Long time no write, everyone! Sorry for the lack of news. Been busy. But to quickly fill you all in and then cut to the good stuff:
- Our trip to Perú was amazing and quite the adventure. It included 2.5 weeks of long bus rides, a wiped out road or two, rain, motor-taxis and scents that reminded me of India (in Piura, Perú), two beautiful cathedrals with bejeweled religious items in their museums, a falcon on my shoulder (he was put there), some ancient mummies, cows and sheep in the road, horseback riding, goat-sitings, sea lions, and getting stung by jelly fish (in Antofagasta, Chile on our way home - they were dead but still stung a few of my fingers. Fortunately after baking soda and vinegar the stings felt better and were gone the next morning).
- On our return to Santiago on February 22, we learned that Antonio's dad, Prudencio, was leaving the next day to go on vacation in the south for a week. While he enjoyed the hospitality of his niece (I think?), Antonio and I had a glorious time enjoying the house to ourselves and working three-hour shifts at the store (alternating with Segundo, the usual employee). It was fabulous, relaxing and fun! We cooked together, danced, watched movies and cleaned the entire house (I scrubbed the carpet with my hands so long that my fingers started to bleed--oops!).
- After Prudencio got back sadly life went back to normal (aka we are living in his house, but we still cook our own lunch now - yay!). Antonio has switched universities and is now going to Universidad Iberamericana which is closer (30 min. versus the 1 hour he used to commute each direction), has better hours, is less expensive and is a smaller school so has smaller class sizes. He is all set and still on track to graduate in two years. All reasons to say "yay!
- Last weekend we went to Antonio's cousin's wedding and had a blast dancing in plastic hats, masks and other fun party wear until 3 am after the very formal 5 course meal (hour d'voirs, salad, main entree, dessert, and then cake at 1 am), and the simple civil service that began at 8 pm or so. The included photos are from the wedding.
I, meanwhile, started job-hunting in earnest on Prudencio's return, which gets me to my exciting news.....
KAIA HAS A JOB!!!!!!
Yes, it is true. As of yesterday, I am officially employed at "The Homework Club" (www.thehomeworkclub.cl, click on the tiny British flag at the bottom for the English version of the site) which is an English-teaching institute specifically dedicated to teaching children. I also may be teaching adults through their Business English-teaching company (same office, many names for the different age/audience-specific divisions). The main draw of the organization is that they completely tailor the classes to the students and their families, matching up students with the professors that would best meet their needs and holding classes in the house of the student. I will be teaching groups of one to five students which can be made up of students who are friends, siblings, or a combination of the two. This will make it exciting as I will get to see many parts of Santiago and meet many new people!
I had applied to this job two weeks ago but didn't hear anything back from them. When I saw their advertisement again a few days later, looking for more teachers, but with a different contact person, I decided to resend and was immediately asked to come to an interview this past Monday. That evening they wrote to me asking me to come in to teach a "trial class" which was a 30 min class with an 8 year old girl so they could see my methods and abilities with actual kids. Apparently I passed with flying colors as the girl was delighted with my activities, and the next day (Thursday), they offered me the position!
Yesterday, Friday, I met the Program Director at the notary to get my contract signed and notarized but unfortunately, all of Santiago also had decided to do the same and within 30 minutes the number sign had only advanced 10 of the 50 numbers between us and a notary. So we will try again Tuesday morning at 9 am. (Hopefully no one else has the same idea -- so shhhh, no telling!) After what turned into a tea-break and a walk around the neighborhood, we returned to the main office and I received a personal orientation, met some of the other staff and teachers and started to fill out the papers to get A RESIDENCE VISA!!!! YAAAAY! I'm SUPER excited as this means I will be legal here in Chile for at least a year. (^_^) They also have already assigned me two classes for Tuesday evening: one 1 hr class with two students and one 1.5 hr class with three kids, back-to-back in the same house as they are siblings/friends. They are between 7 and 11 or so and I am excited!
My supervisors were thrilled to hear I would be willing to teach adult classes as well, and said they will be filling my schedule up quickly! Yay for work and income! I also had my first class with the daughter of a restaurant owner who had asked me to teach his daughter English. His family is probably more similar to most Chilean families (working class) so compared to the upper class students and families that I will be working with through the institute, it will be nice to see both sides of the story.
So that's life here in Santiago. I will be lesson-planning away, Antonio is studying and maybe trying to find a job (after he gets caught up on classes). Exciting exciting!
Love and hugs to all!
Love, Kaia (^_^)
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