Dia Dos

I just went back and reread that first entry.  Rough.  Repetitive phrasing, recycled ideas within paragraphs, and an overall lack of color.  If you're still following this blog, thank you.  It'll get better, I promise.

Sadly, there isn't as much excitement to write about today.  I returned to the Instituto to give them copies of my passport, diploma, TEFL certificate, and a couple headshots for ID badges.  They didn't ask me to autograph them, but as the only blue-eyed guy around, I did the math on my own.  I signed the first three just "xoxo, Erik", but opted for the slightly longer "follow your heart!  Best wishes, E. Greene" for the fourth one.  We'll see which one makes my ID badge for the classroom. 

I got a "bip" card today - Santiago's version of the metro card.  I purchased it at one of the major hubs for subway cars, and the process of buying it could have been a key scene from the musical 'Dance of the Retards'. There were trains running below the ticket counter constantly, and as there was no hole in the plexiglass window between the apathetic representative and myself, we had to shout singular words and numbers to each other for a good 3 minutes until we reached a consensus on exactly what I was giving her money for.  I can't wait to become fluent.

I took the subway into Providencia (their subway is much, much nicer than Boston's), and I realized why everybody recommends that as the place to live.  Moving forward, I'll only look at apartments in the Providencia area.  There are a ton of cool restaurants, stores, and bars in the area, and everything there has the backdrop of the Andes Mountains behind it.  Much better than the hostel I'm in now, which is half a block off the main drag running through the heart of Santiago.  The urban environment is a bit imposing here, Providencia, specifically the "bellavista" area is the spot to be.

I wandered through Providencia for most of the afternoon, checking out the local parks (a lot of skateboarders and bikers there) and getting gawked at by the local uniformed schoolkids.  There are also a ton of lapis lazuli stores in the area, which is kind of like a deeper blue turquoise.  What is it with hispanics and their love of blue jewelry?

Still have yet to hear from most apartments in the area.  I used babelfish to make sure that the emails I would send people actually made sense, and I didn't make a "jugo de pine" vs "jugo de pene" level-mistake.  All I need is for these people to think a crazed lunatic is trying to shack up with them for a couple days and then steal their gold fillings in the middle of the night.  I'll wait until at least the second or third month to do so.