Scare, and other stuff

Before I begin about this 'Scare' I will have to say one of the english teachers that teaches the 1st and 2nd graders asked me to come in 2 days ago to say hello to the little guys.  They are awesome. I always thought I hated kids, but these mollusks are funny.  Super cute too, only bad thing is I cannot understand a word they say. They learn english basically through songs. So they are getting their colors and numbers down.  Most are already pretty good, but a few have  trouble writing.  They know what the answer it, they just cannot write it down..

So last night we had parent teacher conferences, but not like the ones we have a home.  Basically its for the teacher to talk to the parents about the school and for the parents to meet the teacher.  My co-teacher is like their 'homeroom teacher'.  Anyway, things were going well, until a brutal argument came up about a class trip.  Apparently this happened in another classrooms as well.  It was all in spanish and I knew they were arguing about money and some extracurricular activities, but I didn't know it was about the 'class trip'.   Apparently one of the student's parents plan the entire trip and go with the students.  Well apparently no one likes this man and about 6 different parents were arguing with him about prices.  Apparently it was working, because he was lowering the price.  However before any of this occurred, Christopher(my co/head teacher) did his spiel about the class  and the school, and I was introduced sometime in there.  This took all but 15 minutes at most.  The argument about the money ensued for another hour and a half.

After, my Christopher asked if I wanted to grab a drink, well after dealing with that, it was a definite 'yes'.  But here is where the scare comes in.  I was in a hurry to get back to school for this 'parent conference' and forgot my key.  So a few drinks turned into more, and after getting to know christopher a little better, I like him even more. Anyway I was locked out last night and we both slept in the hostel across the street, I got yelled at by my host-uncle and host-grandma this morning, but I have learned my lesson and I won't leave the house without the key anymore...

On a good note, this 'homeroom' class is awesome, they all speak english pretty well and invited me to a Asado, or barbecue next saturday. They are really really nice. And I have learned from 1st through 8th grade, at my school anyway, the students are in the same 40(around) person 'class'.  Not the actual room, but the same 40 people.  This is really odd, and you would think the Chileans would be less friendly, but obviously this is not the case.

Chilean Spanish has not gotten easier, because I don't use it all day, everyday.  In school, I basically only use English, obviously because I am an English teacher...

In other news I finally did not get lost on my way to or from school today.  This is the first time since I've been here.  So once I get more familiar I'll start exploring and taking some more photos.  Also, I finally heard back from the ministry of education about when the other half of my luggage is being sent here. It was going to be super expensive on the flight here, as I was adding another bag to the list and was overweight. So, I have heard it will be leaving either tomorrow or the day after and that means, it will day about 30 hours to travel here from Santiago....

ps.  I don't have enough underwear or socks to last me the week... ;P Apparently I will be doing laundry more often than I had anticipated(never pack after a few beers)

San Marcos

First things first, I never thought I’d feel homesick, but getting an e-mail that your grandma has passed away, makes you want to go home. That’s all I am going to say about that, since this isn’t about my family….

So yesterday was long day for me, went with my host-dad to his work to go to a day orientation in Arica, or ‘regional orientation’ There you ‘meet’ your regional coordinator, mine is Miriam, like most Chileans she is very nice.  Here at the regional orientation, we went to the Hotel Arica, it is very pretty with a huge pool, right on the coast.  We, as in another volunteer girl here in Arica with me, got to meet our ‘co-teachers’, mine is named Christopher and is a really good/cool guy.  He is 28 year old teacher that teaches elementary kids and high schoolers. And his English really good.  Apparently it is very hard for the Chileans to do something like I am.  Major difference, many of the English teachers want to go to the States, but all complain about how hard it is to get a Visa, as in Christophers’ case. 

I got to watch the last period of the Blackhawks game last night, big win in overtime, also great to hear some English, but they game didn’t end until 11:45 at night here in Chile, so I lost some more sleep…

So I am in my first day of observing a Chilean class.  I ‘co-teach’ at a Catholic School(San Marcos) from grade one to I believe grade 12.  They all wear uniforms, much like a Catholic grade school.  They have a thing called ‘Buenos Dias’ in the morning, its like a kind of reflection, run by the students, obviously with a Catholic influence, each class does a week, this week is St. Francis.  I had to stand in front of all the students and teachers and give a kind of introduction of myself. The students were giggling at me a little while I fumbled on a few words in spanish, however, about 3 students came up to me all different ages, speaking English pretty well.  Welcomed me and one little girl said I could talk to her if I ever got lonely. I am a ‘celebrity/new toy’ here and every student tries either to get my attention or say Hello/Hola. 

Pictures of the school:

 Middle of School, in one side of the court yard.

The students don't leave their classroom, so they put paper on their desks to decorate, so they don't ruin the desks. Here are some of the good ones:

Video of recess, this occurs all day.

The main differences in US schools and this particular one, is that the students do not leave their class room.  The teachers are the ones that roam to the different classes.  Also, I have been hearing the Chilean students are crazy in class, but so far this class of 6^th graders isn’t too bad, I mean they are just kids.  One cool thing about the students is they can bring in a large piece of paper and decorate it, then taping((laminating) it to their desk.  A lot of kids like hard rock music, and many of the little ones like your usual Hannah Montana or Justin Beieber. I also have been asked in almost every class whether or not I know any celebrities or famous people, or whether I have been to Hollywood. Sorry, Mr. Brendan Kelly, I told them I did not know any and they got very sad. 

Arica, 1st impressions

Should have taken more pictures... Arrived in Arica greeted by my host family. Coolest, friendliest people ever... Consists of Barrio, my host-dad, Claudia, my host-mom, Matias, my 6 year old host brother, and a host-sister Martina, or as I refer to as Diablita(little devil), a 3 year old with more energy than I could have in a lifetime.  She never stops running, screaming, and speaking better spanish than me.  I can never understand a word that comes out of her mouth, but 'HOLA'.  She is a absolute cutie-pie nonetheless. Anyway to top it off I have a host-uncle Juan, and the Grandparents stay here too, also the maid's room is next to mine.  You may think this is cramped, but we all have our own room, except for the couples.  Barrio works for the ministry of education here in Arica and does something with information and computers.  Claudia teaches at my school, and I believe Juan is a taxi driver.

After getting home we ate some spaghetti and chicken, and after everyone took a nap.  I woke up a little early I guess and Juan and I went to the Feria, which takes over the big street here in Arica and becomes like a huge thrift/flea market(I wish I took a picture).  You can seriously buy anything, this occurs every sunday, so perhaps i'll get a snapshot next weekend.  Came back home hung out with Mateias for a little bit, he is the man(he asked me today if nerds get picked on by football players all the time in the US).  After unpacking I was told we were leaving, had no idea where...

I then found myself here, this is what Arica looks like at night. 

I took this picture the next day, but this is on the other side of the 'Morro de Arica'.

That big statue up there is a touchdown Jesus, and he is about 4 stories tall.

All in all, I am happy with the host-family and depending on the teaching may stay in Arica for longer(could stay until November)

PS. I try and get some pictures of the host family later on...

Santiago

Well, it's been a long few days and I didn't know really what to write.  Santiago was very cool, the hostel I stayed at had about 50 americans, all volunteers doing the same thing I am, so we really didn't use spanish at all.  I met some really cool people, hopefully we will stay in touch and perhaps hook-up back in the states...  I am not going to lie, I went out every night I was in santiago, there really was not much to do at the hostel and I wanted to practice spanish(major reason why I am here).  Met a few really cool chileans.  Seba is the man, he is the receptionist at the hostel and I even had my parents talk to him through skype.  I met another really cool dude named Willo, who is a english teacher here. I will post pictures soon... Anyway I was with a bunch of english teachers that were all 22-24, so its nice to hang out with some chileans my age, they do the same thing we do, look for the cheapest place to booze and party.  However, they party until 6 am. Anyway we hung out in the middle of one the busiest streets in Santiago(seriously inbetween inbound and outbound traffic).  Its kinda like a small park, with grass and a large statue nearby, anyway this is highly illegal and I was told not tell the policia that I spoke any spanish... after that I went to a another hostel that Willo's brother worked at.  We bought a bunch of beers and listened to music and hung out.  Greatest thing is, Willo and I love some of the same bands, which is weird, because these bands are not overtly popular.

Willo and Alicia. 

Gringos: John in the back, Brad on the right, and obviously me. Rest: Chileanos

My last night in Santiago I went out to dinner with some friends, ate some amazing ribs and went out for "terremottos" which translates to earthquake, apparently they are what you drink to get drunk(think long Islands), however I did not know if they would have them in Arica. So I think a terremotto consists of some beer, a lot of wine, and some ice cream(maybe some pisco).  Its taste isn't wonderful, but after a few beers it was delicioso. Anyway, after that I headed to get some more drinks with another group of friends and another chilean/british man came up to us and hung out for the rest of the night. Had some good convos.

I didn't go to sleep, because I had to wake up at 5 am anyway to catch a flight.  I can't tell you anything about the flight, but I know it made one stop(like stopped to let people off, grab their luggage from the bottom of the plane and then took off again). But I slept the entire time... next post will be about Arica.

Tickets

One thing that is very frustrating, Boletos. You need receipts/tickets for everything. For instance, buying a chilean cell phone yesterday, I couldn't just go to the counter and buy the prepaid phone. First, You must go the a touch screen computer to get a ticket(looks like a receipt).  After getting your ticket you must then go to the counter with the woman who is working there.  Tell them what you want. Then she proceeds to give you another ticket.  Mind you, she has the phone in front of you.  You then take this new ticket upstairs to pay for your ticket/phone, go back downstairs to get your phone.  Overall its not too bad, but it seems there is too much red tape to do simple things.

video

Primer día en Chile, 1st day in Chile

 The airport is quite small, but a 15 minute ride in a taxi and we made it to the hostel. As in ‘we’ I mean Lexi, and it just so happens our good friends are cousins, we had exchanged e-mails about 4 days beforehand and coincidently were we standing next to each in line for immigration.

The hostel we are staying at is called international hostelling in Santiago, Chile.  I have never stayed in a hostel and had no idea what to expect.  But in a 12 ft by 24 ft room there is 2 sets of bunk beds, and 4 locking closets.

Well me and Lexi decided and take another friend along and explore the city of Santiago. Visited some shops and bought a Towel(forgot to bring), and a restaurant. I ordered a Sandwich, which is basically a Mexican torta, however in Chile torta is a cake not a sandwich. And the word of Sandwich, well is Sandwich.

Visited Castillo de Hilldalo, here is a picture of it, since I did not bring my camera. It's on a hill where you can see most of Santiago. Another girl brought her camera, so I may upload pictures later.

It was really hot that day, about 65 degrees(different from the Chicago winter I have been getting used to), and walking a part of the city as well as walking up many steps to get to the top of Castillo de Hilldalo, I went back to the Hostel too take a shower and nap.  Apparently the warm water was getting worked on and I had to take a cold shower, however, today the hot water was turned back on.

Last night was pretty fun, some Chileans that work at the hostel had some friends over and I was chatting them up, because it was Saturday they were all drinking and dancing.  Most of the guys like rock, and bands such as Rage and Metallica(I even saw multiple iron maiden shirts while walking the city), however they play spanish/Mexican music all day, and at night we were listening to reggeton(?)  But after having a  few beers with them they convinced a group  of us to go to a bar.  The bar was a American version of Bourboun St on 115^th street.  There were 3 parts of the bar, one side was an actual bar, and the other side was a nightclub/disco.  The middle part of the bar was quite odd. To buy a drink you have to buy a ticket for which drink you want. Then after buying the ticket you went to the bar either on the disco side or the bar side to get a drink. So there is no opportunity for a spur of the moment shots of buying other people drinks unless you bought them at the cashier area beforehand.  Our group left a little early, because many of us arrived that day and were tired from dancing majority of the time.  The Chileans at the bar danced like many people around the around the world.  About 2 steps from each other moving to side to side.(at least in my experience in Spain). I didn’t see a lot of ‘grinding’ as we call it. And maybe it was this type of bar, but there was no salsa/traditional dancing).  After getting back to hostel from a taxi I stayed up pretty late talking to a few of the Chileans drinking and ‘partying’ at the hostel. The beer is cheap here, around 2 dollars for a liter (1000 thousand pesos, around 480 per dollar).

I was talking to a guy that wanted to become a lawyer. He said it is very hard for him, because in Latin American, you do not loose you mother’s last name. It is added to your father’s by a hypen. So in his case he had a ‘native american’ mother’s name, whose name was attached to his Spanish father’s name.  I will have to say am glad that there really isn’t much discrimination solely based on names in the US.  I am sorry, but I do not recall which part of Chile his mother was from(Mapuche I think), as it was getting late and after many drinks. However, on the Spanish side of everything, it is true that the Chilean's speak very fast and drop the s's and d's in many of their words. I can understand about 75% of what is going on, but a good thing is I can get the jist or meaning of what they are trying to say if I don't understand everything to keep the conversation going.

Today while I was writing this, there was a demonstration in the street that went outside our hostel.  Asking a few people what it was about, it seemed to be about, people against nuclear power plants here in chile, as well as Obama’s policies about Libya, as he arrived here today. 

I'll post a video in the next post, so you can get the true feeling.

On a side note, and my father will like this as he is a plumber, but they do not flush the toilet paper you use in the toilet.  You must throw it away in the small trash bin in front of the toilet. Kinda weird to get used to a first….

Apologize for the random order of things, Maybe I'll get better, but a lot is getting thrown at me at once and its hard to get it all down or sort it out for that matter...