i have chilean friends!

After months of meeting random people at parties, bars, Duoc, the gym, my house etc., I feel as if I've finally found a few friends of my own. They are my fellow "teammates" on the running club, WildRunners. I joined them about a month ago after running into an acquaintance and I assumed that the excitement of joining the club would subside and fizzle out like many things here in Chile. BUT! To my surprise, they contacted me last week to join in a 13.5k race this morning. They picked me up, dropped me off and everything. We all have the same blue shirt and random people recognize us as the WildRunners. They also love videotaping/taking pictures before and after the races.

In a few weeks, I'm going with them to the town of Los Angeles to run a half marathon. We are going in auto (a treat for me! no bus!!) and staying in a house. I'm so excited to have finally found an outlet that a) doesn't involve the other 3 girls I spend allll my time with and b) is away from my family and c) feels like authentic Chile. They are so kind and open, I feel like I've been friends with them for years.

Oh! And I told them I play soccer but haven't yet in Chile and next Sunday we're going to play after we train!! Finally!

Aside from my run club, things are going well in other areas too. I'm making a huge effort to get out of my house, take the bus into the centro and explore more. Now that the weather has improved, "tengo ganas" (I have wants), to get out.

Also, two friends, Amy and Jen, just moved into an apartment together. A long story behind the move, but in short, they live in a BRAND NEW 10th floor apartment in the center. Needless to say, I'm extremely jealous. I've already decided I'm going to hang out there all spring. They have a patio and a great view of the city. We've made plans for Halloween, Thanksgiving, even Christmas! All involve food of course...

Anyway, I'm doing well. Busy, but a good busy. I needed this change because for awhile there I spent way too much time looking at my computer screen in my windowless room while the rain poured down. Talk about depressing! yikes.

It's amazing what a little kindness and a change of scenery can do for a person :)

pics from Mom's visita

Sept. 18th is Chile's Independence Day. It is required to fly a flag on this day.

We saw flags everywhere all week.

First day! On top of Cerro Santa Lucía Mom sees the Andes...and the smog

cute little coffee shop in Santiago Centro

Breakfast of champions at the Brighton in Valparaíso

My window from our attic room at the Brighton. and a bottle of Kunstmann :)

It's finally spring in Chile!

The orange house is Hotel Brighton.

One of many colorful mosaics in Valpo.

A break on our looong walk from Valpo to Viña.

Escaleras brillantes.

A mural of Chile. The artist lives behind the wall and came outside to explain his work.

Airing laundry.

Exploring Valpo!

September is over!?

The month of September flew by. I can't believe we are about to enter October! Lucky for me, this means warmer weather. While I definitely miss fall and everything that word means to me: soccer, Halloween, Olaf, crunching leaves, apple orchards etc., I'm thankful for every ray of sun that shines lately in Concepción. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's warm, but it is definitely warmer. Mucho mejor, indeed.

The big news of September was mom's visit. She arrived from "gringolandia" on a Friday and there began a whirlwind tour of Chile. We had a great time walking (I didn't realize how used to walking I've become), sitting in cafés, and exploring Santiago, Viña/Valpo and Concepción.

Highlights for me were as follows:

-eating more fresh veggies (known to the common man as salad) than I have in months

-staying in hotels. that's right, notice the spelling. Hotels, not hostels. huge difference!

-re: hotels. The Holiday Inn. downright luxury. I could go on but I'll leave it at that.

-showing mom a bit of South America and also the daily routine of my little life her in Conce.

It's rare to have someone close to you visit and catch a glimpse of what one's experience living abroad. I think it is (and will continue to be) a valuable experience because now I have someone that can picture my house, my room, Duoc, Santiago, Chileans, Chilean food, bus terminals etc. In other words, the gap won't seem as wide between life in "gringolandia" and life in Chile.

The week following mom's visit was busy. I skipped a couple days of class and had to make-up those hours and I got a few hours at the "Northamerican Institute" working as a substitute. All of a sudden, my days were full. I definitely welcome this renewed sense of being busy. In the past 8 months, I've adjusted to the routine of one main task per day. Going to the bank, going to the gym, pharmacy, teaching etc. Despite the inherent waiting any and all of these activities involves, this lifestyle leads to waayyy too much free time. Hopefully, the substituting at the Norteamericano continues. I also gave my resume to "Berlitz," yet another English institute so we'll see if that pans out.

Lastly, this week was also notable because I FINALLY found a cute little café in Concepción. You'd never know from the outside, but this tiny little café with a half-lit neon sign hanging on its doorway is full of books, magazines, art and a buzz of students/ladies meeting for cafecito. I'm definitely going to hang out there more the next few months.

Also....I found a health food store and a fantastic bakery. Wheat bread, quinoa, carrot cake, dried fruit etc. Things are lookin' up!

chileans love taking pictures

Thanks to this fact, I have a few photos from the latest race--an 8k at INACAP, a technical professional institute much like Duoc. I wrote about WildRunners earlier, but these give a better idea of how my morning went from running a couple miles solo to being swept up in the madness of Chilean memory-making.

(The photos start at the end of the race.)

My new team: Team Wildrunners!

backbone

Fact: I really hate it when students cheat.

Disrespectful.

Fact: I struggle with confrontation. I see full sentences written on hands, hear chit chat, see them check cell phones; however, I stay quiet.

I thought today would be different. I was determined to confront. Did I? Once again, I did not.

Instead of the students failing, I feel like I am.

It shouldn't be like this. New goal: grow a backbone and confront these cheaters.