Wanted: A Job

Recent weather: As low as 0 degrees at night, lots of snow.
Recent reads: "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed

I've been in Wisconsin for about 4 weeks now. It's been very cold, with record-breaking lows and snow earlier than previous years. I don't leave the house without being bundled up in my hat, scarf and gloves but I will say that the snow looks beautiful while I am indoors. Pretty much every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I go to the local coffee shop (there's only one in this small town) to search and apply for jobs. Applying for jobs is a job in and of itself, after all.
First I contacted previous employers to get something going. Then, I tweaked my resume and worked on cover letters. I started applying to a few of the big hospitals in the area, companies that are well-respected and would have growth opportunities available. Then, I searched job openings with companies based in San Diego. Then, I started scouring craigslist.
I was hoping to land a medical administrative position but it seems like my resume is lacking some of the minor but apparently critical work experiences. For example, almost all admin job descriptions require "demonstrated prior work experience with Powerpoint." While I used Powerpoint regularly in college and occasionally since and know I'm capable of using it effectively, I don't have a specific work-related Powerpoint project to cite while other candidates do. I have expanded my job search to now include entry-level, patient care coordinator or receptionist positions that can lead to admin roles.
At this point I have applied for 65+ jobs. Of that, I have had four phone interviews, two additional calls to set up interviews (but I was in Wisconsin and they wanted to fill the positions ASAP). Of the four phone interviews I've taken, I have two second, in-person interviews for next week when I am in San Diego.
All this makes me wonder what the trick is. I have applied to 10+ jobs within a hospital network. There are tons of jobs postings on their website daily and I am qualified for all the positions I applied for but I have yet to hear anything. Is applying to several positions within one company a detriment to my chances? The first company that called me for a phone interview didn't even have an option to attach a cover letter on their website. How crucial is a cover letter anyways? And then there are postings for the most specific job ever with a laundry list of random qualifications and a paragraph of needed info for the application and then the job pays $10/hr! I've seen resumes and a person who pays enough attention to detail to follow this list of application directions alone deserves at least $11/hr. And by $11, I actually mean $20. Such is life.
Job search aside, I've gotten to spend time with my parents, making our favorite meals, doing local activities and marathon movie watching. I do miss the excitement of traveling, always a new city to see but it's been a good transition here from backpacker life to real life.
One of the highlights was going flying with my dad a couple of weeks ago. Since his plane isn't quite done, he rented a plane and we landed several times and airports in the area so he could practice his take-offs and landings. We stopped at the airport in exotic Iola, Wisconsin for their Friday lunch extravaganza. An early Thanksgiving feast, it was a Wisconsin cultural experience at its best. The infamous Paul Johns was in attendance. Paul, inducted into the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame in 2009, is now 101 but was a pioneer pilot for Pan Am, flying from the US to South America countless times. It was a beautiful day for flying and I was actually warm and cozy inside the plane!

Getting to see family and friends has been great fun so returning to San Diego on December 10th will be bittersweet. But life must go on!

Adieu, Arica

Recent weather: 70s and sunny every day.
Recent reads: 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain

Happy to say that this work exchange was a great success! Batting .666 aint half bad...But, after 3 weeks here in Arica, it's time to continue on my way.

Some highlights from the past couple of weeks:
1) Surfing. I have attempted previously in San Diego last summer but it never fully came together. It seemed I couldn't really keep my lanky limbs in check and I usually just flailed about on the board for a bit like a baby giraffe learning to walk, before somersaulting into the water awkwardly.  But after 3 lessons here in Arica with the legendary, quintessential "surfer dude" Yoyo Sepulveda, one day it all just came together and clicked! Since then, I've been trying to surf as often as possible. The waves here in Arica have been great for learning, small but long, so once I pop up, I can ride the wave practically all the way to shore. Of course, when I triumphantly ride the wave for as long as possible, I am humbled by the task of paddling all the way back out. Fortunately, after a good ride, I'm so stoked that I can't wait to get back out there and ride another! It's hard not to be in a good mood when I'm sitting on my board in the middle of ocean waiting for the next set of waves with sea lions playing on the rocks nearby, sea turtles popping up here and there, just watching the sun set off the coast of Chile!

2) The Circus. We noticed some activity going on in the empty lot across the street and it turns out the circus has arrived in Arica! I went to El Gran Circo de Ruperto on opening night with the two boys. I haven't been to a circus in forever so I was pretty entertained. My favorite act was the hula hoop girl who lit her hoop on fire and then lifted herself up in the air and back down, all while keeping the hoop going! The circus was hosted by, of course, Ruperto. The character Ruperto portrayed the typical drunk Chilean with an intoxicated stagger about stage, slurred speech (which made it even more challenging to understand what he was saying), and a goofy laugh. During the comedy bits, I would say I generally understood what he was talking about but missed a lot of the punchlines. Overall, the circus was a huge success in my book!

3) Festival de Independencia. Last Saturday night I went to a music festival where 3 groups performed. The music was mostly pop with a little bit of rap tossed in. The headliner seemed like a big hit with the teenage girls. Or maybe they were just jealous of his bedazzled jean vest. I wouldn't say they are my new favorite boy band (can you have a favorite "boy band?"), but I enjoyed the energy and was certainly entertained. The headliner was a 2 man duo that went all out with 5 dancers, 3 backup singers, and 5 band members. Throughout the performance, they blasted confetti, glitter, clouds of fog, had 2 guys in glow in the dark suits on jumping stilts doing flips, and for the last and final attempt to win everyone over, the lead singer brought out his infant daughter dressed in a pink leopard print outfit with a matching headband. I don't think the baby had any ear protection but I applauded the overall showmanship nevertheless. Or maybe that was just the pisco sour talking.

There are definitely a few things I will miss about Arica:
1) Mornings with Magdalena. Señora Magdalena and I leave the house everyday at about 10am to do computer repairs in clients' homes for a few hours. We do a lot of walking about town so we have ample opportunity to talk about pretty much everything including, but not limited to: futbol, painting, did you see what that girl was wearing?, books, ugly dogs, international travel, why she only has 2 kids, life goals, what's up with Bolivia?, religion, taxes, how our grandparents died, nuclear power plants, rap music, etc. There was one day when I told her that my stomach didn't quite feel right and I needed to go home immediately to use the bathroom; I think we bonded because I felt strangely close to her after that. Magdalena is open to talking about pretty much anything and regardless of the topic, she'll usually make some kind of irreverent joke at the end and we'll share a good laugh.

2) Siestas. After lunch I usually take an hour snooze and it's amazing. Traveling, I usually leave my hostel late morning and don't return until evening time since I'm seeing all the sights non-stop. But my love affair with naps has now been rekindled.

3) Someone else cooking for me. I guess the last time I had someone making all my meals for me was high school? And even then I ate lunch at school. While the portions here have been ginormous and meals are generally carb-heavy, I've gotten pretty used to someone else doing all the work in the kitchen.*

4) Francisco/Francesca. Franny is the neighborhood tranny. He/she stops in the store here pretty regularly to use internet for a few minutes. Then, he/she will spend twice the amount of time that he/she was on the computer asking me how much services cost (photocopying, scanning, etc.) but never actually needs anything photocopied or scanned. Sometimes he/she goes all out on her look and really tries to sell it and some days she just throws on the same pair of white, super tight booty shorts and calls it a day. But considering Francisco isn't supposed to be into me, he/she is strangely friendly to me in particular, and almost always buys me a Fanta or brings me cookies or mangoes.

My next stop is Iquique, Chile, as I make my way to Bolivia in the next couple of weeks.

*Note to self: Must hire personal chef.

A Peso For My Thoughts

Recent weather: low 60s early in the week with light rain, mid 70s later in the week and sunny.
Recent reads: 1 Samuel, "The Prince and the Pauper" by Mark Twain, "Waking Up Married" by Mira Lyn Kelly, "Beyond Anger: How to Hold On to Your Heart and Your Humanity in the Midst of Injustice" a Shambhala Publication.

I started this week in La Serena, one of the big little towns of central Chile. The more time I spend in smaller towns, the more I notice what Chileans mean when they talk about the growing disparity in Chile. While on the surface Chile is one of the more advanced countries in South America, deep down, many Chileans feel like individually their lives aren't getting better. While big cities like Santiago can hide it, La Serena exemplified this contradiction. For every new BMW on the road (and there were many), there is a neighborhood built out of metal sheets. And in some cases the line of demarcation between the upper class and everyone else is actually a deliberate line, with skyscrapers, paved roads and green lawns on one side of the tracks and dilapidated shacks on dirt roads on the other.

My afternoon snack overlooking the fish market.

In this case, the grass really is actually greener on the other side.

After two days in La Serena, I tried to leave but couldn't. Seriously. I checked out of my hostel and waited at the bus stop for over an hour but my bus never came. Turns out it was a holiday of sorts and either my bus wasn't running or ran less frequently. So I retreated back to the hostel for another day. I continued my unofficial beer tasting of Chile by enjoying a delightful local pale ale made in the nearby Valle del Elqui.

An overcast day at the beach.

Anima Pale Ale made in Valle del Elqui

On Friday morning I left early on my 2 hour bus ride through Valle del Elqui to the sleepy town of Pisco Elqui.

Pisco fields

Pisco Elqui is, of course, famous for Pisco so I had to go on a pisco distillery tour. When in Rome!

I continued the pisco tour by indulging in a private tasting with me, myself and I at dinner. Perhaps it's the shorter list of sights to see in my Lonely Planet Guide for these towns and the more free time to just think, but I was slightly more bitter to say, "table for 1 please" than usual. At dinner, where I had a tasty pisco sour and a hearty bowl of bean ceviche, the cutesy couples and happy families dining around me seemed especially nauseating. Don't get me wrong, I have actually really enjoyed traveling alone but this was one of those inevitable moments, days, weeks that I felt like this all would have been a whole lot more fun to share with a PIC... Okay, let's be honest about the real issue here: I was undecided between the bean ceviche and a pizza and it is socially unacceptable to order both but if there were two of us, this wouldn't be a problem. There. I said it.

But if dinner wasn't enough time to wallow in self pity that I am "stuck" traveling South America alone (first world problem?), then the 22 hour bus ride Saturday and Sunday from La Serena all the way up north to Arica, Chile, should really put everything in check.

I don't know if it was epic or if part of my soul died from sheer laziness, but on that bus ride, I watched the sunset and sunrise from the exact same seat.

And now to spend some time in Arica, Chile!

A Holiday from My Holiday

Recent weather: low 60s, overcast and light rain on Thursday and Friday; low 60s, mostly cloudy Saturday; mid 70s, sunny on Sunday and Monday.
Recent reads: Joshua, Judges, Ruth. What I love about the book of Ruth is how little dating and women have changed. Naomi devising a plan for Ruth to uncover Boas's feet and then asking Ruth excitedly afterwards, "How did it go??" Reminds me of how my grandmother would love hearing about my dating stories:)

I left Santiago for Valparaiso on Thursday afternoon. I didn't do much in Valpo on Thursday since it was cool and damp. Fortunately, Valparaiso isn't a big town and doesn't have an endless list of must-see tourist sights and activities like Santiago or Buenos Aires. In fact, Valparaiso is quite the opposite. It is a sleepy town whose cultural experience is best absorbed by strolling along its streets and taking in the ubiquitous graffiti and its eclectic hillside neighborhoods.

Shortly after checking into my hostel, I met Marie. Marie is Danish and has been traveling for 17 months! She started in New York City and has worked her way down America with her flight home in about 6 weeks. Marie and I hung out for most of the time in Valparaiso. What I liked most about Marie was that she was even taller than me (apparently very common in Denmark), had no interest in discussing politics, and, most importantly, she laughed at my jokes.

On Friday we did the Tours for Tips walking tour with our lovable guide, Priscilla. Priscilla was a knowledgeable and endearing guide and I would like to believe all her jokes were 100% original and non-rehearsed. Valparaiso's golden era was in the late 1800s and early 1900s when Europeans needed to sail around the tip of South America in order to reach California and the Gold Rush. Valparaiso served as the perfect stopover for ships and sailors becoming a very important port city and attracting all kinds of European immigrants. Quickly Valparaiso grew to be a very rich city and the first city in Latin America to have a volunteer fire department and Latin America's oldest stock exchange. But the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 hit Valpo hard with the sudden lack of traffic. Many immigrants had built elaborate mansions on hills or fancy new hotels which were never opened. Among other reasons, Valparaiso climaxed in the early 1900s and isn't even the major port of its region today.

Priscilla, our tour guide.

Valparaiso is a steep city with lots of epic staircases and ascensors (electric run cars that ascend and descend the hills for about 25 cents USD). But what better way to turn these abundant staircases into epic culitural pieces than by painting them! Graffiti and street art is everywhere and if you thought the La Boca neighborhood in Buenos Aires was colorful, Valpo is just as colorful. Supposedly, ships used things like sheet metal and paint cans as weight for navigating around Cape Horn and often ditched the heavy stuff in Valpo once they had passed the more difficult waters. So the people of Valparaiso made lemonade, building their homes out of the metal pieces and using the random paint colors to prevent rusting. More recently, people have hired graffiti artists to paint murals on their homes which also decreases the chances they'll get tagged (the typical black signature type graffiti that is associated with gangs or crimes).

Me and my new friend. He never disagrees with me.

We finished off our tour with a bit of pisco and I didn't complain.

That night I came down with a fever randomly and spent much of the evening and night shivering under 3 blankets. I seriously think it may be medically necessary for me to live in San Diego. I should consider getting a doctor's note. This was one of those moments when I wished I wasn't in Chile but rather in my childhood bed where my mom would do the hand to forehead fever test (does this even work?) and bring me Campbells soup. The fever broke and I was back on the cobblestone streets of Valparaiso on Saturday again.

I wasn't lying about the colors. 

Chorrillana, fries with meat, grilled onions and cheese. But it's on a piece of lettuce so I'd call it a salad.

At the harbor

Valparaiso, behind bars. 60 minutes edition.

Sunday I took a city bus to nearby Vina Del Mar where I spent the whole afternoon reading at the beach. Time well spent attempting to even out my sock tan line and naturally exfoliate my feet with a stroll on the beautiful wide sands of Playa Caleta Abarca. Monday I meandered through the downtown of Vina Del Mar, through its various fruit, veggie, clothes and handicraft markets.

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

What time is it? Beach time!

Highlight: In Valparaiso we had a beer flight at Casa Cervecera Altimira. Now the beers were just okay. My favorite was the German Amber. The part I really enjoyed was chatting with the brew master. He came by our table and asked how our beers were tasting. And it wasn't that run of the mill, "How is everything?"  where they expect the answer to be "fine, thank you," but he genuinely wanted our opinions. He studied beermaking in Ireland and worked in Belgium and northern California. Recently, they hired a historian to dig up and certify the original beer recipes that were first made in Valparaiso. Valparaiso had the first brewery in Latin America, by the way. When I asked him about the chances I'll find an IPA anytime soon, he stated that at his brewery, they are just making the original recipes of the first brew master but that in general, Chileans have sweet tooths and a hoppy beer doesn't make for many happy Chileans.

Low point: I found a gray hair. Perhaps traveling is more stressful than you'd think. Or I'm getting too old for this. Oh yeah, and then at the bus station a drunk (I'm guessing) homeless (I'm guessing) man threw up. And then a stray (I'm guessing) dog licked it up.

Monday night was an overnight bus to La Serena. Heading north!

Last Days

Today's location: New London, Wisconsin (a.k.a. New Dublin in March)
Today's weather: Sunny, high of 0 degrees (No, that is not a typo.)

Spending some time in my hometown as part of my tour of home before the big trip. The past week has been all about "lasts" in preparation for leaving on March 5th. Some lasts include but not limited to: last time driving Cosmo, my car, last time at my church in San Diego, last time eating brunch at Snooze, and using up my last yoga groupon.

One highlight of preparing for this whole experience was packing up everything I own. I say "highlight" because this was actually a good opportunity to weed out a lot of crap that I have been accumulating. Why do I have so much stuff? But seriously, it's just "stuff" and I have so much of it. Don't get me wrong, as far as stuff goes, mine is nice stuff but again, it's just stuff. And if the zombie apocalypse strikes tonight, my extensive wardrobe is only going to slow me down. Maybe life in South America will prove to be much simpler and I will find contentment in the little things and learn to crave less "stuff." Doubtful.

Anything I haven't worn or used in the last year had to go. I donated of 10+ bags of "stuff." Then, I packed everything I'm going to need for the next year in a backpack (more to come on its contents). Finally, I put everything that was left in storage. It was a humbling experience to pack pretty much all of my worldly possessions (except for my car) in a 5 X 10 ft storage unit. On one hand, maybe I'm not quite as materialistic as I think. On the other hand, 26 years of life and this is all I have to show for it?!

The purge was good. And then I rested.

 


People have been asking if I'm getting excited/nervous. Honestly, it doesn't seem like anything is happening. All of these changes, like packing, have gradually unfolded so I've been able to transition to the idea slowly. However, my last day of work proved to be more emotional than I thought. I wasn't sad (because I know this experience is just what the doctor ordered) but rather, I was overwhelmed by the people and things that affect my life in positive way. Already this experience is putting life in perspective.

My last night in San Diego was marked by an epic 'Merica send off in Encinitas where I finally took the price tag off a pair of American flag leggings that had been collecting dust in my dresser. (If I held on to these leggings, can you imagine the random stuff I donated?) When asked what I'll miss most about the US, I replied, "Mexican food." Huh. The usual shenanigans ensued, I drank a "dirty American," talked to the dj, etc.

Stay classy, San Diego!

Some friends and co-workers think I'm never coming back from South America. They think I'll find my Juan Pablo down there, run off into the Amazon, never to return. But knowing myself, or at least I think I do, I fully expect that after a year of living out of a suitcase, doing odd jobs, always meeting new people but never knowing them, I'll welcome the opportunity to just go home, unpack, and find regularity in life again. But who knows.

 For now, I'll brave the bitter Wisconsin cold as I say "see you later" to a few more people.

Countdown to lift off: 5 days.