Due to an outpouring of employed (you wouldn’t think so with all the e-mails they send me) Bank of America people whining about another blog post, I’ve decided to go ahead and post.
This last week has been rather busy mainly doing administrative stuff, exploring the city some more, and keeping an eye out for Katie. I say keeping an eye out because although the homicide rate is extremely low here, the petty theft is naturally extremely high. The dregs of society have to be fed somehow. So, while Katie is wandering aimlessly about the city snapping pictures looking like a gringo, I’m detailing the scene much like Jack Bauer and watching people for suspicious activity. Disclaimer: Whenever I write something to make me seem superhuman, it’s probably just a little less than true and sometimes just a little more than a complete lie. That’s for you to determine. I digress….
Since it’s been four days since our last post, I apologize if some events may not fall in chronological order. Today (already messed up the order), we went to go check the school out that we will be teaching at. Word was that our school was still under construction, but it would be ready in time for our first day of teaching this coming Monday. Well, as you will see from the pictures posted below, teaching Monday at our site will be the last thing that we do. Upon doing a circle around the campus, work basically stopped as all of the construction workers took a penetrating look at Katie. I made the remark to Katie, “We better not circle back around or this school won’t ever get completed”. She laughed, as she is accustomed to my humor. In a teaching orientation today, the instructor actually told us to bring a hard hat and a hammer to “school” on Monday. As is the Chilean way, we are kept in limbo as to when we will actually start.
We went on a 4-hour walking tour a couple of days ago touring some cool sites and finding out some interesting facts about the city. As with most walking tours, we remembered a couple of important facts and also that standing/walking for an extended period hurts your feet. We learned some really interesting stories about past Chilean presidents, specifically the dictator Alberto Pinochet. We had a couple of delicacies from vendors along the way, namely “Nuts 4 Nuts” and Wheat Tea. The “Nuts 4 Nuts”, which are basically candied peanuts, initially failed in Chile and then went to New York City and flourished. After taking a bite out of the Big Apple, the “Nuts 4 Nuts” owner came back to Chile and has since became one of the richest Chileans. The wheat tea is an interesting blend of wheat, peaches, figs, and some other mystery fruit, which produced a refreshing treat. We are completing the first week here and have had a great time.
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