I love it here. In addition to getting to know the city and people, I'm immediately learning the holidays. It seems I moved down here at an eventful time!
I have more friends than I could imagine. I met Sandra (Christian Facebook friend) and her friend Elisa at the metro station my first night here and we went to Pizza Hut to get to know one another. The girls invited me to a party to watch the Chile vs. Brazil soccer game the following evening. Right after work I met up with them and though Chile lost the game, I enjoyed the experience.
Georgette's name here is Yoya, which I think is much more fun and I will now forever refer to her as such (she is my host "mom"). She introduces me to every neighbor we see and last night I hung out with with my neighbor Nico and his friends. There were about a dozen of us in his backyard enjoying the "carrete". That's what they call a "party" here, but it basically means a bunch if people drinking and smoking and dancing. Everyone there was around the age of twenty and they had fun teaching me more Chilean slang. "Cachai?"
I ventured up Cerro San Cristobal yesterday late afternoon. This is the tallest mountain in Santiago and provides breathtaking views. I'm including a link below to the pictures I've uploaded to Facebook up to this point. The smog makes it hard to see the mountains and even harder to see them in pictures, but photos never seem to do justice anyways.
I've met teachers from Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, and all over the US at the school. Everyone's different accents are a lot of fun to listen to. Overall my training is going well, though I'm definitely ready to start teaching. My last day of training should be this Wednesday, just before our long weekend to celebrate Independence Day!
Photos: http://tinyurl.com/qatjx3
