A Little Update

Things here in Chile are great. Each and every day is a mystery to me. Every morning when I wake up I think I have an idea of what is going to happen that day, but things never seem to go as expected. That is the beauty of living and working abroad and experiencing a completely new culture. I love it! Here is one big highlight and a few small highlights that are becoming pretty common in the life of “Mr. Matt”:

• The word “el campo” translates to “the countryside”. About a week and a half ago I hopped in a car and went out into el campo in search of a cow. My host family was helping to plan for a wedding the following weekend and they wanted to do it right, so a nice big cow for the meal was necessary. We started by stopping at a farm of some people that my host father knew, but we were soon told that they didn’t have a cow that we could buy. For the next 3-4 hours we stopped by farm after farm looking for a cow to buy and we kept hearing; “Sorry, but we don’t have one right now.” Although none of them had one for sale, they all had a “friend” down the road that they thought would probably have one for sale. None of these “friends” worked out. After our days hard work, we ended up going home empty handed. But the experience was great! It was nice to get out and see the countryside. I had a great time meeting the “country folk” and walking around the fields. It was refreshing to get out of the city. Let me tell you… the fresh milk straight from the cow is pretty good too. Warm… but delicious! (See photo above) 

• Was awoken at 5:30 am by our two fierce dogs Max and Kitty barking for hours on end right next to my bedroom window.

• Taught a lesson on “Introductions”.

• Struggled through 100 different conversations in Spanish throughout the day but still managed to communicate. I am becoming a master at miming. Haha.

• Taught a lesson on “Likes/Dislikes”

• Gave my camera to a 5 year old boy named Bastion that is always at our house. Some of the photos to the right are a result. I love giving my camera to children. The pictures are always the most memorable.

• Attended church with my host mother (Tia Iris).

• Was selected to be a judge for an English debate competition in a town on the coast named Lebu.

• Played table tennis against a student named Hector. It was a heated battle but he beat me by two points in the third game. After the game, he offered to buy me a juice from the concessions stand at school and he shared his goals and dreams for his future.

• Taught a lesson on the phrase “How are you?”

• Attended a wedding in which we stayed up to 6 am dancing.

• Attended a “Cueca” competition. The cueca is Chile’s national dance. It was incredible!

• Hitchhiked a ride to the river near town to hike around for a bit.

Life is great!