early dismissal, no water, heading to calama a day early (jueves, 21 octubre)

Today classes got out early because the students had a football (soccer) game. When I got to school I found out that tomorrow´s classes are cancelled as well, so when classes ended at 11am I walked down to the bus station to buy a ticket to Calama, which is an hour or so outside of San Pedro, where I planned on spending the weekend. I was actually pretty excited to be getting there a day earlier than planned.

I managed to find my bus ticket without any problems. The departure time wasn´t until 3:45 so I figured I´d have enough time to go home, take a hot shower, pack some stuff into my backpack, and grab a bite to eat before leaving. However, when I got home, the water wasn´t working at all. It made me pretty mad because this was the second time since being here that my House didn´t have any water. Sometimes it´s pretty inconvenient and things such as lights and water don´t work like they´re supposed to. My host brother said that our whole neighborhood didn´t have any water and he had no idea when it was going to be fixed. At this point I would have gladly welcomed even a cold shower, just so I could rinse off and not feel slimey, but oh well. I packed my bag and got on the number 4 bus downtown where I had pizza before boarding the bus to Calama. I worked on my Spanish homework and tried to read a little bit on the bus. Six hours later I arrived in Calama.

In Calama I met Mary, another English teacher/volunteer whom I´d met on the program´s website. We got fries and beer at a Mexican pub that was Mexican in decor but not much else. It was a kind of dark, smokey place blasting heavy metal and serving food such as fries, pizzas, and hamburgers...I guess the owners hadn´t ever been to Mexico... Anyway, the fries were good and Mary and I got to hang out for a while which was nice. Around 1am I found a hostel (with 24/7 hot water!) and decided to call it a night.

Tomorrow off to San Pedro de Atacama!!!

written by

Sara Florecita on October 21, 2010 from Calama, Chile

from the travel blog: año de dos inviernos (Chile 2010)

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