That last post was way too gloomy. Yes, I am far away from the glamour of the Oscars and other such stuff in the US, but that doesn't mean I haven't been celebrity spotting here in Zapallar, the most exclusive beach in Chile, ya heard? Here's a partial list of all the famous folks I've rubbed shoulders with:
1.Diego Muñoz, a hot on tv, raggedy in real life star of Chilean teleseries
2. Luciano Cruz Coke, another soap star with a hipster moustache who came into our store. When he asked if he could smoke outside while reading to his son, my coworker Pao said, "well, if you want to smoke in front of your child, that's your decision." Take THAT Mr. Rich and Famous!
3. Carlos, a Manhattanite with Chilean parents who produces episodes of MTV's "True Life." He's still considering Bekah and I's proposal of "True Life: I Make Construction Paper Sea Creatures."
4. A host of a Chilean morning show with impressive boobs and highlights.
5. Leelee, an acquaintance of my boss who stayed with us and revealed that she designed the bouquet for Usher's (unfortunately canceled) wedding!!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Awards Show angst.
So, last night I was sitting on the couch and decided to switch the channel from the musical festival in Viña to something else, and what did I find but THE OSCARS. Getting a package of Entertainment Weeklys this weekend from my mom was wonderful, but watching the Oscars probably made me sadder than anything. I can't believe that just a year ago I was wearing the gold dress with the puffy sleeves sitting in Jaz's living room and eating popcorn and drinking beer, and this time around I didn't even have anybody next to me to say "hey, don't Jennifer Garner's bangs look weird?" or "what the heck was THAT montage about?" Sometimes it is hard to be so far away, especially when the Spanish translation of Jon Stewart's monologue is so loud and garbled that you can't even hear what he's saying in either language.
Monday, February 18, 2008
English+beach+ Abby+ kids= BAD
Here it is, the newest missive from Zapallar, a lovely beach town characterized by its crab and cheese empanadas, ideal paddle-ball conditions and inhabitants who adore dressing their children in identical outfits…
So, first of all, the bad news. At least financially speaking, the workshops have turned out to be a total failure. My boss budgeted for us getting approximately 30 kids a day, and we ended up getting 5 or 6 at most, with an average of one or two solitary niños.
¨But why, Abby?” you ask. Here are my theories:
1. Nobody knew what the heck we were doing. We started out doing English workshops, but nobody wanted to learn (even if it was way fun words like “pirate,” “mountain” and “skull”) during the summer. So we changed ém to pure arts and crafts workshops, with different themes every day…and still nobody came! We had one mom who didn’t let her daughter come back (even though the daughter was way into it by the way) because we weren’t speaking enough English, and another mom who withdrew her three crazy 3-year-old triplets (thank GOD) because we were just reading and they got bored (duh, they’re THREE!). So that’s one reason.
2. The turf war. In the same building as the bookstore there’s an internet café, and the lady who runs it also happens to be a painter, who happened to decide to do painting workshops for kids, which happened to be set for the same time as our workshops, and which happened to be at a cheaper price. So duh, the kids went there instead. My boss decided to fight fire with fire and start offering wi-fi when the other peeps weren’t there, but we never really figured out the technology to be able to get our evil plot off the ground.
3. Cultural differences. I know that when I was a kid, summer was always about activities: art camp, dance camp, kickball, (and, admittedly, my daily dose of Days of our Lives with the babysitter). It’s that American mentality of multi-tasking and always doing a million things at once. For your average (superloaded) Chilean kid, summer consists of eating, going to the beach, and eating at the beach. Plus, why pay a pair of gringas to watch your kids when you’re already paying a nana to take them wherever they want to go?
4. Crappy teachers. NOT! No matter what those two disgruntled moms say, my co-teacher (and lifesaver) Bekah and I definitely gave it our all.
But now, the good news. Although the niños from Zapallar didn’t get into our workshops, they have been coming to all our events at night, everything from plays to scary story nights to dance parties! And best of all, I’ve gotten to rekindle the flame of my old lady love… the THEATAAAAAAAAAAH!
That’s right, I’ve gotten to act! First it was in a cameo with the Valpo actors in “Niña Pirata” as the negligent mom who lets her daughter escape with pirates.
Then I was “Paola” in “La Voz en el Telefono,” a scary story we acted out. Then “Melissa,”a girl who starts to hear voices coming from her favorite doll, in “La Casa de las Muñecas Embrujadas” (The Haunted Dollhouse).
And then I was “Lucia,” a nice girl who turns out to be a cannibal in “La Biblioteca Terrorifica.”
And finally, with two other awesome guys, I learned some kids songs in Spanish for music night. The night got cuh-razy and I ended up playing “Wagon Wheel” for a decidedly underwhelmed audience of kids, but then we brought out the reggaetón and all was right with the world.
So now I have a little less than two weeks left before the next big leap into the unknown (yikes!) and even worse, tomorrow I turn 23. Life is looking grim for this old lady.
No, not really. But I do miss home (and you, faithful reader) so so so much.
So, first of all, the bad news. At least financially speaking, the workshops have turned out to be a total failure. My boss budgeted for us getting approximately 30 kids a day, and we ended up getting 5 or 6 at most, with an average of one or two solitary niños.
¨But why, Abby?” you ask. Here are my theories:
1. Nobody knew what the heck we were doing. We started out doing English workshops, but nobody wanted to learn (even if it was way fun words like “pirate,” “mountain” and “skull”) during the summer. So we changed ém to pure arts and crafts workshops, with different themes every day…and still nobody came! We had one mom who didn’t let her daughter come back (even though the daughter was way into it by the way) because we weren’t speaking enough English, and another mom who withdrew her three crazy 3-year-old triplets (thank GOD) because we were just reading and they got bored (duh, they’re THREE!). So that’s one reason.
2. The turf war. In the same building as the bookstore there’s an internet café, and the lady who runs it also happens to be a painter, who happened to decide to do painting workshops for kids, which happened to be set for the same time as our workshops, and which happened to be at a cheaper price. So duh, the kids went there instead. My boss decided to fight fire with fire and start offering wi-fi when the other peeps weren’t there, but we never really figured out the technology to be able to get our evil plot off the ground.
3. Cultural differences. I know that when I was a kid, summer was always about activities: art camp, dance camp, kickball, (and, admittedly, my daily dose of Days of our Lives with the babysitter). It’s that American mentality of multi-tasking and always doing a million things at once. For your average (superloaded) Chilean kid, summer consists of eating, going to the beach, and eating at the beach. Plus, why pay a pair of gringas to watch your kids when you’re already paying a nana to take them wherever they want to go?
4. Crappy teachers. NOT! No matter what those two disgruntled moms say, my co-teacher (and lifesaver) Bekah and I definitely gave it our all.
But now, the good news. Although the niños from Zapallar didn’t get into our workshops, they have been coming to all our events at night, everything from plays to scary story nights to dance parties! And best of all, I’ve gotten to rekindle the flame of my old lady love… the THEATAAAAAAAAAAH!
That’s right, I’ve gotten to act! First it was in a cameo with the Valpo actors in “Niña Pirata” as the negligent mom who lets her daughter escape with pirates.
Then I was “Paola” in “La Voz en el Telefono,” a scary story we acted out. Then “Melissa,”a girl who starts to hear voices coming from her favorite doll, in “La Casa de las Muñecas Embrujadas” (The Haunted Dollhouse).
And then I was “Lucia,” a nice girl who turns out to be a cannibal in “La Biblioteca Terrorifica.”
And finally, with two other awesome guys, I learned some kids songs in Spanish for music night. The night got cuh-razy and I ended up playing “Wagon Wheel” for a decidedly underwhelmed audience of kids, but then we brought out the reggaetón and all was right with the world.So now I have a little less than two weeks left before the next big leap into the unknown (yikes!) and even worse, tomorrow I turn 23. Life is looking grim for this old lady.
No, not really. But I do miss home (and you, faithful reader) so so so much.
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