Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you from Los Alamos Chile! The last time I made a post, I had just finished my first semester of teaching here in Chile and was awaiting the arrival of my brother and dad before heading to Patagonia for some backpacking. Lets just say the past month has been incredible! I cant explain how great it was to see some familiar faces while traveling in one of the most beautiful places in the entire world.

 

Dad and Steve Meet Chile!

 

After a long 12 or 13 hour flight from the United States, with only 2 weeks in Chile, there was no time for rest. After arriving early in the morning of November 27th, we immediately hit the streets of Santiago, Chile’s urban capital city, spending the whole day on our own make shift walking tour of the city visiting all the hot spots with the little time we had. By the end of the day, I would say we had a pretty good feel for the city and were certainly worn out.

 

(Steve meets some of my students)

Early the next morning we were off to Los Alamos to meet my Chilean family. My brother and dad instantly meshed with my entire host family. It was as if they were already a part of the family. Over the next 3 days we had the opportunity to walk around the town to show them where I have been living, go fishing using the infamous PVC pipe technique, catch the end of a local soccer game, have a delicious and traditional Chilean “asado” (BBQ), and visit my school to meet the students and all the other teachers. It was a great cultural exchange for all!


(Our morning mixture of wine and wheat; "arinado")

(The Dads finally meet)

(Steve casts a line)

After a great 3 days, and after saying our goodbyes to my host family, we made a quick stop in a city called Lota for a tour of a coal mine. This was a fun experience for all of us, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of my Spanish career. One of my first weekends here in Chile, I took the same tour and didn’t understand a single thing as the whole tour was in Spanish. Now, 5 months later, I was able to translate nearly the entire tour to my bro and dad.

 









We were then off to Patagonia at the southern most tip of South America (see map) for our long awaited backpacking trip! We spent the next 5 days trekking in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. There is really no way to explain the beauty of this incredible place, but with an impressive 19 hours of daylight each day, we were surrounded by snow capped mountains that ran directly into lakes that were the color of another world, rolling hills, roaring rivers, and crystal blue glaciers. Over the next 5 days, we hiked a total of just over 60 miles!  Every 10 minutes, we had new view of a mountain or river or lake that blew me away. I was often speechless at the beauty of this place. It was incredible! 


(Dad dominating the trail)

(Sunrise from our second nights camp)

(Taking a quick rest at Glacier Grey)

(Showing off our Grove pride)

(One of my Dads several incredible photos of Torres del Paine)

(Enjoying a laugh at Glacier Grey)


After getting off the trail, and getting some much needed sleep, the next day we were off to Isla Magdalena to visit the Patagonian Penguins! The only way to explain it is “Humans meet Penguins”, as we stepped off the boat walked within inches of thousands upon thousands of penguins.

The following morning we unfortunately had to say our goodbyes and go our separate ways. It turned into an incredibly difficult goodbye, as I knew I wouldn’t see them for another 6 months.

(French Valley- Torres del Paine National Park)


I then traveled across the boarder into Argentina to meet up with some other WorldTeach volunteers that happen to be in Patagonia at the same time. I traveled to a city by the name of El Calafate and Parque Nacional de Los Glaciares. Argentinean Patagonia was incredibly different from Chilean Patagonia in that it was a dry and barren land with little vegetation, with an occasional monstrous snow covered mountain that would pop out of nowhere, or there would be a huge glacier carving through valleys and lakes into the countryside. It was pretty incredible. One of my good friends down here and I then headed to do some backpacking in the northern part of the national park for 4 days. It was a great time especially since we didn’t use a tent, but rather just a good ole tarp draped over a rope tied between two trees. It was the classic tent!

 (Los Glaciares National Park- Argentina)



Chilean Christmas

It was then back to Los Alamos for another new cultural experience. Although it was incredibly hard to spend Christmas apart from my friends and family, it was great to experience Christmas in another culture. We reigned in Christmas day with a Christmas Eve dinner at 1 AM, and opening gifts at about 2:30 AM. I don’t think I got to bed until about 3 or 3:30 AM. The following day, the 25th, the entire family gathered for another asado (BBQ), which was delicious as always. The whole Chilean Christmas was a great experience, but I have to admit, it felt absolutely nothing like Christmas to me. I guess I will just have to wait another year.

Plans for the Next Few Months

In only 2 short days, Bridget is coming to Chile! With the short time we have, my goal is to convince her to stay here with me for the next 5 months. I don’t think it will work, but its worth a shot! We plan to enjoy some time on the beach, as well as do some gazing at the stars at the observatories in the Elqui Valley where the stars are know to be the best in the entire Southern Hemisphere. I cant wait for her arrival!

I then plan to head up to Peru to take some Spanish classes, and volunteer for the rest of January and all of February. I will then return to Los Alamos by the 1st of March to continue teaching English here for March, April, and part of May.


I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas, and I hope you have a happy new years as well. Hopefully for those of you in Minnesota or the mid-west, the snow isn’t slowing you down too much. Take care! 

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Last Words For Awhile



It has now been 3 weeks since my last blog post, and I can accredit that to an assortment of things. In the past three weeks I have experienced a Chilean Dia de Los Muertos, climbed a volcano in Pucon, crossed the Andes in to Patagonian Argentina, gone fishing in the ocean, played several games of soccer with my students, and have simply just tried to soak up every last bit of life here in Los Alamos. My last “official” day here in Los Alamos will be next Tuesday, and with only a few days left, my list of things to do before I leave has been growing and growing every day. One of the things on the list is a quick blog post, especially since I don’t know when Ill be able to make another one.

Teachers Strike = More Traveling 

Currently, the majority of Chilean schools are not in session due to a teachers strike that has been going on since the 25th of October. The strike is the result of a 30 year debt that the government owes to the teachers union but still has not paid. Regardless of the confusing details of the strike, my school was on strike for the first two weeks of the strike, which was essentially like a 2 week vacation for me. During those two weeks, I spent time relaxing around my house with my family, and I also took a few short trips to a city named Pucon, as well as across the boarder into Argentina to Bariloche, San Martin de Los Andes, and El Bolson. Ill let the photos do the talking for these places.

For awhile, I was worried that our school would be on strike until the end of my service here, but about two weeks ago the teachers at our school decided to stop striking, and continue with classes. This made me very happy as I now have the opportunity to wrap up some last things with my students as well as the opportunity to say goodbye to my students, but some of the other volunteers have not been so lucky. My school is one of only a few public schools in all of Chile that has classes right now, so many of the volunteers will be leaving next Tuesday without being able to say goodbye to their students.


View of the Andes from El Bolson, Argentina

From Volcan Villarica in Pucon

Volcan Villarica, Pucon


My kindergarten class

Saying My Goodbyes

With my last official day here in Los Alamos being next Tuesday, I have been slowly saying my goodbyes and preparing myself for leaving this incredible town that has accepted me as one of their own. I have been visiting all of my classes that I have right now as well as the classes that I had before to give them all gifts, and to say thank you and goodbye. After each speech I give, the students often start yelling “Don’t go Mr. Matt! Please don’t go!”. These visits have really made me feel good about the work that I have been doing here over the past four months. On one of my visits, a student stood up and gave about a 4-5 minutes speech about how great of an experience it was to have classes with me, about the importance of English in our world, how lucky they are to have classes with a native speaker, and about how much they loved my class. I know it sounds super sappy, but it was truly a special moment for me.

Today, after giving some students their final exams, I returned to their main classroom to give them their gifts and I arrived to a surprise going away party! The students had gone out and bought food and drinks to celebrate our last class together. It was pretty cool. 

More Travels Ahead

I have to say, I am one lucky guy. Over the next 2 months I am going to have three incredibly important people come to visit me for some travels. On November 27th, my brother Steve and my dad will be arriving in Santiago for about a two week visit. We plan to make a stop in Los Alamos so that they can see where I have been living for the past 4 months, and then we are heading down to Patagonia to do some backpacking for about a week.

I then plan to return to Los Alamos to spend Christmas with my host family, and on January 1st, my girlfriend Bridget Marie arrives in Santiago for about a 10-day visit. We plan to head north to La Serena and the surrounding area where the beaches are pristine and the view of the southern hemispheric stars are some of the best in the entire world! I cant explain how excited I am for these trips.


An Unmarked Path

Ahead of me is an unpaved and unmarked path with a several question marks. When I arrived in Chile, I had planned to teach until the end of November, then do some traveling for about a month and then return to the United States. I have recently made the decision to extend my stay here in Chile and South America until sometime in May of 2010! This has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, but this is one of those once in a lifetime experiences that I just couldn’t pass up.

I am not exactly sure where the next several months will take me, but Im sure they will be great. The next school year doesn’t start until the beginning of next March, so until then, I will be traveling around Chile, Argentina and Peru, taking intensive Spanish classes, and possibly volunteering as a farm hand on a potato farm in rural Chile. Who knows what lies ahead? Either way, I am greatly looking forward to the adventures I have ahead of me.


So… at this point, I don’t know when I will have the opportunity to make another blog post. Could be around Christmas time, or may not be until the middle of January. I guess we will just have to wait and see. Until then, I hope all of you are happy and well. Please send me your comments or send me an email just to say “Hi!”. I would love to hear from you.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Liceo B-55



As I have said numerous times in the past, my time here has continued to be incredible but my final days here in Los Alamos are sneaking up on me. After this weekend I will only have 3 more weeks of classes with my students. Since I am here to teach, I find it only fitting that I fill you in on the education system here in Chile and that I tell you a little about the school that I teach at.

Liceo B-55

            Since arriving here in Los Alamos, I have been teaching at a public high school named Liceo Politecnico Caupolican B-55 more commonly known as “Liceo B-55”. The school consists of just over 800 students from grades 9-12 and as far as Chilean high schools go, this is a normal sized high school.  Each class consists of anywhere from 30-40 students and class periods last for 1.5 hours. Currently I work with one of the English teachers, but I teach my classes all by myself and I have complete autonomy with the material that I choose to teach. The system that we use is that I get half of the students for the first 45 minutes of the block, and then we switch and I get the second half of the students for the second 45 minutes. I have really enjoyed this system as it reduces class sizes, which allows me to have more 1 on 1 time with students, I can focus on students specific needs, and it helps to reduce behavior management issues.

            One of the major differences between Chilean high schools and high schools in the United States is that teachers do not have their own classrooms, but rather the student have their own classrooms. Students are with the same group of students all day everyday in the same classroom. Because of this system, the teachers are unable to impact the environment of the classroom with posters or visual aids so the walls are all blank with an occasional piece of graffiti from the students. Also as a result of this system, the teachers’ lounge has become a safe haven for the teachers. I cant imagine what would happen if we told all the teachers in the United States that they were no longer going to have their own classrooms and that they had to change rooms every hour! Currently, Karyn (the other volunteer at the high school) and myself are the only two teachers with our own classroom. Thanks to our contract, this is a requirement set forth by the organization we work for.

Typical Students

            One of the best parts of being here in Chile has been getting to know my students. I have had a blast spending time with them in class as well outside of class. The kids in the high school are just like high school kids in the United States. They enjoy spending time with their friends, listening to music, texting, playing sports, watching movies, goofing around, etc. Actually now that I think about it, I would say that the students enjoy listening to music and texting way too much. I am not positive, but I don’t think teachers do much about cell phones in class because students are always pulling out their phones in class and trying to listen to their headphones. I have cracked down on this but I think it took some getting used to for the students.

            As far as extra-curricular activities go, Chile has a much different system than the United States. Instead of having sports teams, or music/theater departments, they have what are called “tallers”. These are times set aside during the week in which students can participate in activities such as ping pong, chess, karate, soccer, basketball, etc. These are incredibly informal and if students want to show up they can, but if they don’t want to that’s ok too. There is nothing like the highly competitive Friday night football games or large theater productions in the United States.

            Although I teach at a public school, every student is expected to wear a school uniform which is something that seems to be pretty standard around the world outside of the United States. From what I can tell, the students do not like their uniforms but about once a week they have what is called “Happy Day” in which the students can pay about 25 cents to wear what ever clothes they want. The reason for the school uniform is to reduce the social class tensions. If everyone is wearing the same clothes, no one can tell who is rich and who is poor, or at least that’s the theory behind the uniforms.

A Little Something I Call “Flexibility”

            Although I would consider myself a very patient and flexible person, I have had to learn to me be even more flexible and open to changes since I arriving here in Chile. It is fairly common for me to prepare a lesson and prepare my classroom, and then to just sit and wait for students who never come. After waiting around for about 10 minutes I will go find my co-teacher and find out that classes were canceled for various reasons ranging anywhere from a staff meeting that I was never informed about, to kids being sent home because it was raining too hard (kind of like a snow day in Minnesota, but let me tell you… it rains quite a bit here, but never too hard to send kids home early from school).

            Teacher strikes are also fairly common here in Chile, and as you can imagine, it is always about money. Just last May, the teachers went on strike for about 3 ½ weeks, and currently we are on another strike that started last Friday and will hopefully end today. This has been unfortunate for me especially since I only have 3 more weeks with my students and in my classes, but I guess I just need to be flexible and adapt.

Feeling Right At Home 

            Although I will never be able to change the fact that I am a foreigner here in Chile, I feel right at home. Since day one all of the teachers, staff, and students have been incredibly welcoming towards me. On our second day in the school, the principal and several members of the staff threw us a “welcoming party” in which they had traditional Chilean food catered in, and had students come to dance the Chilean national dance for us. It also showed me that they all truly cared that I was there, and that they were excited to have a foreigner teaching in their school. This event gave me just a peak at the warm hearts that Chileans have.


            In the most humble way possible, our popularity only grew from that point. I can confidently say that the three of us volunteers are the first foreigners to ever live in Los Alamos. Having foreigners in your town for the first time is quite a big deal, especially if they are from the ever-popular United States! It is odd, but I am often meeting people for the first time that already know my name, who I am and why I am here. I guess that just shows how fast word travels in a small rural Chilean town.

            The students have also been very welcoming. It is always fun when I am walking out to my classroom and I hear students yelling from the windows; “Hello Mr. Matt” or “We love you Mr. Matt!” It is funny because often times they will just start yelling random words in English that they may have learned from movies or music even if they don’t know what it means. I guess the opportunity to speak English with someone from the United States is just too cool to pass up. I also have students stopping me on the street or in the super market and introducing me to their parents or friends which is always fun.

Video 

            Below is a video that starts with me leaving my house (the woman at the beginning is my host mother) and entering school. It then goes into a clip of one of my first days with a class in which I am teaching them the phrase “How are you?” and “I am __________”. You will then see a few clips of students practicing the phrase “What time is it?”. The video ends with students showing off the “slang of the day” that I teach them every day. I hope you enjoy! 


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

A Little Bit of Everything


           Greetings to all! The past few weeks have been great as usual. In addition to teaching, I have had the chance to travel a bit with the family, go fishing a few times, and gain a few blisters on my hands from a few hard days work with an axe and a chainsaw. The weather is rapidly getting better, so I am finding myself spending a lot more time outside and enjoying the southern hemispheric spring.

"I Think I've Got a Bite!"

 

           Being from the Land of 10,000 Lakes, I figured I knew at least a thing or two about fishing, but after only a few minutes of fishing with my host father and brother, I quickly realized that I had to start over from ground zero. Until now, when I imagined fishing, I imagined a fishing rod and a real. Now, I have a completely different image. In Chile it is much more common to fish with a rusty tin can or a PVC pipe with fishing line wrapped around it (see photo below). Instead of casting out a line using a rod and real, you hold the tin can in one hand, and about 2-3 feet of the fishing line in the other hand with the lour attached to the end of the line. You then begin twirling the lour around your head. Once you have gained enough velocity you let go of the fishing line in your one hand and the lour and fishing line go flying out towards the water while the tin can is still in your hand other hand. Some of you may be thinking; “What the heck is he talking about?!” and I don’t blame you. I was even confused after being shown how it works in person.

            Fortunately after a good 3-4 times of letting go of the lour and watching it get stuck in the trees or the weeds near by, I finally got a hold of it. My host father and brother make it look a lot easier than it really is but on day one, I was actually the only person to catch a fish! I caught a nice 12” salmon. After a long day of learning a new fishing technique and fishing my line out of bushes, that salmon sure did taste good for dinner!

            Since our first fishing adventure, we have returned to the river three times and our fish count as a group is up to 4 salmon and 1 big trout, which I can proudly take credit for. Each time we go, I get much better at the tin can technique, which allows me to focus more on the beautiful nature that surrounds me. My host father absolutely loves fishing, so I foresee myself returning to the river several times in the next few months. 

"Do You Have a Permit For All That Wood?"


           As I have mentioned before, most of the stoves here in Chile are wood burning rather than gas or electric, so good firewood is a valuable resource around here. Going into this past weekend, our host family was a little low on firewood, but after our weekend full of work, we should be set for the next few months at least.

            On Saturday morning, nearly the entire family piled into our pick-up truck, and headed out to el bosque (the forest) in search of wood. The weekends must be a popular time to collect firewood because on our way to the woods we passed about 8-10 other families gathering wood as well.  Logging is a huge industry in this region of Chile, so after the logging companies cut down all the trees and take what they want, the public is allowed to come through and take whatever branches and logs are left… or at least that is what I thought.

            After spending a few hours hacking away at the wood with an axe, we were just about ready to tie the truck down and secure the wood when two men in big truck pulled up. The mood amongst the family immediately changed, as I could tell they were worried about what was going to happen. Before even saying hello, the men asked us for our permit for all the wood we were collecting. We spent the next 5 minutes receiving a lecture from the men on why we can’t take the wood and how they should be giving us a big fine, and then the next 10 minutes pretending like we had no idea and asking them to just let us take this one load of wood. Fortunately the men were actually pretty nice, and they let us keep the wood we had loaded in the truck. We said goodbye to the men promising that it would never happen again.

            You would think that this would deter them from going back out to get more wood, but bright and early the next morning we were back out in the woods collecting more firewood. This time we didn’t just take back one load of wood, but two. I guess the 5-minute lecture and the threat of a fine just wasn’t enough. This time we borrowed a chainsaw from one of my host father’s friends, which made the job 10 times easier. Needless to say… this weekend I got to show off my Grove Landscaping skills, which my host family was actually pretty impressed with.  

Stickers Were a Bad Idea

             As I have mentioned before, I have been volunteering at a local kindergarten school here in Los Alamos. The time that I spend with the group of 4 & 5 year olds is a blast and those little kids always brighten up my day as soon as I enter the room.

            A few weeks ago, I received a package from my parents in the mail. The package was full of teaching materials, many of which are very helpful with my kindergarteners. In the package was a series coloring books to help learn the alphabet, learn sounds, colors, animals, as well as several sheets of really cool stickers. When I was looking through the coloring books and all the stickers, I thought to myself: “Wow! These will be perfect!”

            The next time I had class with the little ones, I brought all the coloring books and the stickers. The coloring books worked incredibly well! The kids absolutely loved them, especially the ones with animals. (*Side note: monkeys are kids favorite animal all over the world!) The stickers on the other hand, turned out to be way too good of an idea. After I walked around and gave each kid a sticker, I didn’t stop handing out stickers for the next 30 minutes. Kids were non-stop pulling at my pant leg or my belt saying “I want another sticker!” “I want a smiley face sticker!” “I want a star sticker!” No matter how many times I said “Nope. Only one sticker per person”, they just kept begging. But those little kids are so darn cute, that I just couldn’t stand my ground. 

          Just as I thought it was all over, and I was starting to pack up my things to leave, I was attacked by all 30 or so of the kindergartners. Apparently the teachers and the students had planned a secret attack on me the whole time. It worked perfectly, and soon I was on the ground with a pile of little 4 & 5 year olds screaming and laughing. It was hilarious! 


The Dictionary Is Starting To Fall Apart

             Almost three months ago, I was sitting on a bus from Santiago to Concepcion where I was to meet my host family for the first time. In Santiago, communicating was easy because I was around other Americans all day everyday, so I could always fall back on someone else that knew a lot more Spanish than I did to help me order food, buy a bus ticket, etc. As soon as I was with my host family I was no longer going to have that support. Sitting on the bus, I was scared out of my mind! At that point I essentially knew absolutely no Spanish what so ever. I thought to myself; “I am not going to be able to communicate for the next 4 months! I know nothing!” I could hardly ask someone what their name was or where the bathroom was. I was also thinking; “Chileans are known for speaking terrible Spanish too!” Things were not looking good for me.

            But things quickly started to turn around. Slowly but surely, I started to pick up words and phrases here and there. I also purchased a little notebook to keep in my back pocket so that every time I learned a new word, I could write it down to practice later. In the beginning I would only be able to pick out one or two words of a sentence, but I am starting to understand full sentences and I do not have to ask people to repeat themselves nearly as much. I now feel very functional, and am really starting to enjoy speaking Spanish. By no means am I even close to perfect, but after nearly 3 ½ months I feel like I have come pretty far, or at least better than I thought I would be at this time.

            I now have a strong desire to continue to learn Spanish, and when I return to the United States, I will definitely search for any way possible to continue to learn and practice. I believe that as a teacher in the United States, knowing another language can be incredibly helpful especially in the ever-increasing diverse United States.

 

As usual, I hope this post finds you and your family happy and healthy. I absolutely love receiving responses to my posts and I would love to hear how everything is going for all of you. Take care! 

Monday, October 5, 2009

The Halfway Point




It has officially now been three weeks since my last blog post. My lack of blogging may be a combination of me becoming more comfortable and trying to spend as much time away from my computer as I can, the nice weather that we have been having which has drawn me outside more often, or my incredibly busy schedule over the past few weeks. Either way, I can happily say that the past several weeks have been great. I am continuing to enjoy my time here in Los Alamos which is already more than half over! With that being said, the past few weeks have been a time of reflection for me as I have recognized the short amount of time I have left here in Los Alamos.



Fiestas Patrias

  It seems like ages ago, but my stomach is just now recovering from the ridiculous amount of food consumed over Fiestas Patrias. September 18th, also commonly known as Dieciocho or Fiestas Patrias, marks the beginning of Chile’s independence in the early 19th century. As a result, the entire country takes time to celebrate the holiday over about a 5 day span with parades, traditional music and dancing, and a ton of food.

            In Chile, an asado is a traditional social practice in which family and friends gather around an open fire and cook various types of meat. If you removed the ridiculous amount of salt rubbed on the meat, and the all the beer and wine poured on the meat, I would, to some extent, compare it to a traditional BBQ in the United States. Lets just say that our family had an asado every day for about 5 days straight. After consuming the montañas de carne (mountains of meat), I definitely had to loosen the good ole’ belt a notch or two. Other traditional foods that are prepared for Fiestas Patrias are empanadas (which my host mother takes great pride in), sopipias, and anticuchos (shish kabobs) along with the infamous Chilean wine and chicha which is pretty much an apple wine. Fiestas Patrias is also a time for everyone and their grandmother to dance the cueca which is the national dance of Chile. Yes, even I got roped into dancing the cueca a few times.

            After going through the Fiestas Patrias experience here in Chile, I have come to realize the incredible amount of pride that Chileans have in their country. For the week of Fiestas Patrias, there was not a single house in town that did not proudly fly a Chilean flag in front of their house. 

Only a Slice of the Pie

           After Fiestas Patrias, it was time for a little traveling. In the past three weeks I have made a few trips that have allowed me to explore only a small slice of what Chile has to offer. Through my WorldTeach program, I have made a lot of great friends, and a few weeks ago a group of 11 of us rented a cabin in Saltos del Laja. This small town in central Chile has flourished due to its close proximity to two large waterfalls or saltos, which are beautiful. It was a great time for us to get caught up again after living in separate towns for the past two months.

            A week later, I traveled about 9 ½ hours in a bus to a city named Valdivia, which is located in the southern lake district of Chile. There, I met three other fellow volunteer teachers and we spent the weekend exploring what the town and surrounding area had to offer, or at least as much as we could in two days. My favorite part of the trip was the 1 hour ferry ride that we took up a river to a town that could only be accessed by boat. The town had less than 100 residents, and seemed to be a bit frozen in time. The time we spent wondering up and down the only road in the town was incredibly relaxing as it was significantly more quiet and tranquil than all of the other places I have been in Chile. It was a perfect time to slow down a bit, and take a nice big breath of fresh air.

 

Little Bundles of Joy

  While I’m on the topic of quiet and tranquil, I might as well talk about the time I have spent volunteering at a local kindergarten school! About 3 weeks ago, I began teaching a class once a week to about 35, four and five year olds. This has become one of my favorite parts of my week and I always look forward to it. In the time that I have spent with the kids, I have taught them “Duck duck grey duck”, “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”, and a song to help them learn colors in English. Their little brains are like sponges, and they learn incredibly fast!

            For the hour that I spend with the kids, there is almost always at least one child hugging my leg and yelling “Tio Matthew! Tio Matthew!” (“uncle Matthew!”). It is refreshing to see the energy that these little ones have, but I always leave exhausted.

 

Time for Reflection

  The day after Fiestas Patrias, my host family took a little day trip to a village located on an island named Isla Morguilla, which was one of the most beautiful places I have seen since being here in Chile. Sitting on the rocky coast of this isolated fishing village, watching the perfect sun set, I began to reflect on the time that I have spent here and the two months that I have left here in Los Alamos. Sitting there, I made three goals for myself for the time I have left here in Chile.

            My Goals:

                        -Live every day to the fullest.

                        -Take pride in the small victories

                        -Cherish the relationships that I have made

I quickly came to realize that these are goals, not only for the time I have left here in Chile, but for the rest of my life.

I hope this blog post finds all of you and your families happy and healthy. Until next time…

Monday, September 7, 2009

A Day In the Life



            I am sitting here on a damp Tuesday evening listening to the rain fall onto the tin roof of our house along with the faint sound of my host mother humming along with crackling Chilean music coming from the radio in the kitchen. I believe she is preparing empanadas (a traditional Chilean treat), or at least I hope she is. This past weekend was another relaxing weekend at home. The rain limits the possibility of outdoor activities, but I am more than happy spending my time here at the house with the family.

            After looking back at my previous posts, I realized that I haven’t told you much about my “daily life” here in Chile. Most of what I have written about has been the big events and some of my travels. So here is a post on the things I encounter on an every day basis.

 

Welcome To English

            My classroom has become a second home for me here in Chile. The room was just recently furnished and there is still hint of the fresh mint green paint on the wall. The school really went all out for my arrival; all new windows, new chairs, a brand new teachers desk, new white board, and newly wired electricity. In the school there only 4 heaters/stoves: one in the front entryway, one in the library, one in the teachers lounge and one in my classroom. My heater is propane fueled and all the others are wood burning.

            The rest of the rooms are frigged cold for the majority of the day and it is certain that there is a group of students or teachers huddled around one of the heaters every minute of the day. With that being said… I try to keep my room open for students to stay warm while I don’t have class, which is often my favorite time of the day. This time often leads to spontaneous English lessons with students I don’t have in class, games of hacky sack, me practicing my Spanish with the students, and students asking; “Will you play music by Michael Jackson or Eminem for us?”

            All of my classes are only in English. I do not use a single word of Spanish, and my students essentially have no English knowledge, which adds a pretty interesting element to my classes. I do a lot of acting things out, and miming and I have a good time making a fool out of myself! Haha. Every class period I start with the date and “slang” of the day. So far my students know “What’s up?”, “Peace out”, “See ya”, “Yo”, “Dude”, “Buddy”, and “Awesome” amongst a few others. It is always fun to hear “What’s up Mr. Matt?” when walking down the hallway.

            The students seem to be enjoying class, and most show a lot of enthusiasm when in class. But as usual in any high school, there are a handful of students that are just way too cool for school. Karyn (the other volunteer) and I have also started an English club which many of my students have attended which allows for a more fun and informal time with the students.

 

Desayuno, Almuerzo, and Onces

            Most every morning I enjoy my breakfast (desayuno) by myself in silence while the rest of the family is still sound asleep. I cherish this time as it allows me to mentally prepare myself for each day that follows.

            Everyday, I walk home for lunch (almuerzo), which is a time that I have come to love. Most of the family comes home to warm up with a nice hot bowl of soup and a cup of coffee or tea. It is always difficult to get myself to return to work after filling my tummy plump, but this is nothing that a nice cup of instant Nescafe cant cure.

            Onces (dinner) is possibly my favorite time of the day. Onces always consists of homemade bread and coffee/tea as well as a solid conversation. It is a time for everyone to reflect on their day with the people that they enjoy most in life. Onces always starts out quiet because everyone is famished and is busy eating, but after a good 5-10 minutes the conversation starts to snowball and usually lasts for a good 1 ½ - 2 hours.


 

Cold Showers and Toilet Paperless Bathrooms

            Every day starts with the battle of getting out of my warm and toasty bed, and entering the teeth chattering air that fills the room. Kevin (the other volunteer that I share a room with) and I are fortunate enough to have our own bathroom, but there are two conditions that I have had to adjust to. The first condition is the almost guaranteed cold shower. The showers in our house are electric, and don’t generate much warm water which has lead to my mastery of the one minute shower.

            The second condition… no toilet paper in the bathrooms and you cannot flush the toilet paper. I have yet to find a bathroom in the past 1 ½ months that has its own toilet paper, so I always have a roll in my back pack. Also, the plumbing in most bathrooms is not very strong, so you are not allowed to flush your toilet paper as it often leads to clogs. In most every bathroom there is a garbage can next to the toilet for your “dirties” once your deed is done. As you can imagine, it isn’t always the prettiest sight.

 

The Lost Dogs of Chile

            For every 3 blocks you walk in Los Alamos, there is sure to be at least 2-3, what seam to be, stray dogs. I have yet to wrap my head around the whole “calle perros” (street dogs) issue, but I have come to accept them. You can walk by most without receiving any gruff, but every once in a while I’ll come along a dog that just isn’t having a good day and needs someone to take it out on. It isn’t common to be bit, but they sure do like to bark.

            Our family has two dogs of our own. Good ol’ Max and Kitty. The two of them are our guard dogs and so far they have done a good job. Apparently it usually takes them a long time to adjust to new people, but since day two or three here in Los Alamos Max and Kitty have taken a liking to me. My host parents are continuously impressed when I can just go up to both of them and start playing around with them without either of them barking or snipping at my hands.

 

So there it is... my daily life. Although I have a "regular" schedule, there are always daily surprises. I've got to get going, but I hope this post finds all of you well. Until next time… Choa! 

Below is a little birthday video for my sis Mary Beth. She turns 21 today! If you haven't wished her a happy birthday today, post a birthday message for her here. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MB!!!