Happy Mother's Day!

On a day that should be joyous, it just doesn’t seem like that way for me. On a day where normally I would wake up and run upstairs to give my mom a giant hug and tell her I love her and Happy Mother’s Day, I can’t do that this year. It is in these times that make me homesick. A skype call, an email, or a phone call just doesn’t quite do Mother’s Day justice. I would trade in a lot right now for just one hug from my mom, it would be a long hug probably with tears flowing of joy and happiness. It would feel like I could never let go. That is what I miss. With that said, Happy Mother’s Day to everyone. Make sure you all give your mom the hug that I could not, don’t ever take things for granted, you never know how much you will miss it.

Don't cry for me Argentina

After a couple of bruises on my leg and butt, a semi-sliced open middle finger, some mosquito bites, a full stomach of some of the best meat ever, some red teeth from the wine and 10 cents left of some Argentina money, I arrived safe and sound back into my house in La Serena, at 6 in the morning... only a couple hours until school starts and the teaching continues.

Best part of Argentina, the bike tour. We decided to take a wine bike tour. You pay to rent the bike and then take off with only the knowledge of a obscure map that really makes things look closer than they are. An hour and a half later we arrive at our first Bodega. We slowly make our way back stopping at as many as possible. I for one know nothing at all about wine, which made it all the more hillarious and interesting to watch all these people taste wine. Copying them only seemed like the correct thing to do so it could make me look more like a professional. I dig my nose into the glass and close my eyes acting as if I can ever smell a difference, I proceed to take a sip then say, yes that is quite good. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.

We met some really cool people along the way, two huge rugby players from England who decided to try the tandem bike, quite the sight to see if I may add. We also met a guy named Mike from Switzerland and a another guy named Stewart from Manchester. Some of the best parts about traveling is meeting so many cool people who a lot of the times have the same interests as you and have great stories.

Argentina is known for there great meat. It is tastey, there is a lot of it, and it is super cheap. The odd thing, no one eats meat during La Semana Santa. So on Friday I decided not to eat meat and I had some amazing salmon. It was so good that my friend Elizabeth, who claimed she didn't like salmon, tasted it and says "Wow, I like Salmon!"

Overall very fun trip, beautiful and very nice people, very clean place. As for now, I am super tired after 13 hours on the bus and teaching classes this morning. Lunch awaits and one more class then sleep! Chao

That just happened

Just a quick note:

I was sleeping today and was woken up by screaming and crying from the 2 year old. Along with it was loud banging noises. I took a peak downstairs, she was on her car slamming it into the main doors entrance, just backing it up and ramming it forward. Bam Bam Bam while screaming at the top of her lungs. I have no idea where anyone is at this point, they never leave her alone. I just go back to my room though and decide to count how long. Kid you not, honest truth, 16-18 minutes of screaming and crying and yelling. end of story.

And the Oscar goes to...

I would just like to thank the Academy...

no but really, I would just like to take this time to thank everyone for everything. I recently found out I will be going to Hawaii for two weeks right after my program is done here in Chile. I had some time alone today, and it just kind of hit me how fortunate I am. For that reason, I would just like to say thanks to everyone, I am truly blessed with a great family, great friends at home and here in Chile. Although there are always hard times, I know I always have my family and friends. I would also like to say thanks to God. Without him none of this would be possible. I would like to say thank you for watching over me and giving me strength when I need it the most. I believe that sometimes we only turn to God when we are at our lowest points of our lives. I feel like we should give thanks when we are at our highest also. So thank you everyone, I am looking forward to my future. I am currently looking into teaching abroad in South Korea. This is a year program. This would allow me to learn more about where I am from and also make a lot of money to pay of some much needed debts. This program pays for flights and your own apartment, which allows you to save a lot of money. I truly feel like this is my next step in my life before I begin thinking about living in the US again, I might even go to Spain again and try and teach for a year after Korea. I just don't quite know yet, I might be so burnt out that I will want to just come back and hopefully live somehwere hot in the US and settle down and start working and making some cash. Anyway those are my thoughts right now. Adios for now!

One month update

It has been just a little over a month since I arrived in Chile. Before I came I did little research of Chile and had no knowledge of anything. This is what I have learned since day 1:

1) Chileans speak very fast and make up their own words # Bad place to learn spanish
2) Collectivos are taxis that go from one place to another while picking up people on the way # Cheap and cool way to get around
3) Bread for breakfast, Bread for dinner # Losing weight as we speak
4) Health care is really expensive # Kids running a muck in school
5) It doesn't matter if your Korean or Japanese, you are Chinese here # oblivious racism
6) If you didn't know your overweight or skinny, well now you do # "de"constructive criticism
7) The blonder you are the more money you have, apparently. # stereotyping
8) Don't leave your bag on the ground # bad luck
9) There are more stray dogs here than people # Veterenarian's dream
10) Don't show up on time if your meeting someone, they will be late # bad practice for job interviews
11) Justin Bieber is just as popular here as he is in the United States # Bieber Fever

It's a small world!

It truly is a small world. I can prove it! This past Saturday night two of my friends and I went to a restaurant. I overheard two people talking in English, a rare occurance in Chile. I decided to start some small talk and we got to talking. They were both Medical students studying at Harvard. They were in Chile for two months at a clinic and are about to graduate. I come to find out that one of them is from Washington state, so I'm thinking Seattle or like Bellvue or something. Turns out she is from Bellingham and went to Sehome. I was like wow I went to Squalicum. She responds by asking me who I had for math, I say Mrs. Torpey and she says oh yea that's my mom! What a small world!

My students!