A Tribute to my Gringos

As a matter of fact, i do have a few english speaking friends in Santiago. Even though I am eager to meet new chileans and practice spanish, it is always a relief to be able to express myself in my native language. I still feel very limited with my spanish when it comes to humor, telling stories, or expressing myself on a deep level.

Because I am working for a program with the Ministry of Education that supports English education, we obviously have English speakers in the office. So there´s Samantha from NYC and Jimmy from New Zealand, who were Chilean English Volunteers this past year on Easter Island (im so envious...and i thought Curico was cool....) and we have Todd from Missouri, a newbee to the program that will be teaching in Valpariaso beginning this March. We all definitely bring some energy (and sass) to the office.

This weekend was gringo weekend! On Saturday, I met up with Todd and we decided to get creative and make our own pizza, including the pizza dough (thanks todd!) Of course, to make the evening even more fancy, we turned a $2 boxed white wine into an impressive sangria.

..and somehow, the boxed-wine lasted us all night. We walked to bellavista (a hippie, bohemian side of town) to meet up with yet another gringa named Sarah, a fellow volunteer who taught in Punta Arenas (close to Antarctica) and is now living and working in a gringo-infuzed hostel. I love this girl...

This is my first summer to be stuck indoors. I am not accustomed to working 40 hrs a week when there is beautiful weather and things to be explored, so my nights and my weekends tend to be bursting with activities. I have spent the past two weekends at the beach and my weeknights going out to cultural events. On Sunday, I was invited to meet up with Jimmy and his fiancee in Valpariaso along with Todd and Samantha. We had a pleasant day, even though we werent blessed with an ounce of sunlight until 5 oclock. Todd, Samantha, and I decided to explore a (one of many) Pablo Neruda house. Neruda is a famous Chilean poet who left behind amazing homes which have been converted into a prized relics/museums and display his quirky collections.

From there, we met up with Jimmy and his financee to eat lunch in Concon, a beach slightly north of Valpo/Viña del mar. I ate the best empanadas of my life! (*photo not available because we were famished and forced to wait for 30 min. so we ate them within seconds. There was not sufficient time to snap a picture) And the sun peaked out, briefly, to allow us a nap in the sand...a perfect ending to the weekend.

And now back to our week indoors...

Chile is not only a place to learn Spanish, visit exciting places, and meet wonderful Chileans...but you can also cross paths with other interesting gringos or internationals that can join in your adventures abroad. Even though our summer vacation is squeezed into 2 days a week, we are definitely making the most of it.