Super fast recap of a couple of busy weeks

OK, I have come to the realisation that I am probably never going to catch up, and that it is never going to improve, so I need to do a very fast recap of the last couple of weeks, and maybe if I have time in the future I can elaborate.

The weekend after Valparaíso, I went back to the beach (but a different one - Ritoque, north of Valparaíso, Viña del Mar and Con Con) with the teachers. More correctly I was with my boss Jo, her three dogs and her boyfriend Filipe, Shawn (another teacher), and Mickey, a guy that plays in Filipe's band. It was really good. The house we were staying in is set on quite a substantial piece of land that is all planted in trees. It is only ten minutes from the beach, and was lovely and quiet. The whole weekend was in English, so I could actually understand and it wasn't nearly so tiring as a normal weekend away, because I didn't have to listen so hard, and we went to bed at the respectable time of 3.30am. We had a big BBQ on Sunday, with lots of fish and shell fish, and some delicious meat. It was a really nice weekend away even if we did get back very late on Sunday night.

Then this week I went out for a coffee on Wednesday night with a guy who was off to NZ for conference. He has been doing a crash course in English with a teacher friend of my Spanish teacher, and wanted to hear a real kiwi accent. So I oblidged for the price of a cup of coffee. Was very interesting actually as he is a vet and is off to conference at Te Papa in Wellington to learn about ways to control (or better still to eradicate) the spread of TB. Being from a farming background that is now highly reliant on the dairy industry I learnt a lot about dairy farming in Chile and hopefully gave him some of my limited knowledge about the industry in NZ. I had only just got home when another friend rang me to say he was coming to pick me up and we were going to watch some music. It was all very Chilean organisation (as in I had no idea it was happening and then it was happening right now), but the music was very good and it was worth going. Thursday night was Cueca, always a lot of fun but only a little sleep as I now have an 8.30am class on Friday mornings. Friday night was all about sleeping! I was in bed early, though people started ringing me about 12.30am to see if I was going out.... Chileans and their late night hours!! We were supposed to go to the snow on Saturday, but as usual our organisation fell through, and I didn't really understand what the plan was when it was made on Thursday night so couldn't do anything about it.

Didn't really matter as the girls and I went house hunting. Saw a couple of places, but really only like one of them - a house in Bellavista. The lady was a bit neurotic, but the house is good in a great location, with a good sized patio out the back - and it is nearly BBQ season! The kitchen is tiny, but everything else is pretty good. The girls signed the lease this morning and we are moving at the weekend! It takes time for things to happen in Chile but it seems when they do they happen very fast! I told Bruno tonight, and although he knew we were looking I don't think the reality had sunk in, as he seems quite upset about it. He gave me a lecture on why it is sometimes bad to live with your friends, which I know can be the case. However, I think it is probably better than living with Bruno.... So it will be all Spanish all the time as neither of the girls speak English..... fun times!

The area is fabulous. If in doubt, have a look back as some of the first photos that I posted. The ones of small brightly painted houses are in Bellavista, my new 'hood. My house is not like this, rather in a gated alley, which means that it will be safe and quiet, but still near all the action. I am really looking forward to moving. It does mean that I won't have the internet at home though, so you can be sure that the blog posts will become even less frequent - sorry. Will look into getting the net, but will take me some time I am sure.

OK, thats it for now, I am off to bed. I haven't gotten around to telling you about the strange guy who touched my hair and kissed my head at Cueca on Saturday, or the 80 year old old lady with the Pandero's who insisted that we play with her while everyone stared and then invited us to her house to play some more... but I am tired. Maybe another day I can elaborate on the interesting characters that I am constantly encountering in this most diverse country. I might also enlighten you all on how it is possible to learn everything you need to know about Chile through the metaphors and literal meanings of the Cueca... though that might take some time and thought.

Hope all is well with everyone and everything.
Love and hugs,
KiwiKaz.

A weekend in Valparaíso

And now I am two weeks behind.... oh it is difficult to keep up with my life. Sometimes I really do have trouble...

I went to Valparaíso two weeks ago, as I mentioned in my last post. It was so much fun! There were four of us who sent over on the bus on Friday night. We went straight to Claudio's apartment, a small studio apartment in a very nice part of town, on the hill in the very historic sector. The building he lives in is an old restored place that is gorgeous inside and out. It isn't very big though... Met up with a couple of other friends, had some bevvies, and headed out. Went to a pub called "La Playa", which is one of the oldest establishments in Valparaíso. It reminded me of the Somerset in Ashvegas, a little dodgy with a questionable choice of music. We had lots of fun though, dancing all night to rock, salsa, cumbia, hip hop and everything else. It was one of the first times that I have really felt that I was pleased to have a number of male friends around me though as I was attracting attention with my blonde hair. Luckily my friends are excellent and I always feel completely safe when they are around. They look after me. We had a bit of a tour of some of the sites in the dark and headed home to bed around 7am. Sleeping was a bit of an issue because there really wasn't enough floor space for all of us... Me and one of the other girls scored the bed, which was wonderful until one of the guys crashed in and proceeded to snore between us.... Chile. They sleep anywhere, at anytime, and they sleep hard. I don't think I will ever get used to it!!

Saturday was beautiful. I decided to stay in Valparaíso (I was supposed to go back to Santiago). We walked around some of the city, had some lunch and walked a bit more. It really is an amazing place. It is a city of contrasts - the centre is quite dirty, not safe at night, and really nothing to write home about. The hills are absolutely amazing, packed with brightly coloured houses in impossibly narrow (and steep) streets, art, mosaic, graffiti art and stunning views popping up from nowhere. There seems to be someone with a guitar or a sketch pad around every corner. It isn't hard to see why it is world heritage listed!

For dinner we went to a clandestine restaurant, that only had one dish - some combination of fries, egg, onions and cheese all fried up and topped with meat. Only comes in one size too - enough to feed four. After this very worthy feed we headed off for a night of Cueca. The place where it was held was not a proper bar, rather more like a very small rugby clubrooms, that was packed with families, and everyone seemed to know everyone else. Luckily I actually did know quite a few people there (well maybe 10!). Was fair to say that I was the only gringa around, and I actually felt quite priviledged to be there at all. Was a night for "homenaje el rey del pandero", or a tribute to the king of the chilean tambourine. The chilean tambourine (pandero) is essential to the cueca, and I find it an amazing instrument. It is impossible to describe exactly how it is played, but it is very unique (and quite difficult). I have ben practising, but as I don't have my own pandero, it is a bit difficult. Anyway, there were 3 cueca bands, a couple of very good documentaries, some theatre and comedy, a cumbia band, and then a lot of impromptu cueca until the small hours of the morning. Was an amazing amount of fun, with plenty of dancing, and lots of panderos. The boys were all over in Viña that night, so there was plenty of room for sleeping at Claudio's house which I really appreciated.

On Sunday Naty and I got some breakfast and caught a colectivo to the beach. We had a lovely afternoon reading the paper and generally soaking up the sunshine. We had a big feed of paila marina (hot soup full of shell fish and fish, fresh and delicious) from the market and a walk around the outdoor market that was happening. I bought some earrings and an ocarina, a small andean wind instrument that I am driving my housemate crazy with as I learn a few songs on it. We got back to the apartment around 6 to find the boys looking a lot the worse for wear, and headed back to Santiago on the bus shortly after. Was a wonderful weekend and I can't wait to go back to Valparaíso and explore a whole lot more! The photos are on facebook, but I will put a sample up here too. The photos from top to bottom are: Valparaíso by night, a typical street, Ceci and I in Plaza Sotomayor, Mauro and Karen playing Cueca (she is playing the pandero), and some cueca dancing following the theatre skit. Note the use of the hankies....

OK, thats all for now,
KiwiKaz.

As I suspected would happen, I have gotten slack at updating my blog. Oh well, you can safely assume if I am not writing on here I am doing something VERY important. Important jobs include, teaching and preparing classes, partying, and sleeping. Most of the time they come in that order of importance....

So I have been teaching quite a bit. Had a quiet week two weeks ago but I have picked up a class to replace the one that finished, and an additional private student so I am back to quite busy everyday. I am enjoying it, and only have one student who I have problems with. He just isn't really that interested in learning anything, and can be a bit of a jerk some days. The rest of my students are lovely, and really make me want to do a good job.

I have been partying about as much as usual, which is a lot. Every Thursday Friday and Saturday night I am doing something. It is really good. Last weekend on Saturday I was out at the girls house for an asado because it was a beautiful day. Later we went to the most random restaurant / entertainment place ever. I would have thought it was a tourist trap if I hadn't been the only gringa for miles. It was full of chilean families. There was a couple of good groups playing traditional folklore, but there was also comedy, karaoke, and an Elvis impersonator who clearly didn't speak a lot of English even though he was trying to sing in English. I thought it was hilarious. This was probably aided by the fact that we were drinking something called "terremoto", literally "earthquake", which is white wine with apple juice (a little) and ICECREAM - yes plain old vanilla icecream. Sounds horrible, but is surprisingly easy to drink... though I did feel like I had an earthquake in my head in the morning... haha. Anyway, we danced cueca and cumbia, and played our instruments along with the band (from the back corner much to the amusement and surprise of those around us as Mauro can play the "plates" (a bit like those old ladies who play spoons but with china saucers), I can play the tambourine (this may surprise you but I have been practicing and I can play passable cueca on it now) and the girls were on the morraccas). The guy I was dancing with even asked me if I was Chilean, he hadn't discovered how bad my Spanish is, but was impressed at me being able to dance cueca and play the pandero. Ended up a group of six of us, two guys from the band who were dancing with us and our original group of four. When they turned the music off it turned into an impromtu jam session with the boys playing guitar and singing cueca and the girls on percussion and dancing... the owner of the place was loving it as were the 2 or 3 people who were left, and it was so much fun. Actually that was probably the highlight of the night.

Tonight I am off to Valparaíso with some friends. It s about 1.5hrs away, on the coast. Its a really historic city, and is quite spectacular with large parts of it heritage listed. I will probably only be there in the dark though.... will try and remember my camera but who knows how successful that will be! Anyway, I think I am jsut going over for the night as I need to come back to Santiago for a birthday party tomorrow night. It will be tempting to stay though as our friend Mauro is playing in a big Cueca party tomorrow night (Saturday) which will be so much fun. Anyway, I have no idea where I am sleeping tonight, actually I am too afraid to ask in case the answer is that we are not sleeping... which I suspect is the case.

Spanish is slowly improving. I am able to speak on the phone with a select few friends who know how to speak slowly and clearly enough that I can understand them. Still looking for a house with the girls, it is proving to be a little difficult, but we will get there. Am starting spanish classes once a week with one of the girlfriend of another teacher which hopefully will help me out. Maybe I will actually get my head around the multiple past tenses that they use here instead of being stuck in the present simpe forever....

Anyway, need to get myself organised. So much else to put up here, but I am too busy enjoying life to be tied to the computer - sorry!

Chaochao
Kiwikaz.