How Time Flies!!!

My time here is starting to fly by!  I am really starting to feel comfortable here, and I feel that I have gotten into a rhythm. I feel like last week just started and now it is the beginning of a new week.

I am someone who really enjoys the beauty of the small things in life like a glass of arinado (wine mixed with wheat) with my host father while hanging out in the garage, or my 10 minute walk to and from school through uniquely Chilean neighborhoods, or the 1 ½ hour I have for lunch at home with my host family, or the time after dinner when we sit around the table and watch the nightly news (which I do not understand at all).

 I have also found beauty in some big things as well. Just last weekend, myself and a few of the other volunteers took a bus north to a town named Lota which is a hilly coastal town that was once the center of Chile’s coal industry. The mines closed in 1997, and as a result the town has been hit pretty hard by poverty. According to some people in Chile, Lota has some of the worst shantytowns in the country, but I found the town to be an incredible place. As a way to help improve the economy of Lota, the government has begun to train former miners to be guides for tourists in the mines. Myself and 4 other volunteers took a guided tour of one of the mines which took us 50 meters underground in a rickety old elevator. I have a great amount of respect for the people that make a living by mining. The hours are ridiculous and the work takes a hit on your body. The miners in this area have a saying that has really stuck with me: “Tengo las manos asperas, pero hay pan en la mesa” (I have hands that are rough, but there is still bread on the table).

 Thursday and Friday were pretty crazy around Los Alamos and the high school I am teaching at. Last week was the anniversary of Politecnico Caupolican #55 (the school I teach at) so we only had regular classes Monday through Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday were filled with a ridiculous amount of insane events. Imagine a high school homecoming pep-fest that lasts for 11 hours each day for two days! I think I have a permanent headache from all the screaming but it was all worth it. The days were filled with really loud music, screaming, drumming and ridiculous events like 3-legged soccer, musical chairs, singing and dancing competitions, body painting, etc. There was even a Mr. and Miss competition in which the teachers were judges of the students with the best butt, legs, abs, biceps, etc. It was a competition that I never imagined I would see at a school sponsored event. I would also like to say that I was a vital part of one of the competitions.

Through out the two days of events, there were four teams that consisted of kids from all grades. For one of the competitions, each team had to dress up a teacher. The teacher that was dressed the craziest, won the competition. Needless to say, my clown costume and bright pink wig led one of the teams to victory!

This weekend I just relaxed around Los Alamos with the family. I invited a fellow teacher friend over Friday night named Moises and we taught him and the rest of the family the card game “UNO” which they absolutely loved. Sunday was a great day. The entire family took a trip to el campo (the countryside) and all the men went crawdad/crayfish fishing. It was a ton of fun. We spent about 2 hours walking around a field searching for crawdads. They use a contraption called a “bombo” that essentially suctions the crawdad right out of the ground. It was a good Chilean male bonding experience.

            It has been raining here nearly every day for the past 10 days or so. I am in the heart of the winter in the southern hemisphere, but it isn’t really all that bad, or at least when compared to Minnesota winters. The only rough part is the lack of central heating which I will surely blog about at another time. Until then, take care and I love you all. If you have any questions for me about anything, or you would like to see a blog post about a specific topic, please let me know. Be looking for my write-ups on the crazy toilet paperless bathrooms and the cold showers.