Work hard, play harder

The second week of classes proved to be much more rewarding - - still a lot of work and some stress but I'm definitely getting the hang of recycling lesson plans and teaching more spontaneously so it's more and more enjoyable. The construction workers, in particular, straightened out a lot. I consulted the English department director and had him behind me, with permission to kick people out of class, so I went into the second class with a MUY GIGANTE attitude and talked to them like I do my misbehaving two and three year old neices and nephews. . . somehow, it worked beautifully and they do exactly as I say. As bad as it is to admit, I kind of like it . . . har har har.

Last week we went to Gringo central for a St. Patrick's day fiesta with a bunch of other teachers and some of our new Chilean friends. Before heading to the Irish pub, I'd been introduced to a Chilean "cocktail" (if you will) called Jote- - coke and red wine. Because the pub was INSANELY busy, I ended up loading up on boxed wine and coke at a nearby convenience store with plastic cups and had my own little bar going on just on the border of the pub's patio. I realize it sounds blasphemous but it's actually drinkable, so I enjoyed me some all evening.

After a short week (only two days, thank you Easter vacation) I went to the coast to the "cultural capital" of Chile - Valparaiso- for the weekend. It was great fun to be roaming as a tourist and seeing a new place besides Santiago, especially one where the air is SOOOO clean and fresh. Not once did I feel end-of-the-day grime from city pollution/exhaust. I spent one day at the beach in Vina del Mar, a neighboring beach town and read all afternoon, which was a much-needed day of doing nothing. I met up with some of the other women teachers and we did sight-seeing, checked out the interesting architechture of the town, enjoyed some fantastic seafood and FINALLY learned to dance salsa! Salsa was indeed the highlight of my weekend (well, second to enjoying clean air). After a couple of cocktails and failed attempts to get the moves, I partnered up with a really determined Chilean salsa master who proved to be a great lead and had me swaying and twirling all over the place. Latin fever comes out in a very beautiful way out on the dance floor and I'm so motivated to learn a fraction of the moves I witnessed last night. Give me a year and I'll be part Chilean. . .