santiago to antofagasta

1. me in antofagasta (my city)

2. the andes mountains view from the bus

3. dancers that performed at a welcome lunch for us

4. group of volunteers at the "end of training party" the Ministry of Education had for us

5. my roomies and i in santiago in the capital building

yes, i made it safely to chile.  the first week was super intense, full of training and getting to know people, with a splash of seeing the capital as well.

we trained on how so many topics, ranging from teaching english to 100% beginners to what a bbq in chile really means (that you start partying at 1AM and hang until 6AM).... very interesting stuff.

as i said i met lots of cool people, of course the more interesting i found to be from england and new zealand.  we met the minister of education and had a foto with her, we also were permitted to go inside the equivalent of their "white house" in santiago.  it was pretty cool!!!!

we got in free to see an East Island exhibit in the museum and one evening i went with some girls to the top of a large hill, some might call it a mini mountain, and saw the whole city of santiago.  very impressive!  it was soooo cool because there at the top of the mountain are palm trees and you extend your view and see the andes mountains in the background - a super cool dichotomy i thought.

i packed on saturday morning to leave santiago and head for my placement city, which is called antofagastam and is the capital city in the antofagasta region.  it is a coastal city but also is the desert, look to the left and you see the ocean, look the right and you see mountains.  the geography is beautiful.  we have been staying in a hostel since sunday morning.

so the bus ride was supposed to be 18 hours, it was an overnight bus, but we had a minor problem with the bus and so it ended up being more like 21 hours.  before we left on saturday morning i actually whacked my head extremely hard on the corner of a metal closet door, which was not pleasant.  i ended up having a headache for a while and actually started getting really nauseous on the bus ride.  as it was an overnight bus the seats were very spacious and pretty comfortable, but we were seated on the top level of a double decker bus.  

i called the bus attendant over and told him i wasn't feeling well, and just started crying - thinking i was going to be sick for an 18 hour busride and with no one to comfort me.  well let me tell you - he was soooooo attentive!  he took me and my bags to the first floor, got me blankets and pillows, asked if he could give me aspirin, chatted with me.  i think i freaked him out cause i just totally started crying out of nowhere haha, but i felt really bad!!!!

anyway - i lucked out because the first floor was seats that TURN INTO BEDS!!!! oh my was i comfortable.  it was a rather nice night of sleep.  anyway since i hit my head it has been hurting me lots and i have just felt sick to my stomach and dizzy, but i can say that after a bit of a long process i did see a doctor and he says that i will be fine.  so that is good.  but it was a lil touch and go for a minute there... 

myself and a few others are still in a hostel, our families should pick us up tomorrow or wednesday and this week is just more introductions and information - but this time in our specific regions.  some of the people staying in my city are pretty cool and laid back, others are kinda partiers i think.  should be interesting to see what people think of the experience at the end.  

some people have been bothered by really simple differences between the states and chile, and im thinking - if THAT bothers you, you are in for a rude awakening!

the food isn't bad, just not many fruits or veggies, so i may have to supplement the food i am served a little.  they love their red meat and bread here, two of my least favorite foods.  well i should be at my final destination soon and then i can give more fun info :)

oh and by the way i have a cell number in case anyone is interested - texts i think work also the number is 00 56 9 8 183 8852

stay in touch :)