Blogs from Rancagua, O Higgins, Chile, South America

It has been years since my last post. I was away from reality for a while.. lost in a place that was dirty and lonely... I got a last minute ticket to Chile... I needed to get far away from the mental distruction of my last trip, After getting out of the hospital it was the best thing I could do. The only problem was I forgot about the Cocaine hidden in my shoe from a night out with a mother of three I met on the internet. I agreed to stash her stash in my shoe as it had a massive hole in the sole where I could slide something in then cover it with duck tape. Anyways I forgot about it and on my arivial in O higgins I was searched battered and I ... read more

So when we first arrived in Chile, way back in May, we arrived amidst a massive, country-wide teacher strike. The day that we were shipped off to our host familys, June 6th, was the day that the teachers reached a compromise with the Chilean government, thus ending the strike, just in time for us to start teaching on Monday. After three weeks of no school, my students were reluctant to say the least, to return. But return they did, helping me to start my six months here with a bang. Although I have asked my host mom many times why they were striking, Im pretty sure things are lost in translation. It has something to do with a promise that the government would pay all the teachers a bonus, years ago, and they still have not ... read more

Holy crap. Three months down. Three to go. Time has literally flown by, leaving me to wonder how I have spent the past three months. It's safe to say that I have been busy, although I am hard pressed to tell you exactly how. Since I last wrote, we have traveled some more, learning more and more about this incredible country I have come to call home. Two weeks ago I went to Valparaiso with Kate, Cami, and Teather, one of the new four month volunteers. She is living in a town about an hour south of Rancagua, called San Fernando. So we all went to Valpo for the weekend, despite the fact that it was pouring down rain all throughout the middle of Chile. Valpo is amazing. It reminded me a lot of San Francisco, ... read more

I spent the past two weeks traveling up and down Chile. It was an incredible two weeks, full of adventures, misadventures, new people, new friends, and incredible sights. I started out from Rancagua on Thursday, July 9, traveling to Iquique, which is a beach city in the second region of Chile, so it's very far north. I was traveling with Kate and Kelly, two of the other volunteers also living in Rancagua, and our friend Scott met us up there. We didn't get to our hostel in Iquique until about 1.30 in the morning, but Kate and I accidentally ended up staying up until 6.30 hanging out with the hostel workers. They were all really young, and were sitting down in the bar area just hanging out and totally welcomed us into the hostel, and into ... read more

Another week down. Another month started. I can't believe that June has come and gone and yet it is still freezing cold here in the southern hemisphere. It's difficult to explain the weather down here. It's often colder inside than out, forcing me to wear layers upon layers of wool and fleece. I even sleep in wool socks. I usually teach in a tee-shirt, sweater, vest, and fleece jacket. I would wear my hat and gloves but i move around too much so my hat falls off and my hands get too sweaty in my gloves. It's funny because I'm always so cold, but you would think that having lived in Rancagua forever, like most of the teachers, they would be used to the lack of indoor heating by now, but all you hear in the ... read more