Mr. Bradford goes to London

Today I was planning on taking it easy and learning some more Spanish, letting my burnt forehead and nose heal, hydrate myself and generally get ready for the rest of my co-teachers to arrive from the states tomorrow. I didn't do any of that. As I was answering emails and eating breakfast this morning I heard someone say "I'm an English teacher too!" As I looked up I saw two ladies who were sitting at the table across from me. I started talking to them briefly and then went bad to my emails. When I was done I went over and spoke with them a little bit more. It turns out that one was from Uruguay and and the other one was from Brazil. This means that one spoke Spanish (Cecilia), the other spoke Portuguese (Rita), they used their common language of English to communicate. That was a perfect opportunity for me. (On a side note, it's very interesting to be at the hostel and find groups of people speaking in their own national language, but if the groups are of m

Ya, my title may not be PC, but it's my blog. I've been here one business week. (That's 5 days for those of us who have been students for so long we've forgotten that other people only put in 5 days of work a week.) I'd like to take this time to cover some "lessons learned." Heck, for the fun of it, and because I've missed it so much, (notice the sarcasm), I'm going to do it in a 3-2-1 format. Three things that I've observed 1. Not knowing how to read a language fluently can make things difficult. I've spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to use a payphone, only to realize that in BIG LETTERS is the requirement to dial 09 before I start the rest of the number. The only reason I figured this out is because I started translating every single phrase that was on the phone box with my little Spanish dictionary. A dictionary, I might add, that is for SPANISH speakers. As a result, I have a pronunciation guide of how to pronounce the En

Ok, here is the second test, I don't really like using YouTube, but until I figure out a better way, this may be the easiest. Tell me if it's worth the time or I should go a different direction.

The picture of today is of me at Corro Santa Lucia. In the background is part of the city of Santiago and the start of the Andi mountain range. The smog is so bad that I wasn't able to get a good shot of them, but believe me, they are huge! Someone wrote me in an email asking how I was liking the Hostel and if it was strange not knowing anyone here, this is part of a the reply that I gave. As far as not knowing anyone, it doesn't bother me at all, I make friends where I want to, and there always seems to be an interesting group to talk to here at the hostel. If I wanted to, I could get a couple of travel partners, I just enjoy exploring the city on my own right now. Last night I spend an hour or so talking to two Australian nurses from Tasmania who had been traveling for 7 months straight and were heading out to Peru in a day. It was interesting hearing their stories. Yesterday I had a great conversation with a guy from Brazil who had gone to Harvard business school and &q

I'm secure in my manhood, I'll admit it, I had a Super Sexy Bo. What a SSB is, I don't know. It was suppose to be helado, Icecream. There are helado stands all over the place in Santiago, and for about 60 cents I was able to try some. As I watched the cats man the defenses, oil the canons and eat Italian food, walked up and ordered un Super Sexy Bo. Let me first say that I was hoping for something that was close to vanilla ice cream with a chocolate shell. What I got was a melted mess that leaked a cherry flavored dairy-like substance and a cracked shell that tasted and had the consistency of chocolate flavored wax. I ate the whole thing, after all, it was 300 pesos and I wasn't going to let it go to waste. However, I will tell you that I don't think that the Super Sexy Bo and I will be having another meeting in a park any time soon. There are some things that just need to stay in Santiago.

I went to a place called "Cerro Santa Lucia." It's basically a big steep hill in the middle of the city were defenses were created to fight off the people who wanted to do something that the current people who owned the hill didn't want them to do. It's got lots of rocks, twisted paths and lots of old cannons doted around the scenery. Strangely missing here are the usual pack of dogs that I have mentioned usually roam the parks and calles del Santago. The reason for this is that you have to sign your name, social security number and place of origin on a sheet of paper before you are allowed to enter the garden area of the hill. AND, because dogs are scientifically known to not have thumbs for working a pen, do not have a social security number and probably wouldn't be able to spell their place of origin if they overcame the first two challenges. Within these peaceful and steep garden, I found where the cats are hiding. Not only are the cats hiding, but the

I've been spending the past few months in the cold of the North West, not the 90+ degree weather that is down here in Chile. I spend about 10 hours walking around the entire city and come back dehydrated and dazed. Today I think I'm either getting smarter about drinking water, I'm getting use to the sun or my body has given up and quit complaining. Either way, I'm feeling better and not as wiped as I have the past few days. I'm trying something new, so it you would, please check out this link . It is a quick video that I put together, I don't know if the sound is working or not, it may just be the small speakers on my computer, please help! Actually, scratch that, i figured out what was wrong, it's fixed. Anyway, it's in Quicktime, because it's the only format that iMovie exports in, and iMovie is the only thing that I have right now. It's ok, but doesn't do all the things that I want it to. Then again, it was free, so I probably should

This is for those of you who may not be familiar with blogs, but you can post comments on the stuff that I write. Comments, suggestions, observations, criticisms or whatever. If you do this, it will help me determine what people are interested in hearing about. I've set it up so that you don't have to be signed in or anything in order to post a comment, this opens me up for Viagra ads being posted, but it will make it easier for you. Just click on the word comments at the bottom of the page and you will be taken to a page that allows you post on this blog. If you want, please put your name on the post so that I know who I am replying to!

One of the things that I have noticed about Santiago, and probably the rest of Chile, is the fact that almost every aspect of their lives relates to politics. Their poetry, their music, their graffiti. I guess this is because, until recently, they were living under a dictatorship. I'm sure that kind of experience can have an imprint on a culture. The image above is one that I took in an art gallery..I'm sure it has some political significance, I just don't know what right now, It's something I will look into further when I have time to translate the brochure. Anyhow! It's interesting to see how active and passionate the culture here seems to be about government, not only the government that is currently in charge, but what HOW the government should be structured. In the book shops are books on political philosophies and history ranging from Mao to Regan. The wide range of political views that are show here are almost revolutionary in my American eyes. It's

l Ok, the name of the post really isn't fair, Santiago is not a city of the dogs in a derogatory sense, but let me say, there are a LOT of dogs here, and not in the way of pets. Almost everywhere you go downtown there are random dogs walking around like they own the place, but no one owns them. They are smelly, dirty, probably filled to the brim with fleas but they are really cute and try to be endearing as their mangy coats will let them. They will wander around the parks until they see a likely subject who might take pity on them, and then approach with tails wagging. When they get close enough they roll over on their backs and try to look as defenseless as possible. I'm not fooled, if I was not the hunk of burning manhood that I am, I think they would try to eat me instead. I've even seen a couple of instance of people walking around feeding the dogs out of dog food bags, kind of like feeding the pigeons, but without the feathers or fluttering. Anyway, the picture ab

I'm currenly sitting in Centro Cultural Palacio La Moneda, relaxing and checking my email. I may be lucky so far, but I have not had any problem finding internet access this far on my trip, they have free WiFi available here at the museum. I don't expect it to continue when I get north, but it's nice now. Last night was good, except that I wasn't sleepy at 2:oo am, so I ended up watching some podcast on my iPod until I was ready to go to sleep. I met my Brazilian roommate, who seems to have one of the unique snoring patterns that I have ever heard, almost like he's breathing in oatmeal or something. Fortunately I either fell asleep, or he stopped snoring, either way, it's a win. I'm also currently downloading some pictures that I took this morning, I happened to be in front of the old state building, that was bombed during the 1973 revolution, when I assume I observed the changing of the guard. It was pretty cool, complete with band and marching and a fe

Ok, this blog is for my time spend in Chile. A lot of it will be for the Students that I am working with at Willard elementary school. The teachers of the students can use their discression as to what they show the students or not...in all honesty, I may just use exerts from this blog and send it to the students and teachers in an email. Anyway, I'll also be posting my journal entries and anything else I feel might be worth it here. Here is a bit that I wrote before I knew I could get wireless internet access in the patio of the hostel. "Well, I got to Santiago well enough. Lots of traveling and going through Mexico City. I have been surprised by the amount of Spanish that I am able to figure out and remember. I also purchased an English to Spanish dictionary at the airport in Mexico City to help me out. I got into Santiago and made it though customs, still had to pay the stupid $100 to get in. I then called Charlyn and after figuring that I had to dial 09 (reading for t