Hola amigos, Well, the last week has been one of the most exciting ever. I'm writing you from Arica, in the far north of Chile, on the border with Peru. (i just realized that this is a little long, oops) Last Saturday we left early morning to catch a flight to Calama, in the Chilean Altiplano (means high plains). Unfortunately our plane had some technical problems so we had to stop in Antofagasta, and take a bus to Calama - pain in the arse. Luckily it was only a 3 hour trip, thru nothing but desert. Spent the night in the little desert town of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile - very cool little place. We found a room in someones home and paid almost nothing for it. They promised us hot water for the shower ... read more

Hola Amigos. How are you all doing? As I have mentioned I am working at a private school now. I work as a teachers aid in the English classrooms. I teach all ages from pre-kinder to 12th grade. Its actually a lot of fun. The smaller kids swarm me whenever I walk anywhere. I am hoping this will wear off soon, but its kind of fun. I had one kid in grade 4 asked me if I liked Beaver- when I replied yes, he got all excited and high fived all of his friends. Obviously he knew the second meaning! In another class I had to teach "iny meanie, miney moe, catch a tiger by the toe..." I have no idea why but the kids were thrilled. The teacher only knew the rhyme in Spanish. Its ... read more

Hola Amigos Last week I was busy job searching - I have a job already (starts in March) but am checking out all the options. I think I will take a job that pays a little less, but offers me free Spanish courses. I´ve been taking some, and can´t really afford it, so free ones is a good idea. This past week I was in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Great time, the woman there are awesome. The city is very European looking, lots of old buildings, etc, but the streets are littered with garbage. On garbage night, people would put there stuff out, but 10 mins later poor people (who are surprisingly dressed quite well) would tear through the garbage taking whatever looked like it might be worth something. Argentina is in serious economic problems, so we ... read more

Hola! Here's my second update. I'll start it off with what everyone calls me... 'Gringo' Gringo means foreigner here in Chile. The word originated in Mexico, meaning Greens go home - green referring to the US Dollar. So basically everyone from Europe or North America is considered a Gringo. Everyone knows I am a gringo as my complexion is very different - not many people have blond hair and blue eyes here, so its a dead giveaway. Last weekend was a lot of fun. Friday night I went over to Pato's friends house (Pato is the 36 year old who lives at my house). There was another Gringo there, so he acted as the translator. After the house party we all went to a Karaoke bar. We got home at 5:30 am! Saturday me and a ... read more