Updates

Classroom Observations: I have been assigned to the public high school here in town: Liceo Mariano Latorre. My first week was spent observing the English classes I would soon be teaching. It was an interesting experience. I’ve never felt like such a celebrity:
A couple students asked me if I knew Michael Jackson, wanted to know if I went to his funeral, and some even got up to demonstrate the Moon Walk. Each time I mentioned that I’m from California, I heard a chorus of ooh’s and ahh’s. Students in every class wanted to know if I have a boyfriend, am I on Facebook, and what’s my cell phone number – umm…yeah right! I get lots of kisses on the cheek, “besos,” from the students. This is a normal Chilean greeting, and it’s nice but when 40 students in a row stand in a line to kiss you as they walk out the door, it becomes a little exhausting - especially when it's only the first class of the day! Each morning as I approach the school, a few students open the window and yell “Hello Miss Tara” or “Good morning Miss Tara” from the second floor. I imagine their teachers don’t appreciate that. But by far the most ridiculous and amusing occurrence takes place almost daily: a student, and not one of mine, walks by my classroom and shouts with his Spanish accent “Miss Tara! My heart cries for you!”

First week of teaching: I actually started teaching last week. In total I have about 400+ students, mostly in their first or second year of high school. Basically, this is how it works: The primary teacher practices reading and writing exercises from the book with half the class, while I work on speaking and listening skills with the other half. After 45 minutes, we switch. I’m fortunate enough to have my own classroom, but it’s small and gets a little crowded. I’ve noticed that the students really struggle to speak in English, but I’m not at all surprised. It seems that the modus operandi has been to teach English by translating almost everything into Spanish. As a result, the students struggle to produce even the most basic phrases. There’s a lot of work to be done.

I’m using a lot of conversation games, classroom competitions, and prizes to encourage them to speak, and so far I can tell they’re having a lot of fun with it. I’ve also started teaching a “Slang of the day” to each class. This week was “What’s up?”/ “Not much.” All week long I’ve heard random students repeating it in the halls to each other. It makes me so happy to hear it catch on.

A little more about Curanilahue: Coal mining was once a major industry in Curanilahue and in the cities around it. The mines are no longer in operation but everything about this place seems deeply influenced by that industry. Just imagine a stereotypical small coal mining town in West Virginia you’re on the right track. Sometimes I feel like I’ve been thrown back to the 1950s living here. Cars and homes look older, fireplaces in every room, old stoves in the kitchens, and every now and then I'll see a horse and buggy go by or a local pulling a pile of wood in a cart. Overall the area is very beautiful: rolling hills, thick with fir trees surround the city. At the north end of town there’s a river that runs very close to my home and school. The town has a small "Centro" with a few shops and grocery stores but it's hard to find much beyond shoes, bread, avocados, soda and coffee. There's 1 Catholic church, 1 Mormon church, and dozens of various Protestant churches. Dogs rule the streets. They're everywhere, but for the most part they just keep to themselves and watch the people go by. Every Sunday there's a couple streets are filled with open markets. Seafood, fresh and fresh-ish produce, sausages, hats, umbrellas, socks, cotton candy, etc. It's a random collection of items for sale.

Chilean food: It’s great. Our house mother has a cleaning lady, Violeta, who makes the most amazing lunches (almuerzos, the primary meal of the day). Stews called cazuela, soups, bread and avocado are staples. You’d think that being in a Latin American country I’d be having something with more spice to it. Not so here in Chile. They’re a meat and potatoes people. At times, the flavor can be a bit bland but just add a little ají and the food is fantastic. Sopaipillas are another popular snack. Erin and I learned how to make them the other day. Doughnuts are the best thing to compare them to…a lighter, less sweet, Chilean doughnut…without the frosting. They’re quite delicious. I’m going to try to learn more recipes from Violeta while I’m here.

Getting out of the house: There’s a lot of down time, and I find myself looking for opportunities to get out of the house. Erin, Beto and I have also started to learn the Cueca, a traditional Chilean dance. It’s a lot of fun, a good laugh, and a great way to burn off all the bread we eat each day. I think our host mother, Gladys, told us that Chile is one of the world’s largest importers of bread. The same dinner rolls are served everyday for breakfast (desayuno) and onces (basically the meal at the end of the day, but it’s more like a evening snack) and usually accompanied by jam, honey, avocado, ham or cheese. A Chilean diet is not exactly the healthiest. As a result, Erin and I decided to take up running in the local soccer stadium. Strolling around town, visiting with the teachers from the school, or our host mother’s friends have occupied much of our spare time as well. I’m eager to make friends here but communication is difficult. My Spanish is really coming along though and conversations are slowly getting easier. It seems that I learn in chunks.

Ski Trip: Last weekend I went snow skiing in Termas de Chillán. In a word, the entire trip was awesome! Struggling to speak Spanish; almost missed the last bus a couple times; met some of the kindest Chileans who offered their help along the way; met some really interesting travelers; and skied some of the best snow I could have wished for. That’s not really saying much since I haven’t exactly skied in many spots in the U.S., but it really was incredible. I went with another volunteer who’s teaching in Los Angeles. With numerous bus stops, the trip was about 6 hours from my humble town of Curanilahue (if you drove it would probably only be 4 hours). There were moments of confusion with chaotic bus schedules and stations, plus the language barrier, but I managed. When we arrived in the town just below the mountain, it was pouring rain. We were concerned that it would be raining on the slopes, but when we woke up Saturday morning there was snow everywhere and the flakes were still falling. Still a little concerned about visibility on the mountain, we arrived at the base and prepared to make our way to the lift. The snow continued to fall until about 10:00. The sun came out, the clouds cleared, and an awesome day of skiing in the stunning Andes began. I spent Saturday night in Chillán and got the chance to do a little sight seeing there as well.
Aside from a great time skiing, the trip was also a testament to the kindness and generosity of the Chilean people. No matter where I’ve gone, I constantly witness them offering their help. There’s no doubt that when you travel, you meet some interesting people. But in few other countries have I seen people so ready and willing to assist. It’s given me a different perspective as to how cold we can sometimes be to others and also reminded me of the importance of lending a helping hand when you see the opportunity.

Quixote – the local pub: I almost forgot! A couple weekends ago we went with some new Curanilahuean friends to the pub. Inside was a blonde Chilean (quite rare) dressed in khaki work pants, a dress shirt, and tennis shoes singing karaoke and rocking out on tables and chairs with his electric guitar all night long…seriously! It was sort of entertaining but also one of the cheesiest displays of live entertainment I have ever seen. When the three of us gringos walked in, he started singing a few English songs. His attire, electric guitar, rock n' roll wannabe attitude and strong Spanish accent made this quite comical. He then proceeded to put the microphone in our faces, asking where we were from. As soon as he heard California, he started playing about 5 different Beach Boys songs, followed by John Denver, CCR and the Eagles’ Hotel California. I don’t think he really knew the words to any of these songs, or what they meant for that matter, and would periodically shout “Yeah California!!!” in the middle of a song pointing to our table. Everyone in the bar would start clapping. It was hilarious, a little embarrassing, and utterly ridiculous.

Santiago to Curanilahue

Orienting: The first three weeks of my time in Chile was a whirlwind of orientation – both in terms of training and exploring in Santiago. The training began right away with our sessions with WorldTeach. The quality of these sessions and our two instructors was outstanding. They’re both young, energetic and have previous experience teaching English in Chile. They provided an abundance of information and advice. We were fortunate enough to review videos of current volunteers and get an inside look at what our classrooms would be like and what to expect from the students, which proved to be a tremendous help as I mentally prepared for the task ahead. I’m feeling much more confident about teaching than I did before. Upon the conclusion of our training with WorldTeach, we dove right into the next round with the Chilean Ministry of Education, joining about 100 other Ministry volunteers assigned to teach in cities throughout the country. At that point, all of us were still anxiously waiting to hear where our placements would be, who we would be living with, and what grade level we would be teaching. It seemed as though so much was still unknown.

In our spare time, we got better acquainted with Santiago. I had a chance to explore Barrio Brasil, Bellavista, Santiago Centro, and a bit of Estación Central. We went on a Human Rights tour detailing the atrocities committed under Pinochet, visited Cerro Santa Lucia, explored the open markets, climbed Cerro San Cristóbal, went to a soccer game (quite an interesting experience to say the least), and visited a couple museums and churches. Due to the dense smog, there’s the occasional chance to catch glimpse of the snowcapped Andes. But when visible, they’re so close it’s breathtaking. For the most part, the people are very warm and easy to approach; however, most don’t speak much English. Crime is an issue in the city. Some volunteers had the misfortune of coming face to face with that reality, myself included, and for that reason, I think my impressions of Santiago are a little jaded. There’s a lot I could say about the city, both good and bad, but I haven’t been able to form a solid opinion on it. Perhaps when I return in November, things will be a little clearer.

A few words on the WorldTeach volunteer group: We're a group of 22 from all over the U.S. About half are recent graduates and the rest are in their early or mid careers. We represent many different fields of expertise: teaching, accounting, and law to name a few. Our levels of Spanish also vary. Not surprisingly, the majority of us are women. There are only 5 guys and they’ve aptly dubbed themselves “The Fab Five”. The camaraderie they’ve formed has become quite comical. Collectively, we’ve all become very close in such a short amount of time. I find myself inspired by their senses of humor, life stories, and commitment to our task here in Chile. I’m honored to know and volunteer with this group.

The importance of being “Liquid”: We finally received word of our placements two days prior to our scheduled departure, and it was quite a surprise. Originally, the plan was that the WorldTeach group would be sent to one of five cities in the Bío Bío region – Los Angeles, Chillán, Lebu or Laja. Instead, we were spread out all over Bío Bío with few volunteers in any of those five cities. I was bound for Curanilahue, a town I’d never heard of before with a population of about 30,000 and with two other members of our group (Erin and Heriberto). Now to digress for just a moment, “Liquid” is a term we learned during the WorldTeach orientation. We had the opportunity to have a Q&A session with a few current WorldTeach volunteers who started teaching back in March. One of them offered some very good advice: “Just be liquid!” In other words, be flexible; expect the unexpected; plan that things won’t go as planned; don’t sweat the small stuff; and learn to adjust to changes on a dime. The delay and then the surprise of our unanticipated destinations was the first of many “Liquid” moments. Proving that we had embraced this concept, we were all quite content with this change of events. We didn’t really know what to expect in the first place and were just glad to finally know where we were going. After a farewell celebration which involved bars and nightclubs in Bellavista, we left early Saturday morning, August 1st for Concepción.

It all starts here: Concepción – chaos, confusion, calamity. Ok, it definitely wasn’t that bad. But upon arrival and the bus station, things definitely went awry and the importance of liquidity resurfaced. As we stepped off the bus, our Ministry regional directors were there to greet us and commenced the ensuing madness. About half of us were informed that they were now being sent to a different city altogether. There was one person whose name didn’t even appear on the list and the directors weren’t sure where she was supposed to go. The rest of us were scurried out of the terminal and were met by host families or co-teachers from our assigned schools. Fortunately, I was not among those who were changing locations. However, I was informed that I was going to be sharing a host family with the two other volunteers also going to Curanilahue – Erin and Heriberto. Now, the Ministry was supposed to be responsible for finding each volunteer their own host family; this allows the opportunity for the volunteer to have an immersion experience, improve their Spanish, and get integrated into the community. Placing three American, English-speaking, volunteers under one roof was definitely unexpected and less than ideal. The same situation occurred with many other volunteers. Initially, we weren’t pleased but decided to go with the flow and make the best of the situation.

I think there are many ways to have an incredible experience here in Chile. It would be harder to accomplish that if I wasted energy trying to fight every obstacle. My purpose for taking on this adventure was to challenge myself; to help others and perhaps understand a different way of seeing things. It doesn’t matter if I’m in Curanilahue, Santiago, or Los Angeles; it doesn’t matter if my living situation isn’t quite what I expected. An adventure is a matter of taking what life throws at you and deciding what to make of it. I’m going to give this my best shot.