Puerto Varas, Frutillar, Saltos and Camiones

This past weekend, made my way south to Puerto Varas, a German influenced town placed on a lake with a grand view of Volcán Osorno. 

Volcano Osorno in the distance. Beautiful. 

the harbor in Puerto Varas and the cerro we hiked in the background

On Saturday after napping from an all night bus ride and a cup of coffee, we made our way to Frutillar. A smaller town on the same lake, with famous German cake, a big music hall, and many beautiful little churches and German inspired buildings. 

Sitting out on the dock in Frutillar. So peaceful! 

Rebecca straight up eating palta on the micro

That night, we went out back to the place we had coffee for free pisco sours, which turned into a night of free drinking. Piscos, mint juleps, and margaritas. all to celebrate my girl Carlyn's birthday.

Carlyn's gratis birthday of piscos

On Sunday, after hiking the cerro, we made our way over for some ice cream and lunch. We met my good friend, Brian. A big ass smelly street dog who lived in Puerto Varas. I  made friends with him and played catch in the lake, trying to give him a de facto bath. It was quite the scene, many Chileans got what I'm sure a priceless show of a gringa playing with a smelly street dog.  In the end, we won his loyalty and he followed us around the rest of the trip. Oh smelly Brian (named for being a mix between a Bear and a Lion). So loyal, so happy to be with us, so smelly.

Brian, our big beautiful smelly dog 

Miss him. He's smelly though 

On Monday, we got on another micro and made our way to the Saltos de Petrohue, beautiful waterfalls and hiking trails. We wandered around and went on a few trails.

Saltos de Petrohue. 

So fucking blue and beautiful   

We slept in on Tuesday, then headed home.

Carlyn running to our ride, yes, that's a truck

 In a big rig.

Rebecca's host family "dad" and us chilling in the camión. 

Yes, I know. Rebecca's de facto host family's dad drives trucks for his job, and happened to be heading back to Temuco at the same time that we were heading home, so we caught a ride with him. It was a huge hike up to the truck, a real climb. And the ride was definitely bouncier than I thought (though that might have to do with it being a 20 year old truck), but overall, it was a great experience. My first big rig ride was a success. 

The trip was great. It was calm, and it was a lot of fun to just chill with other volunteers.

Dieciocho

Chilean Independence Day has come and past. A week long celebration of asados (bbq's), ramadas (a lot like a county fair), cueca dancing (traditional dance of Chile), empanadas (empanadas), and drinking (terremoto's). 

Lots of activities, lots of sleep, and lots of fun. 

The students really were the best part of it, as per normal. They danced, they dressed up, they played sports games, they flew kites. 

Here are kids at Dario Salas, getting their cueca on. 

Students getting their cueca on at Dario Salas 

So cute in their traditional dress

The man in the tan jacket is my head teacher, the teacher I work with. He couldn't dance cueca, and all the kids were cracking up. Though I can't dance either, I definitely had a chuckle or two, he just looked so ridiculous.

At Liceo Forestal Pehuen, they had a field day instead of a traditional dancing assembly. Tug of war, three legged races, bag races, and a few traditional games. 

tug of war

The interesting thing was the whole field day was by classes, so each competition had point values attached to it.
At the end of the day, they announced that if someone from your class shaved his/her head, that class would receive 5,000 points. Well, how many kids do you think wanted to shave their head at my not participating school?

Surprisingly, the kids were pretty into the day and were just having a great time and three kids shaved their heads. It was crazy! 

Look at all that hair on the ground!! It's the hair from all three of them.


On Friday of that week, there was a big Padre Las Casas wide DESFILE! or Parade. Which wasn't really all that much of a parade, it was them waiting on the main street of Padre for 2 hours past the start time, when fianlly they started, only to walk two or three blocks. It was strange.

The strangeness aside, everyone was dressed up in traditional garb, or in their respective school's finest! Everyone was looking good. It was great fun, since both of my schools were there, so I got to hang out with both my students.  

So cute, can't handle it. 

All the kids in red sweaters with the plaid skirts and grey tights are my Dario Salas kids. In fact, that tan building in the background is actually Dario Salas! 

Here is my host sister! She's looking beautiful! 

God. Too cute. Couldn't handle how cute some of my students were. the kid who has his eyes closed is one of my favorites, he's kind of a troublemaker, but he loves playing games. 

Some of the girls! This group is the group that always bugs me about the Professor and I being together. hahaha. Oh 12 year old girls. 

Dario Salas also had a band section! I had no idea! 

Now on to the Liceo kids, not looking quite as cute, but still they were all in such a good mood! It was fun to just hang out outside of the class.

cute!

Some of them dressed up for the desfile, looking fly!

I've never seen them quite so organized! It was impressive! 

Hahaha. They were yelling, trying to get my attention. 

Overall, they really are good kids.



Now, I leave with you one final picture of adorableness. Look at how cute these kids are!

Fiestas Patrias turned out to be a lot of fun. Getting involved with all the festivities, seeing the kids get really excited about something, it put a huge smile on my face. =] 

Valdivia

A beautiful flower finding it's way through the sand and the rocks in Niebla, Chile 

After buying a new pair of pants (and a new iPhone charging cord, yet another story), I met up with a few other program members to explore, speak English, and hang out in Valdivia, a city in Los Ríos, about 2 and a half hours south and west of Temuco.

While not quite as old warm charm as related to me by various sources, Valdivia is a lovely city situated pleasantly in between several rivers, maintaining river front walking paths and large bunches of birds fluttering about (pelicans! Those beautiful big lugs).

The view from our river front coffee shop boat

While not too much different from temuco in terms of shops, and general look, Valdivia has a lovely waterfront market, lots of coffee shops with mediocre coffee (had espresso on a river front boat-which was pretttty sweet). And delicious beer, being the city with the largest German influence in chile.

The beach at Niebla, where a wave caught me off guard, salting my newly purchased pants (it wasn't my weekend). 

After wandering the city on Friday afternoon and finding some food, we woke up on Saturdayand made our way to the ocean and a town called Niebla, full of old German forts and small town vibe. After, exploring a bit, we made our way to the kuntsmann cervecería, where I had a lovely sampler.

This is one of the old forts, see the cannons in the bottom left? Defending the river entrance into Valdivia

Here I am with the sampler at the Cervecería! Had a really good double bock there that was delicious. Also, a great blueberry beer.

After a chill afternoon of wandering and walking the promenades with all the Chileans, we went out for a friend's birthday, only to end up at this "Mexican" restaurant, where the DJ used smoke and bubbles. It was too hilarious, so I of course had to take a picture. 

We did eventually find our way to a British style pub with a cover band playing Beatles songs, they were actually pretty good! 

The long weekend in Valdivia was a much needed break to get out of Temuco, explore somewhere new, speak a little English, and really just enjoy all that Chile has to offer. Walking the promenades in Valdivia, watching the sun set across the river, seeing actual other runners out and about. Ultimately, Valdivia, while not the most exciting city, would be a lovely place to live. The people are so friendly, so full of life, and just really taking advantage of all the natural beauty that surrounds their city of rivers. 

A sunset along the promenade 

Proud owner

Picture it, 8 am, the ground damp with last night's rain, the house dark with sleeping Chilean family members, and no one out in the crisp air on a Chilean holiday morning. It's Friday. I'm awake, I'm a bit bleary eyed. I step outside, carefully closing the self locking door to let the Chilean family members sleep peacefully. I go to open our protective always unlocked gate only to realize its not unlocked, like always.

If I wasn't awake already, I was now. Self-awareness flooded me, I was quite literally trapped between a sleeping family and a metal gate. Well, my first thought was oh shit.

Then the gears start turning. Priority one, let sleeping Chilean family sleep.

Path to achieve goal: climb fence.

I'm strong, I think to myself. I'm agile. I got this.

Step 1: Proceed to throw bags for my trip to Valdivia over fence.
Step 2: utilize awkward brick step to attempt the climb.
Step 3: realize that's not happening.
Step 4: check house door and gate again. Yep, both still locked.
Step 5: Psych myself up. I'm a badass I got this.
Step 6: Use the neighbors shared gate to get leverage. Stretching my left leg, up up. I hear a snag on the spiked fence. My jacket. I continue. I'm determined. Just a bittttt higher.

And bam. I hear a big tear, that's it. I'm done letting sleeping Chileans lie. I'm officially the proud owner of a large hole in my old worn out jeans.

Finally, after pounding on the door for a few minutes, host dad shows up, looks at me with the dirt on my pants and hands, and proceeds to ask me where I'm going. I get the keys, and happily make my way to the bus station.

After it all, I barely make my bus, the new proud owner of one snag in my jacket, one dirty bleeding cut on my left hand, and a big tear in my jeans.

The trip to Valdivia has officially began.

Villarrica

   On Saturday, after a night of meeting up with some fellow EOD program kids at the local bar scene (and going home for the first time in colectivos-taxis that are kind of like buses, they follow a specific route, cost a bit more, but are a bit faster and run all night, unlike the buses), a few friends and I made our way out to Villarrica, a little town on Lago Villarrica about an hour and fifteen away by bus. The town really isn't much, but dude, it's beautiful.

 Sometimes moments just really strike you, pricking you awake into a consciousness so present, connecting you with the now in a powerful way. Swinging on the swings, the wind flowing through my hair, all the while staring at an illuminated, snow covered volcano. Swinging, adrenaline pumping through, breathing in the fresh cold air, in that moment, one is beautifully aware. I thought to myself, "Damn, I'm in Chile, swinging and staring at a beautiful volcano. This is real. This is amazing." Moments like that, so full of joy, so present in the there and now are what life is about.

All the dust covered mountains reminded me a lot of Lord of the Rings, I got my geek on and wanted to be wearing a cloak. Makes you wonder why cloaks aren't cool anymore? I'm seriously considering bringing them back. Who cares what people think? They're genius. They keep you warm, keep you covered from the elements, serve as an emergency blanket, pillow. More than that, they give you an enigmatic flare, a little attitude, a little badassery. Also, if you ever are running from someone, they hide your identity (warning: though this logic only works if other people are wearing cloaks, otherwise, you will stand out more). 

Here's the main street in the town and Chilean flag.  The town is tiny, but it rocks a big tourist crowd during the summer.

This is our dog we picked up wandering the town. Little Charlita (She was Charlie first, till we realized she was a girl) followed us everywhere. She even followed us into the Jams and Desserts store. Too cute. 

     It was great to take a little adventure, to speak some English, hang out with some awesome chicks, and pretend to be in Lord of the Rings.

Bathroom Cornering

    Today, I was cornered by fifteen preteen girls in the bathroom. Traumatizing? No. Hilarious? Yes.

   So there I was, minding my own business. Just having finished a class at Dario Salas, I was tired, had stayed up reading too late again last night. Washing my hands, when a few girls came up and did the whole, "Hola Tía!" "Hello Teacher" kissing on the cheek saludos (greetings) business, nothing unusual there. I'm quite the new toy at school, I get all the attention. Lots of hellos in hallways, little kids waving in excitement to see the foreigner. Again, nothing new, I was a gaijin in Japan, I'm good with attention.
    Next thing I know, they've circled me! More keep coming. Apparently, the gossip of the school was I was dating the Professor I work with, Cesar, who I'm taller than, who is probably thirty or so, and who has a two year long relationship with a serious girlfriend. At first, I didn't understand their questions, quick preteen Spanish, with giggling in the backtrack. Finally, I understood what they were asking. "What is he to you? A pareja? A amigo? Su novio?" Well, nothing new there. Everyone in Chile wants to know if I have a boyfriend, who he is, all about my love life. Lovely.
   Then, to my consternation, when I said he was just a friend and that I work with him, they didn't even believe me, like that could even be possible, just friends. Several started yelling, "Well how did you meet him? Will you start to date him?" I guess the concept of a working pair, of just friends, doesn't exist for preteen Chilean girls. Nothing we had done or acted like with each other would give anyone any kind of ideas that we're dating, but to preteen girls with nothing but time will gossip about the new foreign girl and the guy she walks next to, and then proceed to encircle said girl in the bathroom on a snack break. Too great. I love the kids.

Una Pastilla & Reyes

     I survived the weekend. Four sisters, 1 Dog, 1 Crazy Host Aunt, 2 Host Parents (one overbearing, the other knocked out by drugs), and lots of antics.
    Like I mentioned, the two older sisters visited this past weekend from Santiago to come and meet me. They got there on Friday, where we not so promptly kept talking about going to the Stadium, only to leave 2 hours later (as seems to happen a lot here, ugh). All of their waffling had us there essentially in the dark, but still, a nice park with a big soccer stadium. None of them have been to a game at the stadium though, they've just visited it multiple times when nothing is going on. Weird, but who am I to judge. Then we made our way to the mall after an eventful police calling, yelling filled bus ride, where the Bus Driver wouldn't let my 10 year old sister pay the student rate because she forgot her ID, though clearly was a student. My sisters didn't like that, made a huge deal. It was a bit overly dramatic for my taste, but really hilarious to see all four sisters in action.  We got to the mall, had some dessert and picked out a present for a friend of Francisca's for her birthday.    
    That night was followed by karaoke in the living room. Now you all know, or maybe not, how I feel about karaoke, but I was a good host kid, played along as best I could, it was almost like a sociology experiment, watching this whole family interact, how similar they all were. It was absolutely creepy, it makes me wonder about what people think when I'm with my family, how similar we are, the way we talk, the way we express our ideas and interact with one another. It's really nice to see that kind of puzzle from the outside fitting together so seamlessly, just like I'm sure it is with my family or any other family.    
     Saturday morning was supposed to be a day for adventuring to Rican Lay, a lake about an hour or two from here, but it started with more drama. Apparently, the night before my host sister gave my host dad a muscle relaxer to just relax and sleep better, well he had a negative reaction, ended up in the clinic, and proceeded to sleep the whole day away. The sisters were besides themselves, especially the one who drugged her father. Hahaha.
    Despite their concerns, all the girls in the family (minus the little 11 year old sister), ended up at the bar that night. We went to a bar, La Boca del Lobo, where we had french fries and pretty good Southern Chilean beer, I would've gone for a bit darker of a beer for the setting, but overall, it was good. (Southern Chile has some of the best beer in the country, as this is where a huge German immigrant population arrived during the late 19th and early 20th century, bringing with them their beer making traditions, so there are quite a few German descendent brewery companies and places here in the South, especially near Valdivia in Los Rios). So there we are, my 26, 23, and 16 year old host sisters, my host mom, and my paternal host aunt, drinking in a dark pub, when the 16 year old suggests we play Los Cuatros Reyes. Next thing I know, I'm playing Kings with my host family. Surprise!
    The game was slightly different from the version back in the States, though really it just seemed like a bastardized version, one that came from us, but in transmission got a bit mixed up and I'd even say diluted. Like questions, instead of there being a question master, you stupidly ask questions to the person to your right, in a circle, until someone messes up and can't ask a question. I think they realized it was stupid too, but that were the rules here, so they did it. Although it sounds weird to play Kings with my host family, it actually was a really good way to relax with them and just hang out for once. We hang out a lot (meaning, we spend a lot of time together as is Chilean custom), but this felt really good, because we all felt like friends. I felt more comfortable, more open to express myself, and really helped settle things a bit with the family, made me feel more a part of things.  
    Nothing exciting really happened on Sunday, just more time, and lots of opportunities to practice Spanish. It's slowly starting to come back, my listening is kicking ass, but I still am working on getting my speaking back to where it used to be, something clearly happened when I didn't speak Spanish for the past two years. Silly me, thinking I could keep a skill by letting it get dull and dim.  The weekend ended, and surveying the damage around me, I had survived all the fun, all the talking and retelling of family stories and learning Chilean expressions, and all of the drama about very little. It was a good break in the day to day life, but now we're back into work.

Just another week of rambling

     The second week of work has come to a close. Man, time is moving fast. I can't believe I've already been here in Chile for three weeks. On one hand it feels like I've been here for a while, and the other, it feels like just yesterday I was lazing on my parents couch eating their food. (Hey Ma and Pa, love you! hahaha).
      This week at school was my first week of really teaching, and boy was it a learning experience. On Monday and Tuesday, I started at Dario Salas, the elementary/middle school, where I'm teaching 5th through 8th. The students are just so adorable, they call me Tia, come up and greet me all the time (even if it's just walking around Padre Las Casas), and overall are just good kids. Cesar, the head English teacher I work with, is pretty strict with them, but I think the structure it provides them really works. They know a fair amount of English and many are excited to learn. At Dario Salas, we spend the first 45 together working on grammar, and then I take 12 kids or so, the ones who were really good that day, or working particularly hard to another classroom. With Dario Salas, it's a lot easier to teach the kids then in the Liceo Forestal, whether this has to do with their age, their location in Temuco, their being hand picked by Cesar, or a combo of all three. I'm doing my best now to figure out how to best proportion out 45 minutes. It's really tricky because some things you think would be really easy, end up taking a long time, and other times, the thing you planned for the whole 45 minutes ends up only taking 15 and you're shit out of luck. I'm starting to get the idea to overplan, to always have a backup plan in hand, because if you let control get away from you, or let them get into other antics, it can spiral quickly.
    The Liceo is frankly taxing. I'll feel really energetic starting there, but as soon as I have one class, I'm down for the count. They are just work. I know some of them are really kids, and in my head, I understand where they are coming from. Life for them isn't the easiest, that's my job, to help them just have fun, maybe learn a little English, but be a way for them to get involved and actually like school for once. When I first got here, my teacher told me that many of the kids have really hard home lives, where drugs, alcohol, mental problems, and prostitution are not that far off from their daily lives. To connect that with the behavior problems I encounter in class is hard. They're just kids, so I try and walk this fine line of maintaining control of the class and being firm (otherwise they'd eat me alive!), and also not being too hard on them, because outside inputs or a bad day can have a big effect on these kids daily outbursts.
     The other hard part I've found at the Liceo in teaching is getting them excited or interested enough to participate. I've planned a few games a few times (as we're supposed to-incorporate a lot of games), but they just didn't buy in. I went to play charades with our equivalent of high school juniors, and they just weren't feeling it. I had to quite literally drag kids up to play. It was a good game to practice the grammar we were learning, (present continuous-He is running, etc). But, they weren't feeling it. Then, to add to this confusion of how to get kids interested, I played charades with the seniors on the same day as it was in my lesson plan, but for some reason, they did like playing. It seems like it all really depends on the mood of the class, just because they're kids doesn't mean they're going to want to play games with me. I just wish I could get rid of that whole teenage attitude of "I'm too cool to participate", but I guess every parent has been trying to get rid of that attitude much to their consternation.
     As for the family, things are settling in. The two older sisters have come to visit this weekend from Santiago to meet me and hang out with the family. The oldest one is 26 and the next 23, they're both really nice, look a lot like they're mom and sisters. It's kind of hilarious. Sometimes I find myself glancing between the all of them and their expressions and manners of talking, and I just kind of giggle to myself. I've been caught a few times, but I just wave them off. It's really great having them here, we went out last night to see the stadium in town and walk around a park, and just hung out. We then sang karaoke after once, hahaha. Too great. The house is full of people, and on one hand, it's great, on the other, you find yourself missing your family and the happy ease and comfort that comes from being with people who you can completely be yourself with.

 Today, shall be interesting to say the least!

Temuco and the first week of work!

    Well, my first week here in Temuco has come to an end. I really need to write in this more, so hopefully now that I'm a bit settled and things are starting to develop routines, etc with the family and school, I'll be better. 

    Meeting/getting to know my family here in Padre de Las Casas (the town I'm in-which is essentially a neighborhood of Temuco here in the region of La Araucania)  has been great. My dad-Jorge is really a bit of an enigma to me still, but I'm slowly figuring him out. He is such a cute, sweet man. Also taking the time to explain things to me, and he's the one who wants to take me to all these places and show me Chile. It seems as those he has had many different jobs, the main one being the Chilean Air Force, which he retired from. I'm not sure what he was doing, but I think he was an officer? A year or two ago, he went to Haiti for six months to help with rebuilding. Now, he has a negocio-business- near the supermarket selling ice creams, churros, etc. It seems like he likes to keep busy and is opening a small restaurant or catering business or something as well? He seems to be very enterprising and just happy. My madre, Eva, is a stay at home mom. She is very caring, and is really working to make me feel comfortable. She is originally from Santiago and speaks with a different lilt than the people here, with slightly different slang words that sometimes make it difficult to understand. She seems the bit of confusion on my face and she adjusts for me. Haha. 

   Now Eva and Jorge have four kids, all girls. Two of them live in Santiago, and I have only met them through pictures. The other two, Damaris is 15. She has dyed purple red hair, and a bit of a punk side to her. She is kind of awesome. A bit different according to Chilean standards, but I think she'd do really well in the US. And Francisca, who is 12. She's a bit of a guagua (baby), at times. As said by all members of the family, though she is the baby of the family in reality. She likes her sugar and her chocolate cereal. She's cute, but speaks so fast. Even her parents don't understand her sometimes. Sounds a bit familiar, eh Pa? Hahaha. 

  Family time has been really good. Definitely the best host family I've had, as I can tell so far. All my host families I've had in the past have been really great, and interested in me, but with my other families, I was there you know, 13th or 14th host kid, whereas for this family, I'm their first. There is definitely a noticeable difference in the interactions. They're interested in speaking spanish with me, they're interested in taking me places and showing me new foods and new places and sharing their culture. It's really quite nice, I'm normally a bit hesitant to do host families, because you do lose a bit of freedom and sometimes feel a bit isolated with a family who isn't your family, but so far, I'm really glad to have a host family. I do lose a bit of freedom, especially with being their first host kid, they aren't used to some of American's nasty habits like my other families were. hahaha. Overall, we're getting along really well and I think the host family is adding so much to my experience, particularly just my knowledge of the real Chile, and it's definitely helping my Spanish. 

            I’ve also started my first week of work. This first week was more or less simply observing and getting the feel for the classes and the Chilean education system. I met my head teacher, Pamela, she speaks English really well, is fairly young (has two girls, 6 and 3), and is really fun and energetic. I also met my other head teacher (I am going to be working at two schools, Dariolasalas and Liceo Forestal (a school in the countryside)). Cesar, the other head teacher, is a nice young man, whose English isn’t quite as good, but what he lacks in English, he seems to have a bit better control of his students and teaching English. He teaches here at the school in Padre de Las Casas, Dariolasalas, an escuela basica, or elementary/middle school. At Darriolasalas, I’ll be teaching on Monday and Tuesdays in the morning to 5^th through 8^th grade.

            At Liceo Forestal, I’ll be teaching 9^th through 12^th grade. This is where I’ll be spending most of my time, out in the countryside. Many of the high schools here have specialties, to train people for work instead of college, and this school’s focus is in forestry/agriculture. They have a greenhouse and trees all around the school, it’s rather pretty. I haven’t sat in at Dariolasalas, yet, but man, I do have my work cut out for me at the Liceo. The students are full of energy, and that’s the nice thing to say. From my understanding, the classroom culture here is very different from the classroom culture in the US. First, like we have public and private schools in the US, they do too, but to a further extreme, to the point that the public schools are really not good at all, and if you can afford it, you send your kid to either a private or semiprivate school. This is part of the reason that the government has started this program in their public schools, to really help get those extra resources in these schools that just don’t have as much access to great resources for the students.

            My first day working there was an interesting sight to beheld. After beso-ing every teacher and the principal, (kissing on the cheek in greeting and departure, as per custom here in Chile), I sat in on my first class. They had just gotten back from a two week break and have calmed down a bit since then, but my god. Picking up their desks, moving around, chatting, listening to music all the time. Overall, all the students are really great, their English sucks, but they are nice and just kids who have a bit tougher life thrown at them. They all have so many questions for me, it’s cute. I walk down the halls to go anywhere really, and the second glances and shy curiosity is great. Of course there are those who aren’t quite so shy, yelling out “Hello!” or “Hola!” or asking me if I have a boyfriend. Hahaha. Little 16 year old boys thinking they have a chance with me. It’s great, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked that by the boys. Promptly followed by, “How old are you?” Somehow in their brains, 22 and 15/16 is close enough. I know this because of the big smile and them chatting with their friends that follows this exchange. Pretty funny. I’ve gotten one “I love you!” (who had to write it on a note to remember and read from it), and a few tell me how beautiful my eyes are. Not very many blue eyed, blonde foreigners here in Chile, especially not here in Temuco or out in the countryside.

            As the week has passed, things are really getting into the swing of it. I taught my first mini-lesson on Friday. So the program is set up as 45 minutes in the class teaching with the teacher, and the following 45 minutes we split the class and I take half of them and work on their speaking and listening skills, while s/he teaches them grammar or writing, etc. At Dariolasalas, it sounds like I’ll be taking around 13 or so of the best students, and at the Liceo, we’ll be switching the groups and on some days, we’ll just switch right away and not spend the first 45 together.

   Anyways, on Friday, we split one of the classes up and did about 20 minutes with each group. Their speaking English there is really poor, so with each group, I spent 20 minutes teaching them a casual meeting conversation between friends, so hello, how are you doing? Good, and you? Type of thing. In the end, they got it, but we had to go over pronunciation,  and the actual exchange multiple times. Overall, I was really pleased. I was nervous about discipline, and it was something they really stressed at our orientations because we are working at the tougher schools, but it went really well. I kept their interest, and we had fun. If they were misbehaving, I did it in a good joking way, which I hope gained me some points. I really think the English program here can really benefit from me being here. Pam’s really great, but I can tell she gets kind of overwhelmed by the students sometimes. I heard this from Cesar too, but the students here play down their abilities, so now she doesn’t push them as hard. Moreover, apparently the students will laugh at other students who are trying to speak English, and not only that, but they’ll laugh at the teachers too. She spends a lot of time explaining in Spanish, and they don’t get very far because she speaks in Spanish, but gives them activities like big open-ended questions that are too hard for them to answer, especially if she can’t even talk to them in simple sentences in English. 

I know it’s going to be really hard to get these kids to understand or get a bit excited about English, but I’m still optimistic and excited. More than that, I’m really hopeful about my interactions with the teachers in that I know there, they are going to be teaching English for a long time after this and hopefully their interactions with me and practice of speaking with me will really benefit them, and in turn, benefit students for years to come.

This morning, mi padre and I went to the Feria, the big market with all kinds of fruits and veggies and grains, etc. It was awesome, all kinds of food and people out! Just finished helping cook some lunch, and this afternoon/evening, we’re off to visit a lake, so more to update later! Hope everyone is well!! 

CHILE!

The Chilean flag in front of La Moneda, the President's house

      Well the journey was long and arduous. An eight and a half hour long crying fest from SF to Lima (babies, not me). 6 hours curling up in a Peruvian airport in Lima with weird middle of the night construction projects as my background track, and a bus ride and walk to my hostel. Though it may have taken me almost 24 hours to travel, I am officially and finally in the beautiful Santiago, Chile. (Though I wrote this pretty soon after, it's been two weeks to the day since my arrival, whooops). 

La Moneda-the Palace/White House/President's Dwelling thing 

The view from on top of Santa Lucia 

My first impressions of the city- bustling. The city was alive. It’s hard to explain, it’s not alive like a city full of people just out doing crazy things, nor is it alive with just masses of people like Tokyo, but just lots of things always seeming to be going on, but not necessarily anything in particular exciting. People just moving places, though not in an endless stream. Its hard to explain, not this, nor that, but something.. The snow- capped mountains that grace the background are beautiful. After exploring a bit, a run, and finding a charger-day one was gone. On Saturday, I went exploring by myself a bit, and ended up on a walking tour with a few other Hostel kids, we went to Santa Lucia, the Plaza, Pablo Neruda’s house. Walking the city shows me that this city has real potential as a place to live, secret hidden life and meaning. The square, for example. 

The tour guide explained that the Plaza de Armas is the heart of the city, and the city is the heart of Chile, seeing as 1/3 of Chile’s population lives in Santiago. The city, being the intersection of the most famous and biggest cathedral in Santiago, the mayor’s building, and the cultural meeting center culminates in a square that encompasses all that Chile is. The square is where political demonstrations occur, where music competitions are held, where famous comedians are born. The square has artists, creepy fake horses, and of course the few religious crazies. Little facts like that demonstrate a new side of Santiago, a side that emphasizes an ever-changing current of life.

Valparaiso-Looks a lot like the Bay 

    On Sunday, a group of six of us, VJ, Rebecca, Tim, Harry, Pete, and I, ventured out to Valparaiso. After an hour and a half  bus ride, we arrived. The salt air struck our lungs, starkly contrasting the darker, denser Santiago. While I knew Santiago was a more serious city, going from one to the other, really set them off. Valparaiso is definitely my kind of city, a bit reminiscent of the bay area. Hills sit across from the water, beautiful color houses streak thehills, with winding streets and boulevards littered with murals and street art.

Vegans! 

     The street art was absolutely striking. Patagonia sin Represas. Animal Liberacion, Educaccion, Los derechos para las mujeres. Beautiful things about oppression, about moving forward. Emotions. Happiness, weirdness. I love street art, it is such a great representation of the human soul. Human emotions express themselves, painting the walls. Done in the cover of night, but exposing all of our interiors and deepest desires and hopes for the world and all that it can be. It’s our frustration, our love, our happiness, our sadness. It’s all. It’s freedom.

But with a bit more color! 

A picture of Salvador Allende, a famous President who was overthrown in 1973 by a military coup 

We wandered a bit more around here and there, but being Sunday, most of everything was already closed, though I was content to wander the hills, finding hidden gems of art and truth painted onto the colored walls that surrounded us. It was just great to get away from the city (though I’ve only been here for a day and a half and just feel free and light). The five who went with me were amazing. Pete, the engineer from New Zealand, quiet yet once you get him talking…Harry the happy go lucky Indonesian. So full of life, dropping everything to travel all around Asia for a year and a half. Always laughing. Tim, the goofy English grad student from New York. Always has a goofy smile on his face, but in a good mood always. Rebecca, the girl from Connecticut who literaly just got to thehostel but decided to go with us, and VJ, the vegetarian Indian who knows all about memes. Normally I’m hesitant to go with groups exploring, and while my hesitancies played out about getting off track or taking longer here and there, I’m so glad we all went together. They made the trip just as much the winding streets and street art. 

The view from the top of San Cristobal, a mountain in Santiago 

   The rest of orientation was not exciting really at all. Lots of meeting during the day, and not much at night because we were all so tired. I hung out with a bunch of people, made some good friends, ate some good food, found a few running buddies (actually went running with people, and in the morning too!), and climbed San Cristobal. Overall, it was a great week in Santiago!