Ok, so this teaching thing takes so much more time than I anticipated! I only have 18 hours of actual classes, but I spend probably about 50 more hours a week planning all the classes! I have three different levels in six different classes, so that is a lot of prepping! And this first part is the most difficult, because I haven't taught before and was just sort of thrown into it. Plus, we have a standard test after every two units. We usually have 5 weeks to teach both units, but this first part of the semester, we only have four. Combine that with not doing much teaching the first couple days and with students still registering for classes, and it makes for a bunch of very stressed-out teachers (and I'm sure many of the students, as well)! I still feel like I'm barely managing to keep my head above the water! I don't know when I will have time to do relaxing things, or to travel! But I guess this is definitely a quick way to get an education in... education.
I am very tired right now, and I can't really remember what I've been doing since my last entry! I know that I have been doing a lot of prepping for classes and running around like mad and having no idea what is going on. At least I haven't been bored! There is some drama going on at my house right now, but I'm not going to go into it. Hopefully it will be resolved before I know it and then there will have been no point in talking about it! Sometimes I start to believe that telenovelas aren't as far-fetched as they might seem...
I did get to go to an Argentinian asado (BBQ) a couple weeks ago!! There was chimichurri and everything--yum!! It was a birthday party for my Chilean friend's boss, but my other friend who is from Argentina did all the cooking. It was quite and interesting cultural experience. I forgot how old the birthday 'boy' was, but it was somewhere in the mid- to late- forties. It was mostly his family and his employees, along with a few other random people thrown in here and there (like me). We got there around 6:00 to start cooking, but most of the people didn't start to arrive until after 10:00. The drinking, of course, had started immediately (or even before), so there was quite a high level of inebriation at this event. Of course, you can't have proper drinking without adequate smoking, either.
That is the one thing that I don't think I will get used to here in Santiago--everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, smokes. And there are no laws or regulations, so you can smoke wherever you want, which gets a bit annoying when you go to a nice restaurant to enjoy a fancy meal only to have cigarette smoke blown in your face. But at least I have gotten my roommates to close the door when they smoke on the patio (usually. We'll see how long it lasts, too).
Anyways, back to the party. I was surprised how late it was, and also by how rowdy it got! Especially because this man wasn't particularly young, either! Most of the people were probably between 35-50 years old, although there were a couple pre-teens who accompanied their parents, and also the parents of the birthday boy who were around 70 years old. This did not prevent party-goers from eating, drinking, and smoking like there was no tomorrow (and I suppose that is more true for them than teenagers, but... still!). I spent most of the time next to the bbq for three reasons--one, a bunch of super delicious food right at my disposal; two, it was actually pretty cold out; and three, the smoke from the fire negated the smoke from the cigarettes.
I was invited inside to sit with the birthday boy and his family at one point, so I couldn't really refuse that. Being one of only two foreigners at the party (the other was my Argentine friend), I was a bit of a mini-celebrity. Especially once the drinking got started a bit more, I got many requests for English lessons. I was quite impressed with how much peoples' (especially the men's) English improved after just a few drinks! But at least nobody tried to do anything, I think they were more intrigued by my "exotic-ness" thank anything else. Plus, I had my two big, scary bodyguards to keep me safe (my 'neighbor' in my house and his friend are both older than me and sort of treat me like their younger sister who needs protection from everything. That's ok with me)!
The party really started to get interesting around 1:00 am, when they began the lap-dance contest for the birthday boy. A bunch of the (now extremely drunk) female party-goers competed with each other for nearly half an hour to see which could give the best dance. There were even long, thin balloons for props! The winner got a giant bottle of expensive wine. They even had a second contest for the father of the birthday boy! He really enjoyed that! I must say, this is probably one of the more unique birthday parties I have been to. Unfortunately, being the gringa that I am and not being accustomed to staying out so late (or drinking so much, though that isn't usually a problem for most gringos), I had to ask to be taken home at 3:00 am. My friend was pretty disappointed and even tried to get me to go out somewhere else, but I was almost to the point of having to hold my eyes open with my hands to stay awake! I don't know what the secret is!
At least I had a good cultural experience, and some super delicious food. If you have never eaten Argentine meat, you have not lived. In which case you should come visit me and we can go to Argentina. See you soon!
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