It is Sunday afternoon. The house is quiet. I am home alone. My husband and kids are at the beach house. I am headed there Monday evening for two weeks. (I know, my life is so tough, we've been here a few months and now we get a vacation). February is vacation month in Chile, it is warm and sunny and breezy, the city is quieter and more relaxed, the streets are not as congested, and a good percentage of Santiaguinos go to the beach or down to southern provinces.
I stayed behind to get some work done. (I am assuming that when I said "work" my husband didn't imagine that it included blogging, but I needed a break (ahem, from facebook) so here I am.)
Yesterday I got up and went running. This morning I played Pink full blast as I got ready for the day. I have gotten TONS of work and reading done. There is no mess... anywhere. There is no cooking, no dishes, no dirty clothes. I have no obligations.
I mean, I miss them, of course, I miss them
But this is HEAVEN!
I am going to be teaching at a university in March (fall and the school year here start in March). I am excited, but there are moments when I am in an outright panic. I'll be teaching courses for the first time--which involves a boatload of preparation and reading. I am also in charge of a Master's program, which I half laugh about because I feel ridiculously underprepared for such a position. I will be teaching in the MA program and in the undergraduate program.
Plus, they keep asking me to do more. At some point I started worrying about how in the crap I was going to organize my time to get everything done. And then one of the program directors asked me to take another class. I blame it on his accent. I wanted so badly to say no. But he is from Argentina (though he is not one of the infamously arrogant Porteños) and his voice is so smooth and sing-songy and he uses that voseo "Mirá" instead of "Mira". And I couldn't say no...
And I alerted my hubs, that apparently protesting is futile, I cannot say no to an argentino, so he stands forewarned (and he is desperately working on changing his accent-HA!)
Being alone here is funny. Because everyone asks you if you are scared. (to stay home alone, to go running in this neighborhood alone, to walk the two blocks from the subway at night... alone). I think they think I am just clueless to all the dangers lurking in their city. I am not... but sheesh! What am I supposed to do?
I am not really frightened to sleep at home alone, but my first night I woke up in the middle of a night because there was a noise INSIDE my bedroom. I jumped up and there was a random cat that had come in an open window and was roaming around my bedroom. (Eileen is so thrilled that she is not the only one that attracts random cats--though I couldn't find her post where that happened) So now I close a bunch of windows at night.
9 comments:
Ahh! That little bit of heaven called "home alone"! Chileans will not understand. They will be sad for you--sad because you are not surrounded by the more the merrier and then too because you are in a charmingly almost-vacant Santiago in the summer instead of at the beach--where everyone else is doing their more and merrier.
Glad you are enjoying your peace and quiet... and have a wonderful more & merry at the beach!
Weekends alone are BLISS. I get hours to myself during the week when work and school are on the schedule, but it's just not the same as that stretch of time you get on Saturday and Sunday.
So glad you had that time, especially before your hectic-sounding schedule starts at the university. (Just remember, my friend, "NO" is a full sentence.)
You had a cat break into your house? I hope it wasn't a cat burglar... (sorry, I HAD TO make a cheesy joke.)
I'm glad you had a wonderfully peaceful weekend to yourself - I can imagine as a mother that you might not get that very often. It sounds divine! (and I don't even have kids yet to know fully how much cleaning there is to do around them!)
Glad to hear life is going so well. I'm sure you will be wonderful at teaching!
Just wanted to pop over and say "hello"! I'm soooo enjoying your adventures in Chile, but my blogger friends often get neglected because of firewall fun. I love your photos and adventures so far, no matter how short. :)
I can lend you a beagle puppy to handle those pesky nocturnal visitors. Of course, he will probably annoy the crap out of you as well.
Wow. Unknown cat in my bedroom would have freaked me out big time! Have fun at the beach and good luck come March.
I am so excited for you to be teaching! I think your an incredible woman to be a mom and to move to chile and to teach and complete your masters and all.
I would probably hit the roof if a cat was in my room at night! You must be a brave, strong, independent woman to be alone.
I hope you enjoy the beach house with your family soon.
I'm usually just fine being alone, but I do think I'd be out of my mind if I was woken from sleep by a little creature in my room, especially before knowing it was a cat. Enjoy your serenity and then your trip to the beach house. What classes will you be teaching?
Somehow I imagine that you will do really well teaching.
But omg... random cats at night in my bedroom would probably stop my heart...
In Concepción, I would attract neighbohood cats that wandered in through my window. My room was on the second floor, so they were voyeuristic little cats. Hmmm... The first time it happened, I shrieked. After that I would try to pet them and they always ran away.
Enoy your beach time :)
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