I'd like to start by saying that I'm a bad blogger.
That gives me some sense of relief. Typing that made me think "Do I want to be a good blogger?" I've decided that I don't fucking care. I don't even care that I just used inappropriate language. Indifference can be liberating, and I need that today.
The pictures from Santiago will be added someday..... when I have my computer, camera, cord, and internet all in one room, which rarely happens.
At this point, I was going to write some thoughts on learning Spanish. But then I started freaking out about learning Spanish so...... I'll just say that I am starting classes again next week and in the process of looking for a room in a Spanish speaking household.
That said, if anyone in Valparaiso knows of a furnished room for rent that will be available around the middle or end of July, I'd appreciate if you could let me know.
This post should end now.
Besos,
Allie
Friday, May 30, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
We were the meat at the market.
Jenn, my fabulous friend and former house mate from university, has once again come to Santiago to assist her good friend Mackayla in physical therapy. Today we took to the streets of Santiago and this was our adventure.
At 11:00am, we arrived in barrio Bellavista and realized that it was Sunday... and we were in Chile, so this was figuratively 5:00am. No one was out but us and the street cleaners. It took us half an hour to find an open restaurant that was serving alcohol, and our day began.
After an hour, second breakfast/first lunch, pisco sours, and an in depth conversation with a Chilean man on the language of love, Santiago started to wake up and we ran into the streets.
Freshly tipsy, I argued with a man (in bad Spanish) over the price of having our picture taken with his llama and whether or not is was acceptable for us both to ride the llama at once. He said only one at a time, but he cut the picture price in half.
Once again, we hit the streets, tour book in hand, looking and sounding as obnoxiously American as ever. We stopped into the Museo Bella Artes to use the bathroom, and since we were already there, we decided to check out the art. Jenn is currently grimacing as I ask her what she thought of the museum. We'll leave it at that.
Next stop was the Mercado Central. After hitting the fish market and being accosted by every restaurant employee and external genitalia bearing two legged fish flinging... person, we decided not to visit the meat market because... we both had a lingering feeling that we actually had just been the meat at the market.
Moving on.
Plaza de Armas.... walking walking..... Cathedral... walking walking... time for second lunch. Back to Bellavista... octopus. (note: sorry for the stream of consciousness). Having our fill of meat for the day, we turned to the sea. Jenn and I shared this lovely plate of grilled octopus and a really lovely bottle of wine. After 2 hours of talking rather loudly in English about things that should not be brought up in restaurants, we realized that it was actually possible that someone within earshot could speak our language... so we decided to go home.
Well, that was our day. You should have been there.... all of you.
On a side note, I've been meaning to write something at least moderately thoughtful about teaching English, my progress in Spanish, and how I feel after three months in this strange land. Check back soon for something that involves more of a thought process.
Note: More pictures will be added tomorrow....
Besos,
Allie and Jenn
At 11:00am, we arrived in barrio Bellavista and realized that it was Sunday... and we were in Chile, so this was figuratively 5:00am. No one was out but us and the street cleaners. It took us half an hour to find an open restaurant that was serving alcohol, and our day began.
After an hour, second breakfast/first lunch, pisco sours, and an in depth conversation with a Chilean man on the language of love, Santiago started to wake up and we ran into the streets.
Freshly tipsy, I argued with a man (in bad Spanish) over the price of having our picture taken with his llama and whether or not is was acceptable for us both to ride the llama at once. He said only one at a time, but he cut the picture price in half.
Once again, we hit the streets, tour book in hand, looking and sounding as obnoxiously American as ever. We stopped into the Museo Bella Artes to use the bathroom, and since we were already there, we decided to check out the art. Jenn is currently grimacing as I ask her what she thought of the museum. We'll leave it at that.
Next stop was the Mercado Central. After hitting the fish market and being accosted by every restaurant employee and external genitalia bearing two legged fish flinging... person, we decided not to visit the meat market because... we both had a lingering feeling that we actually had just been the meat at the market.
Moving on.
Plaza de Armas.... walking walking..... Cathedral... walking walking... time for second lunch. Back to Bellavista... octopus. (note: sorry for the stream of consciousness). Having our fill of meat for the day, we turned to the sea. Jenn and I shared this lovely plate of grilled octopus and a really lovely bottle of wine. After 2 hours of talking rather loudly in English about things that should not be brought up in restaurants, we realized that it was actually possible that someone within earshot could speak our language... so we decided to go home.
Well, that was our day. You should have been there.... all of you.
On a side note, I've been meaning to write something at least moderately thoughtful about teaching English, my progress in Spanish, and how I feel after three months in this strange land. Check back soon for something that involves more of a thought process.
Note: More pictures will be added tomorrow....
Besos,
Allie and Jenn
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Don't think of it as goodbye, think of it as (sob) hasta luego: an almost goodbye post to Katie and Lauren
This weekend was our last with Ms. Katie and Ms. Lauren, two English teachers that Julie and I met through one of the institutes where we work. These girls have been great to have around, not only because they have doubled the size of my circle of friends, but also because they are just plain fun. They have also mastered the art of girl talk and similarly share my great appreciation for all things cheese. They will be missed.
Some lovely moments with the girls:
Wednesday means veg. Lauren and Katie introduced Julie and I to the fabulous feria located in Vina where you can buy what I believe must be the best and cheapest produce around. We have a Wednesday tradition of hitting the feria and, in the spirit of all things Chile, making a ridiculously large and late lunch. This is a Wednesday from a few weeks ago, chocolate banana zucchini bread (better than it sounds, depending on who you ask), eggplant lasagna like thing, and spaghetti with basil and garlic and tomato and good stuff like that.
Julie made a lovely meal for us all on Saturday night. Cauliflower and zapallo (big orange squash commonly mistaken for pumpkin) soup, tomato, avocado. More veg.
The girls. We like to eat. Can you tell?
Last weekend we decided to do something silly, we went to the casino in Vina. The drinks were bad, expensive and also not really what we ordered, but pretty. We got out of there fast.
Poor Katie. Rather than rescue her from this guy trying to “borrow” a few pesos for a drink, I decided to take pictures.
A piscola and a Lauren. Or rather, a huge cup of pisco and a tiny can of cola. It made Lauren want to dance.
Why do I insist on ordering a drink that contains egg whites? Ewww...
And finally, a much sought after good picture of the four of us.
Girls, you will be missed.
Besos,
Allie
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Bad friend.
Alex, somehow I don't have your e-mail address or phone number. I am a bad friend. Please e-mail them to me????
Lovelovelove,
Allie
Lovelovelove,
Allie
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Etienne visits NYC
Ok, this post is for the New Yorkers out there.
Etienne, my favorite student, is visiting NYC on June 14th-18th. This will be his first time in an English speaking country. Even though his English is quite good, he is feeling nervous. Does anyone want to meet up with Etienne in the city? I'm sure that he would return the favor for you someday in Chile. He is the head of grant writing at a local university and more fun than his job makes him sound. He likes music, art, and talking about souls and following your heart and stuff. Let me know, I can put you in contact with him.
Etienne and I would both love you forever!!!
Thanks,
Allie
Etienne, my favorite student, is visiting NYC on June 14th-18th. This will be his first time in an English speaking country. Even though his English is quite good, he is feeling nervous. Does anyone want to meet up with Etienne in the city? I'm sure that he would return the favor for you someday in Chile. He is the head of grant writing at a local university and more fun than his job makes him sound. He likes music, art, and talking about souls and following your heart and stuff. Let me know, I can put you in contact with him.
Etienne and I would both love you forever!!!
Thanks,
Allie
Chilean Bureaucracy- Part 2
Adrian sent me a comment on my Chilean Bureaucracy post by e-mail. I decided that it could quite easily lead me into a blog worthy rant on Chileans in the work place... so here is his question and my slightly elongated answer.
Adrain: Why were you treated so nicely? Is it the institutions or is it the culture that made the difference? No reason why I'm asking this, I'd just like to hear your thoughts about this.
Allie: To be honest, I don't know why they were nice to me. I thought about it for awhile and I decided that it probably had to do more with the general workplace culture than anything else. Productivity isn't Chile's strong point. People work incredibly long hours and seem to get a minimal amount of work done. Since no one accomplishes anything, there doesn't seem to be much pressure on anyone to accomplish anything. It seems to me that a main reason that people in the U.S. are cranky at work is that there is a lot of pressure to get things done. If you are in a work environment that involves customer service, this usually results in being nice and helpful to people, because thats how you keep and expand your customer base. When you are working in a non profit environment, such as a government office, the incentive to keep customers is lost. You are just expected to do a lot of work if you want to move up the chain towards a coveted position of more powerful bureaucrat with a bigger desk and corner office. In Chile, its seems to be understood that in any type of office, not much usefulness is going to happen. Without this pressure, people can just take their time and be nice to you. Like everything, this has its ups and downs.
Ironically, Chileans love bureaucracy. Why you might ask? Well, my over simplified theory I believe that excessive documentation gets them out of doing other things normally classified as work. For example, Chileans love receipts. You get receipts for EVERYTHING here. I mean the bus, a bottle of water.... like absolutely everything. And they often hand write them... and stamp them and give you a carbon copy. This rant deserves to be longer and funnier and it also needs to talk about the national obsession with plastic bags and the impressive quantity of cajas (cash registers) per capita. How is it possible that you would have to visit two cash registers and interact with three people in order to buy a bottle of shampoo you ask? How is it possible that you have NO CHOICE but to take the plastic bag? Well... I'm getting to lazy to continue... and I need to plan my classes for the week, so maybe later.
This blog is starting to suck.... sorry.
Allie
Adrain: Why were you treated so nicely? Is it the institutions or is it the culture that made the difference? No reason why I'm asking this, I'd just like to hear your thoughts about this.
Allie: To be honest, I don't know why they were nice to me. I thought about it for awhile and I decided that it probably had to do more with the general workplace culture than anything else. Productivity isn't Chile's strong point. People work incredibly long hours and seem to get a minimal amount of work done. Since no one accomplishes anything, there doesn't seem to be much pressure on anyone to accomplish anything. It seems to me that a main reason that people in the U.S. are cranky at work is that there is a lot of pressure to get things done. If you are in a work environment that involves customer service, this usually results in being nice and helpful to people, because thats how you keep and expand your customer base. When you are working in a non profit environment, such as a government office, the incentive to keep customers is lost. You are just expected to do a lot of work if you want to move up the chain towards a coveted position of more powerful bureaucrat with a bigger desk and corner office. In Chile, its seems to be understood that in any type of office, not much usefulness is going to happen. Without this pressure, people can just take their time and be nice to you. Like everything, this has its ups and downs.
Ironically, Chileans love bureaucracy. Why you might ask? Well, my over simplified theory I believe that excessive documentation gets them out of doing other things normally classified as work. For example, Chileans love receipts. You get receipts for EVERYTHING here. I mean the bus, a bottle of water.... like absolutely everything. And they often hand write them... and stamp them and give you a carbon copy. This rant deserves to be longer and funnier and it also needs to talk about the national obsession with plastic bags and the impressive quantity of cajas (cash registers) per capita. How is it possible that you would have to visit two cash registers and interact with three people in order to buy a bottle of shampoo you ask? How is it possible that you have NO CHOICE but to take the plastic bag? Well... I'm getting to lazy to continue... and I need to plan my classes for the week, so maybe later.
This blog is starting to suck.... sorry.
Allie
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Feliz Dia de Mama!!!
Awwwww...............
Honestly, I think about how wonderful you are all the time. Not only are you a super over achiever in all your normal Mom duties, but you also constantly let me know that you love and miss me through extra special little gestures and surprises. What other mother would send her daughter cheesecake brownies all through college even though her daughter was perfectly capable of making them herself? And what mother would search to the end of the earth for her daughter's favorite tea just to make her marginally more happy than her second favorite tea? Finally, what mother would spend 2 hours a day on the phone with her daughter as she lay on the floor of her studio apartment freaking out about what South American country to move to, why, and the implications of teaching English abroad in an increasingly globalizing world? Clearly, you go above and beyond. On top of all that, you gave birth to me. Wow, what a gal. I love you!!!
Lovelovelove,
Allie
Friday, May 9, 2008
Recent praise for "Allie does stuff"
Lately I've received multiple e-mails praising the blog, and my ego just won't let me keep it to myself. Behold...
"Quite entertaining."
"I've been reading your blog voraciously and loving it. It's so Allie Fabulous that
I can't get enough!"
"i must tell you that your ability to do stuff both inspires and
enrages me. why the rage, you ask?... you, after only a couple of months, have secured a job, a place to live, met amazingly cool people and work like crazy (though you still make time to travel
and make paper doll picture books). the take home message being, ENOUGH ALREADY! we all know that you are smart, fun and capable, stop re-proving the point. its a dead horse. come back to Seattle and trudge through life imagining the things you 'probably could do' like the rest of us."
I love my friends. :)
Besos,
Allie
"Quite entertaining."
"I've been reading your blog voraciously and loving it. It's so Allie Fabulous that
I can't get enough!"
"i must tell you that your ability to do stuff both inspires and
enrages me. why the rage, you ask?... you, after only a couple of months, have secured a job, a place to live, met amazingly cool people and work like crazy (though you still make time to travel
and make paper doll picture books). the take home message being, ENOUGH ALREADY! we all know that you are smart, fun and capable, stop re-proving the point. its a dead horse. come back to Seattle and trudge through life imagining the things you 'probably could do' like the rest of us."
I love my friends. :)
Besos,
Allie
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Transpor-tation!!!!
My favorite bus stop in Seattle. Photo courtesy of Drew.Thanks, Drew!!! I miss you too!
Besos,
Allie
Monday, May 5, 2008
Chilean Bureaucracy, its more fun than you'd think.
A few weeks ago I was granted a work permit and I've been meaning to write about what a downright pleasurable experience Chilean Bureaucracy was.
Let me preface this with some background information about my last job doing casework for newly resettled refugees at the IRC. A large percentage of my position was basically to protect and navigate vulnerable new residents through the world of American Bureaucracy (i capitalized this on accident, but I am going to leave it because it seems fitting). This involved lots of paperwork, inefficiency, unintuitive processes involving fine print requiring an advanced understanding of the English language, and lots of protecting people and advocating for them against bureaucratic agents who had decided that they had hated their jobs and now wanted to make everyone else miserable. (Right now I am thinking mainly about the department of licensing.... aka hell).
Ok, back to the morning of my appointment an the Extanjeria. My boss was going to escort me through this process, basically serving as my caseworker, and I was feeling pretty good about that. Then, 2 hours before my appointment, she called and said that she couldn't come with me. At this point I started panicking, and kind of shaking and twitching a bit. I immediately called Julie and demanded that she let me practice saying "I have an appointment" in Spanish over the phone with her. To make matters worse, I didn't even know where the office was. I set of for Valparaiso nice and early and basically asked security guards of random buildings where the Extanjeria was until I was slowly led to its exact location.
Well, I had to wait awhile, as is to be expected, but the people I dealt with were just lovely. I mean, they didn't even give me dirty looks for my bad Spanish. They were really so nice that I didn't even mind the inefficiency and inconsistent information that followed. I was basically told that my contract was missing "something" and that I needed 34974220 copies of various official documents, passport photos of some randomly tiny size, a blood sample, concession of my first born child, etc. They made another appointment for me the following week. Well, it turns out that my contract actually had the "missing clause" in the first place, but I didn't even care. They were nice to me, and helpful, and that was so amazing.
Sometimes, I feel like a refugee, or a stray dog thats been kicked a few too many times in the face, and I'm not quite sure why I've done this to myself. Other times, I'm exactly sure why I'm here. Today I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing.
Now, some pictures from a labor day walk on the Beach with Lauren:
Besos,
Allie
Let me preface this with some background information about my last job doing casework for newly resettled refugees at the IRC. A large percentage of my position was basically to protect and navigate vulnerable new residents through the world of American Bureaucracy (i capitalized this on accident, but I am going to leave it because it seems fitting). This involved lots of paperwork, inefficiency, unintuitive processes involving fine print requiring an advanced understanding of the English language, and lots of protecting people and advocating for them against bureaucratic agents who had decided that they had hated their jobs and now wanted to make everyone else miserable. (Right now I am thinking mainly about the department of licensing.... aka hell).
Ok, back to the morning of my appointment an the Extanjeria. My boss was going to escort me through this process, basically serving as my caseworker, and I was feeling pretty good about that. Then, 2 hours before my appointment, she called and said that she couldn't come with me. At this point I started panicking, and kind of shaking and twitching a bit. I immediately called Julie and demanded that she let me practice saying "I have an appointment" in Spanish over the phone with her. To make matters worse, I didn't even know where the office was. I set of for Valparaiso nice and early and basically asked security guards of random buildings where the Extanjeria was until I was slowly led to its exact location.
Well, I had to wait awhile, as is to be expected, but the people I dealt with were just lovely. I mean, they didn't even give me dirty looks for my bad Spanish. They were really so nice that I didn't even mind the inefficiency and inconsistent information that followed. I was basically told that my contract was missing "something" and that I needed 34974220 copies of various official documents, passport photos of some randomly tiny size, a blood sample, concession of my first born child, etc. They made another appointment for me the following week. Well, it turns out that my contract actually had the "missing clause" in the first place, but I didn't even care. They were nice to me, and helpful, and that was so amazing.
Sometimes, I feel like a refugee, or a stray dog thats been kicked a few too many times in the face, and I'm not quite sure why I've done this to myself. Other times, I'm exactly sure why I'm here. Today I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing.
Now, some pictures from a labor day walk on the Beach with Lauren:
Besos,
Allie
Friday, May 2, 2008
Recent Great Chilean Finds
Heyyyyy, so I found this print under my bed. Crazy, huh? I think its my favorite thing in this country. I'm debating trying to smuggle it out of the apartment when I leave...
So, right now I am about to plan an hour and a half class on the death metal band Megadeth for a 14 year old student who I am teaching tonight.... I am so excited about this. My aim: to be the coolest ELF teacher on the block. How am I doing?
Besos,
Allie
Ok, so there is a little background story to this next great Chilean find. Last Saturday Julie, Lauren, and I took a day trip to Santiago. Some of Julie's students suggested that we check out Patronado, a little shopping district with cheap clothes. We were in dire need of all things warm, so off we went. Welllll, for me at least, Patronado left something to be desired. Not only were all the clothes from all the vendors basically the same, I also thought that they were overpriced for how obviously cheaply made they were. Also, it was just a lot of work. You constantly had to watch your bag to make sure people weren't trying to steal from you... even more than normally. Everyone also bumps up their prices for the gringas then you have to pretend that you don't want it, then they come after you and offer the real price blah blah... well, all this is a pretty typical experience for a gringa, but I felt like it was worse, or at least more annoying, than normal....but, BUT... I did find this t-shirt. Its a great example of the very common phenomenon of bad English on Chilean clothing. It took me awhile to figure out what it was trying to say... and even now I'm not that sure... It also crossed my mind that it was done on purpose and was some sort of play on “its all in your mind,” but I might be over thinking it... am I? Sooo confused.
Also, the sun is back, which makes me exceedingly happy.
So, right now I am about to plan an hour and a half class on the death metal band Megadeth for a 14 year old student who I am teaching tonight.... I am so excited about this. My aim: to be the coolest ELF teacher on the block. How am I doing?
Besos,
Allie
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