Watch Out! Ms. B's back in town!

Matt creepin' behind his Chilean man-friends

Hello Everyone!  The last few weeks have been pretty exciting for both Matt and I here in Santiago.  Probably the most exciting event was hanging out with Chilean Will (aka David aka Hayes) in his home town.  It was wonderful to meet his polola and fellow classmates from business school.  But, boy, do they like to stay up late.  I'm starting to think that's a trend here in Chile.

Maida is a wonderful friend.

Last week and this week, I have been reporting to Santiago College to set-up my classroom and prepare for the arrival of the students.  As I mentioned before, SC has moved into a brand new campus on the outskirts of the city.  It is a beautiful space that has literally transformed before my eyes the last few weeks.  All of the buildings are finished and the outside space is shaping up.  It is a gigantic campus with multiple buildings, a beautiful cafeteria (called a casino down here; unfortunately no gambling), many patios and play yards, a futbol field, hockey field, and a sports facility with a pool and basketball courts.  It really is tremendous.  Last week, I met many of my students and their parents.  I promised myself not to do much comparing, but I will say it is a very different environment than PS 64.  We will see how the schools and experiences compare once I'm in the swing of things.  I actually start school with the children tomorrow!  Feel free to leave a comment about what you think I should wear on the first day - suggestions welcome.
As promised, below are some pictures of my classroom.  The room was quite hospital-like when I first arrived.  I hoping it's a bit more colorful and child-friendly now.

Calendar, Schedule, Time Area
(All homemade!)

PYP (SC's program) corner

Math Area

Gigantic whiteboard with projector! 

Supply Organization

I will be sure to post more pictures of my classroom & the campus and comments are always welcome!  I'm really looking forward to this school year.  It is going to be a big change from my past experiences, but I hope to learn a lot from the children and my fellow teachers.  Santiago College uses the International Baccalaureate PYP Program as its basis.  It is a very student-driven, exploratory, and whole-child approach to learning.  These concepts and ideas have always been familiar to me, but seeing them in action is amazing.  Last, but not least on the SC front, "Ms. B" is in temporary retirement.  At SC, the teachers go by their first names or simply "Miss."  So, now, I am "Ms. Sara."  Gotta say, doesn't have the ring that Ms. B does.  

Matt has picked up a few more tutoring classes, which have kept him busy.  He also consistently gives bicycle tours every weekend.  Saturday and Sunday mornings can be quite rough, to say the least.  We continue to try new foods and visit new places when the time permits.  We routinely visit "La Vega,"

our fruit and vegetable market, on Sundays and cook at home throughout the week.  In addition, we celebrated our 3 year togetherness anniversary last Friday.  We went to the local Chinese restaurant and had 2 for 1 cocktails.  We like to keep it fancy. 

No whiskey, had to settle for rum.

Pisco Sours

Looking forward, Matt's birthday is creepin' up real quick (next Tuesday, the 27th).  He loves when I remind him that he'll be turning 28 and I'll still be 27.  He likes to think he's dating a younger woman.  On the 30th, we will have friends over for a little Happy Hour with cake.  That weekend, we are going to Lollapalooza, a weekend-long music festival to continue the celebration.  We hope we have "Maquinaria luck" again.  

Happy Birthday Vale!
(Charlie loves signing.)

As always, please e-mail us, snail mail us, skype us, gchat us, telepath us to let us know what is going on in your lives.  We constantly think of you all and love hearing from you!  Saludos!


Matt here for one final addition....enjoy!

"Ass Cheese.....hhahahaha"

Sara loves puppies & other Chilean adventures

Introducing American friends to the terremotos of La Piojera

Hey everyone!  Long time, no blog- it's Sara here.  Things here in Chile have been quite exciting lately.  During the third week of February, I had a visit from a fellow bookclubber and her friend.  Rachel and Gina were wonderful guests who were up for anything!  Matt and I definitely filled their time here in Chile to the max.  

Rachel, Gina and I arriving in Valpo

As soon as the girls arrived, the three of us jumped on a bus to Valparaiso.  There, we explored the hills, ate delicious seafood, checked out the local bar scene (completely dead at 10:30- we were too early), rode the funiculars, took in the many boats and walked up and down many, many steps.  
The following day we checked out of our hostel and took a bus over to Valpo's sister city, Vina (with a ~) del Mar.  There we hung out on the beach and dipped our feet into the Pacific.  We also all burnt ourselves.  Who knew one hour on the beach could do so much damage?  Lesson learned!

Post-crisp on the beach in Vina del Mar

Upon our return to Santiago (which included an hour-long conversation with my bus mate in SPANISH!), the four of us went out to a couple of bar/restaurants (in Chile, they are called resto-bars) in our neighborhood.  

We first went to "The Clinic," which is a famous bar/restaurant here in Santiago that leans left politically.  There we ran into two travelers us girls met at our hostel in Valpo.  They were wonderful company for the night.  We proceeded to return to our apartment and dance to most of Girl Talk's "All Day."  As it was Monday, our neighbors weren't too impressed.  But, as I always say, "How can you not love Girl Talk?"

Enjoying Escudo with new friends
(excluding the strange man in the background)

We managed to wake up at a reasonable time on Tuesday for our tour of La Chascona, Pablo Neruda's house- one of his three Chilean houses and the only in Santiago.  We learned a ton about Neruda and his many "lady friends."  At this point, Matt had to run to work, so Rachel, Gina and I walked around the Bellavista neighborhood and through Parque Forestal with a stop at Emporio La Rosa.  Rachel and Gina especially enjoyed the Dulce de Leche helado.  That night it was off to Argentina for Rachel and Gina and back to "the real world" for me. 

Adorable on our mountain bikes

Rachel and Gina returned from Argentina on Friday afternoon.  After hanging by our rooftop pool (yeah, you just read that), we headed over to La Piojera for some terremotos and pure Chilean people-watching.  You can always count on the characters coming out at La Piojera.  We then ventured to the Bellavista neighborhood for some Escudos at the many outside tables that litter the sidewalk of Pio Nono.  Rachel and Gina were very popular among the Chilean men, even having to refuse free meat and beer.  After a quick stop over at our friend Canuto's apartment, we made our way home.

Early Saturday morning, us girls were picked up for a Wine and Bike Tour in the Maipo Valley, about one hour away from Santiago.  The tour was organized by Matt's company, La Bicicleta Verde.  Unfortunately, Matt had to work, so he wasn't able to come with.  But, we had a lovely tour guide, Jose Miguel, who was exceptionally knowledgeable.  We rode through some easy and some tough terrain throughout three different vineyards, learning 

about grapes, the wine-making process and what makes the Chilean countryside special for wine production (it's the weather, duh!).  We ended the tour at a great family-run restaurant in the town of Buin.  There we tried three different wines from the wineries we visited.  (No biking and drinking!)

Obviously my favorite part of the tour- happy puppy!

After we returned to Santiago, Rachel and Gina had to pack up and ship out- back to the good ol' U S of A.  And, of course, Matt and I went back to the routine- giving bike tours and teaching English classes.  Thankfully, that only lasted one more week for me- I finished my private tutoring/English classes last week.  I will miss the students and the work was not so bad, but the commuting was terrible.  I start at Santiago College TOMORROW for meetings and classroom set-up.  The students and their families will come for a tour of the new campus on the 14th and classes will start on the 19th.  I can't wait to see the new space, meet my students and get back to teaching (little kids that is).  Matt continues to give excellent bike tours.  In fact, he is mentioned (with a photo!) on Tripadvisor.  He has also taken up a few more tutoring classes, which helps out the wallet.  

Matt at the sculpture park

On a rare day off together, Matt and I were able to take our bikes out to see some sights around Santiago.  We first went to the Pedro de Valdivia Sculpture Park, where we enjoyed some interesting pieces of art and a practicing trombone player setting the mood.  We then moved onto the Museo Nacional Bellas Artes to catch the Matta exhibit there.  But, we missed it by just two days.  Major bummer.  Fortunately (at least for me), the day was rescued by spying some new puppies in the park!  Matt was nice enough to endure about 30 minutes of my "ooohs," "awwwwws," and "hey buddddies."  I plan to visit those little guys again this weekend and maybe stash one in my bag when Matt isn't looking! 

I continue learning and practicing my espanol with my bi-weekly classes with my wonderfully patient teacher, Romina!  As she says, I'm coming along "poco a poco."  Looking forward, we have a few visitors coming in the next month.  Chilean Will will be home this upcoming Sunday.  It should be a fun time chilling with him in Chile (get it- chillin' in Chile?  Matt loves my jokes).  In addition, Matt's good buddy from home, Davin and his girlfriend, Molly, are coming to Santiago at the end of the month.  We both can't wait to show off our new city to them.  

As always, Matt and I both think of everyone in the States quite often.  We miss you all and would love to hear from you.  Shoot us an e-mail or comment on the blog to let us know what you have been up to!

I really, really love puppies.

*Don't forget, if you click on the pictures, it will enlarge them.  I know you want to see the puppies in full screen.*

Ides of February

Well-worth $100CLP/$.20USD

The Costanera Center, which will be the
tallest building in South America.

   Hey, ya'll; Matt here.  How've you been?  We're doing OK: working, getting out, seeing folks - you know, the usual.
  Sara has been working like a maniac on multiple fronts in preparation for the coming school year.  She's been tutoring Santiaguinos like a madwoman the past few weeks to build up cash reserves.  On top of this, she's been bettering herself and her experience here by taking Spanish lessons.  She now commands enough Spanish to be a danger to herself and others; she's loving it.

Sara loves this.

Making a fly out of own beard hair = time for a haircut

  I've been working a decent amount doing bike tours as a full guide.  Most of my students have been on vacation in late January/early February, so this is really my only source of income currently.  It's paid well at times and fairly poorly at others.  I really lucked out this last weekend and got a couple of Americans who gave me a fat/phat tip.  Interestingly enough, they were landscape architects from CT who knew about the city I grew up in (Guilford, CT).  The small-world aspect of this was well summed-up by one of the guys as I told him about sandwiches at Deli Unlimited on Route 1, "I can't believe I had to travel to Santiago, Chile to find out where the best sandwiches in Guilford, CT are."

Looking towards Volcan San Jose
in the Valle Engorda near Banos Morales.
Chilean-engineered bridge.

  Sara & I have also been making sure to find time for ourselves to find good food, drink, and times.  On Pio Nono, in the Bellavista neighborhood, there are usually street performers at night for the string of beer-bars which line the street.  These include rock/blues musicians, one-man-band boys, comedians, clowns, mimes, etc.  Sara's current favorite is a dance-tastic transvestite.  He/she is a spectacle and naturally chooses people who look like they'd be uncomfortable (me) as targets.  I was able to delight several Santiaguinos by breaking out my finest lower-lip-bitten & eyes-closed dancing for him/her.  We've also gotten into the habit of having lunch at La Vega when we do our fruit/vegetable shopping.  This has provided plenty of opportunity to try many new dishes like chupe de mariscos (cheesy seafood chowder) and lomo salteado (french fries, steak strips, peppers, onions, rice).  Hanging with friends has been good as well.  A few weekends ago, Charlie took me along for a day of trout fly-fishing in the Yeso River in Cajon del Maipo.  While I didn't catch jack-squat or even get a nibble, it was a lot of fun and a great way to spend a day: steak, beer, fishing.  I've never said that I was a good fisherman, just that I enjoyed fishing.

Near sunset at 4900M.

Hundreds of goats, no chupacabra in sight.

  On the note of food, I've been perfecting my peanut butter recipes and so far have gotten mostly approval of the results.  The merquen (accent on the 2nd e), oregano, and original blends are pretty damn good right now.  Honey, almond, and cinnamon-raisin still need some work.  If you have any good ideas on how to make an idea of this sort work, please shoot me an email and fill me in.

Excellent place to end a 5 day journey.

  And now for something completely different: I had no students to tutor last week so I made a trip out to the southernmost 6000M peak in the world, Cerro Marmolejo.  This mountain is about 50 miles outside Santiago and is on the border with Argentina.  It was a gigantic mountain and unfortunately turned me away after 3 days of approach ascent to 5000M.  However, on my way back to the small village of Banos (with ~) Morales, a hot springs, I ran into a former Chilean Military Mountaineering Corp. member.  After speaking for 1 minute, he invited me back to his sister's house for the following 3 hours where they showered me in pisco sours and snacks, despite my smelling absolutely god-awful.  This was one of the most hospitable things that has ever happened to me and was greatly appreciated.  It made the defeat on the mountain far more manageable.  As always, if you want to see more pictures from this trip go to http://getserious.shutterfly.com.

Chilean Kenny Powers.  I couldn't get a front shot,
but trust me, this dude is the damn spitting image of
the man.  He was only missing 40lbs. and jean shorts.

  Looking ahead, we have a lot coming up.  Sara's friend/Fabulous Lady's Book Club member, Rachel, will be visiting us for a few days.  My buddy, Davin, will be heading down to hang in South America for a few months.  It will be most excellent seeing folks from stateside and catching up.  Also, there will be some great music coming our way really soon.  Roger Waters, of Pink Floyd, will be performing "The Wall" in the beginning of March and Lollapalooza, the 2-day music festival, happens later in the month.  We're also hoping to make a small weekend trip near the end of March for my 28th birthday (a fact which Sara seems to love reminding me of).
  We hope that all is well with you and ask that you Skype/Gchat/facebook (only Sara)/email/snailmail/etc. us to let us know how you're doing; we think of you all the time (only good thoughts).  Big news, small news, mundane BS - we would love to hear it, please share!  Ciao, amigos.

Cerro Marmolejo.  I was stopped by massive penitentes on
the glacier 100M higher.  3 hours spent looking for a route.

Gringo It Up

"Hey, Buddy" (Use the voice Sara would use with a dog)

Another beautiful day out in wine-country

   Hey, everybody; Matt here.  It's been a while since I rapped at ya' so here it goes.  Not too much is new around these parts.  We're working (Sara moreso) a lot to make ends meet until Sara gets her killer job going in March.  This will finally allow me to work on my killer tan (meant literally as a likely candidate for skin cancer).  It's summer here, so we're still having countless beautiful, hot, and sunny days.  We never thought we'd say it, but a rainy day (gotta fit in The Temptations whenever possible) would be nice.

Sara biking through Plaza de Armas near sunset.  She isn't
always happy when we ride bikes.

Homer Simpson @ Plaza Italia

   So when I left off last time, I mentioned that I started a new job working for a bike guide company.  The job is really great; I get to talk history, work with fun people, and every tour includes a free snack and/or drink.  Some tours include trips to bars, wineries, and even cafe con piernas (coffee with legs).  It would be nice if the pay was better, but the work is far more satisfying than tutoring.  Like guides everywhere, I rely on tips which are usually forthcoming from Canadians & Americans.  I've had particularly bad luck with Aussies, British, and Brazilian visitors as far as tips go; maybe there is less tipping-culture there.  I also suppose my legendary gringo-charm doesn't work on other gringos.

GRINGOS, THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!

  On the note of gringos, Sara and I finally made it to the main gringo-bar of Santiago, the California Cantina.  It is run by American expats for American expats.  Why go?  Well, they play American sports on the TVs and it's pretty much the only choice for seeing NFL, MLB, and NBA games (you remember what a sports nut I am, right?) in Santiago at a bar.  We went there the first time before our friend, Mashini's, birthday.  We were blown away by how many gringos we saw ("So that's where they hide.") and the American pricing on drinks/food ($$).  We went back last night to see the Ravens vs. Pats game and by the time we got there (2nd Qtr.), they had already run out of wings....c'mon, really?!  They were suggesting reserving tables for Superbowl as well and they apparently fill up by 2 hours before kickoff.

Sara & the birthday boy/man/ghost, Mashini

   Going to Mashini's birthday party was a load of fun; we got to stay up late, see friends, and have a ridiculous time.  The only downer was that I had to work the next morning because of the new job (all weekends).

Statue of St.Michael in the National Cathedral.
Yes, Mom & Dad, I went into a church.

   On another gringo note, I'm considering another get-rich-quick scheme (shelving Barbaroja's Cheesesteakery for now) that plays the gringo card: peanut butter.  Many folks have been so kind as to send us peanut butter (chunky!) due to our (my) frequent bellyaching about the availability of PB here.  While you can find it here, it is of low quality, expensive, and generally creamy (blech!). With that in mind, I'm thinking of making and selling my own brand of peanut butter featuring Chilean ingredients.  If you have any suggestions for company names, flavors, images, programs, or whatever, I would love to hear 'em; just drop me a line at my email.  Of course, this will most certainly not make me rich or do it quickly, but along similar lines to the bike-work, I think I'll enjoy it.  As this is also a major wine-producing country, I might be able to float some product on PB & wine ideas (think PB&J, same concept, stole the idea from the Peanut Butter & Co. guy in NYC).

Live music in Parque Balmaceda @ sunset

As always, we hope that all is well and that you know that we think of you often.  You are highly encouraged to send/post pictures & stories of what's happening in your life.  Until next time, ciao.

New Year, Old (insert something clever)

@ Ciudad Vieja in Bellavista, killer sammies.

@ Cerro Santa Lucia by the Neptune Fountain

Hey ya'll, Matt here.  It's been a while since I rapped at ya' so there's plenty to report on from the Southern Hemisphere.  First of all, Happy New Year to everyone and a rousing "Screw you, 2011!"  We were able to send off 2011 and see in 2012 with our friends, Millsy & Danielle, from the US (G-Town).

Costillar w/ mashed potatoes & onion/tomato salad

  It was very nice to have the opportunity to show off what we know of the city to others.  With trips to the parks, restaurants, and nightlife we had a fairly full schedule.  We made excursions to the major lookout points of the city, Cerros Santa Lucia and San Cristobal, which provide great views and a load of sunshine.  There was also a good amount of eating out at great Chilean food-spots.  We had some of the classics: 

@ Le Petite Frances

• lomitos (sliced pork w/ avocado)
• completos (hot dog w/ mayo & tomato)
• chacarero (sliced pork, aji chiles, green beans)
• pollo asado (grilled chicken)
• costillar (pork rib)
• pastel de choclo (corn pie)
• mote con huesillo (peach juice, peach, barley)



@ Le Petite Frances

• leche con platano (milk & banana shake)

Millsy & Danielle seemed to take kindly to the mote & completo.  I believe her comment on first having a mote was something to the tune of "this is exactly what I wanted."  Of course, we had some of this great stuff at La Vega, where a random Chilean repeatedly (approx. 6x) told me that there is where Chileans eat.

These were seriously everywhere.  Panties, panties, panties!

BOAR!!!

 We also made an excursion to Cajon del Maipo to spend a night in the Andes.  We stayed at a nice little place called Le Petite France, which was in the style of a French Mediterranean villa.  Between swimming, taking in the views, consuming an immoderate amount of wine, and having a great meal (I had boar, like a king!) it was an excellent way to spend the last day of 2011.
  We made our way back to the city for New Year's Eve.  One item that should be noted, Chileans have their own distinct New Year's traditions such as:

• wearing yellow panties (sold all over the streets)
• really fun confetti blasters (80cm popper tube)
• putting money in your shoe
• eating 12 grapes



Do I have to?

• eating lentils

The roof of our apartment (26th floor) was packed with people taking in the view of fireworks going off all over the city.  The main display was from the Entel (a telephony co.) Tower.  The show lasted about 1/2 hour and had fireworks shooting up, sideways, and down (I had never seen that before); it was pretty cool.  Most people in Chile ring in the new year with their families and then go out after to party into the night.  We went to sleep at a reasonable 2 or 3am.  When we were waking up on Jan. 1st, we still heard revelers until about 11am; people here take their partying seriously.  

Terremotos @ La Piojera

  On their last day here, we did try to cram as much as possible into the final few hours.  By that, I mean we went to La Piojera for some terremotos and then to the SoHo-esque Lastarria neighborhood for some Peruvian drinks & snacks.  In an interesting turn of events, right as Millsy was getting money at the ATM for the airport taxi, someone was creating trouble a block away throwing molotov cocktails at a policewoman (How about that?).  For more pictures from Millsy & Danielle's trip (non-explosive), check Millsy's facebook.

The Rio Mapocho & La Bicicleta Verde across the river

Making sangria.  Thanks, Chi & Gabby!

  In other new year news, I landed another job, and this one I have more interest in.  It's at a place called La Bicicleta Verde (The Green Bicycle).  You may have heard of them in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, or on TripAdvisor.  They provide bike tours of the city; it is a nice intersection of my interests: being active, history, and food/drink (every tour has a snack and/or beverage).  I'm in training right now, but hope to be leading my own tours soon.  Downside: it takes away my weekends currently, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back into the mountains for another high altitude trip (bummer!).  

Ocarinas at a craft fair.  The sign says don't play as it will
spread colds and HERPES!

  Sara is still working like crazy tutoring English.  She has started attending professional development and planning sessions at Santiago College and says the people are very kind and helpful.  She seems very optimistic about the coming school year.

One very happy kitty atop Cerro Santa Lucia

   Oh, yeah, yesterday we had our first Chilean tremblor (earthquake below 7 on the Richter scale).  It was a 5.1 (pretty small), but we felt the apartment shake a little bit.  I'm not too worried about a big one as those are generally about 10 years apart (last big one was in 2010).  Another "oh, yeah," you should tune in to "CashCab" on Jan. 26th (I think, ask Brandon for details) to see your favorite tall, smart, handsome (and slightly tipsy) hero try to make some easy money.
  So with that, I'll close out.  All is well and we hope all is well with you.  Shoot us an email and let us know how you're doing, post pictures, do something because you know we miss you.