Snail on a Leash: 6 meses en 16 fotos y 600 palabras

Sunday, July 29, 2012

6 meses en 16 fotos y 600 palabras

In celebration of my 6-month-a-versary here in Chile, I bring you a collection of 16 of my favorite photos from Chile so far. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. I know I always say that but seriously…it really blows my mind that I’ve been here for half a year already. I could spend this whole blog entry waxing poetic about my time in Chile but I guess I should conserve my 600 words and let you all in on some recent updates in my Chilean adventure.

First of all, as of last Thursday, I am 100% E. Coli freeeeeeee which is pretty exciting. Tomorrow morning I’m going surfing for the first time in over a month. It’s been such a bummer not being allowed to get in the water so I’m pretty stoked to be back. Hopefully I haven’t forgotten everything I’ve learned so far, we’ll see I guess.

The second bit of news is that I recently got a new job working at a different language institute in Iquique (the same one where Ruby works). I’m bummed about leaving my co-workers at my old job but really excited about this new opportunity. I’ll be making considerably more money which will help take the financial stress out of my life finally (whoot whoot) and I will also be teaching in a completely different environment. At my old job, all of our lessons were pre-prepared with corresponding powerpoint presentations. It was nice because it required little to no lesson prep but it didn’t leave much room for teacher creativity. After teaching each lesson a number of times, it starts to get ~~a little~~ super boring. I’m excited for the chance to have more control over my classroom and mix it up. It’s also nice to have the same students in each class because I can tailor my class around their specific needs and weaknesses.

I started the job on the 17^th and so far everything is going great. I haven’t met that many of my co-workers because I teach most of my classes in the office building where the majority of my students work. It is a mining company that is pretty close to my old work (about a 30 minute walk from my house). The past few weeks, I’ve spent a considerable portion of my day there; teaching, lesson planning, paper working and trying out all of the flavors in the Nescafe “Alegria” machine (sorry Dad, Nestle owns this country…what’s a girl to do?”)

My plan (as of now) is to stay at this new job from July to July so I can have a full year at the same place on my resume. I’m really enjoying it so I don’t think that should be a problem and they also allow me to take free language lessons there as a perk of the job. It seems like the process of getting that off the ground might be a little tricky but I’m excited to get that started. I am also allowed to take vacation there any time I want which is great. I’m definitely okay with keeping Iquique as my main hub if I am able to launch off and travel from here.

Jeff also got a job (at a different language school) and will be starting this week! That will probably allow him to extend his ticket and stay out here with me for longer, although we haven’t solidified any plans yet. About the only thing that we know for sure is that we will be back at least for a visit in August 2013 for Mallory’s WEDDING! Beyond that I’m not sure about any plans to visit home although I suspect I might be back sooner to see all of your lovely faces. Stay tuned for updates.