I quit my teaching job and moved to Chile. I have no concrete plans, no new job lined up, no idea where I'll end up living and yet surprisingly, no worries. I guess that officially qualifies me as a free spirit. Many people, including my previous principal, asked me why. Why would I up and shimmy over to a different country, on a different continent, with no definite plans under my belt? There are many reasons. It's hard to explain but around December of last year, I got this unshakable feeling that it was simply time for me to go. I not only wanted to move to Chile but I suddenly needed to. Many events pointed me towards that decision. There was an unequivocal urgency coursing though my veins. I got to the point where I ... read more

Today I swam in volcanic mud. No, really. We went to the Totumo volcano in between Cartagena and Baranquilla. It's a natural volcano full of a special kind of mud with salts, magnesium, and other minerals that are supposedly great for the skin. At first I was hesitant. Have you seen my hair? It's big and there's a lot of it! I couldn't imagine getting heavy mud saturated into my already 2 lb hair! Surely my neck would snap and roll off. But my friends wanted to do it and I got to thinking, "Hey, you only live once!" I bought a hot pink head scarf that matched my bikini, and went for it. We paid about $20 USD each for the tour. A van WITH air conditioning (praise the Lord!!!) came and picked us up ... read more

It's challenging trying to wade through romantic advances as a foreigner. For some reason I've been meeting a lot of guys here and I can't quite put my finger on why. I really don't get this much action back at home. To not put people on blast, my friends and I decided to name them. There's Pheromone Guy, Persistent Guy, Old-man Guy? I'm not going to touch on that one! Sleeping Beauty Guy, Brazilian Guy, Horseback Guide Guy, and then one Guy who shall remain doubly nameless. Brittney has been joking and calling me the South American man magnet. Yes, Chilean men are fascinated by black women. It's rare that they see one. But at this point, I don't know if I can even blame it on that. I was black last time too! But this ... read more

If it doesn’t hit you in the front side, it’ll hit you in the back! Chilean slang is very infectious and this time around, I've been using a lot of it. I don’t just speak Spanish anymore. I speak Chilean! It really is its on language. When I went out with my host sister and her friends, I was talking to Pablo about dating (he was having lady drama) and this is what he said. “Las minas de aca son frescas, ¿cachai? Por eso no las pesco. Todo lo cabro chico tienen que aprender eso po." I really enjoyed talking to him but I laughed because I realized that if I hadn't have spent so much time in this culture I would have had NO EARTHLY idea what he was talking about! Even a native Spanish ... read more

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm going to go to bed. Ever. I feel like I haven't slept in the whole two weeks I've been here! I'm going to bed at like 5 A.M. and waking up at 9. I can't seem to "turn down." Thank you Lil Jon for personally writing my theme song, my Chilean anthem. There's always something beautiful to see, something cool to do, or someone fun to hang out with. People are more nocturnal here. Prime example: Last week, all of us "young people" went to bed and my host parents were still downstairs talking and watching TV at 2 A.M! It was impressive. I'm a night person too so I'm really loving this. Another reason I can't "turn down" is because I've been hanging out with my host brother ALL ... read more