Getting out there

Most of the other WorldTeach volunteers went to Concepción this weekend. (It´s a city about 6 hours from Santiago by bus and definitely on my list of places to visit.) A fellow volunteer lives there and her host family was throwing a barbecue to end all barbecues to celebrate her birthday. I decided to stay here.

First of all, I had plans that I didn´t want to cancel. On Friday evening, I taught my first private lesson. It went well enough and, man, does it pay to teach private classes! Afterward, I met with my intercambio (language exchange) friend. Saturday, I visited some museums with a Mexican girl I met on the bus ride back from Mendoza. Let´s hear it for Spanish practice! I later met up with a gringa friend for pisco sours, the national alcoholic beverage of Chile, and paid an arm and a leg to get home by taxi. It was totally worth it! Yesterday, I slept in super late and then hiked up Cerro San Cristobol (literally, Hill of Saint Christopher), a giant hill near the center of Santiago. There was lots of security in the metro stations and the ride home was, surprisingly, an "express" because the train didn´t stop at about 8 stations. The drama was due to a soccer match between big local rivals. The fans can get kind of crazy, but do we seriously need to hog tie the transportation system? (For the Seattle people, it would be like the city shutting down whenever U-Dub played Wazzu.)

And second, I´m burned out on the gringo herd. I don´t have a problem with anyone in the group; the group is the problem. It´s such a struggle to decide what to do. They are my friends and I need them, but I want to speak Spanish and spend time with chileans. I imagine that as my Spanish improves and I meet more locals, I will spend less and less time with the gringos. It makes me think that maybe next year, whatever I end up doing will not be with an organized group. It´s just too damn tempting to hang out with people who, literally, speak my language when I really need to be blazing trails outside of my comfort zone.

Tonight, I have another meeting with my private class and then an asado (BBQ) to celebrate the birthday of a chilean guy I know. It´s at his house with his wife, kids, and who knows who else. Here´s for getting out there. And even if I end up totally tounge-tied in Spanish, I get to nosh on some delicious food! Ditto tomorrow, which is Worker´s Day and everything is closed -- even the department stores, can you imagine!?, when I have an asado with my host family. Bring on the meats!

P.S. Had my first real one-on-one conversation with my host dad last night. It´s really hard to understand him, but it´s slowly getting easier. We were somehow watching a new TV drama called Primera Vez (first time) about people losing their virginity. Awkward? You bet! But it was interesting to hear his thoughts on why safe sex education is so noticably absent here and why so many young people have babies. Also, he thinks many young people go to clubs looking for sex and don´t care about anything else. It was a memorable first conversation, for sure. Honestly, I don´t know what will be left to embarrass me after this year is up!