TreesYes, I put my Christmas tree up....on October 24th to be exact. Be a Scrooge if you must, but you will not squelch my Christmas joy! I now will have over 2 full months to enjoy the twinkling lights, romantic glow, and general Christmas cheer. TripsThe last weekend in October included a two-day extension of fun because both Monday and Tuesday were national holidays in Chile! (Oct. 31: Evangelical Church Day / Nov. 1: All Saints Day) The weekend quickly got packed with fun activities! Check them out here: 1) Mountain School Visit Tucked away up in the mountains way beyond the city of Longaví is a place called Loma de Vásquez {lo-ma-day-vahz-kez}. Along the dirt road you will find a small school for the children who live "nearby". There are 11 students from 1st to 6th grade who will greet you with warm smiles and send you off with hugs and a smile. Something that makes this primary school special is that because most of them live too far to travel every day, there is a dormitory where they stay during the week. We were honored to be received there as guests...and I am considering putting in my application! ;-) You can see more pictures and read more about our visit on Jon & Elise's blog post HERE...and as you may have guessed, Jon made a video about the trip and it is posted below. Enjoy! 2) Beach For Saturday, some church members organized a bus to take a trip to the beach! We had a great group and I had lots of fun flying my kite, building sand castles, relaxing, and having great conversations! 3) To the mountains again! Monday a group of 13 friends (and friends of friends) got together to explore the beauty of the Andes. Our destinations included: a border crossing with Argentina, Laguna del Maule, and the Inverted Waterfall. (And we saw another amazing bonus waterfall on our way to the inverted!) Yes, you read that correctly...an inverted waterfall! The wind that blows is so strong that it pushes the water right back up, producing a really cool effect! Another name for the waterfall is "Rainbow Falls"...but unfortunately it was too cloudy, so I guess we'll have to go back another day! HERE is a link to lots more fun pictures! TortillaWhen you ask for a tortilla in Chile, you will NOT get either of these: In Chile, the word tortilla is used for a delicious bread that is popular especially during the cold winter months. This dense bread's full name is Tortilla al rescoldo {tor-tee-ah-all-race-cold-oh} and it is traditionally baked in ashes. For those of you visual learners, here is a neat 2-minute video showing the whole process! (If you're feeling short on time or patience, fast-forward to about 1:30!) But, now to the REAL reason that I want to tell you about tortilla: This cute little guy showed up on the streets of our neighborhood a few weeks ago. I decided to name him Tortilla both because I love the food and he kind of has that coloring. Tortilla follows us to the park nearly every day and plays with Choripan. He is a sweet doggie, is always smiling, and loves to chase Choripan around. The other day he waited at the bus stop with me and sometimes he accompanies me when I walk downtown. It makes me so sad to think that someone tossed him out of their house but thankfully someone in the neighborhood puts food and water out for him every day. Does anybody want to come to Chile and adopt him? TeethI had been having a metallic-ish taste in my mouth for about a week, so this past Thursday I went in to the dentist to get it checked out. I found out that part of one of my wisdom teeth was infected and basically falling apart. The lovely Dr. Sandra asked if I wanted her to take it out right away and so I said "Sure, why not?" Neither of us realized that it would take an hour and a half and a large stack of nearly every tool in her office to accomplish the task. The tooth was so far back and only half there that it was hard for her to grab onto. We bonded over the pain, tears, sweat, blood, saliva, and laughter and now I feel like we are pretty much besties for life.
But aside from making a new friend, do you wanna know what the best part is? It only cost 40,000 Chilean Pesos = $60 USD (and without going through any insurance)! I would leave a picture of the event here...but since I am trying to keep the blog child-friendly, here's a picture of a happy tooth:
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It only seemed right that my first "Meet & Greet" post is dedicated to one of the nicest people I have ever met and someone that I see nearly every day. StatsName: Jorge Enrique San Martin Villalobos Born: 15th of December, 1953 Married to: Lidia Children: Marcia & Cynthia Grandchildren: Maxmiliano Pets: Bruno (dog) & Rayita (cat) Occupation
FavoritesFood: asado, pantrucas, pescado (grilling out, dumplings, fish) Drink: navegado, ponche heladito (mulled wine, a nice cold punch) Favorite word in English: seven, because it is perfect Interests/Free TimeSome of Jorge's favorite activities include:
Extra TidbitsSome of that time spent in conversation with friends is collecting stories, pictures, and artifacts from the past, especially that of their beloved town of Longaví...they have even written a book! Every year, for the past 9 years, Jorge and his friends have put together una tertulia {oo-na-ter-too-lee-ah}, an evening where people share these stories, pictures, and artifacts with others in the community. This year I was honored to help Jorge prepare some things for the evening and he gave me permission to share some of the old pictures with all of you! Enjoy! I think I have finally recovered. There was food. So. Much. Food. For many days. Wednesday through Monday. I'm tired all over again just thinking about it all. Here are a few highlights: Wednesday, September 14thWednesday was a big day for our school. The students put together a presentation that represented Chile's history and key cultural icons and also featured dances from different regions of the country. Afterwards everyone got together as the families, students, and school staff shared typical food. Children kept bringing me food. I ate 10 different things. Then the staff had our own little celebration afterwards...with, you guessed it, more food. Thursday, September 15thThursday was Longaví's parade and our school was proud to march. Since the parade was not until 4:30pm, everyone came to school after lunch, around 2:30. You may be wondering what marching in the parade exactly entails? I think one student summed it up the best like this: "We wait for 2 hours and then walk for 2 minutes." Saturday, September 17thOn Saturday I went with Jon & Elise out to el campo {el cahm-po} [the countryside] to share in the festivities of the lovely family of Maria Rosa & Gustavo. What did I learn this weekend? I actually really enjoy oysters and mussels. Especially raw with lemon. #surprised #wow #delish Check out this video that Jon made of our day, including a trip to a beautiful nearby river! Also make sure to check out their blog post for some great pictures from the weekend! Sunday, September 18thSunday we went back to Maria Rosa & Gustavo's house where there was lots more food, family, fun, and cueca! Check out this video summary of another great day! Check out other celebration week related videos Jon has done about Chile's National Dance "The Cueca" and Fiestas Patrias celebrations at his rural Chilean school (which includes dances from all over Chile). You have probably realized by now that you should be subscribing to Jon's vlog on YouTube! Subscribing to his vlog will also bring you great benefits such as: news, joy, happiness, tidbits about our lives in Chile, and random appearances by yours truly. Coming soon to a blog near you...Stay tuned for another update coming to you very soon about an AMAZING hike we took last Saturday. Here's a teaser: Also coming soon, the first installment in a section I'm going to call "Meet & Greet" where I will introduce you to special people in my life here in Chile! Mystery Guest #1 is...a secret.
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.
A few weeks ago our entire school had a “muestra” in the plaza. Each subject area showed off work done by the students relating to their studies. For part of the English department's area, I taught a class two children’s songs and showed the videos: “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” & “Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes”. If you read my previous post about school, you may remember that “3D” {pronounced in Spanish: ter-ser-oh-day} is a “párvula” class that is studying specifically to be nursery school workers, so children’s songs were something fun and interesting for them to sing! They also shared with me a few typical children’s songs so that I could share them with you! Warning: Only watch these videos if you are ready for uber cuteness. Araña Arañita
Al son del cocodrilo
Yo tengo una casita
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