El Kiwi en Sudamérica

Well, i haven't been tht busy but...

Hola Hola (this is all stuff that has happened up to last Sunday- I haven't had a chance to put this up...Work at the grange is going good though)
Things have been great here recently; I had a great time in Viña del mar for the long weekend, and I’ve just finished off at my work (good times, pay day is coming soon as well. it’s once a month- far too infrequent in my book- I always seem to have just the right amount money when rent time comes, but I need money to keep me going until payday)
Work should be good fun, but funnily enough ever since putting in my notice work has been really fun; I'll definitely miss my students...sniffle, However it will be cool to work with the kids, get up later, have a steady schedule and not have to stress about getting my students to pass their tests (It can be quite important for them to impress their employers etc.)
Viña del mar was alot of fun- to use the local expression for this holiday there was alot of 'tiqui-tiqui-tí’ (only used for the sept. independence holidays, I think it has to do with la Cueca, a traditional dance)
Well, on Friday afternoon I left the big smoke on a Tur Bus (the buses here are good as: nice seats, good value, alright leg room and Seinfield of all things on the TV) So I arrived, chilled with Silvia, Timo (Silvia's boyfriend recently back in Santiago) and some of their friends from the church there- Walked around the city, ate a monster completo, and both Timo and I stayed at Silvia's family’s place for the night. For Saturday we chilled, had lunch, visited Valpariso with Sam and Francisco, then caught up with more of the peeps from Santiago at a fonda (kind of like a fair, but focused on food, drink etc.) where we ate some mean empanadas and kebab things, tried this traditional grape cider or something (I think it was called chicha), and soaked up the atmosphere- then to the pub for the rest of the evening (and a quick refuel at a muy barato completo joint with a 3 for 1.000 special (three for under $3 NZ, not bad) ahhhh, good times
That night Timo and I stayed with Francisco (a friend from the church there, great guy- we stayed their the rest of the time we were there)
Thankfully, church started at 11 so we had a chance to have a good rest. After church I went with Silvia and Timo to another BBQ with some family friends (have I raved on my blog about how good they are here? great cuts of meat, delicious sausages, amazing Smokey flavour. Good times eating far too much, sitting around digesting... Then church in the evening- a brilliant service, good relaxed vibe (even with the read through service thing). I prayed my first prayer in Spanish in a group, had communion- a wonderful experience.
But wait there's more... the main event, what the whole holiday was about- Dieciocho de Septiembre!!! "Tiqui Tiqui ti” anyway, to get the authentic experience I went with Silvia and Timo to Silvia's extended family do in a town inland. Good times eating more amazing BBQ delights- I was "satisfecho" (satisfied) or in slang "Jennifer" (Jennifer sounds like lleno (pronounced yeno) which means full-not the polite way to say it at all...) Then we went back to Viña to meet up with the others at someone's place, but to my surprise it wasn't just the others; half of Viña piled into the house (I think most of the peeps were from the Anglican church there with a good number of Santiagoans as well (in other words a huge number of randoms). Anyway, so we wanted to go somewhere to 'tiqui tiqui ti"- but there was the crowd who wanted to go clubbing, and then those who wanted something more chilled out- suffice to say we couldn't find a place where everyone was happy, so... to make a long story short about 12ish of us went back to the house and chatted, played games etc until way early in the morning-way to tiqui tiqui ti!
Tuesday afternoon was cool- before going back to Santiago I walked around the city with Francisco, met up with some of the Provi crew at some relatives place for a cuppa, and then saw more of the city with some of them before catching the bus back (busy as roads for the record...)
After that the week went smooth as I mentioned before. Just the usual (touch starts this Wednesday- I'll be getting my shirt as well, bwwwhahaha)
This Saturday I had the chance to go to a party with Jason and Mely which was cool-In a more posh part of town as well (so I fit in well), Up nearer the hills. Good times...
Sunday was a bit of a mission at the start; obviously getting up wasn't as easy, then to make matters worse I arrived and no one was there! So, using my amazing cognitive abilities decided to go back via the pastor's place- maybe they were meeting there... So I walked past, saw a different car there and was just about to go when I saw Omar's sister and Nadia packing gear into the car (Omar, Susana and Daniel are in Argentina or something- so the service was delayed... I guess maybe something was said a few weeks ago but it didn't register Haha. So after church I visited the Moya family again- dare I say good times... I think that I’m getting close to another 'quantum leap' in my Spanish (my speaking has alot of catching up to do). I'm even starting to be able to understand most questions (unlike before) but I often can't put my reply together in a smooth manner (it's getting there, but when I tell my bi-lingual friends they find it hard to believe that I can actually communicate in these situations (I’m at my most stilted when I’m with them: I think it's something psychosomatic- I think they expect amazing things from me, and I come up with the opposite- I wonder what is actually going through their minds... It's probably to do with the fact that I can converse perfectly fine in English, which kinda takes the necessity out of it. Anyway, back to the Moyas- they are a real cool family, I really appreciate their hospitality and love. I even got a lift back with some friends of theirs who were visiting- God is so good to me... So this week I am going to visit the Grange a few days me thinks, and try make this next quantum leap (can I call it that if it takes this long...)
Alrighty, catch you all later. Thanks for the prayers- God Bless


As well, here's some random pics from the trip...
Some cool tug boats in Valparaiso
At Silvia's extended familiy BBQ for the 18th
Some grimey buildings in Valpo
From left: Sam, Silvia, Francisco and Timo
I've never seen a building like that before-very creative
Timo about to attack a monster Completo

posted by Nathan Sinclair @ 4:15 PM