Its been awhile...

I did not realize it has been a month since I last posted. Time was lost since I was working a lot and trying to travel a bit on the weekends. Everything has been going well at both the liceo and basic school. I changed my classes around a bit so now I teach levels I enjoy at the basic school. The seventh graders were too much to handle and I decided to not work with them. It doesnt help when the cooperating teacher does nothing to help as well when they began to get out of control. I am continuing to meet wonderful people through this job, and my favorite cooperating teacher, Alejandra, is looking into getting me a job at the basic school for next year. Im also planning on talking with the University. At this point Im considering coming back and living here for the next school year so I can get a better grasp on the language. Im just worried if I come home now, Ill lose it all too quickly. Im hoping to start getting the resumes out this week...(yes it is translated into Spanish :)
So since my last post, I went back to La Serena to see the guy Im currently dating. I visit him as well as other volunteers who live in town or come to visit. Last time we had a great "asado" (bbq) at Jorge´s house (thats the guy). It was so fun to have everyone there. So we had the group of English speakers and Spanish speakers, which at times was very interesting. But its really nice for me to have a short trip on the weekends out of my town. I would like to visit other places, but the North of Chile is so spread out it takes many hours to get to some of the popular spots. Hard to cram in for just one weekend.
Last week I got sick with some sort of virus we believe. Which then went on to be this big ordeal. SO...I had a fever and a cough last week, so I needed to see a doctor. My cooperating teacher´s boyfriend is a doctor, so he agreed to see me. The funny thing is, he is a OB-GYN, and so some of my friends made jokes that he couldnt treat me with THIS particular sickness...lol. But he decided it was a virus. So I thought I would rest for a few days and things would be fine. Well, then I had pain in my ear and went to see the ear specialist; found out I had a lovely ear infection. So I bought antibiotics for that. Well I was feeling much better Saturday, so I went out and did a few things. I planned a short two day trip with some friends up North to the beach. I ended up not feeling great on Saturday night, but bought my ticket and planned on going.
The trip was really fun. I was excited to be traveling with other Americans and see if we could actually figure it out on our own. I usually travel with at least one of my Spanish speaking friends, so they do all the talking. This time with our combine knowledge of Spanish we had to figure out how to get from one place to another. It ended up working out perfectly. It was nice to hear from one of the girls that she noticed how much my Spanish improved. We were at about the same level when we came. We went up to Caldera, and then to the beaches of Bahía Iglesia for a day near the water. It was beautiful and sunny, so we found a place that we could rent kayaks. Now I didnt bring my suit, but I just figured I would roll up my pants and not get too wet...WRONG. The other girls went in the double kayak, and I went in the single. Well the double was pretty secure, and it looked like they wouldnt get too wet. Then the kid pulls down my kayak and it has all these holes in the bottom! I asked him for one without, he looked at me like I was a tad crazy, and told me they were all like that. So, I went in to the restaurant, changed into other pants besides my jeans (had to do this just behind some blinds near the kitchen btw) and then just went out in the water. Of course my bottom half got soaked, but we had a good time! Changed, left our clothes out to dry, and hung out at this little restaurant/water sports place. The guy who helped us was around our aged so he helped us out and we were able to talk with him. Well I guess I was the one who talked the most to him, but ya know...good times! That night we went to Chañaral so we could visit the Parque Pan de Azúcar. We read it was beautiful, with flora and fauna, and all these animals of the coast. When we took a cab there we realized we really needed a car to explore, and didnt see much of the fauna or flora or wildlife. We were still in the fricken desert. lol. For some stupid reason I picture maybe some trees or grass...who knows. Guess I need to think more about the meaning of fauna and flora next time ;) But we made the best of it. Walked on an endless road for awhile and looked at the cacti and took ridiculous pictures. The local fisherman are able to take people to the small island off shore to see the penguins that live there, but they like to fill the boat with 10 people. So while we waited for more people to show, we walked around. When we got back the boat was pulling in with 4 people. I was not happy...they went without us! They need about $50 to take the boat out. So with 10 people, we pay $10 each. Doesnt make much sense right? With only 5 people, we each pay $20. They told us to wait since 2 other people were coming. Of course at this point I wanted to strangle the guy since we could have gone with the other 4. They said they showed after we left. I decided to go negotiate with the guy. I told him we only wanted to pay the $10 like they said initially, no matter if others showed. We could have gone with the 4 if they waited. I tried to reason (in my interesting Spanish) that its better for him to make money from 3 people than none at all. He came back with unreasonable excuses, saying they needed the $50 to pay for the gas and all this other stuff. We just decided not to go. But overall we had a great time getting out and about.

When I got back though, things werent so great. I developed a nasty cough that was so strong it hurt and shook my whole body. Didnt sleep much for two nights, and I developed another fever. Finally my asthma was gettting too bad, and to top it off, I was running out of some vital nebulizer medication, my co-teacher and I decided to head for the hospital. Thank goodness I got in quickly because her boyfriend called and they let me in right away. Have to remember that healthcare here is socialist, so things work a lot differently. Basically, you wait your turn a lot, and it takes forever. They gave me a steriod injection, nebulizer treatments, and sent me home. Didnt sleep much again with the horrible cough every few minutes, and we went back the next day. I was diagnosed with pneumonia. I had an x-ray and blood test taken. Marcela, the teacher, had to leave so I had to figure out what doctors and people were telling me in Spanish. The x-ray was real fun. They call several people at once. You go into different small rooms were you change into the robe. Then you come out individually and get the x-ray done and leave. They gave me several perscriptions to fill, and after seeing the kinesiologist who worked on my lungs, I went home. I had to go back for another appointment with the kinesiologist, and had to demand this time for more albuterol (the med I needed). They kept not giving it to me before but I was almost out and could not leave until I have the perscription. Thats the problem about dealing with doctors in a different country. They think they know everything they need to do for you and wont really listen, Their way is the best! ugh. They kept reminding me they know what they are doing and are not as bad as I may think. Lets just say I really wanted to see my own doctors at this point!

Im feeling much better now. Been resting at home and watching tv and movies. I "borrowed" the dvd player from my school since we dont have cable. :) I rested again today, but plan on coming back and teaching two of my classes tomorrow.

Apparently, tomorrow may be the last day of school for awhile. I guess in 1991, the federal government gave the responsibility of education to the municipalidad level. (this may not be correct, heard it in Spanish, but its close). Anyway, with the transfer, apparently the teachers were left without some payment. They have been owed this for quite sometime. Now the government has stated since it has been so many years, the debt has expired, and they will not pay them. Teachers from all over the country are meeting in Santiago tomorrow to decide how to deal with this. My teacher thinks it will be another long strike, possibly until the end of the school year. Ill keep you updated!