I Heart Chile (sort of)

I recently talked to my mom for a while and was informed that she "thoroughly enjoys reading my blogs". I told her that she and my friend Renee seem to be the only ones who read it, and she reminded me that it's a great personal journal source and I should just write for myself, regardless if anyone else reads it. So in the spirit of remembering things 10 years from now, I wrote down some stuff that I'm totally missing in Seattle and totally loving here in Santiago. Hopefully,by December, my list of "things i'm going to miss" about Chile will have grown a bit. Here goes. . .

Things I love here: My roommates; the view from my apartment; my students; my boss; my new gringa friends; cheap wine; being able to use the preterit-FINALLY; being ogled by hot, 20-something year old Duoc students; ogling hot, 20-something year old Duoc students; Spanglish; speaking loudly about inappropriate subjects on the metro and NO ONE HAVING A CLUE!; my students; the very talented musicians on the Micros; the availability of ice cream; SOPAIPILLAS; deep fried hot dogs; terremotos; churrasco italianos; the price of produce; cookies; having the door opened for me every time I leave the building and come back home; being called “MEEZ!”; instant parties (parties start faster here than at Steve and Jaylene’s); empanadas

Things I hate: starers on the bus and everywhere else; line-cutters; being in a language bubble; impossibility of finding shoes in double digits (thanks mom. . . or dad??); five-step purchases (see previous blogs); never being able to split a freakin check at restaurants

Things I miss: Real coffee; real beer; my nieces and nephews; my potty-humor-enjoying friends; clean air; clean air; clean air; being assertive (well, not sounding retarded while being assertive); !!!!MEXICAN FOOD!!!; going out to breakfast; dim sum; walking Greenlake with Susan and Lily; telling stories to Ethan on my walk home from work; chatting with my mom on the way to work; having a lot of cell minutes to make such calls; being able to stop at Susan’s on my way home from work; only having a 15 minute walk to get to work. . . definitely don’t miss the work, though=); Tillamook extra sharp, aged white cheddar; goat cheese; string cheese (am I five?); Nancy’s plain yogurt; bulk bins at the Greenwood Market; last minute beers with Shannon; tennis and beers with Shannon; lazy Sunday mornings with cable TV at Bo and Mike’s; evenings around the fire pit at Bo and Mike’s or Amy and Rosy’s; (brace yourself). . . my cat, believe it or not!; aerobics with Shannon (believe it or not)

Things I’m going to miss: see above, under “things I love”