A Let Down You Can Count On
Travel, music, freestyle footbag, zines, books, beer, etc- an Australian living in Santiago de Chile
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Yesterday I went to this event called Edcamp Santiago. It was quite interesting for me to go to, as I had never been to something like it. They called it an “unconference”. So basically anyone who arrives in the morning can say- ok I will do a presentation.
I did my presentation on some ideas I have about sports and language, which is something I want to develop a lot more here in Chile.
During the week I will write some more developed notes on what I presented about, as really I just made it up on the spot. My basic ideas were about using games and sports to learn to count, identify parts of the body, and also that people really identify with their favourite players- as in, they know EVERYTHING about them.
So what I am hoping is that I can build up on that a bit more and power on from there. In my masters, which begins at the end of next month, the next subject is about Practice Led Research. That is something that I still don’t really understand, but these ideas on sport and language are going to form the backbone of my studies, and hopefully that will be acceptable.
I was talking to a footbag pal in Colombia, though I have not actually met him yet, and was telling him about some of my ideas, he was saying, these are really great etc, and I told him, this year I want to change these ideas to more than just up in the air plans, I want to make them reality.
Oh yeah, from next month I am going to be one of the editors on the I Love Chile website. The biggest benefit of that is I will be earning some money. Unfortunately salaries are low in Chile, and the fact is I could earn three times as much back home in Australia on the dole, but I really believe in this project a lot, and I think it has a big future.
The other project I am going to do is this Streets of Santiago project, that’s just a personal kind of mission, and it does kind of fit in with the I Love Chile, but it’s a project I thought of just a couple of days after arriving, and that one is going to be my baby. I bought a domain name for it the other day, though I have not yet prepared my site. I just bought the domain because I was telling a fair few people my ideas and I didn’t want them to steal it.
Also I am going to keep doing my weekly Footbag interview, although I would like it to be more than once per week. So I have started getting in touch with a few more players, and will continue to build up some more throughout the week.
I finished the year (ie on the new years night) in a really negative mindframe, so I have tried lately to just be really positive, and I think it’s going well. Francisca also has a cool project of her own which she is developing.
Speaking of positive things, lunch is ready.
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hola Chile
So we are getting adjusted to the new life in Chile. Today is day number 3, so the jetlag is beginning to fade away, but it’s taking it’s time to go away, that’s for sure.
So the first day we had our flight. It was a long day, with a stop in New Zealand. I played a little bit of footbag in the airport there. Watched a bunch of movies on the plane, barely slept at all.
We were greeted by the whole family clan, alongside a huge lunch. The serves have been massive so I’m sure I will have a full belly. By the end of lunch I was totally stuffed, it was time to go to bed. A bit rude really, but it’s probably ruder to fall asleep face first into a plate of food.
I have actually slept pretty well, and aside from getting up really early, the jetlag is not affecting me too much. Not compared to Francisca, who wakes up at about 2am, then can’t get back to sleep for many more hours, then sleeps again til midday. Of course as time goes on, we will become fully adjusted. I honestly think it will be a couple of weeks to get used to the timezone differences- it’s 14 hours difference to Australia.
Yesterday it was the friends who came around. It was nice to meet a few of these people I had heard about. One of the girls said she was working on a project with the National Federation for Handball, and I said I would love to help out, even in a volunteer role.
I haven’t finalised visa stuff yet (still waiting on our marriage to be recognised in Chile, which takes some time), so I am not actively planning on getting a job for a little while. What I have been doing to get a little bit more earnings, is using some of these survey sites where you get some money for clicking on things or answering questions. I have been using Rewards Central on and off for a while, and I am just about at the time when I can cash out and get some bucks. I also have been using another one called Pure Profile, and I did a survey worth about $7 this morning. I was a disappointed when I looked and realised I hadn’t used it in over 2 years, but not to worry.
Anyway, on day number 2 mi amigo Doug arrived. He is a good friend of mine, we lived together in the Bruce house whilst we studied Sports Management. He now drives trains and I have spent the last few years working in a hostel. Very relevant to our degree (!). Anyway, he came and Lan didn’t bother to bring his bags on the second flight. They just came fairly recently so I think that is a big weight of his mind. He is now looking into doing surf tours in Peru. That would be a lot of fun, but I’m not really in a position to be galavanting around just yet. Hopefully by December (maybe I need to do a few more of these surveys…) I am planning on going to the South American championships in Venezuela, which are the weekend before Christmas, I think it’s around the 18th. That would be awesome to go there, and if I can make, I totally have the right to talk about hosting the next ones in Chile. If I don’t go, I can forget about that, but try and make the trip another time, as they seem to have a pretty good scene up there.
So Francisca talked to another friend of hers, Rosia. She said that this girl knows everybody who’s anybody, and she talked about me to a bigshot within the Chile tourism industry. He wants me to come and meet him I think the week after next, and also to give a Footbag demonstration in the office. That could be a big opportunity, a good chance.
Today we walked, walked and walked. We went about 10km, which is no big deal for me, but I was not in good condition by the finish line. I had no problem in the last days in Canberra walking 20+km, but I guess the jetlag is still around. I did get in a good footbag session today, my first for the trip. I played very well actually, probably the best I’ve played in the last couple of months come to think of it. My new goal is to hit the drill “pixie everything”, which really needs good tricks on both sides, it’s 16 contacts, none of the tricks are really that hard, it’s the linking together. I got up to 8 contacts today, and hopefully I can get close in the next couple of weeks.
Tomorrow we will have a bit more of an explore, then see Machine Head and Sepultura at night. I am wondering exactly what set MH will play, as they’ve never been to Chile before. It’s a headline show, so they may play for a long time. I’m not to sure really. I would like to see something like: Imperium, Take My Scars, Locust, Old, Halo, Bulldozer, Block, Aesthetics of Hate, This Is The End, Davidian; I Am Hell, Descend The Shades of Night, The Burning Red
I guess the problem for bands that have been around for about 20 years is there’s always going to be stuff you want to hear that they don’t play, and what you don’t want to hear, they do play. Machine Head are my favourite band though, so I’m really glad that we get to kick things off with them, and Sepultura are a nice bonus. I don’t think I’ve really listened to anything in the post-Max Cavalera catalogue, which is probably like 6 albums now or something, but it will be cool to see one of the most famous South American bands, in south america.
Thursday we will head down to the coast to Valpo and Viñe del Mar. Francisca’s brother just got a new house in Viñe, so we’ll be able to stay there. Then it will be our first weekend in Chile, which won’t be too different from the other days, but hopefully the jetlag will be worn off. Come to think of it we did arrive on Sunday, but that was the very end of the weekend, and it sure was Sunday for a long time…
