(let's try this again, shall we?)

Blog's got a new look--to me it has quite the Chilean feel to it--green and wet and chilly and a little magical. This is especially appropriate since (for those of you who might not know, though I can't think who that would be...)--I'm back in Chile.

Last time here was pretty miserable, so naturally I'm back for more. Glutton for punishment? Nah, we all know me better than that. Though I'm pretty sure there are kernels of pessimism in my character that I like to think keep me grounded, I try to make plans with the optimistic bits. Optimistic planning, pessimistic expectations, and I usually come out decently pleased with how things are going.

So I'm back in Chile, figuring that it's GOT to be better this time around, having planned accordingly. I spent a lovely week in Santiago catching up with old gringo friends and skipping out on program orientation as I adjusted to the short days and shivers of winter in July, and then moved down South to Osorno. Osorno is about 40 minutes south of my previous Chilean location, and is a bigger town (there are traffic lights, for instance) with more friends. I live with a friend of friends named Maribel, and so far we've been getting along quite well. She is 30, studies English pedagogy (like most of my amigos here), and is a mother of three: Alvaro (9), Martin (3), and Emilee (2 months).

You read that right--Emilee is my tocaya--namesake. I didn't know Maribel before I moved in two weeks ago, but through the magic of facebook and mutual friends, she saw my name, liked it, and named her baby Emilee Paz. I get called Emilee Bess a lot in the house to differentiate, and I like that.

I spent last week helping run an English Immersion camp for high schoolers in a town called Angol, about 7 hours north of Osorno. I felt iffy about it going in, but it turned out to be a great experience--I bonded with my co-volunteers, thoroughly enjoyed our "campers," and lived to tell about experiencing my first temblores--little earthquakes. The kids thought camp was really great, and we were proud of the work they did. I'll meet my new students when classes start on Monday, but I have a good feeling about the teaching this time around, too--my co-teacher Gisela is sweet (and young), and so far it looks as if the other people at the school are glad I'm coming.

Well, my battery is about to expire, so I'll leave you with that brief overview of things here in Chile. I plan to be better about blogging than I was the past few months--so check back!