Michigan in 10 Days!

10 days until I will understand 100% of everything around me, without even trying. My head won't hurt at the end of the day.

10 days until I hug my Mom and Dad, snuggle with the most adorable puppies ever and have lots and lots of clothes to choose from. I'll visit Grandma, check out the lake and take a cruise on the boat. I can already smell Lobdell Lake and hear the boats!

In 10 days I'll sit at a round table in a sunny kitchen dining nook, drink real coffee, understand the news on the TV. YUM. I'll be the one with the insane caffeine kick in Target. Ah, Target!

In 10 days I will see grass, my neighbor's yard and hear kids playing in the street. The dogs and I will run around the yard, the kids from down the street will come and play with Ginger and Macy and I'll catch up neighborhood happenings.

I'll be sitting on the back porch, with the dogs and then get to work in my Mom's garden.

I'll drive the bumpy roads, be freaked out to drive at night with a dark sky and enjoy the pace of small town life. French Laundry - how many amazing meals will I eat at your quirky and adorable tables?

Mom and Dad will leave before the sun comes up to go to work, open my bedroom room and the dogs will snuggle in close, making sure I am uncomfortable and they are perfectly snuggled up in a nook. Ginger will start to eat my clothes and Macy will want to sleep all day; eventually, we'll get up and start our day!

Ah, the joys of being at home with Mom & Dad!

Unexpected Turn of Events...

If you're family, hope you aren't driving. Friends, check your hotel points…. 

I am staying in Santiago, Chile for another year. 

WHAT? You get to read more of my serious, life-changing posts while sipping coffee and procrastinating? I know, I know, how could you survive without my entertaining look at life in Santiago and my photos that make you search Kayak for flights to Chile tomorrow? You're welcome :)

I miss my Denver friends every day. I miss the Colorado mountains, Colorado air, Colorado beer, Colorado parks and running the trails at Green Mountain, in Boulder and Breck. I don't like to think about Vail or else I get too emotional.

Why Stay? 

Pretty cool career opportunity with Astoreca Foundation as a Math Coach for elementary math teachers around Santiago, in public schools. WHY? Public education is not exactly great here. If you've got any money, you pay for a private school. It's a proportionally larger gap between rich and poor education here than in the US and economic status is the main factor in educational opportunity here. There are only 3 schools with worse public education in the OECD (Finland is ranked #1 and the US is right below average).

Since all kids deserve a high-quality education and the chance to choose their career, as opposed to their neighborhood defining them, I choose to work with at-risk students & the teachers that are charged with teaching them. 

Doesn't hurt that I've got a lovely Latino as a boyfriend and we'd like to be together in the same country. Can you believe I have a boyfriend? I know.

And…. I'm liking the pace of life, can't leave without skiing in the Andes a few times, want to try surfing a few more times, need to go back to the most beautiful place in the world, learn to make healthy empanadas, do an adventure trail race, learn to drive stick, dream in Spanish and run a marathon in Chile.

And… a few more friends want to visit. Are you one of them? Get here!

It wasn't an easy decision because I LOVE COLORADO SO MUCH. I miss it every day. But I also live living in Santiago. I'm just starting to feel like I "live" here. But, I know I will always be from Michigan…

Michigan-bound: 16 days! Well, 15 but I get there in 16 days! 

Fruit and Veggies in Chile

Today, I smiled blissfully as I calmly robbed the local fruit and vegetable market. With 6 plastic bags full and my shoulder losing feeling, I started the 10 minute walk home. No one ran after me. Wasn't I robbing them? It sure felt like it! 

My cargo: 

• 4 big yellow onions
• 10 avocados
• 2 mangos
• 2 bunches of fresh cilantro
• 10 limes
• 6 yellow/red peppers
• 2 persimmons
• 3 pears
• 3 monstrous apples
• 12 Roma tomatoes
• A bunch of massive purple grapes
• garlic
• 4 goat's horn peppers

Guess how much I spent?    15.000 pesos = $30 US. Now don't you see how I felt like I was committing a crime? 

How much would that cost you at Whole Foods? At King Sooper's? Definitely more than $30!! 

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo and after 2 years of living in Phoenix (aka Mexico), it's one of my favorite holidays. Refried beans. Tequila. Fajitas. Mole chicken. Taquitos. Churros. The joys of Mexican food! 

I'm going to try my best to represent Cinco de Mayo energy here in Santiago tomorrow. We are having a Mexican-themed Chilean asado with my USofA friends, French friends and Chileans. 

My contribution: the grill and rooftop space, margaritas and fixin's for fajitas

Clear Up, Santiago!

Check out this view from the apartment. Mountains. Clear, blue skies and the air is clean from the first winter rains yesterday. Lovely.  The rain cleans out the smog (hooray!) and the cigarette smoke (DOUBLE hooray!) to show us the gorgeous mountains with sprinkles of snow.

Sorry to my faithful followers…I've been quite busy lately. Doing what?

• Went to a Colo-Colo soccer match @ their home stadium with 2 Colorado friends (shout out Mike & Travis!) + Pablo. He told me, "Wear your ugliest clothes, don't bring anything. No jewelry."  What a boyfriend! We saw a guy with a bloody face, a horse cop run through a group of fans to break up a fight outside the stadium. Oh, the crazy fans sit in a fenced-in area of the stadium. And bring homemade mini-bombs to set off. Cops in full-on protest protection gear stand ready to stop fights between the two teams' fans. At the end of the game, Colo-Colo fans leave first. They kept the opposing team there for an extra 30 -60 minutes to try to prevent mass fights. WHAT. 

• Teaching English to crazy 9th and 10th grade Santiago HS students. I get the teaching nerves when I plan… we did Mother's Day words & phrases yesterday. They wanted to learn how to say "You're the Mom that everyone wants." They are also little **** because they do things like try sending text messages during class. I took 3 cell phones yesterday. And they sneak gum - but they don't know my superpower is to see & smell gum better than any drug dog can find cocaine. I'm that good. 
• Teaching English to lawyers. One bought me breakfast the other day - he was thinking of me as he walked to the office. These awesome people sell homemade sandwiches at the metro from 6AM to about 10AM. About $1.50US and  you've got homemade breakfast. Plus, his office makes us coffee for our English class. Coffee + sandwich and make some money? Lovely! 
• TFA. I work for Teach for America's online platform for current CMs and alumni. Helping close the achievement gap in 2 countries in one week. 

• Chilean kids' birthday parties. Eat empanadas, hot dog kebabs (yuck) and throw candy to kids. There's one every week…. Great people, awesome conversation and loads of new Spanish words that one day I'll remember…
• Celebrating my own birthday! We had the most amazing dinner EVER in Santiago at a new restaurant in Bellavista called Peumayen - the chef is from Argentina and the theme is Mapuche ingredients and inspiration from North to South of Chile. There is flavor in the food. 

Santiago shuts down for May 1 so we spend the afternoon in Parque Bicentario.
The park has a sailboat pond, flamingos, a dog park, animal grass-sculptures, picnic space, a koi pond and a pretty restaurant. It's like a compilation of parks from American movies from the last 30 years in one place.