Made it to Santiago

After a delayed flight in Chicago (that threatened to cause me to miss my connection in Cincinatti, until I found out I was flying the same tiny itty-bitty American Eagle plane for both flights) and getting locked in at Miami International (yeah, somehow all the doors got locked and caused a group of us to wander about from dead end to dead end in the hallways.  I stood helplessly at the glass window on the second floor, watching down on people board at my next gate, hoping the flight didn´t leave me stranded all night inside an airport on lockdown), I finally landed in Santiago this morning.  (How 'bout dem parenthetical notes? That was one sentence!)  After having to pay a $140 entrance fee at customs, I was pretty glad that my flight cost a whole five bucks, thanks to a stupid amount of miles through AA.  I caught a bus into town, wandered around lost, eventually found my hostel, and proceeded to the doctors.  Let´s go back a day:

My mom is amazing.  Only she can wake up to find out I have a 103 degree fever with a throat so diseased and swollen that I literally cannot speak, and STILL manage to whip me into shape in under 8 hours in time for an international flight.  Antibiotics, hot salt water to gargle, and herbat (tea) was all I consumed all day until I got to O'Hare.  By the time I landed I felt much better, but still figured using a free day to check in with the doctors and get my money´s worth out of the insurance company was in order.

Now I´m sitting at my hostel´s computer, remembering how much I hate foreign keyboards.  I chose 'wisely' to leave my laptop at home, and now have nowhere to skype from, store my pictures, or write my blog from.  Ugh, hopefully when I arrive at Chiloe Island my homestay will hook it up.  Or its internet cafe or bust.  Or...I break down and get that thing shipped down.  This weeks agenda: Friday meet some people running my organization, Saturday and Sunday other participants move in, Mon through Fri we have orientation so I can learn what Im actually doing here, and next weekend I bus down to Chiloe Island where I'll live with a family and teach English at some school, with some grade.

-Pablo

And yes, I did name my blog after a Lil' Kim song:  ''While you stay OT, I stay OC that's out the country.''  She's no Nicky Minaj, but ''money got you vacation in Chile...really really really?'' was a bit long, and would contstrict me to like just this one country.  I'll try to keep the posts shorter from here on out, but no promises.