I woke up this morning ready to take on the search of a job to become an English teacher. Luckily, my roommate from England did this about five months ago, so over the past week or so he's given me many tips and pointers of how to go about it. He's given me lists of institutes, advice on which ones to avoid, and quite a few comforting words. So with that, and many copies of my resume, I headed out to go shake some hands and give out my phone number.
Basically, all that is required is that you give a resume and a contact number, and more likely than not someone will call you eventually and offer you a job. I got on the metro at about 8:30am (the busiest time of the morning for the metro) and it was more packed than the subway in Boston after a Red Sox - Yankees game. So, needless to say, no one needs to hold on to anything because you can simply lean on everyone around you, but for those with claustrophobia or those who enjoy their own space, the metro at 8:30am is a nightmare. Luckily, I'm not one who needs my personal space, and the metro was just one big awkward hug for me.
After I got to a certain area of town, I set out on foot and found my way to a list of institutes. One by one, I handed them my resume and explained my situation, and I was greeted quite nicely by each place. After hours of walking the city and trying to hide from the heat in las sombras (the shadows), I finally called it quits for the day. The job hunt, day one, is now over and I feel like I've actually been rather productive instead of sitting on my bum in the heat of Chile. Day two begins tomorrow. There are tons of English Institutes scattered throughout the city, so there is apparently no lack of job opportunities.
Aside from the job hunting, things have been going really well. I feel like I've been here for months, though technically I've been here about a week and a half. Even saying that out loud ("a week and a half") sounds like such little time, and I can't believe I can feel so comfortable in the city and in my surroundings already.
This past week, I met quite a few Chileans and foreigners alike, and I recently decided to move to another house that holds more young people (both Chileans and foreigners) because of the locality and the wonderful vibes that I immediately got when I walked in. In March, I'll be packing my things and moving even closer to the center of town in a house that has large windows, bright colors, and wonderful people. I really lucked out with who I've met so far, since I've recently heard that Chileans from Santiago are some of the hardest people to get to know. Apparently, the culture in Santiago has people mainly conversing with their family and their close friends from school with little room for new people. However, once you meet some and get acquainted they are very hospitable and loving and they will introduce you to many other people. So one by one, I've been introduced to random people and somewhere along the way I found a new apartment.
The heat has been climbing and is now near 94 degrees during the day. It's almost debilitating because you can't do anything but walk around and try to escape it (air conditioning is unheard of here), so most people stay inside somewhere until dusk when things start to cool down. Right now, it's the middle of the day and I'm dreading the outdoors since I just came from the sweltering heat, but I'm heading down to check out an Amnesty International march that one of my friends mentioned to me.
That's pretty much all there is going on here. Heat, jobs, and new friends.
I hope you're all well. I miss you quite a bit because it feels like I've been away for so long. I'll try to send some of the heat your way so you can warm up and we can cool down.
Keep the hugs flowing.
Send some to me (and I'll bring 'em to the metro...)
much much love.
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