Lost/Outdated Blog

July 10, 2008
(I wrote this, forgot about it, found it and figure I might as well post it-outdated and all. . .)
The first semester is technically finished, with the exception of a few loose strings and details to be managed. However, I said goodbye to the beloved students almost two weeks ago and it was as sad as I thought it was going to be. Unfortunately, I was PMS-ing when bidding farewell to my very favorite class and actually teared up in front of all of them while giving the “I had a great semester with you guys” spiel. They broke into some sad, sappy song and were rocking back and forth- half mocking, half- I don’t know. The funniest part was that later in the same evening, after they’d finished their final and I’d returned all my paperwork to the offices and was ready to head out to meet some favorites for a drink. I was walking toward the main exit (where, I might add, about 60 students were still lingering) when I heard some faux sobbing noises. Turns out it was a group of my students from class, mocking me, pretending to rub their eyes and bawling, ”boo-hoo”. Now you might understand why they’re my favorites! I finally made it out for beers with some of those students and had a great time. I’ve been anxious for them to finish all there finals so I can go out and play with them again- very fun, sarcastic group.
I feel really grateful for the groups that I had last semester and am thinking there’s no way I’ll have the same luck twice . . . but I’m hoping. I totally understand the teacher’s pet issues now, because my favorite students made ALL the difference to me. Cross your fingers for me please.

There is still about a month left before the next semester. My first week off was spent being really lazy and not inputting grades like I should have. I did spend one evening at Duoc doing makeup finals with students, but other than that, last week was lazy lazy lazy. I watched a couple movies, started to read a book in Spanish and am aiming to study some Spanish, specifically more grammar so I might return next semester with better speaking ability- not that it matters since I force English on my most basics of Basic (and Intermediate). I did make it out of town to visit a teacher friend of mine (Angie), who lives in Milipilla- a small town about an hour outside of Santiago. Since you know how much I love the air in this city, you know getting out of town is always nice, but especially to a completely new place, and better yet a small town where I have a tour guide. I had good pizza for the second time in five months there, took a walking tour and actually felt like I was in South America. We went out for drinks (which were notably cheaper than in Santiago), ran into some of her amigos and continued the night with them. We had been determined to go salsa dancing that night, but the only men willing and available at the bar, were TERRIBLE partners. Our hopes were up for a minute because they had the DJ cancel the regaeton and throw on some salsa, acting like twinkle toes, but when it came down to it, none of them had an ounce of rhythm. . . just some eager old pervs trying to get close to a couple of gringas. We had the music changed back and danced until we couldn’t keep them away anymore, then just practiced our Spanish over multiple rounds of piscolas.