Hey all -
Today was my last day of classes. :(/:) It was super surreal. In fact, the whole week was surreal. It honestly felt like every other week except for the despedidas (good-bye parties) that kept cropping up (Monday [sort of], Wednesday, Thursday, and today). I'm trying to block it all out (because the one time I didn't, I ended up bawling in front of an entire school), but I can tell you this: I'm going to miss them all tremendously.
When I was in Spain and getting ready to leave, I didn't think I was going to be able to leave my host mom. Since then, I've thought about her often, but not as often as I should've; I used to write/call, but that stopped about six months ago (nothing bad, we just got on different time schedules). This whole experience is different. I feel like me leaving is literally taking a chunk out of me. I have to leave my family, my students, my friends... Everyone I've met here. It doesn't feel like before, though. I feel like I belong (which is funny, because I've been told that I'm Chilean [despite being "rubia"] more times than not) not just with my schools and family, but with the people. With where I live. Over these four months, these people have all become my family. This has become home.
With that said, I suppose I should do what I've always done and start at the start (or begin at the beginning, if you're big into the beginning of the alphabet like I am). (Side note: if you notice a change of tone here, it's because the whole sad thing is getting to me [i.e. the screen has become blurry because I have--er--something in my eyes]. Perhaps further down the line we'll get back to the original train of thought. Maybe.)
On Monday, we had English Day. Bonnie and I (along with a sweet teacher named Miriam) were the judges. It started with 5th graders doing a spelling bee, followed by 6th graders doing tongue twisters; 7th - 12th graders sang songs and danced. Three of my fifth graders placed (2nd, 4th, and 5th!) and both of my tongue twister kids (one of whom was a 5th grader) did AWESOME. :) One of my schools (which only has up to 5th grade right now), entered dancers and, out of the 10 groups that danced, they got third!!!! I was insanely proud of them!! :D Bonnie was excited, too, as she had choreographed the entire thing. :)
The only other highlight of the day was that I got to see two of my favorite performances from the San Fran talent show again (the two boys who played/sang "Vermillion Pt. 2" and the kids who punked out "Hotel California/E.O."). The rest of the day left quite a bit to be desired (read that: MISS SARA WOULDN'T KNOW ORGANIZATION IF IT HIT HER REPEATEDLY IN THE FACE), but I did steal myself some good cookies, which made it tolerable.
Tuesday went by, for the most part, without a hitch. I was supposed to teach a lesson, but Bonnie and I were having money issues, so I spent most of the morning/afternoon trying to figure out how to get to and from a town six hours away and not miss anything important here. (We ended up getting our money transferred to a place 30 minutes away, which worked much better [obviously].)
Wednesday I went to Tahuinco (the chicken school) and was treated to an amazing breakfast. The principle had told the kids the day before that classes were starting an hour late so that they could feed me breakfast. I wasn't disappointed. :D I got fresh bread, fresh goat cheese (amaaaaaaaazzzziinnnggggg), yummy drinks, and some free vino dulce (a specialty drink from that town). Other than the kids all mobbing me before I left, though, the rest of the day in Tahuinco was uneventful (as every other week with that teacher has been since I got here).
That afternoon, I headed to Cumbres to teach the 4th graders. That's where it all started to go downhill. The ADD kid that I've been helping since the beginning of September begged me (with tears in his eyes) not to go. Seriously? SERIOUSLY?! Ugh. As if working with little kids wasn't difficult/heartbreaking enough, he had to go and cry all over me. It took everything I had not to cry in return as I promised that I would be back to visit next year.
"But Miss," he said. "How will I pass my tests? How will I pay attention in class if you're not here?"
*cue the child sawing into my heart with a rusty spoon*
How do you respond to that? How do you tell a kid who gets no support (both because his parents are ashamed and because they don't want him to be seen as "favored") that he'll be alright? How do you tell him that he's got it all in him, he just has to see it? UGH.
All I remember is telling him that, as long as he asked the Miss, he'd be just fine. After that, it was picture time (oh how I adore 4th graders and their willingness to make the goofiest faces ever). I told Joss that I would walk home because I hadn't really done anything all day (which was the truth/a good excuse for her not to see me cry).
Finally, onces rolled around. Maria Jose (my Chilean mom/accomplice) tells me that I have to go to Cumbres with her in the morning. *insert confused face here* When I ask why, she tells me to shut up and eat my onces because they're getting cold. I suspected that they had set something up for me, but I didn't think it would be as epic? as it was.
Thursday morning. Even if I hadn't wanted to get up at 7:AM, the continued screams of "MAITE! APURATE!" would've made it impossible to sleep. After we got through the dog drama (Stupid freakin' basset hounds. Don't ever get them. They're dumber than a box of rocks.), we headed to the school. Everything seemed ordinary. The teachers were milling around, the kids were screaming and running. Nothing suspicious. Then the principle hauled out the microphone stuff. And the kids started lining up like they do for actos. Great, I thought. But maybe it'll just be something small, like Thank you, Miss Kari, we love you! and then I'll get to leave. Just when I think it's going to get awful, the principal starts to talk about raising money for the Teleton and recycling and a ton of other crap. Sweet, I think happily. I won't have to deal with anything! Wrong. In walks Joss and I can tell from the way she looks at me that I'm going to cry. Skank.
She gets me up on stage and we both start bawling and not just tears-rolling-down-our-faces; I mean snot-coming-out-of-our-noses-and-tears-all-over-our-glasses bawling. She finally says something about how much I've helped her and the school and how much of a difference I've made and I hear a "MISS!" from behind. Out walks Vicente (the most adorable four year old on the planet) holding a bouquet of roses that's bigger than he is. A bouquet of roses bigger than a four year old. It's so big that he can't see his feet and the principal has to help him onto the stage. *cue Cara crying like an idiot for the next five minutes*
Once we've both calmed down--sort of--Joss asks me to say something. Are you freakin' kidding me?! You've just told me that I'm like your sister, that you don't know what life will be like when I'm not here, given me a bouquet of roses bigger than a four year old, and now you want me to talk?! How could I say no?
I tried to get something out in Spanish--Fail. I tried in English. Double fail. The only thing I remember telling them (aside from the fact that I wasn't so scared of little kids anymore) was that they made me a very, very happy teacher. Which they did. After crying for another good chunk of time, they showed me the "Love Clap," which made me cry yet again. Then the principal comes back and says, "And with that, we bid you a very fond 'bye-bye'," to which all the kids reply, "Bye-bye, Miss!" and start waving. Seriously?! Hatred.
So, as they've just told me "bye-bye," I get ready to leave. As I turn around, I hear someone yell "FILA! FILA!", which tells me that they're lining up. For the next 25 minutes, I gave all 140-some students, teachers, and staff hugs. My arms were tired and my heart ached. Literally ached. Ugh.
The rest of the day was pretty normal. I worked with Joss how I normally do in the 5th and 6th grade classes (who, despite knowing it was my last day, acted how they normally do. :) ). When I finally got home, I was exhausted. One more day, I remember thinking to myself. It can't possibly get harder. Idiot.
This morning rolls around. I wake up to another chorus of "MAITE! HUEVONA! APURATE!" and by 7:30 I'm out the door. As I'm walking to school just like I have every Friday for the past three and a half months, it hits me that this is the very last time I'll be walking this route at this time of day for this reason. And I stop walking. Where in the name of sanity has all of my time gone? My four months? My third of a year? WHERE DID IT GO? I WANTS IT BACK! I haven't gotten nearly all of I wanted to out of it! Where is all of my teaching experience? My improved Spanish? My awesome, fun, totally incredible, mind-blowing, Earth-shattering adventures?! Stupid time. And then I keep walking.
Eighth grade went fine. They worked on posters and were... well, the eighth graders. They annoy me and make me laugh and do everything that they're supposed to do. :) Then we had to drag ourselves to the seventh grade room. It's a torture chamber, I swear. The first 45 minutes we spent trying to get them extra points so they wouldn't all fail their tests. After the break, Joss said she had to go down and help the principal. For the most part, the kids all behaved (much to my surprise). I went out to look for her, but to no avail. I chalked it up to the principal being pretty much useless. Then, at about 12:30, she comes back in and says that we're all going to the multi-purpose room to do an activity. Sweet! We get to play a game! I thought happily. When we get to the door, Joss tries to open it, can't, and asks me to. I open it to screams of "SOPRESA!!!!!!" from all of the students from 5th-8th grade. Not only was I literally scared, but I honestly couldn't believe 1) that they had managed to pull this all off; 2) that Joss had been lying to me all morning (which made me laugh; she understood/understands how gullible I am); and 3) that they all were that into me. There were decorations everywhere. They had hidden my presents (a hand-made notebook, a pretty glass box, and a stone jar thing) in a huge cardboard heart. They had not one but two NOT SEXY dances planned. This time both Joss and I kept the tears at bay (for the most part). I was able to tell them how they made me more confident as a teacher and how they helped me understand that not all little kids are scary. :) By the time we get out of there, it's about 1:50 and I know that I have to be home at 2:PM (for something. Maria Jose didn't tell me what, but she stressed how important it was that I be home).
We get to my house and Joss asks to come in to go to the bathroom. Of course I let her in. And what do I walk into but another surprise going away party. This one was complete with an asado (Chilean BBQ). Yummo. :) I got to eat a ton of tomatoes, too; everyone found out that I have an addiction to them. :) My present (I know, it sounds like I'm expecting them by now, but honestly? I'm so astonished by it all that the novelty has worn off, if that makes sense) was a silver and lapis lazuli necklace. (If you don't know what lapis lazuli is, check it out here.) After going to the Teacher's Net meeting (POINTLESS), Joss and I came back and sat round and talked for awhile. She left, I took a shower, packed, and now I'm here.
If ya'll think that was a ride, wait until next Thursday, when I fill you in on leaving Salamanca, the end of the EOD program, and finding my way back home.
Until then, LOVES TO YOU ALL!
Cb.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Climbing out the rabbit hole...
Hi folks!
Sorry it's been, like, a month since I posted. :( Weird stuff has been happening health wise, I've been travelling, and I'm afraid that I've caught a bit of the flojera that runs rampant in Chile. Oh well. I'll make up for it by writing a lot! :) The problem now is where to begin...?
1) Bonnie and I are official (temporary) Chilean citizens! We picked up our carnets (national ID cards) a few weeks ago and have been using them since. It's sort of cool, even if it is only temporary. :)
2) Money. The Chilean gov't blows when it comes to giving folks money. We finally were "paid" on October 22nd (great timing, guys), but our money is five hours away in Coquimbo. In order for us to get said money, we'd have to take a day off of school and spend no less than 10 hours on a bus. It wouldn't be so bad if the folks who are in charge weren't so freakin' stupid. We got an email reminding us that our money is "here" and that the lady in charge (biggest idiot that I've ever had the displeasure of working with) was sorry that it was so far away but there "isn't a branch of this particular Chilean bank in our podunk town." This is true. There is, however, a branch of said bank in a town 30 minutes from here. I emailed her back and told her this. Her response? "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realize that. But it's not my job to take care of that." o.o At first, I was too mad to even form a response in my head, much less anywhere else. After it subsided, I came up with three responses.
a) You've lived in this region (somewhat like a small state) for your entire life and you don't know what the smaller towns contain?!
b) You couldn't either a) walk down to a branch of said bank or b) hop online to check and see where other branches of this bank are? Seriously?! I DID THAT.
c) It's not your job?! Excuse me?! What is your job, then? Obviously you don't do it, either.
But, such is life here in Chile. Not exactly the most ideal of situations, but it's an experience. If anything, it's teaching us patience (or how not to serial kill every person we meet). Luckily, we're headed to Coquimbo/La Serena this week (Tuesday and Wednesday) for a stupid meeting so we'll (hopefully) be able to get our money then. Hopefully. God only knows what sort of shenanigans we'll run into...
2) School is still... Well, school. Bonnie and I only have two weeks left here, which means that most (if not all) of my "duties" have been taken away. While it's nice not to have too much to do, I do miss being able to actually teach (I was actually teaching for about a week or so). And although I like helping the teachers as much as is possible, I sort of feel useless. Most of the time, I'm a walking, breathing guide to pronunciation or dictionary which, while interesting, does leave me with A LOT of downtime. On the plus side, though, I still am getting better with my Spanish (which is a feat by itself) and I'm figuring out how I want my classroom to look/how I will teach (if I ever get that far).
3) Family life is still really, really good. There's a lot of drama and a lot of activity, but it's definitely fun. :) The only bad thing is that they've had to see me literally at my worst. I hardly ever get sick at home (the occasional cold). Here, though, it's been completely opposite. Not only have I been sick (like seriously tummy sick for about two months), but I've had the oddest things happen (sleeping wrong and pinching nerves in my back, etc.). These poor folks have to deal with me bawling and have been taking care of me like it's no problem. I feel badly, but they're more concerned with how to get me better. They've been getting frustrated with me because I won't go to the doctor (a) because rural doctors scare me and b) because I would have to pay with money that I don't have). Oh well. I just have to hold out for 19 more days and I'll be home. :)
4) I finally got to travel for two weekends in a row! The first trip was to Vina/Valpo/Villa Alemana to visit Melissa and her family (who are crazy). Bonnie, Melissa, and I had a blast. Not only was it nice to be around other English speakers, but it was nice to just have a break. We had a lunch picnic on the beach, wandered around, bought stuff we didn't need, and went sand boarding. Yes, that's right. Sand boarding. It was AMAZING. Well, getting up to the top of the hill? Not so amazing. More like "Hey fat kid? You ready to die?!". The view from the top, though, was WELL worth it. I don't think that the dunes are all that high, but the fact that they drop off into the ocean make them seem all that much bigger. I still have to get the pictures onto fb, but when I do, you'll understand what I'm talking about. :) Absolutely breathtaking. :) The sand boarding bit was fun, too. We had a good time failing. After awhile, we got it down, but that first half hour was nothing but sand-in-face time. The only bad thing about the dunes was that I got some sand in my camera. :( I think that I'll be able to fix it (or totally eff my camera)... We'll see.
On Sunday of that weekend, we went to the botanical gardens via the longest, most serial-killer-movie-esque route ever. The gardens were nice because it felt like home. There were huge trees and grass; we laid and slept for about half an hour before we had to leave to catch our bus. Happy, relaxing days. :)
The weekend after that, the whole fam (volunteers) made our way to ARGENTINA. Yes, Argentina. Like the country next to Chile. YAY SOUTH AMERICAN TRAVELLING! :D :D Bonnie's and my adventure was hilarious. We had to take a night but to Santiago in order to get to our other bus on time. Our bus left at 11:45, so we made our way to the "station" (a gated area) at about 11:30. When we got there, there was no bus and a dude just chilling. As we walked up, he asked if we needed the night bus. I had to bite back the "No. We're just wandering around at 11:30 with big backpacks because it feels nice" remark and nod. He proceeded to tell us that the bus was late (four hours late, to be exact) and that we'd have to go to Other Bus Company to see if they could give us a ride. Ugh. We high-tailed it to where the bus companies our, got our money back from one, and managed to get the last two seats on said night bus. The only problem was that we had to pay substantially more for these tickets (our first tickets were 2500 apiece. The Other Bus Company tickets were 6000 apiece). Oh well. We were on our way!
We got to Santiago and, after meeting up with the majority of the rest of the fam (YAY!!), we hopped on our DOUBLE DECKER bus. We got to go on a DOUBLE DECKER bus through the Andes. We got to go on a DOUBLE DECKER bus through the Andes. It was incredible. Despite the fact that we were up high, it felt like the mountains just kept going. No better way to make you feel absolutely tiny.
When we got to Mendoza, it was seriously like all of our worries were gone. We were all much more relaxed and it got even better as the weekend went on. We split up for dinner and Melissa, Bonnie, and I went to a buffet that had every type of meat on earth. And it was Argentine meat. *Heaven* After that, we went back to the hostel and did some major catching up. :)
The rest of the weekend was, for me, pretty tame. We all ended up getting super wasted on the 30th (which was hilarious). I ended up being the constant in Mendoza/the hostel. I never really left to go do the wine tours or the hot springs or the mountain thing. It was partially because I didn't have money, partially because I seriously wanted to just relax. And relax I did. :D The time I had in Mendoza was spent wandering around, reading my book, and eating some delicious food. Yummo. :)
We got a night bus home (to Santiago) on Monday and hit Santiago on Tuesday morning at around 6:30. Bonnie and I got a bus to Salamanca at 7:30, which, although expensive, was nice. When we got home, no one let us go to classes, so we sort of just sat around and did nothing. A nice way to end an awesome weekend. :)
5) The End? It's coming up really fast (19 days and counting!) and honestly? It doesn't feel like four months have come and gone. Sure, there were days that I never thought would end, but I have days like that in the States. Something that I've noticed here more than anywhere else, though, are the relationships I've developed. Maybe it's because I was here the longest, maybe it's because I invested more of myself into this trip--I don't know. What I do know is that I feel like these relationships are way stronger than the ones I made in the past. I know, without a doubt, that I will stay in contact with my family and friends from here (and I don't just mean that we'll be fb friends, I mean legit stay in contact). These people are more than just folks that I met and spent time with. They're family. They've seen me at my best, my worst, and everything possible in between. It's hard to imagine what my life is going to be like without hearing "MAITE! APURATE!" every morning or not having my constant travelling companion (Bonnie) wherever I go... :( I know, though, that they're all only a phone call or fb message away. :)
Alright, so I think that's it for right now. I'll probably post once or twice more before I head on outta here... :)
Loves to you all!
Cb.
P.S. Interesting note: this post took me all day. Not because I had a hard time formulating ideas, not because I didn't want to write it; it was because other stuff came up (we "had to" go to lunch, then we "had to" drive folks around, then I "had to" swim/do laundry/clean/do dishes/be a nanny). It's crazy, but it's indicative of life here. I know that, in the States, I would never leave something like this unfinished. I couldn't. Now, it's like a tickling in the back of my brain; I know it's there, but I'll get to it eventually. :) Now, whether or not this whole roll-with-the-punches-mentality follows me to the States I don't know, but it's pretty fun while I've got it.
Peace. :)
Sorry it's been, like, a month since I posted. :( Weird stuff has been happening health wise, I've been travelling, and I'm afraid that I've caught a bit of the flojera that runs rampant in Chile. Oh well. I'll make up for it by writing a lot! :) The problem now is where to begin...?
1) Bonnie and I are official (temporary) Chilean citizens! We picked up our carnets (national ID cards) a few weeks ago and have been using them since. It's sort of cool, even if it is only temporary. :)
2) Money. The Chilean gov't blows when it comes to giving folks money. We finally were "paid" on October 22nd (great timing, guys), but our money is five hours away in Coquimbo. In order for us to get said money, we'd have to take a day off of school and spend no less than 10 hours on a bus. It wouldn't be so bad if the folks who are in charge weren't so freakin' stupid. We got an email reminding us that our money is "here" and that the lady in charge (biggest idiot that I've ever had the displeasure of working with) was sorry that it was so far away but there "isn't a branch of this particular Chilean bank in our podunk town." This is true. There is, however, a branch of said bank in a town 30 minutes from here. I emailed her back and told her this. Her response? "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realize that. But it's not my job to take care of that." o.o At first, I was too mad to even form a response in my head, much less anywhere else. After it subsided, I came up with three responses.
a) You've lived in this region (somewhat like a small state) for your entire life and you don't know what the smaller towns contain?!
b) You couldn't either a) walk down to a branch of said bank or b) hop online to check and see where other branches of this bank are? Seriously?! I DID THAT.
c) It's not your job?! Excuse me?! What is your job, then? Obviously you don't do it, either.
But, such is life here in Chile. Not exactly the most ideal of situations, but it's an experience. If anything, it's teaching us patience (or how not to serial kill every person we meet). Luckily, we're headed to Coquimbo/La Serena this week (Tuesday and Wednesday) for a stupid meeting so we'll (hopefully) be able to get our money then. Hopefully. God only knows what sort of shenanigans we'll run into...
2) School is still... Well, school. Bonnie and I only have two weeks left here, which means that most (if not all) of my "duties" have been taken away. While it's nice not to have too much to do, I do miss being able to actually teach (I was actually teaching for about a week or so). And although I like helping the teachers as much as is possible, I sort of feel useless. Most of the time, I'm a walking, breathing guide to pronunciation or dictionary which, while interesting, does leave me with A LOT of downtime. On the plus side, though, I still am getting better with my Spanish (which is a feat by itself) and I'm figuring out how I want my classroom to look/how I will teach (if I ever get that far).
3) Family life is still really, really good. There's a lot of drama and a lot of activity, but it's definitely fun. :) The only bad thing is that they've had to see me literally at my worst. I hardly ever get sick at home (the occasional cold). Here, though, it's been completely opposite. Not only have I been sick (like seriously tummy sick for about two months), but I've had the oddest things happen (sleeping wrong and pinching nerves in my back, etc.). These poor folks have to deal with me bawling and have been taking care of me like it's no problem. I feel badly, but they're more concerned with how to get me better. They've been getting frustrated with me because I won't go to the doctor (a) because rural doctors scare me and b) because I would have to pay with money that I don't have). Oh well. I just have to hold out for 19 more days and I'll be home. :)
4) I finally got to travel for two weekends in a row! The first trip was to Vina/Valpo/Villa Alemana to visit Melissa and her family (who are crazy). Bonnie, Melissa, and I had a blast. Not only was it nice to be around other English speakers, but it was nice to just have a break. We had a lunch picnic on the beach, wandered around, bought stuff we didn't need, and went sand boarding. Yes, that's right. Sand boarding. It was AMAZING. Well, getting up to the top of the hill? Not so amazing. More like "Hey fat kid? You ready to die?!". The view from the top, though, was WELL worth it. I don't think that the dunes are all that high, but the fact that they drop off into the ocean make them seem all that much bigger. I still have to get the pictures onto fb, but when I do, you'll understand what I'm talking about. :) Absolutely breathtaking. :) The sand boarding bit was fun, too. We had a good time failing. After awhile, we got it down, but that first half hour was nothing but sand-in-face time. The only bad thing about the dunes was that I got some sand in my camera. :( I think that I'll be able to fix it (or totally eff my camera)... We'll see.
On Sunday of that weekend, we went to the botanical gardens via the longest, most serial-killer-movie-esque route ever. The gardens were nice because it felt like home. There were huge trees and grass; we laid and slept for about half an hour before we had to leave to catch our bus. Happy, relaxing days. :)
The weekend after that, the whole fam (volunteers) made our way to ARGENTINA. Yes, Argentina. Like the country next to Chile. YAY SOUTH AMERICAN TRAVELLING! :D :D Bonnie's and my adventure was hilarious. We had to take a night but to Santiago in order to get to our other bus on time. Our bus left at 11:45, so we made our way to the "station" (a gated area) at about 11:30. When we got there, there was no bus and a dude just chilling. As we walked up, he asked if we needed the night bus. I had to bite back the "No. We're just wandering around at 11:30 with big backpacks because it feels nice" remark and nod. He proceeded to tell us that the bus was late (four hours late, to be exact) and that we'd have to go to Other Bus Company to see if they could give us a ride. Ugh. We high-tailed it to where the bus companies our, got our money back from one, and managed to get the last two seats on said night bus. The only problem was that we had to pay substantially more for these tickets (our first tickets were 2500 apiece. The Other Bus Company tickets were 6000 apiece). Oh well. We were on our way!
We got to Santiago and, after meeting up with the majority of the rest of the fam (YAY!!), we hopped on our DOUBLE DECKER bus. We got to go on a DOUBLE DECKER bus through the Andes. We got to go on a DOUBLE DECKER bus through the Andes. It was incredible. Despite the fact that we were up high, it felt like the mountains just kept going. No better way to make you feel absolutely tiny.
When we got to Mendoza, it was seriously like all of our worries were gone. We were all much more relaxed and it got even better as the weekend went on. We split up for dinner and Melissa, Bonnie, and I went to a buffet that had every type of meat on earth. And it was Argentine meat. *Heaven* After that, we went back to the hostel and did some major catching up. :)
The rest of the weekend was, for me, pretty tame. We all ended up getting super wasted on the 30th (which was hilarious). I ended up being the constant in Mendoza/the hostel. I never really left to go do the wine tours or the hot springs or the mountain thing. It was partially because I didn't have money, partially because I seriously wanted to just relax. And relax I did. :D The time I had in Mendoza was spent wandering around, reading my book, and eating some delicious food. Yummo. :)
We got a night bus home (to Santiago) on Monday and hit Santiago on Tuesday morning at around 6:30. Bonnie and I got a bus to Salamanca at 7:30, which, although expensive, was nice. When we got home, no one let us go to classes, so we sort of just sat around and did nothing. A nice way to end an awesome weekend. :)
5) The End? It's coming up really fast (19 days and counting!) and honestly? It doesn't feel like four months have come and gone. Sure, there were days that I never thought would end, but I have days like that in the States. Something that I've noticed here more than anywhere else, though, are the relationships I've developed. Maybe it's because I was here the longest, maybe it's because I invested more of myself into this trip--I don't know. What I do know is that I feel like these relationships are way stronger than the ones I made in the past. I know, without a doubt, that I will stay in contact with my family and friends from here (and I don't just mean that we'll be fb friends, I mean legit stay in contact). These people are more than just folks that I met and spent time with. They're family. They've seen me at my best, my worst, and everything possible in between. It's hard to imagine what my life is going to be like without hearing "MAITE! APURATE!" every morning or not having my constant travelling companion (Bonnie) wherever I go... :( I know, though, that they're all only a phone call or fb message away. :)
Alright, so I think that's it for right now. I'll probably post once or twice more before I head on outta here... :)
Loves to you all!
Cb.
P.S. Interesting note: this post took me all day. Not because I had a hard time formulating ideas, not because I didn't want to write it; it was because other stuff came up (we "had to" go to lunch, then we "had to" drive folks around, then I "had to" swim/do laundry/clean/do dishes/be a nanny). It's crazy, but it's indicative of life here. I know that, in the States, I would never leave something like this unfinished. I couldn't. Now, it's like a tickling in the back of my brain; I know it's there, but I'll get to it eventually. :) Now, whether or not this whole roll-with-the-punches-mentality follows me to the States I don't know, but it's pretty fun while I've got it.
Peace. :)
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Holy FAIL, Batman!
Sorry it's been awhile. Life's been.. Interesting here, to say the least. I suppose I should start from the beginning (although I feel like everything here blends together.. Wibbly, wobbly, timey-wimey and all that).
1)Bonnie and I are legal! We still have to get our cards (I think we're going tomorrow), but we're legal until next year sometime! And we did it all by ourselves! Go us! :D It actually took far less time and we were super successful.
2) School. Oh, school. For the most part, I'm still having a great time and loving every minute of it, especially my classes with Joss. We have a great time and we work well together, which makes things much, much easier. It's the other teacher that I have problems with. Don't get me wrong, I get along with her just as well as I do with Joss and I'm learning from her as well (apparently I have a gypsy accent..?). The problem comes when we're at school. I do absolutely nothing. No. Thing. And neither does she. She continually tells me that she's "floja" (lazy) and proves it. Her favorite thing to do (or not do) is to sit in her chair while she's writing on the board. O.O The two jobs I had in the classroom (writing on the board and pressing 'play' on the CD player, have been taken by her (she doesn't want the students to get confused..?). For the last two weeks of classes, I've literally sat and played games on my phone or my computer.
The bad part about it is that we've talked about how I don't do anything. Her response? "I don't want the students to get too confused and you use a lot of English when you teach." WELL DUH! IT'S AN ENGLISH CLASS!!! What else am I supposed to do?! But then I remember: she conducts her classes almost entirely in Spanish; when the tests come around, the students do badly and then she gets mad and wonders why. I EFFIN' WONDER. Ugh. Despite this, I'm still trying to be positive. The fact is that, while I'm not doing much teaching (or much of anything, for that matter), I am learning a lot of classroom Spanish which will (hopefully) be helpful in the future. I'm also learning how not to work with students who are at different levels/learn differently. Positive.
The light at the end of the tunnel is that each time I'm forced to work with this teacher, I get at least one class with Joss afterward. This makes my days much, much better. :)
3) I'm coming to find that I really do like little kids. Sure, they still scare the crap out of me (I don't think I'll ever get used to having them swarm me when I get to school), but they're cute... In their own way. My favorite part is how, when I work with them, they remember what we've worked on. That makes me feel that, when I'm actually allowed to do the teaching thing, I do an alright job. That makes me happy. All of you who know me know how I like to be happy. :)
4) Alright, I suppose I should get to the whole "Holy FAIL, Batman!" part of this so you can get on with your life. It's simple. Just one word, really. Money. We're wrapping up week 12 and we have yet to get paid. Let me repeat that. We're wrapping up WEEK 12 and we have yet to get paid. Although most everyone has been taking money from home (NOT ME), we're all sick of it. Without money, we can't do much of anything like travel, buy stuff that we want, or just plain be independent. It wouldn't be so bad if EOD wouldn't've lied to us at every single turn. First, we were supposed to have money around the 19th of September. Then it was the first week in October. Then it was October 12th. Now it's next week. Whatthefuckever. I'm over it. Well, I'm still enraged and am planning on burning their offices to the ground, but, I'm over it.
Well, I think I've written for long enough. :) If you want to know more, comment and ask me. You can also head on over to the Spanish blog (carainternacional.blogspot.com), follow me on Twitter (twitter.com/minimightymouse), or hit me up on Fbook. Wow, I wonder if I could fit any more shameless self-plugs in there. ;)
Love you all tremendously.
Cb.
P.S. FUERZA MINERO! CHI! CHI! CHI! LE! LE! LE! LOS MINEROS DE CHILE!
1)Bonnie and I are legal! We still have to get our cards (I think we're going tomorrow), but we're legal until next year sometime! And we did it all by ourselves! Go us! :D It actually took far less time and we were super successful.
2) School. Oh, school. For the most part, I'm still having a great time and loving every minute of it, especially my classes with Joss. We have a great time and we work well together, which makes things much, much easier. It's the other teacher that I have problems with. Don't get me wrong, I get along with her just as well as I do with Joss and I'm learning from her as well (apparently I have a gypsy accent..?). The problem comes when we're at school. I do absolutely nothing. No. Thing. And neither does she. She continually tells me that she's "floja" (lazy) and proves it. Her favorite thing to do (or not do) is to sit in her chair while she's writing on the board. O.O The two jobs I had in the classroom (writing on the board and pressing 'play' on the CD player, have been taken by her (she doesn't want the students to get confused..?). For the last two weeks of classes, I've literally sat and played games on my phone or my computer.
The bad part about it is that we've talked about how I don't do anything. Her response? "I don't want the students to get too confused and you use a lot of English when you teach." WELL DUH! IT'S AN ENGLISH CLASS!!! What else am I supposed to do?! But then I remember: she conducts her classes almost entirely in Spanish; when the tests come around, the students do badly and then she gets mad and wonders why. I EFFIN' WONDER. Ugh. Despite this, I'm still trying to be positive. The fact is that, while I'm not doing much teaching (or much of anything, for that matter), I am learning a lot of classroom Spanish which will (hopefully) be helpful in the future. I'm also learning how not to work with students who are at different levels/learn differently. Positive.
The light at the end of the tunnel is that each time I'm forced to work with this teacher, I get at least one class with Joss afterward. This makes my days much, much better. :)
3) I'm coming to find that I really do like little kids. Sure, they still scare the crap out of me (I don't think I'll ever get used to having them swarm me when I get to school), but they're cute... In their own way. My favorite part is how, when I work with them, they remember what we've worked on. That makes me feel that, when I'm actually allowed to do the teaching thing, I do an alright job. That makes me happy. All of you who know me know how I like to be happy. :)
4) Alright, I suppose I should get to the whole "Holy FAIL, Batman!" part of this so you can get on with your life. It's simple. Just one word, really. Money. We're wrapping up week 12 and we have yet to get paid. Let me repeat that. We're wrapping up WEEK 12 and we have yet to get paid. Although most everyone has been taking money from home (NOT ME), we're all sick of it. Without money, we can't do much of anything like travel, buy stuff that we want, or just plain be independent. It wouldn't be so bad if EOD wouldn't've lied to us at every single turn. First, we were supposed to have money around the 19th of September. Then it was the first week in October. Then it was October 12th. Now it's next week. Whatthefuckever. I'm over it. Well, I'm still enraged and am planning on burning their offices to the ground, but, I'm over it.
Well, I think I've written for long enough. :) If you want to know more, comment and ask me. You can also head on over to the Spanish blog (carainternacional.blogspot.com), follow me on Twitter (twitter.com/minimightymouse), or hit me up on Fbook. Wow, I wonder if I could fit any more shameless self-plugs in there. ;)
Love you all tremendously.
Cb.
P.S. FUERZA MINERO! CHI! CHI! CHI! LE! LE! LE! LOS MINEROS DE CHILE!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Visa!Fail and Acid Flashbacks..
Hey all-
I figured that I should probably update sometime soon, especially since we've now got guests and I'll probably be "busy" the rest of the weekend...
For starters, I'm all better! My tummy decided that it wanted to behave after all which means that I'm able to eat anything I want! Granted, I'm going to be staying away from mall food, anything fried, and tap water, but that doesn't limit my intake in the slightest. :)
Alright, I suppose I should get to part one of the title: Visa!Fail. The whole day was full of fail (and frustration), we'll just start there. Bonnie and I were sent/taken to Illapel to get our visas. According to everyone else, this should've been a relatively easy process: maybe three or four hours. Ha. Try from 10:AM to 5:PM. And we didn't get anything accomplished. >:(. It started with us getting there. Our Regional "Support" (biggest effin' lie EVER), was there to meet us. The first thing she asks is what we're supposed to say when we get to the Extranjería office. I'm pretty sure that my eyes bugged out of my head. This awesome level of preparedness lead to us visiting the office not one or two times, but four times. The first three, our "Support" kept trying to talk about things that she knew nothing about, making the office worker super defensive. That was fun to deal with.
After the second visit to the office, I called Claudia, our CIEE guardian angel in Santiago. Even though she's SUPER sick, she was able to get things taken care of. The first words out of her mouth when I explained the situation were "she's stupid."
Before our third trip to the office, our "Support" decided that we needed to go the biggest flea market/yard sale that I've seen in awhile; that way, Bonnie and I would be "entertained" while she went home to "make lunch." After wandering around and then chilling in the plaza, we got to go to her house and eat "lunch": vegetables, vegetable broth, and juice. ... Yeah. After this disappointing interlude, we went back to the office (mainly because "Support" poked and prodded). After another failed attempt at becoming legal, I called Claudia back to let her know what was going on. She wanted to talk to "Support," which pissed "Support" off. From my end, it was full of superlolz but she didn't seem to see the humor in it. Oh well.
Once she was off the phone, she showed us where the other two offices were and explained that the next time we came (hopefully to actually get our visas), we would have to do it all on our own. ... Waitwaitwaitwait. You're supposed to be our REGIONAL SUPPORT. You're supposed to support us while we're here, not leave us to complete government processes that we know nothing about. ... The end of our day came when Bonnie and I were unceremoniously kicked out of "Support"'s car and told to run after a bus so we could catch it. Awesome.
We were pretty much furious when we got home and, after dropping off Bonnie at her house, I got the distinct pleasure of explaining the whole ordeal to my family. My mom was not happy; she told me that when we have to go back, she's taking us because she has friends in the PDI (the Chilean FBI). It's no longer a joke... My family is MOB. :)
Alright... Now, (in the words of the immortal Paul Harvey) the rest of the story. :)
The whole acid trip thing is the experience that (so far) is the Chilean Bicentennial. Everyone here has been preparing for this weekend for at least the time that we've been here (almost two months). God only knows how long before that. When I say...write...prepare, I don't mean the crappy preparations we do (i.e. we get a day off of work [if we're lucky], so let's make sure that we have some sparklers and shit). No, these folks are going all out. Every house has decorations and the mandatory Chilean flag out front. Add to that the ridiculous amounts of food and alcohol that people have been purchasing and you've got the makings for one hell of a party. I'm actually intimidated. :S I know, I know, you're probably thinking this has nothing to do with a freakin' acid trip but it does! Well, at least part of it does.
Last night, there was a light show put on by Pura Energia, Puro Chile. This group (company? I'm not too sure) used the Moneda (the Chilean version of the White House) as the backdrop for a tripped out light/music show. Whoever dreamt it up was either on acid or high. Really, really high. Don't let this description trick you, though. It was honestly one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a very, very long time. There were quite a few points where the breath was literally taken away from me. That pretty. My favorite part, though, was the Pablo Neruda/Victoria Parra mashup. Freakin' GORGEOUS. If I can find it on Youtube, I'll post it. It honestly almost moved me to tears.
If this is the start of the Bicentennial celebrations (the festivities don't "start" until tomorrow), I'm a little scaredexcitednervoushappy about what's to come. :)
Alright, I've gotta jet, so that's it for now. If I get a chance, I'll post pictures, but if not, you can find them on Fbook. I've got them all over the place there. :)
Loves to all. :)
Cb.
I figured that I should probably update sometime soon, especially since we've now got guests and I'll probably be "busy" the rest of the weekend...
For starters, I'm all better! My tummy decided that it wanted to behave after all which means that I'm able to eat anything I want! Granted, I'm going to be staying away from mall food, anything fried, and tap water, but that doesn't limit my intake in the slightest. :)
Alright, I suppose I should get to part one of the title: Visa!Fail. The whole day was full of fail (and frustration), we'll just start there. Bonnie and I were sent/taken to Illapel to get our visas. According to everyone else, this should've been a relatively easy process: maybe three or four hours. Ha. Try from 10:AM to 5:PM. And we didn't get anything accomplished. >:(. It started with us getting there. Our Regional "Support" (biggest effin' lie EVER), was there to meet us. The first thing she asks is what we're supposed to say when we get to the Extranjería office. I'm pretty sure that my eyes bugged out of my head. This awesome level of preparedness lead to us visiting the office not one or two times, but four times. The first three, our "Support" kept trying to talk about things that she knew nothing about, making the office worker super defensive. That was fun to deal with.
After the second visit to the office, I called Claudia, our CIEE guardian angel in Santiago. Even though she's SUPER sick, she was able to get things taken care of. The first words out of her mouth when I explained the situation were "she's stupid."
Before our third trip to the office, our "Support" decided that we needed to go the biggest flea market/yard sale that I've seen in awhile; that way, Bonnie and I would be "entertained" while she went home to "make lunch." After wandering around and then chilling in the plaza, we got to go to her house and eat "lunch": vegetables, vegetable broth, and juice. ... Yeah. After this disappointing interlude, we went back to the office (mainly because "Support" poked and prodded). After another failed attempt at becoming legal, I called Claudia back to let her know what was going on. She wanted to talk to "Support," which pissed "Support" off. From my end, it was full of superlolz but she didn't seem to see the humor in it. Oh well.
Once she was off the phone, she showed us where the other two offices were and explained that the next time we came (hopefully to actually get our visas), we would have to do it all on our own. ... Waitwaitwaitwait. You're supposed to be our REGIONAL SUPPORT. You're supposed to support us while we're here, not leave us to complete government processes that we know nothing about. ... The end of our day came when Bonnie and I were unceremoniously kicked out of "Support"'s car and told to run after a bus so we could catch it. Awesome.
We were pretty much furious when we got home and, after dropping off Bonnie at her house, I got the distinct pleasure of explaining the whole ordeal to my family. My mom was not happy; she told me that when we have to go back, she's taking us because she has friends in the PDI (the Chilean FBI). It's no longer a joke... My family is MOB. :)
Alright... Now, (in the words of the immortal Paul Harvey) the rest of the story. :)
The whole acid trip thing is the experience that (so far) is the Chilean Bicentennial. Everyone here has been preparing for this weekend for at least the time that we've been here (almost two months). God only knows how long before that. When I say...write...prepare, I don't mean the crappy preparations we do (i.e. we get a day off of work [if we're lucky], so let's make sure that we have some sparklers and shit). No, these folks are going all out. Every house has decorations and the mandatory Chilean flag out front. Add to that the ridiculous amounts of food and alcohol that people have been purchasing and you've got the makings for one hell of a party. I'm actually intimidated. :S I know, I know, you're probably thinking this has nothing to do with a freakin' acid trip but it does! Well, at least part of it does.
Last night, there was a light show put on by Pura Energia, Puro Chile. This group (company? I'm not too sure) used the Moneda (the Chilean version of the White House) as the backdrop for a tripped out light/music show. Whoever dreamt it up was either on acid or high. Really, really high. Don't let this description trick you, though. It was honestly one of the most beautiful things I've seen in a very, very long time. There were quite a few points where the breath was literally taken away from me. That pretty. My favorite part, though, was the Pablo Neruda/Victoria Parra mashup. Freakin' GORGEOUS. If I can find it on Youtube, I'll post it. It honestly almost moved me to tears.
If this is the start of the Bicentennial celebrations (the festivities don't "start" until tomorrow), I'm a little scaredexcitednervoushappy about what's to come. :)
Alright, I've gotta jet, so that's it for now. If I get a chance, I'll post pictures, but if not, you can find them on Fbook. I've got them all over the place there. :)
Loves to all. :)
Cb.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
My, how time flies!
Hey all!
Sorry about the time between the last post and this one. I normally write on weekends but the last two have been full to say the least. Add to that the fact that I've finally gotten tummy sick and you have a huge chunk of time between posts. :( Anyway, enough moaning, let's start where we left off! :D
After my birthday, not too much happened. There was a Cueca (the Chilean national dance) competition, which was really fun to watch. Other than that, I went to my classes, helped out, and tutored the family that I'm working with. :)
Two weekends ago (the last week in August), our CIEE family (plus Mildred, Tess, Amanda, and Katie) all met up in Valparaíso. It honestly was like our family was meeting again; despite the fact that it had been almost a month since we had seen each other, it didn't feel like anything had changed. :) After Bonnie and I hiked up an absurd amount of stairs (after getting dropped in the most random place imaginable), we met everyone who decided that we needed to go and eat. After another odd, late-night hike, we ended up at a rather expensive place about five minutes from the hostel. That night, we decided that we were going to cook for ourselves from now on. Best. Idea. Ever. :D
The next day, we went wandering around Valpo and eventually ended up at one of Pablo Neruda's old houses. I took an absurd amount of pictures (over 100), very few of which were of people. By the time we reached the bottom of the hills (sort of where we were staying), almost everyone was tired, cranky, and extremely hungry. We all went to the super (BAD IDEA) and almost ended up with a dinner!fail. Despite the crankiness floating in the air, we all made it out alive and returned to the hostel to cook.
I'm not sure if the food was really that good or if it was like the first meal you have when you're camping; either way, it rocked hardcore. Everyone was more than pleased (which could've had something to do with the copious amounts of wine being drunk). :D After eating, we all went back up to the bigger room to hang out. We were entertained by the fabulous Victoria, whose penchant for storytelling will make her extremely famous and/or very, very rich. :) At about 1230, everyone but Bonnie and I decided to go out to a place called Huevo. From the stories that we heard the next day, it was an interesting night to say the least. :)
The next week at school was more of the same. I find myself getting a little annoyed with one teacher simply because I'm not being allowed to teach AT ALL. I have to continually remind myself that I'm here to help, not to do her job for her. :) During this week, Bonnie and I found out that we had to go to Santiago on Saturday (just on Saturday) for a meeting with the CIEE organization folk. Originally, I wasn't going to go because it would be a waste of time (try 10 hours on a bus) and money. My parents, however, thought otherwise. My mom has been wanting to get out of Salamanca for awhile and decided that the weekend would be a perfect time to do it. On Friday, then, Bonnie and I found ourselves in the back of the Jeep on the way to a high-rise freaking apartment in Viña del Mar (Valpo's super rich cousin). We stayed there that night and caught a bus to Santiago (a much more manageable 1.75 hour bus ride) the next day.
Once in Santiago, we learned the Cueca (!), went to lunch (yummo) and had our "meeting". During this "meeting," I found out that not only am I, like, the luckiest girl on the planet, but also that my dad's family pretty much owns Chile (according to Claudia). I'm not quite sure if their copious amounts of money doesn't effect me because I don't see them as super snotty or if it's something that's so outside my comfort zone that it just isn't real. I'm pretty sure it's a combination of the two but if they're mutually exclusive, I'll side with the former. :) That night, our dinner reservations got canceled (or something equally weird), so we were left to fend for ourselves. We made breakfast for dinner (complete with pancakes with Wal-Mart brand syrup!) and, once again, had a fabulous time. The next day, after a morning!fail, Bonnie and I headed back to Viña where we were escorted around the biggest mall I've ever been to in my life. Ho. Ly. Cow. Bonnie wasn't phased but I didn't know what to do with myself. At about 430 we headed home; once here, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for onces and then, finally, we got home home. :)
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I didn't have classes with one of my teachers because she got sick. Monday, my stomach started to feel funky. Tuesday, it got worse. Wednesday, I came home for lunch and didn't wake up until almost seven. Here I am today, not any better and being forced to stay at home. Oh, and fending off everyone who thinks I need to go to the hospital. Ugh. Talk about feeling lazy as crap as well as a burden. Despite all of this, I still feel like I'm the luckiest girl alive. The fact that none of my family nor my main teacher won't leave me alone (they're trying to do everything for me) reminds me how great these folks are. :)
Alright, alright, I can see you retching from the amount of sweet that's in this so I'll shut up. I'll try to update sooner (probably next week sometime?) but, until then--
LOVES!
Cb.
Sorry about the time between the last post and this one. I normally write on weekends but the last two have been full to say the least. Add to that the fact that I've finally gotten tummy sick and you have a huge chunk of time between posts. :( Anyway, enough moaning, let's start where we left off! :D
After my birthday, not too much happened. There was a Cueca (the Chilean national dance) competition, which was really fun to watch. Other than that, I went to my classes, helped out, and tutored the family that I'm working with. :)
Two weekends ago (the last week in August), our CIEE family (plus Mildred, Tess, Amanda, and Katie) all met up in Valparaíso. It honestly was like our family was meeting again; despite the fact that it had been almost a month since we had seen each other, it didn't feel like anything had changed. :) After Bonnie and I hiked up an absurd amount of stairs (after getting dropped in the most random place imaginable), we met everyone who decided that we needed to go and eat. After another odd, late-night hike, we ended up at a rather expensive place about five minutes from the hostel. That night, we decided that we were going to cook for ourselves from now on. Best. Idea. Ever. :D
The next day, we went wandering around Valpo and eventually ended up at one of Pablo Neruda's old houses. I took an absurd amount of pictures (over 100), very few of which were of people. By the time we reached the bottom of the hills (sort of where we were staying), almost everyone was tired, cranky, and extremely hungry. We all went to the super (BAD IDEA) and almost ended up with a dinner!fail. Despite the crankiness floating in the air, we all made it out alive and returned to the hostel to cook.
I'm not sure if the food was really that good or if it was like the first meal you have when you're camping; either way, it rocked hardcore. Everyone was more than pleased (which could've had something to do with the copious amounts of wine being drunk). :D After eating, we all went back up to the bigger room to hang out. We were entertained by the fabulous Victoria, whose penchant for storytelling will make her extremely famous and/or very, very rich. :) At about 1230, everyone but Bonnie and I decided to go out to a place called Huevo. From the stories that we heard the next day, it was an interesting night to say the least. :)
The next week at school was more of the same. I find myself getting a little annoyed with one teacher simply because I'm not being allowed to teach AT ALL. I have to continually remind myself that I'm here to help, not to do her job for her. :) During this week, Bonnie and I found out that we had to go to Santiago on Saturday (just on Saturday) for a meeting with the CIEE organization folk. Originally, I wasn't going to go because it would be a waste of time (try 10 hours on a bus) and money. My parents, however, thought otherwise. My mom has been wanting to get out of Salamanca for awhile and decided that the weekend would be a perfect time to do it. On Friday, then, Bonnie and I found ourselves in the back of the Jeep on the way to a high-rise freaking apartment in Viña del Mar (Valpo's super rich cousin). We stayed there that night and caught a bus to Santiago (a much more manageable 1.75 hour bus ride) the next day.
Once in Santiago, we learned the Cueca (!), went to lunch (yummo) and had our "meeting". During this "meeting," I found out that not only am I, like, the luckiest girl on the planet, but also that my dad's family pretty much owns Chile (according to Claudia). I'm not quite sure if their copious amounts of money doesn't effect me because I don't see them as super snotty or if it's something that's so outside my comfort zone that it just isn't real. I'm pretty sure it's a combination of the two but if they're mutually exclusive, I'll side with the former. :) That night, our dinner reservations got canceled (or something equally weird), so we were left to fend for ourselves. We made breakfast for dinner (complete with pancakes with Wal-Mart brand syrup!) and, once again, had a fabulous time. The next day, after a morning!fail, Bonnie and I headed back to Viña where we were escorted around the biggest mall I've ever been to in my life. Ho. Ly. Cow. Bonnie wasn't phased but I didn't know what to do with myself. At about 430 we headed home; once here, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for onces and then, finally, we got home home. :)
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I didn't have classes with one of my teachers because she got sick. Monday, my stomach started to feel funky. Tuesday, it got worse. Wednesday, I came home for lunch and didn't wake up until almost seven. Here I am today, not any better and being forced to stay at home. Oh, and fending off everyone who thinks I need to go to the hospital. Ugh. Talk about feeling lazy as crap as well as a burden. Despite all of this, I still feel like I'm the luckiest girl alive. The fact that none of my family nor my main teacher won't leave me alone (they're trying to do everything for me) reminds me how great these folks are. :)
Alright, alright, I can see you retching from the amount of sweet that's in this so I'll shut up. I'll try to update sooner (probably next week sometime?) but, until then--
LOVES!
Cb.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Week Two? Double Check!
Hey all!
So week two (my official first week teaching!) has come and gone. :( But it was really fun! :D I suppose I'll start at the beginning...
On Monday, Bonnie and I got sent with a huge group of high school students to a chinchilla reserve. It was, by Chilean standards*, a fairly decent trip. We got a lot of sun time in, ate some decent food, got gawked at, walked around a little, and got some cute pictures of chinchillas in. :) The only bad thing was that I didn't get a chance to go and see the one class that I haven't seen yet (Chuchini). Apparently they actually wore their uniforms correctly and were extremely disappointed that I wasn't there. Super :*(.
Tuesday was a little better as I actually got in front of a classroom for the first time. The kids in Tahuinco crack me up simply because they're super duper touchy. They don't give me an opportunity to say no as they're always holding my hands, playing with my hair, and/or escorting me around the tiny school. The three classes that I worked with (7th, 8th, and 6th graders) all seemed to have a decent time. The exception was, of course, the kid in 8th grade whose phone I took away. He was still pretty grumpy with me on Wednesday but he'll either get over it or he won't. Oh! And the 6th grade girls have requested that I sing them an American song...? They want something from High School Musical or the Jonas Brothers but I'm pretty sure I'm going to sing them Thrice or Queen. I'm not sure which one, but it'll be one of them. :)
My Tuesday at Cumbres rocked! The 5th graders there are angels and, despite the fact that some of them were on losing teams, they all seemed to have fun and learn. :) I'm going to try some games that require a little more speaking interaction on their behalves, but everything seems like it'll work well there. :)
Wednesday was...interesting. I had 7th and 8th graders again in Tahuinco and everything went how it was supposed to. :) Fifth grade was where it got ugly. It's not that the kids are bad--it's not that at all! They've never had any sort of structure before and they're a rowdy bunch. All of them want to talk all at the same time which means that getting answers is both too easy and extremely difficult. Once I laid down some rules, they seemed to work pretty well, especially since I introduced cool stickers. I don't understand what it is about stickers and kids but I've found that I don't care. If it works, I'm a happy fat kid. :)
Thursday and Friday were, by far, my favorite days of the week. I taught 5th-8th grades in Chalinga, which rocked. :) The kids here were SUPER willing to take part in everything, including my stupid name tags (because I have ten distinct classes, I need some way to tell them all apart!). After having taught all of them once, I have a very good idea about what I need to be doing to make sure that a) everyone participates and b) everyone participates in English. The only major problem I had was with the 7th graders. In both of my sections, I ended sending one person into the hall. As I explained to them after class, if they want to have fun and be a part of class, then they have to act like a student, not a hooligan. Aside from those hiccups, everything went really well. :)
The fact that the whole teaching thing is going well makes me extremely relieved. I was never sure that I'd be able to teach but to see that I'm doing it on a little kid level is something else entirely. :) One happy fat kid. :D
In the early afternoon on Saturday (because that's honestly the only time anyone does anything around here), we all went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch (i.e. food coma). I took quite a few pictures and had some funny discussions about my "weird" views on love. Super lolz. :)
After lunch, Bonnie and I had our (what I'm sure will become a tradition) weekly vent/walk around session. We've both decided that it's impossible to get lost in Salamanca; this is something that freaks Bonnie out as it's never happened to her before. She's from Chicago, so the size of Salamanca (and corresponding lack of things to do) is proving to be difficult for her. I told her that she'll get used to it but neither of us really thinks that she will.
Today was my birthday and it was one of the best I've had in awhile. I woke up pretty early and worked on my lesson plans for awhile. Apparently, the fencebell rang but, since I had my IPod in, I didn't hear it. Around 8, Maite, my sister, woke up and decided that I should be up too. I helped her find the music that we had put on her phone and she was off. :) At about 11 or so, the rest of my family got up and brought me my birthday present: my very first grown-up, girly purse! I'm in love! I squealed and gave everyone hugs and was so happy I could hardly stand it. I took pictures of it and then started to transfer everything (all, like, five objects). :D After that, my family started in with the food--which included a trip to the only Chinese place in town, a huge amount of ice cream, and a ton of sweets. Finally, I talked to my family (Mom, Jay, and Daddy) through Skype--MUCH cheaper than with my cell!
All in all, it was a very good week, if slightly uneventful. :)
Loves to you all! :)
Cb.
P.S. If you haven't been to my Facebook page and checked out my awesome pictures, let me know. Or just stop being lazy and get on it. ;)
*Chilean standards include: not having enough vehicles which means absurd amounts of standing around either a)wondering how in the world this government functions or b) complaining about how much standing around is actually going on.
So week two (my official first week teaching!) has come and gone. :( But it was really fun! :D I suppose I'll start at the beginning...
On Monday, Bonnie and I got sent with a huge group of high school students to a chinchilla reserve. It was, by Chilean standards*, a fairly decent trip. We got a lot of sun time in, ate some decent food, got gawked at, walked around a little, and got some cute pictures of chinchillas in. :) The only bad thing was that I didn't get a chance to go and see the one class that I haven't seen yet (Chuchini). Apparently they actually wore their uniforms correctly and were extremely disappointed that I wasn't there. Super :*(.
Tuesday was a little better as I actually got in front of a classroom for the first time. The kids in Tahuinco crack me up simply because they're super duper touchy. They don't give me an opportunity to say no as they're always holding my hands, playing with my hair, and/or escorting me around the tiny school. The three classes that I worked with (7th, 8th, and 6th graders) all seemed to have a decent time. The exception was, of course, the kid in 8th grade whose phone I took away. He was still pretty grumpy with me on Wednesday but he'll either get over it or he won't. Oh! And the 6th grade girls have requested that I sing them an American song...? They want something from High School Musical or the Jonas Brothers but I'm pretty sure I'm going to sing them Thrice or Queen. I'm not sure which one, but it'll be one of them. :)
My Tuesday at Cumbres rocked! The 5th graders there are angels and, despite the fact that some of them were on losing teams, they all seemed to have fun and learn. :) I'm going to try some games that require a little more speaking interaction on their behalves, but everything seems like it'll work well there. :)
Wednesday was...interesting. I had 7th and 8th graders again in Tahuinco and everything went how it was supposed to. :) Fifth grade was where it got ugly. It's not that the kids are bad--it's not that at all! They've never had any sort of structure before and they're a rowdy bunch. All of them want to talk all at the same time which means that getting answers is both too easy and extremely difficult. Once I laid down some rules, they seemed to work pretty well, especially since I introduced cool stickers. I don't understand what it is about stickers and kids but I've found that I don't care. If it works, I'm a happy fat kid. :)
Thursday and Friday were, by far, my favorite days of the week. I taught 5th-8th grades in Chalinga, which rocked. :) The kids here were SUPER willing to take part in everything, including my stupid name tags (because I have ten distinct classes, I need some way to tell them all apart!). After having taught all of them once, I have a very good idea about what I need to be doing to make sure that a) everyone participates and b) everyone participates in English. The only major problem I had was with the 7th graders. In both of my sections, I ended sending one person into the hall. As I explained to them after class, if they want to have fun and be a part of class, then they have to act like a student, not a hooligan. Aside from those hiccups, everything went really well. :)
The fact that the whole teaching thing is going well makes me extremely relieved. I was never sure that I'd be able to teach but to see that I'm doing it on a little kid level is something else entirely. :) One happy fat kid. :D
In the early afternoon on Saturday (because that's honestly the only time anyone does anything around here), we all went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house for lunch (i.e. food coma). I took quite a few pictures and had some funny discussions about my "weird" views on love. Super lolz. :)
After lunch, Bonnie and I had our (what I'm sure will become a tradition) weekly vent/walk around session. We've both decided that it's impossible to get lost in Salamanca; this is something that freaks Bonnie out as it's never happened to her before. She's from Chicago, so the size of Salamanca (and corresponding lack of things to do) is proving to be difficult for her. I told her that she'll get used to it but neither of us really thinks that she will.
Today was my birthday and it was one of the best I've had in awhile. I woke up pretty early and worked on my lesson plans for awhile. Apparently, the fencebell rang but, since I had my IPod in, I didn't hear it. Around 8, Maite, my sister, woke up and decided that I should be up too. I helped her find the music that we had put on her phone and she was off. :) At about 11 or so, the rest of my family got up and brought me my birthday present: my very first grown-up, girly purse! I'm in love! I squealed and gave everyone hugs and was so happy I could hardly stand it. I took pictures of it and then started to transfer everything (all, like, five objects). :D After that, my family started in with the food--which included a trip to the only Chinese place in town, a huge amount of ice cream, and a ton of sweets. Finally, I talked to my family (Mom, Jay, and Daddy) through Skype--MUCH cheaper than with my cell!
All in all, it was a very good week, if slightly uneventful. :)
Loves to you all! :)
Cb.
P.S. If you haven't been to my Facebook page and checked out my awesome pictures, let me know. Or just stop being lazy and get on it. ;)
*Chilean standards include: not having enough vehicles which means absurd amounts of standing around either a)wondering how in the world this government functions or b) complaining about how much standing around is actually going on.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
First Week Done? Check!
Hey all!
So my first week here in Salamanca is officially over! :( It was a whirlwind (this is, honestly, the first time that I've truly sat down since arriving on Monday), but I've loved it. :D I suppose I should start at the beginning, especially for those of you who don't/can't read the Spanish blog (carainternacional.blogspot.com [shameless self plug!]).
A little bit of background on what I'll be doing here/where here is:
I'm in Salamanca, Chile. It's a town of about 25K people but it feels no bigger than Guernsey, which is probably because there are absolutely no buildings that have more than two floors. Super odd. Anyway - I'll be teaching 10 different classes of students during the four months that I'm here. The 10 classes are made up of students from the 5th-8th grades (5-8 in two schools, 5/6 in one, and 5 in the other). Finally, I have a family with a mom (Maria Jose), dad (Carlos) and little sister (Maite) along with three dogs (Bruno, Perla, and Upa) and a woman who helps around the house (Carolina, who is a riot). :) Still with me? Good. Let's start:
Bonnie and I arrived on Monday around lunch time (1:PM). We thought we were going to be together but we both got whisked off by our respective families/teachers. I got taken to lunch at what I found out is a restaurant/hotel owned by my family. (Later, I came to find out that my parents [and, in some cases, parts of their families] own nearly everything in/around Salamanca. Seriously.) After a hugely filling lunch, I was off to one of the four schools (yes, that's right, four) that I'll be teaching at. I got to meet all of the teachers, students, and staff (WAY TOO MANY NAMES) and helped Yocelyn with the 5th graders. :D After school got done, I sat through a teacher's meeting at this school, which was hilarious to say the least. Unlike in the US, the agenda means nothing. Sure, the conversation occasionally strayed to what was written on the board, but most of the time, it was just teachers/admin, exchanging stories about EVERYTHING. Literally everything. Massive lolz. :) Anyway, after school got let out, Maria Jose brought me home to drop my bag off and then we were off to the super (grocery store). She told me over and over how relieved she was that I spoke Spanish (she knows "hello" "how are you?" "yes/no" and "thank you") and continued to talk to me about everything and everyone. Oh, and I forgot to mention that they know EVERYONE in Salamanca. This meant that our shopping trip was actually a "let's have everyone meet Cara" trip. So much hugging and so many kisses! After our adventure at the store we got home just in time to have dinner (roughly 7:PM). Maria Jose, Carlos, and I sat at the table talking until around 11. Then, I finally got to unpack (and may I say, not living out of a suitcase rocks SHIT) and then hit the hay. And that was just Day One, folks.
Tuesday and Wednesday I was with a new teacher (Debora) in a new school (Tahuinco). It's a ten minute commute through a crazy beautiful part of this tiny valley. When we got there on Tuesday, I felt like a zoo animal; everyone stared. Then, after a few seconds, they all came up for hugs and kisses (the normal "hi how are ya" here) and then the questions started. "Who are you?" "What's your name?" "How do you say 'snow' in English?" Lord. But it was adorable and I loved it. Every. Freakin'. Second. :D At 8:AM, we started classes (7th graders). Next, I was supposed to watch an 8th grade class, but the principal decided that the kids needed to have a ping pong tournament instead. For the next hour or so, we all sat outside, drank tea, ate cookies, and watched kids play ping pong. :) Finally, I ended Tuesday with 6th graders, who were adorable and SO excited! Wednesday was pretty similar except that I was able to meet/watch the 8th graders (all six of them) and I ended the day with extremely hyper-active, noisy 5th graders. :)
Thursday and Friday I was back with Yocelyn in a new school (Chalinga). These kids are all so freakin' adorable it makes me sick. As soon as we walked in the door, they all wanted hugs and kisses and answers. Then, they took all of our stuff and carried it to the room, putting it all away at the front like pros. It was like having concierge service only creepier (the whole having people do stuff for me creeps me out. I guess I'm too independent or something...). Much like everywhere else, these kids were extremely excited (if a little nervous) to have me there. On Friday we had our English Network meeting (basically, an excuse for food and talking) where I got to see Bonnie. :) She was sick, but it was good to see her!! :D We're going to go walking around after I get lunch today (yay!!). :)
Anyway, I think that's about it. I've gotta go have empanadas now. :D
LOVES!!
Cb.
P.S. I promise I'll post pictures soon! If I don't, you can either beat me, or check them out on Facebook. Chao! :D
So my first week here in Salamanca is officially over! :( It was a whirlwind (this is, honestly, the first time that I've truly sat down since arriving on Monday), but I've loved it. :D I suppose I should start at the beginning, especially for those of you who don't/can't read the Spanish blog (carainternacional.blogspot.com [shameless self plug!]).
A little bit of background on what I'll be doing here/where here is:
I'm in Salamanca, Chile. It's a town of about 25K people but it feels no bigger than Guernsey, which is probably because there are absolutely no buildings that have more than two floors. Super odd. Anyway - I'll be teaching 10 different classes of students during the four months that I'm here. The 10 classes are made up of students from the 5th-8th grades (5-8 in two schools, 5/6 in one, and 5 in the other). Finally, I have a family with a mom (Maria Jose), dad (Carlos) and little sister (Maite) along with three dogs (Bruno, Perla, and Upa) and a woman who helps around the house (Carolina, who is a riot). :) Still with me? Good. Let's start:
Bonnie and I arrived on Monday around lunch time (1:PM). We thought we were going to be together but we both got whisked off by our respective families/teachers. I got taken to lunch at what I found out is a restaurant/hotel owned by my family. (Later, I came to find out that my parents [and, in some cases, parts of their families] own nearly everything in/around Salamanca. Seriously.) After a hugely filling lunch, I was off to one of the four schools (yes, that's right, four) that I'll be teaching at. I got to meet all of the teachers, students, and staff (WAY TOO MANY NAMES) and helped Yocelyn with the 5th graders. :D After school got done, I sat through a teacher's meeting at this school, which was hilarious to say the least. Unlike in the US, the agenda means nothing. Sure, the conversation occasionally strayed to what was written on the board, but most of the time, it was just teachers/admin, exchanging stories about EVERYTHING. Literally everything. Massive lolz. :) Anyway, after school got let out, Maria Jose brought me home to drop my bag off and then we were off to the super (grocery store). She told me over and over how relieved she was that I spoke Spanish (she knows "hello" "how are you?" "yes/no" and "thank you") and continued to talk to me about everything and everyone. Oh, and I forgot to mention that they know EVERYONE in Salamanca. This meant that our shopping trip was actually a "let's have everyone meet Cara" trip. So much hugging and so many kisses! After our adventure at the store we got home just in time to have dinner (roughly 7:PM). Maria Jose, Carlos, and I sat at the table talking until around 11. Then, I finally got to unpack (and may I say, not living out of a suitcase rocks SHIT) and then hit the hay. And that was just Day One, folks.
Tuesday and Wednesday I was with a new teacher (Debora) in a new school (Tahuinco). It's a ten minute commute through a crazy beautiful part of this tiny valley. When we got there on Tuesday, I felt like a zoo animal; everyone stared. Then, after a few seconds, they all came up for hugs and kisses (the normal "hi how are ya" here) and then the questions started. "Who are you?" "What's your name?" "How do you say 'snow' in English?" Lord. But it was adorable and I loved it. Every. Freakin'. Second. :D At 8:AM, we started classes (7th graders). Next, I was supposed to watch an 8th grade class, but the principal decided that the kids needed to have a ping pong tournament instead. For the next hour or so, we all sat outside, drank tea, ate cookies, and watched kids play ping pong. :) Finally, I ended Tuesday with 6th graders, who were adorable and SO excited! Wednesday was pretty similar except that I was able to meet/watch the 8th graders (all six of them) and I ended the day with extremely hyper-active, noisy 5th graders. :)
Thursday and Friday I was back with Yocelyn in a new school (Chalinga). These kids are all so freakin' adorable it makes me sick. As soon as we walked in the door, they all wanted hugs and kisses and answers. Then, they took all of our stuff and carried it to the room, putting it all away at the front like pros. It was like having concierge service only creepier (the whole having people do stuff for me creeps me out. I guess I'm too independent or something...). Much like everywhere else, these kids were extremely excited (if a little nervous) to have me there. On Friday we had our English Network meeting (basically, an excuse for food and talking) where I got to see Bonnie. :) She was sick, but it was good to see her!! :D We're going to go walking around after I get lunch today (yay!!). :)
Anyway, I think that's about it. I've gotta go have empanadas now. :D
LOVES!!
Cb.
P.S. I promise I'll post pictures soon! If I don't, you can either beat me, or check them out on Facebook. Chao! :D
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