Most of my week consists of your average daily activities: Wake up. Go to work. Ask students to please "Sit down", "Use nicer words", and "Put your cell phone away." Buy food. Prepare food. Eat food. Wash dishes. Hang with friends. Pay bills. Watch a movie. Read a book. Click the little blue Facebook thumb. Walk with dogs. Pick-up dog doo-doo. Cuddle with dogs. Do laundry. Sleep. However, sometimes there are some shining and exciting moments such as: Camping in the mountains. Going to the ocean for a day. Getting up close and personal with penguins. Surprise mail from the states hanging in my tree or laying in a corner half-eaten by my puppy. Getting the 'family rate' on wine and a private tasting even after showing up after-hours. Friends and family coming to visit. Picking up hitchhikers. (Wait...Mom, have I told you about that yet?) Well, this blog entry, unfortunately for you, is neither shining nor exciting...but it does give you a few little tidbits to answer the classic question "What's going on in your life?" #disappointedbutwarmChimney sweeps do NOT perform choreographed routines on neighborhood rooftops. I shouldn't be too surprised though...it isn't the first time a musical deceived me about the realities of life. Despite the obvious disappointment, he did a wonderful job and now I am enjoying a nice toasty house on chilly fall evenings. Speaking of fall...here is what it is looking like near Linares these days. #icantreadthatWhat exciting things have I done in my free time recently? Practice my Chilean penmanship. While the Spanish and English alphabets are nearly the same, neither good ol' Zaner-Bloser nor D' Nealian cursive do much good when working with young students... At fist I assumed I could avoid any misunderstanding by just printing my letters...but my third graders quickly helped me realize that was a very wrong assumption to have made! One can only hear "Miss, what letter is that?" a few hundred times before going crazy. After the second class of the year, one of the third grade teachers suggested that I write in cursive because here in Chile they start learning cursive right away in first grade. Ok, no problem! Then, about two days later, I realized that my cursive was also causing problems...yeah, one of those "Michelle Tanner Moments." Another teacher gave me a copy of the handwriting chart and I started practicing! Look especially at the upper case "i", because that's how I used to make my upper case"t"...talk about confusing. The capital "g" and "t" have been the hardest for me to get used to...but hopefully it will soon be second nature! At first I found the lower case "p" a bit annoying, but it certainly has grown on me and now I am rather fond of not closing it off. Once while I was practicing another teacher saw me and gave me an extra copy he had of a handwriting book. #awesome #itsthelittlethings #iwantallofthebooks #patienceisavirtueAnd last, but certainly not least...this is what the taxi line looks like when you go grocery shopping late on Saturday morning...
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This week while at lunch with a fellow teacher she told me that she thought I was very valiente {vah-lee-en-tay} brave. Brave for moving to a country that was not my own. Brave for moving far from my family. Brave for living alone. Brave for living every day in a second language. I smiled and thanked for the compliment, but then I also had to kindly tell her that I didn't really agree with her. I don't feel all that brave, especially after reading the definition above. When, during my move here, have I endured danger or pain? Did it really frighten me to move here? I of course can understand why my colleague found these actions to be brave: here in Chile it is common for multiple generations of families to live together in one house, and if they do leave home, they don't go too far. I have had lots of practice discussing this very issue with many concerned Chileans and I passionately believe every word when I tell them: "I am not defined by a nationality nor confined by borders. For me, the thought of moving to another country is equal to that of moving to another state or city: new job, new cultures, new friends. I had the privilege to attend a wonderful university, but it was away from my family. I had the privilege of a wonderful teaching job right out of college, but it was even further away from my family. Skype, long car rides, and plane rides are a reality...how blessed to be living in a time with such technology! But most of all I know that God is constantly with me, providing me with more than what I need and blessing me with new friends and family. Sure, sometimes it is rough and sometimes I long to be home, but the life I am living here every day is important too." I recognize that some people find these actions to be courageous and I am very flattered that someone might choose to bestow such a lovely adjective upon me...but from my point of view I just don't see it. So, that got me thinking...the common usage of the word "brave" is rather subjective. When we see someone fighting through or doing something that would be difficult or fearful for us personally, we declare them brave and courageous. So, according to this definition, here are just a few people I personally declare to be brave: *People who serve in the armed forces, putting their own life on the line. *A surgeon who holds someone's life in their hands. *Parents...who hold someone's life and the future of our world in their hands. *Pilots who lands a 75,000 lb airplane that is traveling around 200 mph. ( But seriously, how do airplanes even work again...? #mindblown) (Feel free to leave a comment below celebrating who you define as brave!) And of course, the best part of all is God's grace. His grace is the reason I don't have to be afraid. His undeserved love for me gives me the strength that I need to be confident each day of my life, no matter where I am. Grace changes everything.
School has been in session for about a month now. This year I am blessed to still be able to work as a teacher's assistant in the community of Longaví. Last semester I was working with the English teachers at the high school in town and this year I am working at the elementary school. The official name of the school is "Escuela Juan de la Cruz Dominguez Gonzalez". However the school is also fondly known as "La Unificada" which means "The Unified" because just a few decades ago the school was divided into a girls' school and a boys' school. The school hosts about 450 students from 1st grade--8th grade. Each level is divided into 2 classes "A" and "B", with each class having between 25-35 students. The English department is fortunate enough to have its own classroom available to work in! See that man there on the right? That is Jorge San Martin Villalobos. He is 62 years old, knows everything that there is to know about Longaví, likes a nap after lunch, and is THE kindest person in the ENTIRE world (I'm not even exaggerating). Oh, yeah, and I get to teach with him. #blessed Here is a quick tour of the English classroom: The textbooks we use: The English taught here in Chile is decidedly British. *giggles* The building is in a "W" shape and has 2 floors. Here are a few photos of the school & yard: Correcting. Wherever there is teaching, there will always be correcting to do. How would you feel if you got back a paper and it looked like this: You might feel pretty terrible...but here in Chile, those marks are cause for rejoicing! Every question is marked in some way whether it is correct or incorrect. To leave a test or paper blank is a great way to cause confusion for a Chilean student. Correct answers receive a check mark and incorrect answers an X. The grading system in Chile is numbered from 1,0 to 7,0 (not A B C D F). Anywhere from 6,0 to 6,9 is within the A range and a 4,0 is the lowest passing grade. If you're really curious, click HERE to see the equivalencies. My schedule this year allows me the time to work with students from 3rd-8th grades. There are some distinct changes going from working in a high school to an elementary school and both have their charms. For example, just walking past the younger grades I can't help but feel like a rock star: "¡Tía!" (Aunty!) "¡Miss Jennifer!" "Teacher!" "¡Miss, te quiero!" (I love you!) "Hello!" "¿Por qué es usted tan alta?" (Why are you so tall?) "¿Cuándo nos toca con usted?" (When do we have class?) All of this accompanied by hugs, kisses, high-fives, and 'secret' handshakes. Oh, and of course, love notes and drawings: They say pictures are worth a thousand words...and if that's true, well then congratulations because you just read over 24,000 words! Thank you for taking the time to get to know a bit more about the blessings of my life in the southern hemisphere and if you have any questions, just have your people call my people...or leave a comment below.
Ladies and Gentlemen...it is time for a competition!
Help me & my friend Carla think of some awesome names for our bikes! If we choose the name you suggest...you win ice cream! The competition ends Friday, March 11 @ 8:59pm CST (23:59 Chile). Click the button below to play! Don't let the title fool you. In this blog post I am NOT going to talk about this: ...nor this: ...and, sadly, not even this: ...because I feel it is about time to make you all aware of a wonderful smartphone app that I have come to love (and need here in Chile)... WhatsApp is a messaging app which allows you to exchange messages without having to pay for texts. WhatsApp uses the same internet data plan (or WiFi) that you use for email and web browsing, so there is no cost to staying in touch! In addition, you can create groups, send each other unlimited images, video and audio media messages. Maybe the "without having to pay for texts or minutes" doesn't grab your attention so fast because you are blessed with unlimited texts included in your plan. However, here in Chile, and many other countries as well, Whatsapp has become the most popular form of mobile phone communication because the world of "unlimited calls & texts" just isn't common... But my main point of this blog is that I feel that you could soon come to love this app too, because, well, it means WE can text/call, even from thousands of miles away! {fist pump} Did you know that...
For you visual and audio learners out there, here are some infographics and a video to sum it all up: If you're a smart phone user and you want to see whatsapp in my life, send me an email or Facebook message and I will share my Whatsapp number with you!
p.s. BTW FWIW,TTYL ADN IYKWIM LOL |
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