Bakan: You talkin' to me?

That's right .... meet the new high-school English teacher. Thank you, thank you very much.

After a week and a half of rotating between all grades at Instituto Bernardo O'higgins de Maipu, we've reached a consensus. High-schoolers and I suit each other very well.

Apparently I relate quite well to those days of either being foolishly confident in one's supposed knowledge of "worldly" things or blissfully unaware of one's presence in an increasingly complicated and interconnected world. Hmmmm...

I remember those days of high-school all too well.

In addition to knowing exactly what grades I will be teaching, I now know when I will be teaching as well. Which, apparently, is something of an accomplishment at my school. There are still new "offical" (if you will) teachers that are scrambling to figure out what classroom they're supposed to be in next. And I do say, what a nice schedule I have.

I begin at 9:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays (I have an hour commute so anything earlier entails a painful wake-up), at 12:15 on Tuesdays and 8:00 on Thursdays and Fridays. However, as the law of work generally follows, the earlier I get to work, the earlier I get off. So, for the most part, I am home at 2:30. I'm in the process of hunting for a second job so I don't have to pinch my pesos and have an interview next Tuesday at a language institute a block from my school.

Overall, school is going very, very well. I leave work each day with a big smile plastered on my gringa face.

Last weekend, I trekked three hours south to Pichilemu. This little surf town boasts some of the best waves in South America. I was fortunate enough to go with a Chilean who knew where to go to avoid the rest of us foreigners. We spent Saturday wandering the desolate coast line, observing the fascinating geography and rock formations and taking pictures. Barbeques are the thing to do during summer in Chile and our weekend wouldn't have been complete without one. We bought a huge slab of beef at the carnicería, marinated it in cerveza de miel (honey beer) and slapped it on the grill. Delicious.

Sunday morning was set aside for surfing, however; when we woke up, the weather decided otherwise. Horseback riding along the beach it was! And I didn't complain one bit.

Pablo, the Chilean, who accompanied Kate and I (Kate's a house-mate) is from San Fe

rnando, a lush, green city an hour and a half north of Pichilemu. We visited his family on Saturday afternoon at their hacienda on a vineyard and enjoyed a home-cooked meal by his mother. Hello.

All in all, it was a fulfilling weekend and I feel very grateful to have been able to see the "real" Chile.

Tonight is Wednesday.

Wednesday nights are reserved for dancing in a castle on top of a mountain (it's really a hill but 'mountain' sounds much more dramatic). The place is called After Office and is invite only to the business people of Santiago. Don't ask me how we are able to get in ... because I don't really know. It's truly who you know, not what you know... and these folks are mighty fine folks. Men must wear dress clothes and a tie to ushered through the red velvet ropes and if the women aren't donning a cocktail dress, well, shame on them. It's definitely a different side of Santiago than one sees everyday. I enjoy the variety.