Safety and la Seguridad 6 Tips

My friend did a lot of preparing and
followed  a lot of safety tips while
 traveling to Machu Picchu in 2010.
It made our trip more enjoyable! 

Being safe when traveling or living abroad is important. That should go without saying, but it sometimes people forget. Not on purpose, I know that I have been wrapped up in a new place and forget to keep in mind that this is not my home town, and I can't use the same habits I would use in Racine. Now I don't think people need to be stingy with safety when traveling because then they wouldn't get anything out of their trip, and probably spend most of their time hiding out in their hostel. But being cautious is important. Here are some safety tips that I have used during my travels.

1. Common Sense 
A little common sense can go a long way when traveling and living abroad. You wouldn't flash a $100 bill out in public in your home city? Would you? I wouldn't. Just having a good sound judgement can help you be safe while traveling. If you wouldn't do it in your home country, you probably shouldn't do in the country your visiting.

2. Be Aware of Your Surroundings 
Knowing your surroundings is important. Keep an eye on where you are, and where people are around you. You don't have to be in constant suspicion that some one is going to rob you every time you step out onto the street. But it does help to keep track of people who are in close contact/proximity to you, and may be able to reach into your pocket. Also knowing where your purse, wallet, backpack, and other objects are on your person can help reduce the chance of you getting pick-pocketed.

Knowing the layout of the city, and the places you will be traveling can help you feel more comfortable there as well. You don't have to memorize the maps, but just getting your bearings can help you relax and enjoy your trip more. It's also allows your mind to keep track of your belongings because you won't have to focus so hard on not getting lost.

3. Know the Journey You're Taking 
You don't have to plan out every minute of your journey, but knowing the general route you want to take, and the places you want to visit is important. If you know where you are going, you can be prepared for what holidays, demonstrations, or other activities that will be happening in the city.

4. Keep in Contact 
As you travel your journey keep in contact with people from home. Let them know how you are doing. Especially if you're traveling alone. If you're trying to "escape" home for a while, and do not want to much contact with people just send them a message saying "Hey, I'm okay!". This little message will be a huge comfort for those at home, even if it does't seem like it. Also giving people a lay out of your journey can help them feel at ease because they won't have to play, "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" with your location.

5. Know the Numbers 
Emergencies can happen at anytime. Although, I have never had one while traveling, but you never know when or what will happen. (If I could predict the future I certainly wouldn't be teaching right now.) But if you know the emergency numbers for an ambulance, the fire department, and the police you can be more prepared if emergencies occur.

6. Understand  
A little understanding can go a long way. As you travel you really begin to understand that every country has it's own culture, and even one country's people have different cultures. By having an open mind and knowing that all people are different you can better understand why people act the way they do, and why people do what they do. I believe that knowing and understanding a culture can help with your safety when abroad because you will have a better idea of how to act around people from that culture.

These are just some of the travel tips for safety that I have, and followed when I traveled abroad in South America. There are certainly more that should be followed, but these are the most important to me. Are there any I missed that you feel important? What are safety tips that you use when traveling?

Chao,
Leslie

The Fault in Our Stars

Since reading was not a leisure activity I had the ability to enjoy this past school year because of being so busy I decided to spend a lot of time this summer reading. It's been going okay. I've still been pretty busy though seeing people and saying my goodbyes for now, but maybe some day...probably when I'm retired I will have the ability to shut out the world completely and have a good read-a-thon for a little bit.

Anyways, moving on from that small tangent. The first book I read this summer was The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. Yes, I read it because it was becoming popular, and the movie was coming out... That's very difficult to admit.. Usually I get annoyed that people read books ONLY because the movie is coming out, and not because they simply enjoy reading for pleasure.. (I think that is why I detest Twilight so much... people ONLY read the book because the MOVIE was coming out... and the movies...I digress. Never mind).

Now that I think of it... I also read Looking for Alaska, when I was in high school, and thoroughly enjoyed it. So, one can say my curiosity of finding out if The Fault in Our Stars was as good as Looking for Alaska  kind of crossed my mind as I picked up the book.

A Few Thoughts on the Book
I LOVED this book. It actually made me reflect on my life. I read it in 2 days. I need to reread it again to catch those details I probably missed, but it was amazing. For me it really touched and reminded me that we need to live our lives to the fullest. We never know if we are guaranteed tomorrow. That's probably a no-brainer statement right there, but John Green wrote this book in a way that makes one see they need to live right now without being too pushy about it. But he doesn't make it seem that everything we do needs to be like a stunt scene from the Fast and Furious.

Instead, I believe, he shows us that just being OURSELVES, is a good life to live. I think this book shows us that we need to stop focusing on the material matters in our lives...like do I have the latest smart phone that's out, or worrying about how many people liked my Facebook status today. Instead of focusing on these things we need to focus being kind to each other, not judging someone by their social media page before we even have a chance to talk to them. We need to take more time to get to know the world around us in person, not through some app on a smart phone or tablet. We need to try to learn about a culture, person's beliefs, new hobby, etc. before we can say we don't like them.

A Quote from the Book

"There will come a time when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever. There was time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows that’s what everyone else does.”  ~ John Green, The Fault in Our Stars, pg 12-13

This quote may seem like the opposite of what I am saying, but how I interpret it is... That instead of focusing on the material items, and what people think of us, and etc. We should really be focused on helping make this world a better place, and helping people live the best lives they can. Because in the end, what does all the material matter mean? The human race isn't guaranteed an infinity...Who says it is? Why should we focus on just ourselves if in the end no one will be left to remember us? Why should we hide behind the technology of this age when there's a whole world to be seen and lived in person?

A Conclusion to my Rambling?
I'm probably reading too much into this book. But I think that good literature makes you think about your own actions. That is exactly what this book made me do. I suggest everyone should read this... young and old... there's also a lot more to get out of the book than what I wrote above.


~Leslie

p.s I don't own that quote or any of the titles I mentioned... These are also my OWN opinions not anyone else's. 

Una Meta

I really want to change my lifestyle and become more active and healthier. Especially when I move to Santiago. To help me with this I have decided to run a race in Santiago when I live down there (Or in another city possibly? You never know). During my search I stumbled up this website...

Corre.cl

It has information on all of the races throughout the country. My goal is to be able to run a 10K by early next year. I'm giving myself ample time because I don't know how stressed I will be when I get down there, and don't want to over do it. If I feel up to it I can always pick a closer date to run a 10K.

I have also wanted to do a color run. (You know the one where you run and they throw different colors at you and you become a rainbow) but have never had the chance to do one here. I always seemed to miss them. I found the website for The Color Run in Chile.   It doesn't have updated information on the this next year's races, but I'm going to keep checking it.

(It also costs.. according to last years and the only price I could find was 10.990 CLP.... Thats about 22$ USD. To me that's cheap. The Color Run costs about 45$ in the US. It also seems that a lot of the races are slightly cheaper in Chile compared to the US. I have to investigate more and see what comes in the racing kit..)

Happy Running,
Leslie

Abroad

I did one of those silly Facebook "My Year in Statuses" apps. I was bored and just wanted to see what the grand old social media monster wanted to say about my 2013 status experience. Well, it turns out in like 75% off my status I mention traveling, moving abroad, Chile, Europe, some other travel phrase, or a combination of any of these words.

I guess I've always had it in my heart to travel and go abroad. My brain just prevented me from doing it. This seems to be the opposite problem that others have. Don't people usually follow their hearts more than their brains? This just proves how strange I really am. I am not normal, and I am okay with that.

These past couple of years I have seen a lot of friends get into serious relationships, get engaged, get married, have babies, or do a combination of those tasks. At the beginning of this Settling Down Era of my friends, I'm not going to lie, I was jealous. I've always been single, well yeah.. I've been on dates, but nothing really was for me (There was no "Snapple"). I still sometimes get the thought "Should I be finding someone to settle down with too?" But I am starting to realize that it's not for me... not yet at least.

I've struggled with self-esteem issues for a majority of my life. I've always been a follower, people pleaser, the apologetic for everything I do person. I've always felt like I was never good enough for anyone. But lately that has been changing. I've been focusing more on me and my needs, and less on what people think of me or need of me. That sounds really horribly selfish... and I'm not selfish, or I try not to be. But I have realized recently that I need to focus more on myself and do more things for me. This will help me discover who I am, and help me become the person that I want society to see me as.

Anyways, it sounds stereotypical, but I am using this time in Santiago to "find" myself. Or to spend time on myself... To actually discover what I want in life. I'm going to try new things, meet new people, and find out if ESL is what I want to teach. I am excited for this trip, and can't wait for it to start!

Wow this blog post took a turn from my original plan... Oh, well I'm "flexible" with changes.. or at least to POP and my co-teachers I am.

Chao for now.
Leslie

World Cup Fun

Piscola

So last week Friday Chile played their first World Cup Group game! I was excited to watch them win. I drank a piscola (pictured left) as I enjoyed the last half of the game. Pisco is an alcoholic beverage... my mom says it tastes like a brandy. *Note*: I've never had brandy, so I'm taking her word for it. Usually Chileans mix it with coke or make pisco sours with it. It's one of the beverages of choice for Chile.

(There is also pisco made in Peru, and you may see Chileans and Peruvians argue over who created pisco first or who has the better pisco. I've never had Peruvian pisco so I can't speak much for it., but I'd like to try it some day)

Realization

Me and D

I had a realization on Saturday. I won't be back to the United States for at least a year starting in 24 days. (ok, So I am going to try and come back for Christmas... But the reality of me saving that much money for a plane ticket home is not that high). This epiphany (how ever silly it is) came as I said goodbye to my best friend D. He's moving to Louisiana this Friday to take a summer class for his teaching program there, and will unfortunately not be able to make it make to Southeastern Wisconsin before I leave.

As sad as I felt at the realization of not seeing a lot of friends for a long time was, I know that D's and my friendship will be okay. I've known him since 7th grade... We became best friends in high school, and were practically inseparable until we left for college, and went our own ways. Even though we went to school at separate places, and life became crazily hectic; we still made time to see each other at least once or twice a year. Honestly, even though don't see each other a lot, we are still close, and it's really easy to pick up our friendship right where we left off. I will always consider him and his family my second family.

I just hope that my other friendships up here last like that.

****
Yesterday I had breakfast with my grandparents, brother, and aunt and uncle. It was a nice easy Sunday. I helped my grandma pick flowers and sticks up from the farm as my brother mowed the lawn. It felt good to see my grandparents. I didn't get to see them that much this past year because of school. My grandma's a really good cook, and I love eating her food. I'm going to miss that while I am away.

Pictures from Grandma's and Grandpa's

I often get scared that something might happen to them while I am away. I try not to think like that, but it crosses my mind sometimes. It's not just about my grandparents. I get scared of leaving my parents and friends too. BUT if anything happens I can always come home. No matter how scared I get at these thoughts, I need to remember to live my life too. I can't sit around living in fear waiting for something horrible to happen. If I did what stories or life lessons would I have to tell my future children.

I guess fear of the unknown has been holding me back from making this trip earlier. Well, that and saving enough money to go, and paying my loans... But anyways I am taking the plunge... and it's now or never...

As the grate wise Dumbledore once said, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that." (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone page 214 ) (Interpret it as you wish. That's the good thing about literature. There is no right or wrong way to interpret it.)

With that, I wish you all a splendid beginning of the week.

~Leslie



 

My Love of Chile

Chile. It my home country away from the U.S. I fell in love with it as soon as I stepped off the plane on July 29th, 2010. My host family was amazing! They helped me out when I needed it. I can't thank them enough for everything they did for me.

I made awesome new friends down there. I know I don't talk to them as much as I would like to now, and I haven't seen a lot of them since I left Santiago, but they were a huge part of my trip down there.

I also love Chile because, while I was down there. I changed. That sounds cliche or stupid, but it was true. When I left the U.S. I was a quiet, shy, girl who was a people pleaser. Before I lived abroad for the semester I was afraid of living life to it's fullest. I was always scared that something bad was going to happen if I enjoyed life too much. I also was very controlling of my life. I always had my future planned out (A little too far in advance).  I was very sheltered. I had almost no contact with minority cultures outside of my education field work.

The change in myself wasn't sudden, but gradual. Over the semester I started to loosen up about always being "safe". I became more confident in the decisions I was making, and more comfortable enjoying life . I was introduced to an amazing new culture and way of life. I wasn't afraid to have fun. Not knowing what was going to happen on my mini trips outside of Santiago gave me excitement. I actually enjoyed not having complete control over everything in my future. I loved the person I was changing into, and I brought her back stateside.

However, I have slowly lost that confident girl. Over the past 4 years I have more or less reverted back into the girl I was before Chile. I miss that relaxed Chilean gringa. I am so constantly worried about the future, and where I am going to be that I have stopped living. I am so scared about disappointing and hurting others that I forget to make sure I am happy too. I am really freaking out about leaving my school for good. I keep telling people that I'll be back, but in reality I don't know where I will be. I have talked to people about this and they say, "It's okay if I don't come back, and besides it's too far in the future to think about right now."

Every time I think about leaving for Santiago I get a silly smile on my face and I feel a rush of joy come over me. I am looking forward to a change. I am looking forward to finding myself down there. I know it won't be the same as when I studied abroad since I'll actually have to work to survive. I just need to remind myself live day by day. Enjoy each moment as it comes. I'm in for an adventure of a life time.

Thanks for reading.
 Leslie

(Actually written on 5/30/14)