Adventures in Chile - Part 2

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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 few people from my class went out in the city, to an area called Suciea. Its a really cool spot - a bunch of bars and clubs line the street, and the entire road is blocked off for partying. The bars don't really pick up till one in the morning, and the party continues till sunrise!

Yesterday it 'rained' (it basically spat a few drops) - its the first rain they have had hear since October. Today its back to its regular sunny and 30 degrees. They don't expect it to rain again till March.

The big news in Chile right now is Bolivia. Bolivia is demanding access to the sea. In the 1800s Chile and Bolivia had a war, which Chile won, and took all of Bolivia's waterfront. Bolivia is demanding this back, and tensions are running very high. Chileans are not allowed to visit Bolivia, and we have been told not to travel to the north of the country.

In better news the Chilean Olympic soccer team is in first place. last night they tied Brazil - i think this means they have qualified for the Olympics. Every time a game is on, and Chile scores a goal, the whole neighborhood erupts! They are soccer mad!

My teaching course is coming along fine. We have all been told that if we want a job here, there will be many available in March. So that means I can travel lots in February. I can now kind of understand when people speak Spanish to me, but I still can not communicate back, except for a few sentences. Come February, I plan to take a Spanish course.

Hope you are all surviving the freezing cold up in Canada.
All the best and let me know what you are up to.
later
JIM

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Photos

Santiago
From on top of Cerro San Cristobal