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.

Waiting....

Been a while since I wrote anything on here, and this won't be a long post. This post is simply about waiting. Chilean time is like island time - a bit slow and variable. I am leaving now sometimes means I am leaving now, but also sometimes means I am leaving in an hour, or I am actually not going but don't want to tell you that. On time is actually early, 10min late is on time, and half and hour late isn't really a problem. I am not sure if it is due to this that everything starts late, or that everything starts late so no one is ever in a hurry - chicken and the egg styles. I do know that at midnight on a Friday night I should probably be tucked up in bed instead of waiting for my friends to get to town so we can go out dancing. Of course it doesn't help that I am one of the most impatient people that I know.... Hmmmm, good old Chilean time. Waiting waiting waiting!
K

The week of never ending parties

Oye, its been a crazy couple of weeks! I have become some sort of nocturnal party gringa / latina party animal... and I love it! Where to begin? With the entire weekend of partying and not sleeping in three different locations, or the three nights straight that I saw the sun come up, or the fact I am moving, or the new kinds of dance and music I have discovered?! Life is one big whirlwind at the moment!

Started last weekend on Thursday (yes that is the weekend) with the despedida (leaving) of one of our friends. He is off to Panama for a year. Thursday we went out dancing Cueca as usual, tons of fun, late night. Friday I had to work (at 9am arrgghh), and then met up with the girls in the evening and travelled down to Curicó for Pancho's despedida. We were at his parent's house which is in the country, and really big. We had asado (with churipan and pebre mmmmm), and generally there was a lot of singing and dancing. Pancho is a musician so there is always lots of guitar and singing etc. So much fun! And we saw the sun come up which was very pretty... Got a tiny bit of sleep and talked to his parents for a while, explored the hills a bit, had a siesta, and then back to Santiago, 6 of us in Zeli's little car (about the same size as the laser), for 2hrs. Lots of fun as we had moraccas and a tambourine and had the cueca turned up loud, lots of singing, general madness.

After a quick trip to the supermarket it was asado time again, and more people started turning up for more party... Quite a few of Pancho's friends are also muso's so more singing, dancing, rum, etc etc. I had to crash early (7am), as I was done, but when I got up at 9am everyone was still going. I think everyone went to bed finally at 11am, and we had a few hours sleep. Then it was off to Cajon del Maipu, the valley up in the Andes to see the snow. And they have really good empanadas up there too. So we went up there and mucked around for a few hours, in the light and the dark... Got home finally about 11pm on Sunday, exhausted and with no plan for my classes on Monday. Oppps, luckily they were all fine.

AND THEN, on Thursday was a feriado (public holiday). On Wednesday it was Zeli's birthday so we had a bit of a party at the girls house and then went out dancing. Was soooo much fun, dancing cumbia and salsa mainly. Cumbia comes from Columbia (apparently), and is super fun. Don't need a partner or anything (which makes it easier as the chances of me actually stepping on anyones feet is therefore greatly reduced), and the music is really fun. When the club closed we all piled into the car (perhaps I won't tell you quite how many of us as my Mum reads this... but it was a record for me) and headed out to an after-party. Most of us weren't that keen when we got there though so headed back to the girls' house and slept instead. On Thursday I came home around lunchtime, but had only been home about an hour when the girls called me. Talking on the phone is super difficult for me, I hardly understand anything, and while I was almost getting what they were saying the call of "churipan churipan" was enough for me to say I would be back out there pronto! Seriously it is like calling a dog for food - churipan Karen, come and get it... So after yet more delicious asado (this time with actual salad), we went to Cueca and I got home late. Luckily all my classes had cancelled for Friday as everyone was taking a sandwich day (which I think is the best concept ever).

After a lot of sleeping on Friday I met up with Naty and we went to a random bar with no name or sign. To get in you have to say the secret password 'viva chile', and it is fair to say I was the only blonde for miles. Great place though. Apparently quite historical, a meeting place for the leftists during the Pinochet regime, and had some pretty cool graffiti on the walls. I liked the fact that they sold 1L bottles of red wine for 3 luca, about $Aus7.50. They had live music, cumbia again, and the place was totally packed. Other pepole turned up, and we danced until it closed around 5am and came home. Was fair to say that the red wine didn't agree with my head in the morning!

The most exciting thing of the weekend was that the girls are moving and have asked me to move in with them. It will be really good I think. They only speak Spanish so it should be really good for me. Now we just have to find a house, but Naty and I spent some time today looking on the net and in the paper so they are going to get onto it this week. I have told Bruno and he seems to have taken it well which is good. They are both teachers and have school holidays at the moment (hence the amount of partying), so they want to get it sorted out pronto before going back to work. It is likely that I won't be quite as close in to town, but I think the change will be worth it, and the improvements that it will make on my Spanish overcome any added inconvenience.

But there are no more feriado's until September (when they have national day), so life is going to need to return to normal a bit more I think, classes and partys only on the weekend (Thursday Friday Saturday that is!)

I didn't remember my camera for Curicó and only took one photo the rest of the time. Yes I am hopeless. Its not really that important though.

Lots of classes to plan for the week and quite a bit of paperwork to catch up on so I need to go.
Chao chao,
KiwiKaz

Serviettes, sleep-deprivation, and don't even think about touching the make-up!

As a continuation of the theme from the last blog (and because life is pretty much the same pattern of work work work stay out too late and drink too much and be tired at work, and then go to another party and take most of the weekend to recover the sleep you have lost) here are some other observations of this crazy country.

The first one is serviettes. I don't know if it is just that I am uncouth (not my mother's fault) or if this really is a valid observation, but it is a necessity to have a serviette at ALL TIMES when eating. This means if you buy a drink on the street they give you a serviette, even though you are drinking out of a straw. Every meal you eat MUST have a serviette, even though I thought the whole point of a knife and fork was to transport the food to your mouth without making a mess of either your hands or your mouth (yes yes I know that I do not always achieve this but we are talking about the principle). Buy a piece of fruit, get a serviette, buy an icecream and get 5 serviettes, cup of coffee with a serviette. In fact, they get quite upset if you try to turn them down on their offer of a serviette (yes I tried it in an effort to save a tree or something). So, I now eat with a serviette always at hand.

Sleep-deprivation is a way of life. It seems that while Chileans have retained their late night party hours, they no longer have a siesta or flexible working hours, which means that they sleep less. In fact, they work hard (as hard as people back home anyway), and then party all night. It is not uncommon for people to go out until 3am and still be at work at 8am the next day. And then to repeat this the next night... The weekend starts sometimes on Wednesday night, and sometimes on Thursday. It is very common to see people asleep on the metro, sitting, standing, nodding off, doesn't matter. Any when I say common, I mean probably 1 in 10 are asleep, without exaggeration. I don't cope so well with this whole lack of sleep lifestyle to be fair, though usually I only have to get through Friday incredibly tired, and I don't have too many classes.

Last time I talked about the "people in jobs" principle. And this week I came across another shining example of it. Things are different here. In shops, there are many items that you are simply not allowed to touch. Depending on which area you live in this can include sanitary products, shampoo and soap, deodorant, all forms of face care and make-up and perfume. Actually, you are NEVER allowed to touch the make-up or perfume. These precious items are stored behind a counter with very helpful sales assistants (arhem) carefully watching over them. This week I decided I needed some new eyeliner (as I lost my very good MAC one that I am still quite upset about). I went to one of the department stores to have look, and of course wasn't allowed to touch anything. Was standing at the counter with another lady who was talking with the shop-assistant about eye-liners and eyebrow pencils and the tester jar was on the table for her to look at. I waited for a bit, and then decided that seeing as the shop assistant was there it must be OK for me to try the testers too. I put my hand out to take one and the shop-assistant SLAPPED MY HAND LIKE I WAS A CHILD! I was aghast. So I asked if I could try it, in fairly passable spanish (I had been practicing), and she ignored me. The other lady finished her transaction and the shop-assistant took the testers, put them back under the bench and walked away, completely ignoring me. I wanted to cry. I left the shop very quickly. I took me 3 days to get my courage back up to go to a different place to try again. I chose a large chemist, and it was a good choice as the shop assistant was really nice and very patient with me (though I pretty much aggreed to the first one she showed me as I was still in fear of having my hand slapped again). The funniest thing was that you choose you product, and get given a receipt. Then you take the receipt to the cashier and pay, and recieve a different receipt, which you present to a third person who finds your product again and gives it to you (after it has been put in a bag by a fourth person). So yes, back to my original point, people in jobs. 4 people doing the job of one.

This weekend I am off to Curico with my Chilean friends. There is a despideda (farewell) for one of our friends who is off to Panama. I am getting a ride down with the girls, I think there will be four of us so it should be an entertaining trip though I will likely understand nothing as they turn the music up loud and then all talk flat out at the same time (girls road trips are the same the world over) which is fun but means I can't undertand anything. I haven't been to Curico before and it is where most of my friends are from so I am quite looking forward to it. I have been told that there isn't usually much going on there, but I suspect that this will be a big party that will make up for any apparent apathy in the town. It is also right in the heart of the wine district which can never be a bad thing....

Anyway, need a nap before another night of "grande fiesta". The only instructions I have been given are bring your "saco" (sleeping bag) and "panuelo" (hankerchief for dancing cueca). I hope we have Churipan and asado....

Hablamos pronto,
KiwiKaz

And here is a couple of pictures I took out of my bedroom window in case you have missed them on FB.

Observations of Santiago

So I thought it was about time that I actually wrote something about what I have learned about this country since I got here, apart from the fact that they speak "machine-gun" rapid slang-filled spanish and have a tendency to protest and party.

One of the first things that a foreigner has to notice about the streets of Santiago is that they are nothing like what you might expect. They are generally fairly clean and on a nice day the city has a European feel to it (if it is somewhat rundown in places). It is busy and noisy, but certainly no worse than Rome. The metro runs efficiently (most days) and the bus system is fairly well organised and extensive. The streets have many vendors selling their wares (mostly illegally on blankets on the sidewalks), but they don't hassle you like in Vietnam. There are tons of kiosks all the way along the streets, probably at least two per block and sometimes as many as 8, selling drinks, lollies, newspapers and other bits and pieces. This brings me to my second observation - there are an awful lot of people doing jobs that seem almost useless to someone like me.

By this I mean there are a lot of "parking attendants", official people who help you park your car and then supervise it while you are gone. They are basically human parking meters, though sometimes if you are lucky they will wash your car, and in summer some provide cardboard shades to keep the sun out. You are obliged to give them some change as you leave, even when they are obnoxious as the one in Pichilemu was the other week, insisting on kissing me and questioning the guy I was with as to whether this "guapa gringa" was his "pelola" (whether the cute gringa was his girlfriend). We saw this phenomen in Vietnam too, the "very busy" security guards. I guess it is all about people in jobs. Other such jobs include the people who sweep the pavements, by hand, when probably a machine would put 40 people out of a job. There are also tons of street entertainers, juggling, doing theatre, or acrobatics at the traffic lights. You are pretty much obliged to give them some change too, whether you liked the show or not. There are people who pack your groceries at the supermarket, whether you want it or not, and again you are obliged. There is the conductor on the long haul bus, who is actually quite helpful, but he needs some change, and the guy who puts your bag in the bottom, more change, even if you offer to do it yourself. I don't know much about the welfare system here (or lack of), but it looks to me that people will willingly do just about anything for a bit of change. People in jobs, people in jobs.

The third thing that is very obvious on arriving in Santiago is the number of street dogs. There are tons of them. And people don't seem to mind, in fact they are generally well cared for looking. As it is winter many of them now have coats on (often made of polarfleece and with a neck warmer like a mini scarf), and they have cardboard boxes to sleep in which often has some food next to it. Seriously, the dogs are better cared for than the homeless people! And these dogs know it. They sleep anywhere. It is very common for there to be a bottle neck at the metro exit in rush hour because there are a couple of dogs blocking the way and everyone is going around them. They sleep on the sides of the street and the cars and buses simply avoid them. They also sleep in shop doorways, often on the welcom mat, and people just step over them. They are experts at crossing the road. I thought dogs were colourblind but these ones know all about the little green man, and wait patiently to cross when it is their turn. Quite often there seems to be a sort of dog convention in Plaza Italia, the main roundabout on the main st, and you can see up to 20 cavorting around having a lovely time. Even the scary looking policemen stop and talk to them. I think in my next life I would like to be a Santiago street dog.


While I said earlier that the bus system was very good (which it is), it can also be a bit feral. A couple of times I have gotten on and there has been a full on latin band playing (5 people), with people dancing in the aisles. Yesterday I got on a bus full of football fans. They were singing and dancing and jumping and the entire vehicle was bouncing. There was also half a dozen people riding on the roof.... The buses are an education....

Another thing I was not expecting, was BAD BAD coffee. I thought with the proximity to Columbia that coffee here would be fabuous. How wrong I was. The drink of choice is nasty Nescafe. To be fair, there are grades of Nescafe here, and the gold standard I can actually drink. However, most Chileans drink the cheap cheap nasty burnt tasting stuff. They drink it strong, super hot, and often with 5 teaspoons of sugar. Its truely awful but as a nation they are totally addicted to the stuff. About the only place I can get a coffee that tastes like a decent coffee and doesn't make my tastebuds recoil in horror is Starbucks, and this makes both my wallet and morals recoil in horror!

And moving onto food... it is all about the meat here. When we were at the beach the other week we had asado (BBQ). Unfortunately we didn't know that one of the girls coming was a vege, and the only thing that we could find for her to eat was potato chips. I am not kidding. She had a choice of beef, chicken, pork, or potato chips. We didn't even have any salad or bread. We had a few onions.... Also, the food is generally not spicy, at all. The only spicy thing they eat is pebre, a combination of tomato, onion, garlic and chilli, which I find totally delicious. Nothing else has anything like chilli in it though. Generally, it is just basic meat and veg, or pasta. Dad would love it (well the meat and veg part anyway).

I am sure there are lots more things that I want to put in here, but right now I can't remember them. Another day. Just thought I would share my observations so far.
K