It is so nice to have some good springtime weather. Winter really gets the best of me sometimes, even here where the winter is very mild compared to the cold of an Iowa winter. I took a ride on my bicycle, arrived high above Santiago in the surrounding cerros. It is so important for me to get out and get some exercise on a regular basis, but this week it was essential. The stress of my work evaluations, the uncertainty of the fact that I might have my classes canceled and be out of a job, (which didn't happen) it just can be a bit much sometimes.
On another note, check out Carolina's photoblog, I am very impressed with the blog, and her keen photographic eye. It is a quality that I always appreciate in a girlfriend...
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
and my mouth waters....
check out this blog... the lack of diversity when it comes to food in Santiago is bothersome, there are some Indian, and Thai places around, but the Indian places are expensive, and the Thai one disappointing (no peanut sauce) I guess it is just more motivation to expand my own culinary skills...
Al Shamshoon
The Simpsons in Arabic, without bacon, beer or Moe's tavern, it just doesn't seem to make much sense. Los Simpsons exists in Chile, Homero is pretty much the same pig he is in the US, I think if the US is going to export its culture, at least keep it accurate, Omaro (I think that is what he will be called) drinking soda isn't going to portray what Springfield is all about...it would be interesting to watch to see how on earth they can form the bizarre plot lines without mentioning beer or bacon though...
Almost thought...
So last night this whole building (at the mine) rocked back and forth for a minute, I honestly thought it was an earthquake but it turned out to just be a bunch of explosions meant to open up some new areas of the mine.
I have talked about it before, but I will talk about it again, the scale of this place really blow my mind away. The company here is supposed to make something like $1 bn this year, and it is a smaller mine. In total, the copper mining makes around $ 12 bn yearly in profit. The electricty bill here is something like $1 million a month. There are trucks that could smash even the biggest of the SUVs without the driver really feeling anything.
What will happen when all of these sites start to run dry? There are those people who talk about resource wars, and I think we are already in the midst of one over oil. What about the rest of the natural resources that drive our world? Copper, iron, even water, I have the sensation that I will get to see alot of these problems unfold over the course of my life...it is all a bit unsettling.
I have talked about it before, but I will talk about it again, the scale of this place really blow my mind away. The company here is supposed to make something like $1 bn this year, and it is a smaller mine. In total, the copper mining makes around $ 12 bn yearly in profit. The electricty bill here is something like $1 million a month. There are trucks that could smash even the biggest of the SUVs without the driver really feeling anything.
What will happen when all of these sites start to run dry? There are those people who talk about resource wars, and I think we are already in the midst of one over oil. What about the rest of the natural resources that drive our world? Copper, iron, even water, I have the sensation that I will get to see alot of these problems unfold over the course of my life...it is all a bit unsettling.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
back at the mine...
Back up here, my boss is with me, here to observe my classes and see how things are going. I really dislike having to teach for an audience, especially when it is my boss. The attendence of the students hasn't been very good, for many reasons, I don't know if they will let me finish the course through this December. I guess a decision will be made. I don't think I have ever seen such unstable work, maybe temp work putting popcorn into boxes, but you know that will be unstable when you start. There is this illusion about teaching English, set times for classes, attendence of students, your paycheck, you think you know what it will be, and then bamm a surprise comes. I am trying to find some other way to be busy here that will make my superiors feel like it is worth it to have me, but that is if my job stays intact this week.
Other than that, life is good, here in my 27th year of life....
Other than that, life is good, here in my 27th year of life....
Monday, October 17, 2005
Thursday, October 13, 2005
nunoa hounds
THE WAITING WRATH OF THE NUNOA HOUNDS
They lie in wait, move in packs, and bark louder than they bite, they are the resident strays of the Plaza Ñuñoa. Who are these canines? There are several of them that I see often in my travels to and from my apartment, located within barking distance of the plaza.
As far as strays go, they have a much better life than many other “vaga peros” who call the alleys, parks, bridges, and streets of Santiago home. There are several restaurants for the dogs to pick up fallen scraps of food, one of the street vendors has taken a liking to these pooches, setting up makeshift cardboard shelters, and even applied a splint to the broken leg of one of the injured mutts.
This is not to say their lives are easy, I looked into the eyes of one a particularly strange looking one with a long body and short legs. It was raining, and he looked rather sad, though I have seen the same one chasing bikes with plenty of glee.
On the whole, they are all rather calm, save a few instigators. One of the furry mutts always gets worked up when a motorcycle or bike comes close to the plaza. His display of doggone inhospitality catches on and pretty soon there are loud packs barking up a storm.
When the night falls, they tend to get more aggressive. I haven’t had too many problems riding my bicycle through the plaza during the day. However as the sun sets, the dogs start to growl.
I have seen them gather in a group of around fifteen, waiting for a motorist on an off-road motorcycle to cross Irarrazavul. The light changed and the rider proceeded, the pack converged and made chase like fox hounds going after a kill.
Only a dog knows what exactly is so offensive about a motorcycle or bicycle that warrants a dramatic show of teeth and an exhaustive chase. Regardless of their motives, if you happen to be riding by the Plaza Ñuñoa, it might pay to pack a good size stick, (or a tender steak) lest you feel the wrath of the Ñuñoa hounds.
They lie in wait, move in packs, and bark louder than they bite, they are the resident strays of the Plaza Ñuñoa. Who are these canines? There are several of them that I see often in my travels to and from my apartment, located within barking distance of the plaza.
As far as strays go, they have a much better life than many other “vaga peros” who call the alleys, parks, bridges, and streets of Santiago home. There are several restaurants for the dogs to pick up fallen scraps of food, one of the street vendors has taken a liking to these pooches, setting up makeshift cardboard shelters, and even applied a splint to the broken leg of one of the injured mutts.
This is not to say their lives are easy, I looked into the eyes of one a particularly strange looking one with a long body and short legs. It was raining, and he looked rather sad, though I have seen the same one chasing bikes with plenty of glee.
On the whole, they are all rather calm, save a few instigators. One of the furry mutts always gets worked up when a motorcycle or bike comes close to the plaza. His display of doggone inhospitality catches on and pretty soon there are loud packs barking up a storm.
When the night falls, they tend to get more aggressive. I haven’t had too many problems riding my bicycle through the plaza during the day. However as the sun sets, the dogs start to growl.
I have seen them gather in a group of around fifteen, waiting for a motorist on an off-road motorcycle to cross Irarrazavul. The light changed and the rider proceeded, the pack converged and made chase like fox hounds going after a kill.
Only a dog knows what exactly is so offensive about a motorcycle or bicycle that warrants a dramatic show of teeth and an exhaustive chase. Regardless of their motives, if you happen to be riding by the Plaza Ñuñoa, it might pay to pack a good size stick, (or a tender steak) lest you feel the wrath of the Ñuñoa hounds.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
So how bout a challenge....
So maybe I will regret deciding to all this, but I have entered into the NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month, ie november) challenge. I had read about this last year but missed it by several months. It involves writing a novel between Nov 1 and nov 30, it must be a minimum of 50,000 words, and it all has to be sent into their site by midnight of the 30th. It is an event that started several years ago in1999 with 21 participants. Last year 42,000 people registered, and 6,000 people finished. This year the organization is estimating around 60,000 people will register. It also involves forums, and more, sort of a community for creative bingers who for some reason think it is a good reason to do something like this. It is perfect for me because I have been wanting to write something longer for awhile, more than just an email, short story, or blog entry, and it is one of those things that always seem to be put off until tomarrow. You can read more about it at their website, the deadline is the first of November.
So what do you think? crazy or not?
We'll see on the 30th of November.
So what do you think? crazy or not?
We'll see on the 30th of November.
It has been a year...
I find it hard to believe that somehow I have been in Chile for a full year. I never would have believed it if anyone would have told me that I would be working in a copper mine, writing for an English newspaper.
It is hard to really get a sense of how I have changed in the last year. I think that when your living in such a different situation, a foreign country, the military, whatever, and coming from somewhere completely different like a flat university town, there is really no good point of refference to see exactly how you have changed. I really use people for all that, but the people I know here don't know me as I was before coming. So it really is difficult to say how I have changed, besides being able to understand an increasing amount of Spanish, I think that isn't all, and that much more is in shift and I won't really get a sense of that until I set foot in Iowa City once again.
I reall have been lucky, I have met some really cool people so far in Chile, from Carolina, to those I met traveling through Peru, crazy artist types selling jewewlery in La Paz, English teachers, Chileans of all sorts of different types. I have been able to see some pretty cool stuff, from Machhu Pichu, Lago Titikaka, the copper mine, the ocean on a regular basis, I have now lived in a large city for the longest period ever, one day I will have to stay a bit in a US city to compare it to Santiago.
I wasn't really sure when I left the US whether I had made the right decision, at first it was a bit difficult to feel comfortable with what I was doing, and even now I am not 100 percent stable, but I don't know if I ever will be.
So this weekend I will have to celebrate this milestone, along with my 27th birthday...
It is hard to really get a sense of how I have changed in the last year. I think that when your living in such a different situation, a foreign country, the military, whatever, and coming from somewhere completely different like a flat university town, there is really no good point of refference to see exactly how you have changed. I really use people for all that, but the people I know here don't know me as I was before coming. So it really is difficult to say how I have changed, besides being able to understand an increasing amount of Spanish, I think that isn't all, and that much more is in shift and I won't really get a sense of that until I set foot in Iowa City once again.
I reall have been lucky, I have met some really cool people so far in Chile, from Carolina, to those I met traveling through Peru, crazy artist types selling jewewlery in La Paz, English teachers, Chileans of all sorts of different types. I have been able to see some pretty cool stuff, from Machhu Pichu, Lago Titikaka, the copper mine, the ocean on a regular basis, I have now lived in a large city for the longest period ever, one day I will have to stay a bit in a US city to compare it to Santiago.
I wasn't really sure when I left the US whether I had made the right decision, at first it was a bit difficult to feel comfortable with what I was doing, and even now I am not 100 percent stable, but I don't know if I ever will be.
So this weekend I will have to celebrate this milestone, along with my 27th birthday...
Monday, October 10, 2005
Took a ride to the country...
It was a really nice place, a small rustic cabin set into the hill. Plenty of life around, animals, lizards, snakes, weasels, a good place to let time slip away.
We took a couple day trips, one to a small waterfall, where the sun was hot and the water cold, I got sunburned, but it was worth it.
I also rode to some small little town, got lost, my bike pedal fell off and upon arrival we bought wine and meat, a group of men debated on how to fix my bicycle, they were an interesting bunch, the town must've been around 500 people or something.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
the double life I live these days...
It really feels like a double life.
Go to the mine, come back to Santiago, go back to the mine, go back to Santiago, it is some sort of strange cycle that has my head spun up a bit. And my shift is rather easy. The people who actually work here pull shifts suck as 7 on 7 off, 5 by 2 10 by 5, not exactly stable living.
A number of people have commented that they feel like strangers in their own home, that their children don't listen to them because they aren't around. The money is good, and it is Chile's strongest, and biggest industry. With the price of the copper where it is, around 1.80, which is very high, the demand for production from the owners is very high. This means alot of stress for everyone involved in the business.
I feel lucky, in that I get a sense of how it is without having to fully subject myself to the lifestyle. It is a good gig for the short term, in my case, 20 weeks, but I couldn't imagine working here for years on end, on a longer 7 by 7 shift...
Go to the mine, come back to Santiago, go back to the mine, go back to Santiago, it is some sort of strange cycle that has my head spun up a bit. And my shift is rather easy. The people who actually work here pull shifts suck as 7 on 7 off, 5 by 2 10 by 5, not exactly stable living.
A number of people have commented that they feel like strangers in their own home, that their children don't listen to them because they aren't around. The money is good, and it is Chile's strongest, and biggest industry. With the price of the copper where it is, around 1.80, which is very high, the demand for production from the owners is very high. This means alot of stress for everyone involved in the business.
I feel lucky, in that I get a sense of how it is without having to fully subject myself to the lifestyle. It is a good gig for the short term, in my case, 20 weeks, but I couldn't imagine working here for years on end, on a longer 7 by 7 shift...
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