 2nd interview which lead to working Tuesday and Wednesday....oh ya, a little bit of bad news, I slammed my thumb (same one that was injured before) in a car door. it hurt.....um...but the puppies are kissing it better....

something I am really proud of myself? well I am definately learning how to nevigate both the metro and buses here. I have been getting back and forth to work on my own and making it to other appointments as well. I am really liking that feeling of independence, although it does take forever to get around. but that is kinda the way it is. thank g'd for the ipod, and music, kudos, josh and cita (did you know that means date here? wierd..)

tomorrow night I am going to the South of Chile to Valdivia ok i know I spelt that wrong, but when I tried to find the correct spelling, I could not find one..anyways, it is supposed to be pretty, and rainy. it will be about a 10 hour bus ride. I will be going with Natalia, Victor and Victoria, Natalia is Carla´s cousin who I met in States but moved back with her husband and child this year. Natalia has a sister who is learning to be an English teacher down there. I am excited about the adventure and seeing a new place...

is that better alyssa?

I got a job!

Australian Embassy

OK, so last night I went with Carla to an Australian Embassy event...pretty cool, dressed up, had some South Australian wine and munchies..talked with some Australians who are doing some movie in Chile and the different folks who work at the Embassy. Then I talked with a Chilean who is a head hunter of sorts, which could of theoretically been a great time for me to be amazing and have him get me a job...but the guy asked me what is my dream job, etc. well, I figured out after I got my dream job and worked it for a few years that all that matters with a job is how you go in every morning. and I do not know what I want to do with my life. here I am off in Chile, learning Spanish, a new culture, and hoping to get any job when this guy is quizzing me! grrr...so I bombed that quiz..should I of lied and said my dream job was to get the dogs off the streets? or lower the polution rates of Santiago? hmmm, oh well...then last night I really could not sleep cause I was thinking about job stuff..and one idea that popped into my head was that if I have a hard time finding a job I could volunteer somewhere for a bit(maybe US Embassy, doesn´t that sound swanky?). for a few different reasons my cost of living here is low, so that is plausible, and knowing me and my work habits it could turn into a job fast. oh well...

today I am going to lunch at Carlás prima´s house who lived in California for a bit, she and her husband know a good amount of English so it should be fun. Then I am going to take the Metro to meet Carla at the Embassy and I think we are going ot go Karoke!! ya for singing songs in a new language...

I helped Panchita, the youngest who lives at our house for a English Test and she got 100%!! Ya!

Want to here something funny? I met a Mexican buisness man and tried to get him to adopt one of the puppies..did not quite work out, but it was funny...

xoxo
Dawn
ps I saw the movie Wanted with Angelina Jolie, (sp?) not only was it kinda bad but someone needs to throw that girl a hamburger..jajajaja

Happy Birthday Twins..

and belated Birthday to Deed and Debb.......and sorry in advance to all the birthdays I have forgotten or will forget, maybe I need to get a calander...one of the best gifts I got was a calander with everyones birthday on it..hint hint, nudge nudge, wnk, wink

anyways, So yesterday I made chocolate chip cookies for the folks here...at lunch we were having a conversation about cookies, and Danielle (older daughter of Tia) and Tia had never had a homemade cookie. Well I of course could not fathom such a thing. So I went to the supermarket, and tried to explain what chocolate chips are (could not find any so I bought chocolate bars and cut them up) here they have cantebury, no hersheys.....everyone seemed to like them, though I think I will have to work on the recipe...does anyone have any recipes they would like to reccomend? mom? or other recipes? I think I am going to make lunch for everyone...hmmm, so what else happened? not much, but I think my Spanish is getting better as everyone but Carla doesn´t really speak much english so during the day when Carla is at work I am full Spanish....I applied for some jobs teaching English and already have an interview on Friday! Wish me luck...though let´s be real in that it takes a long time to get a job........

puppy update!!

how could I forget??? there are puppies here!! la casa tenemos puppies!!! they are so cute. their are five of them. I imagine we are not going to have them for long. but I am in love...

weekend update!

OK, so I am just writing a little blog to let everyone know how things are going in Chile.....I would like to disclaim, I am not a good speller, my grammer is not the best and so I apologise in advance...now you the reader does not need to give me spelling corrections from here on out....I imagine it will only get worse as I try to straddle two different worlds of language...ya know?? oh yes and one more awesome thing, I am typing on a chilean keyboard, so everything is in a different spot...muy intersante...good thing is I have ñ, so I can write in spanish...anyways...sorry to get off on a tangent...

so I flew out of SFO on Tuesday morning, the flights were fine..I actually ended up sitting next to a Chilean on his way back from Hawaii for the first flight...then in Miami I transfered to Avianca and flew into Colombia....all my connections went well, yes it was a little bizzarre and once I was in Miami everything was in Spanish! eck. cool thing was that Avianca gives warm towels out. that was nice...so I arrived in Chile on Wednesday at 4.30am, paid a fee and was on my way to the baggage claim, when what do you know, my baggage was left in Miami! awesome...I am so used to this...so good thing I had an extra pair of jeans and glasses, etc. so it was OK...my friend Carla picked me up. poor girl had to wait like 2 hours! eck...then we went to her house which is in Puente Alta, like a little community of Santiago. Carla lives with her Aunt (who is super duper awesome) little cousin named Panchita y another cousin named Guido. oh yes and Carla´s grandma also lives in the house, but it is kinda like two houses and one...so Carla´s aunt cooks super yummy food, making me lots of things with chicken, fish and always making sure there is bottled water for me and lots to eat. I really like the fact that Chileans eat a huge lunch almuerzo and then just a light tea and toast for dinner. let´s see, Thursday, or was it Wednesday? Carla and I went off to the mall to buy me some clothes, oh ya, the airline gave me $80 for displacing my luggage..so I got some cute sweaters and an awesome wool coat..it is red! ya!! and we just chilled, then my luggage did come on Friday which was super awesome and I got back all my shoes! ya....ok, so Saturday there was a huge family party, Carla´s aunt has like 8 brothers and sisters, and although not all of them came there was lots of folks...it was a BBQ and started around 2pm and went til at least 10 or 11pm, not sure on the whole time thing, we ended with a game of shirades...ok I know I spelt that wrong..and yes, it was awesome...so yes, everything is going well. I think my spanish is improving my friend from the airplane gave me an extra diccionario and I am looking for jobs this week. I love the family here they are being super duper to me and miss you all. xoxo Dawn