Well, another weekend of fun come and gone.

So I know that I've been a little delinquent in my postings, but life sure is busy. Class from 8 until 6:30 or 7:30, then some activity on some days and going out on other days. But anyways, last week we visited a school and I'm getting excited about the teaching these little overly hyper crazy kids that I can't understand. I think controlled anarchy is the best way to describe the school scene. When we arrived the entire school of 800 sang us a welcome song and we all introduced ourselves to the population. Afterwards, the students were set loose, and I thought I was going to get ripped apart. It might be the closest I'll ever get to being a rock star. Several of the children followed us into class and asked for all of our autographs. Being the benevolent soul that I am, I was happy to oblige them. Ha! Anyways, we all gave presentations and I think I did a pretty good job anchoring our group.

Anyways, I keep hearing crazy things about Antofagasta, most of which aren't so good. Apparently there are no trees, countless wild dogs that like to bite people, and a strong chance of getting flees. Oh and there is no water, so I might be kind of stinky. On the other hand, the beaches are supposed to be gorgeous and the professional surfing tour is coming in July. Maybe I can hang ten with Kelly Slater. But mom don't worry. I'll be careful, and I'm sure its going to be unbelievable.

Anyways, last weekend was pretty crazy. A huge group of us gringos went to the beach in Vina del Mar, a beautiful resort town west of Santiago. It shows off Chile's wealth with towering condos and a huge casino. We partied and laughed and had a great time, and I think that we're all raised to be louder than everyone else. I think it must be something in the genetically modified food we eat. Anyways, we had so much fun and its so strange that you can find such like minded and great people halfway across the world.

On Sunday, we caught a bus to Valparaiso, which is next door to Vina del Mar. We took an ascencor (I think that's how its spelled) up to the top of on of the hills and took a gorgeous 2.5 km walk up to one of Pablo Neruda's houses overlooking the city. It was really quite amazing.
Well, I'm getting kicked off my roommates computer, so I'll leave more for another day. I'm supposed to get my schedule soon, so I can send anyone interested information on what weeks I have off. Tentatively the week of September 18 would be a great week as it is the 200th anniversary of Chile's independence from Spain, and I guess the entire country plans parties for a month beforehand on an average year, so this should be extra crazy. It also looks like I'll have two weeks off in July, but I'm not exactly sure when. Tentatively, I am thinking I might plan this to be a week to go to Peru and possibly to Buenos Aires during the second week. There are also alot of other 3 day weekends in which I'm going to try and go snowboarding and visit friends in the south. Patagonia will probably be out until after the trip, because my breaks will be in the middle of winter. I heard that the wind can get so bad down there in the winter that the towns have ropes set up to pull yourself along inside the town.

Oh and I've had my first casualties of the trip. One of my headphones broke and the LCD on my camera broke, although the camera itself still works.

Anyways, hasta manana.

Soy apprendiendo espanol!

OK, so I know about 12 words now, but you´ve got to start somewhere. We´ve been going all day everyday learning about the culture and visiting schools.

Greetings fromt the Sunny, warm Southern hemisphere

Well, its day number 3 here and this is basically the first time I´ve seen the internet clear, so I thought I´d quick post for my millions of readers worldwide. Anyways, I don´t know how I do it, but somehow I always find the partiers. We´ve been whooping it up (and yes I´ve been careful mom). I might be the worst Spanish speaker of the bunch, but hey, I´ve got 8 months to learn. Santiago is very beautiful, but since it is surrounded by mountains its seems to have a continual smog problem. Overall, the people have been very friendly and the food has been good, but not superb. I had a filete pobre last night, which is basically a steak covered in french fries and an egg on top. Other than that its been a bunch of orientation and getting to know people before we all go to our separate towns (there are about 70 total volunteers of which 14 will be in my city). I have some staunch competition on the ping pong table and have already made some friends who´ll give me opportunties to explore all over the country. Also, the first night I hung out with a Chilean who was obsessed with American blues and jazz until six in the morning and then the next night a bunch of us took a gondola to the top of one of the smaller mountains in town and had a great view of the city. We met an Argentinian who gave us a standing invite to go down to Buenos Aires. I might add, I also had my first pseudo-date with a chilean on the flight over. We shared a movie and I charmed her with my umparalleled wit and charm (as well as good looks). Ciao. P.S. if you read this please put some sort of comment. It would be great to have some input on what I´m writing. Ciao, again.

Editorial Comment

I was recently informed that Dolly Parton originally sang "I Will Always Love You". I would never try to discount the assets she has in the country music community and would like to formally apologize to anyone who could have been insulted by my gross misuse of this timeless classic. I assure you, the reader, that any mistakes I have made have been alleviated without further court action. And by the way, I really would appreciate any comments or requests for revisions you find necessary as I will be alone in a scary place. In fact, in my endless search for knowledge about Chile and life in general, I discovered that the national animal of Chile is the Sasquatch so pray for me.

History of Chile: Part I

Since I had some time while my laundry is getting clean for the first time in months, I thought I would give all my faithful readers a brief history of the country Chile.

Chile was discovered in 1943 by Senor Santiago who was later immortalized by the classic video game and television show "Where in the World is Carmen Santiago". Ironically, Carmen was not Senor Santiago's name, it was Frank, but a young ingenue he met along his travels through this beautiful country became his inspiration for the first generation of this game "Where are you Carmen? I'm coming to get you." Later he would be arrested on stalking charges and spend the rest of his life in exile on the island of Elba where he would eat, drink and be merry with such television personalities as Napolean, Sammy Davis Jr. and Lauren Conrad from Laguna Beach and The Hills.

Since Sr. Santiago discovered the country he was given the liberty of giving the country its name by the International Nation Naming Council or .INNC for short. Coincidentially .INNC is also credited as being the world's first corporation and advertising agency. You may remember its ad campaign for the first season of American Idol, "If you can't get a golden calf you can get your idolatry fix through the most American democratic of ways, text messaging. Just tune in Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and three times on Sundays to vote." For more about .INNC and its place in history, check out the new documentary ".INNC 2, Rise of Machines" starring Arnold Schwartzeneggar as the indestructible CEO with a heart of gold and Reba McIntyre as the small town country girl who is small on material wealth but rich on quick wit and the legal know how to file Articles of Incorporation.

Now, you may believe that Sr. Santiago would have named Chile after an ancient indigenous word for beautiful scenery or even after a particularly hot chili pepper he ate or even after a particularly cold night he spent out in the wilderness, but in fact he was a much more complicated individual than most historians have given him credit for. He was extremely jovial, which explained his late nights at the local pub where he would sing Chilean favorites until the wee hours. Ironically his favorite song "The Long Song" was later mistranslated into "The Thong Song" in the United States. In the original he would repeat for hours on end the line "Long, long, long, long song." Unfortunately the twisted American version trivialized the gentle, haunting melody created by Frank Santiago.

Eventually the long hours weighed on Sr. Santiago and his health deteriorated while his weight ballooned out of control. At one point he became unable to leave his house, and word of his ill health reached the world's celebrities who in turn organized the world's largest benefit concert just outside of Byron Center, Michigan. During his stirring rendition of "I Will Always Love You", Bono was joined on stage by the song's writer Whitney Houston as well as such iconic figures as Leonard Nemoy, Angelina Jolie and Alf. Considered among the greatest moments in the history of the world, this simple song unified the warring factions of the world and raised $100 billion dollars, which was given directly to Sr. Santiago. Unfortunately bad business decisions (Santiago's Accountant lost half of the money by betting on the Lions of Detroit and the Cubs of Chicago) and the invention on the big mac two weeks later left Sr. Santiago broke and on his death bed. Showing his true spirit and solidifying his place not only in Chilean lore but around the world Sr. Santiago's last words were uttered to his closest confidant, Tom Izzo (Obviously not the coach of Michigan State, because that would be plain stupid) and were "Can't Help It I Like Everyone". Using the brilliance that would later let a similarly named individual make the final four three times in 8 years, Izzo would decide to take this phrase and shorten it to CHIILE. Later the Chilean Enquirer realized it only had one letter "I" in its printing presses and shortened the name to Chile which was widely accepted by the Chilean people and remains to this day.

I love the RIAA.

They just get more evil everyday. Maybe they should hire Ann Coulter to fix their image.

RIAA sues paralyzed stroke victim.

I think gizmodo's boycott is great.

I just realized I can talk about anything and nobody can tell me I'm wrong.

So if the Lions don't take Joe Thomas with their pick or trade down I might have to personally destroy Matt Millen. (Photoshop can do some amazing things, lol). So anyways, here's my favorite scenario. Trade to Atlanta for their number 1 this year and next and Matt Schaub. Then get Gaines Adams, Jamaal Anderson, Patrick Willis or LeRon Landry. Schaub is the nasty QB the Lions need to take us to the Super Bowl in 2008. I also like trading to Arizona for their 2nd and 3rd pick. Here I wouldn't be too pissed if they took Quinn.

Well, I've got one day to go before I leave.

So I've decided to start this blog to let people know what's going on as I embark on this crazy adventure. I'm not sure how easy it is going to be to communicate while I'm down in Chile for the next 8 1/2 months teaching English, so I figured I'd try a blog. I'm not sure how great I'll be about adding entries here since I'm not sure what my computer situation is going to be (And yes, I'm leaving my laptop at home. I feel a little liberated by cutting the wires, but I've got a feeling I'll have a little computer withdrawal when I get down there.) So check in as often as you want (or as little as you want because this could be really boring. I mean how interesting can a blog be when the only Spanish words you know are taco and cerveza.) I think my gringoness is going to be very apparent, since I might be the gringoest of all gringos.

Maybe you'll find keen insights into the inner workings of the global economy through the lens of a foreign national exposed to the Chilean culture but more likely you'll be exposed to my crazy stream of consciousness. So thanks for reading. T.J.