So last night was my first friday night in the huge metropolitian universe of Santiago. And where was I? I went to Burger King. That´s right. Well, the other students met to go out to a friends house to drink and hang out, but after starting each day this week at 7 am and not getting home until closer to 8pm, I was exhausted! So I declined the invitation, yes even though it involved Pisco, and I headed out to the Starbucks I had found earlier this week. I guess coffee houses serve different purposes here because at 9:30 Starbucks was already closed! Well, Santiago is not really the safest town to wander around in late at night, so I knew I needed to find a spot soon. I walked back to the bus stop and noticed that the burger king there was open, and they would remain open until midnight. So that is where I went. Instead of a latte, I had a large diet coke. I sat in the burnt orange booth, under the harsh neon light, and I studied grammar. After an hour or sho of grammar I moved on to working on my lesson plan. On Monday I will be teaching an hour long class on short answers with auxilaries (I do. She does. You don´t. etc.) So while I am sure this whole planning a lesson thing gets easier, for now it is fairly hard. Welcome to my weekend.
I live near a long thin park called Parque Forestal. It's really quite a nice park and it has a long stretch of a lane for riding bikes or jogging. And since I have a fear of riding bikes in this city, I jog. It's really pleasent. I usually listen to radioDisney on my mp3 player and jog along to Jonas Brothers, Beyonce, or Julieta Venegas. Great stuff. Yesterday on my jog I noticed that the trees were beginning to change. Fall has finally arrived and I am glad for the change. But as I was jogging through the falling leaves, I began to think about how much I like fall. And I had this special moment when I realized that I want to be here in Santiago, jogging through this park for many falls to come. After the past few weeks of cultural adjustment being a little more painful than normal, this was a nice thought to have.
Comments
Wow, I miss your spirit! I could use a big hug and a deep chat with you tonight. I just caught up on your life through November...I missed some good stuff, like finding Starbucks and knife threats! Yowsers.
So I guess you get to celebrate Thanksgiving in your heart this year instead of the traditional overeating way huh? I hope you are doing awesome! Sounds like God has been using you to bear much fruit for His glory-right on sista! Trinity misses you much!!!
Love you~Annie