After the depressing last post, I feel the need to write a little uplifting post. It's not much but it's something. After wandering around Hongdae for a few hours, I made it back over to my part of town. One of the things I love most in life right now is grocery shopping. I think I have always enjoyed it, but now given my slightly anti-social attitude in life, grocery shopping is the highlight of my day. SInce I only have a half fridge, I have to buy small quantities and shop over other day or so. I had heard there was a supermarket about a mile or two up the hill from my apartment. After weeks of shopping at the little market around the corner, the thought of a supermarket was too much temptation to turn down. I found fairly easily and got some yummy food to make for my friend and myself tomorrow. As I was walking home, I ran into one of my students! His name is Sulley, he's probably 9 or 10 years old, and he is a sweet kid. I giggled with glee when he waved to me and started talking very excitedly to his parents who I soon realized didn't understand much English, much less excited California girl English. I slowed down and said very clearly that I was Sulley's teacher at SEA. His mom's expression brightened as she grasped my hand firmly and repeated "SEA, SEA, ah yes, SEA!" I told them that Sulley was a great student and made sure to give a huge thumbs up so they understood. We said goodbye and I walked away. It totally made my day.
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.
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