Host family

So in addition to going to the waterfall with other volunteers this weekend, I also joined my host family for an aunt's bday and lamb at their grandparent's house.  Lots of delicious food!  I made an effort to take more pictures of it but realized that all my photos are more of food in the preparation stage rather than the at-the-table stage.  But that's more interesting anyway, right??  


 Ok we'll jump right in with the lamb.  I'd never had it before!  This was for a 7-person meal, and it was pretty tasty.  Apparently you have to turn it over the coals like this for a full hour, but it comes out really flavorful.  I have come full circle from my 2-something vegetarian years, but it was delicious! 

my host dad taking over lamb-roasting duty from his mom

 Then, turns out that the host grandparents have a little garden where they grow all kinds of stuff, including these picture-perfect grapes.  We ate them off the vine and took some for home and oh my god they were so good. LOOK AT THEM. 

Franco and Francisca laughing at me being so excited about the grapes

AND. Have you ever seen an avocado tree?  It had never occurred to me to even think about how avocados grow, but now I know!  

Also figs. I'd never eaten a fig but I tried one off the tree.  Not bad! 

Then the best part: my family makes homemade gnocchi and they served it up yesterday.  Oh my goddddddd so yummyyyyyyyyy

I lucked out!  Love the food and love them!  : ) 

Los Saltos del Laja

Did another Saturday excursion this week, to a waterfall a little north of here.  We had to take a bus to the bigger city nearby, Los Angeles (where we had time to kill so wandered around a bit), and then another bus to the falls.  But it was worth it!  We made friends with an awesome German backpacker and went on a motor boat tour of the river, which was gorgeous.  A very fun day, even if we were completely exhausted from having been up till 5am the night before singing karaoke with the family of one of the volunteers here (no regrets, it was fantastic). 

So first, in Los Angeles we walked through the market and saw piles and piles of the biggest, most beautiful and perfect-looking produce I've ever seen: 

Then we made it to Saltos del Laja, which usually has more water than this but was still beautiful

And we met/befriended this awesome German kid.  Here I am with Nadeem and Caroline (two other volunteers) and Mauritz, the wise-beyond-his-years German

let's just pretend that at least one of us is looking at the camera

And then the sun started to come out and it got even more beautiful! 

Decided to do a boat tour, which was cool

  

living. the. dream.

Then we bid adieu to our new friend (I know that's French) and, back in Los Angeles, killed some time by stopping into a pet shop.  Where they sold chickens (Emma Cudahy, I wish you had been there).  Here, this fine lady is selecting which chicken she would like to purchase...

yep, this one looks good apparently

We were really confused about Chileans keeping chickens as pets, but later my host family explained that the chickens are just for raising (and killing and eating) and this must just have been a store where they sold pets and also animals for eating.  Seems like there might be some gray area there...

oh look! it's my nightmare! 

Ja. 'Twas a good day!

students!

They are fantastic. 

General overview first. In Chile the students have their own room and the teachers rotate, so my co-teacher and I go to a different room every period. But I have my own classroom for when we split the classes, so that I can create my special English-only environment : ) (this was a requirement for schools to receive volunteers from my program, although I am lucky that it is actually the case at my school! other volunteers don't have their own rooms).  Also, here school is divided into ensenanza basica (grades 1-8) and ensenanza media (high school, but starting over again with grades 1-4).  So freshmen = primeros (1st) medios, sophomores = segundos (2nd) medios, and so on.  I am primarily working with the medios, but where there are gaps in the schedule I am going to some 7th & 8th grade classes as well.

Now, for MY students. I am currently working on memorizing their names, so at the end of every split class I take a picture of each student with their name.  But there are so many, and it's so hard! Why? They're all wearing uniforms, the girls all grow their hair long and wear it down, and half of them have the same name!  In every class (I mean every split class, so about 20 students) there is guaranteed to be at least one Catalina, Carolina, Valentina, or Sebastian, and there is very likely to be at least one Javiera, Diego, Daniela, Matias, and Camila.  I have my work cut out for me.  

But they're incredibly sweet!  The first time I introduced myself to the classes (before I was giving my own lessons) I just opened it up for any questions they had for me, and my goodness did some of them have questions.  The younger classes (7th and 8th grade) especially.  Some examples:  Do you like anime? Do you have a boyfriend? What is your grandfather's name? What is your favorite song? Have you ever won any prizes? Do you like horses? monkeys? What's your favorite food? [CAKE], Do you like Chile?  Do you play sports? What do you think of Angol? and on and on.  Can't say that this many people have so eagerly wanted to know every little detail of my life before!  Yesterday I told a class that my favorite fruit was the pear, and today I found a pear waiting for me on my stack of things in the teachers' room : ) 

So, long story short, I love them.  Incredibly excited for lessons with them every week! 

the daily grind

Ok, now that I've settled into my routine more or less, I thought I might give you a peek into my day! 

7:10-20- wake up, think to myself "oh my god it's so cold," start to get ready for my day

7:35-45- finally make it downstairs where everyone else has been eating breakfast for 10 minutes, gulp down some tea and nom on some bread/crackers and cheese (or marmalade)

7:50- pile into the car and head for school! my host mom drives us since my host siblings and I are all going to the same place

8:00- waltz into the teacher's room, say my "hola"s, gather my stuff and head with my co-teacher to our first class (which technically starts at 8 but really more like 8:05). 

9:30 - leave first class, head to teacher's room for second breakfast. That's right, I said second breakfast.  Bread and whatever cheese, meat, or spread is on tap for the day, with tea.  And the teachers all sit together and gossip about teacher things and I try (but usually fail) to follow along

another class, another class.  My co-teacher and I do the first 45 minutes of class together and then split the students in half for the remaining 45 minutes-- or split first then re-group, depending on the day and the class level, because freshmen and sophomores have 4 hrs of English a week but juniors and seniors only 3. 

1:00 - lunchtime!  It's an hour long, so most of the teachers leave to go back home (and many students do too). I wouldn't have time to go home and back, so on days when I am at school all day I have to bring lunch. 

another class, another class. There are 15-min breaks between classes, and all the teachers go back to the teachers' room and gradually make their way to the classrooms after the next bell rings, just like the students (so the classes usually start late, which was an adjustment for me)

4:30- school's out!  If it's Tuesday, I will stay to do karaoke with some first graders (freshmen), and on Wednesday and Thursday I do practice with the debate team and English Club, for (alternating) students and professors.  But those last two have not started to meet yet.  If I'm not staying, I walk home and enjoy the lovely views (see below)

look at that!  look how gorgeous! my neighborhood is at the bottom of this hill

 ~5 - get home, drop my stuff off in my room, think to myself "oh my god it's so hot," change clothes (because I don't like teacher clothes), sit down for a snack and/or "once," which is like super light early dinner, with the family

my room!  there are like 7 blankets hiding under Mickey

watch a telenovela, plan lessons, get myself organized, respond to emails, BLOG, etc.  

between 8-9- dinner!  as I've already said, my host mom is a fantastic cook

do more stuff, just hanging around the house doing whatever (watch tv, chat with my host fam, etc.)

~11- off to bed! 

I don't even have a title for this post, that's how miscellaneous it is.  Just thought I'd share a few things!

I've been getting ready to do my own lessons this week (started today!). It went well but I need to re-evaluate my timing and talk even slower/more clearly I think.  Also trying to set up my classroom, and my host sister was helping me do some shopping in town but it turns out that not a single one of the 4 bookstores here sell world maps or calendars (or could tell us where to find one).  So I printed out a map and drew my own beautiful calendar!  Might as well add a personal touch 

Due to a misunderstanding regarding the multiple meanings of the English verb "to know," a portion of the student body at my school believes that I am friends with all the members of One Direction.  I made a conscious choice not to break their hearts and debunk the rumor, and it has really spiraled out of control.  So if anyone asks, I met them at a concert on their US tour.  On an unrelated note, anyone really good at photoshop and feel like doing me a favor?

Jumping into extracurriculars this week with karaoke for one of the freshman classes after school tomorrow! 22 kids signed up to come (1 of whom tried to give me his #- no thank you, child) so I hope it goes well.  I made a nice lyrics list for them (to use along with Youtube lyrics videos), starting of course with Don't Stop Believin'. If nobody else chooses it I may have to sing it myself...

FINALLY got my host brother to speak English with me yesterday, and it turns out he's really really good.  Like excellent. I think his English might be better than my Spanish... (Franco, if you're reading this, kudos! (sorry, you might have to ask me what that means))

And food.  I've been considering doing an entire separate post for food, but I haven't been taking any pictures yet, so all I'll say for now is that THERE IS SO MUCH OF IT. My host mom is a fantastic cook and I feel like I eat 5 meals a day.  Lots of meat, lots of tomatoes, and beans and potatoes and bread. That's not a very inclusive list; I need to start documenting better.  Coming soon.

Also, as there appears to have been some confusion, I do have email access pretty much all the time (madelynboots@gmail.com).  And I would love to hear from you!  Tell me what's going on back home or a new joke or something! : )

I'M FAMOUS

Made the school's website!  The nice librarian man did a video interview with me just the second day I was there! And then had to do it again the next day because the video didn't work, but the point is, I'm on their YouTube channel.  

I recorded this in both Spanish and English, but I guess they decided posting both was unnecessary.  I'm just saying, "Hi, my name is Maddie, I'm from Indianapolis in the United States, and I'm 21 years old.  I got here to Angol on Saturday, so 4 or 5 days ago.  I'm here to work with the high school students, to help them with their English and make them more comfortable speaking and listening to it.  I'm very excited!"  Brilliant, I know.

Las canteras

Yesterday the other Angol volunteers and I (and 3 host family/friend members) trekked out to the Canteras de Deuco, a quarry near Angol (that used to be a mine).  We rode our bikes, which was a mistake, because it was half an hour or riding over a rocky old railroad path.  But the scenery was beautiful, and we made it!  There are two lakes, one public and one private (with a zipline and paddleboats and cabins on the private side), but we were only there for the afternoon so we took a dip in the public side.  Since it's fall here, it's not quarry season and we had the place almost entirely to ourselves.  So lovely! I must admit that we walked our bikes a good portion of the way back--we were exhausted and sore (especially me). But it was a fun expedition : ) 

with Caroline, one of the two other Angol volunteers!

hey cow

Angol

I arrived!  Three days ago at this point, but I haven't had much down time.  My entire host family was there to meet me at the bus station, and that night we went to dinner and watched War Horse.* They are super sweet!  I was pretty nervous on the bus ride down here, but I realized that I think they were just as nervous.  I think they were actually a little disappointed that I speak Spanish, because they were (are) so eager to learn English (even though my host brother already speaks it pretty well).  So I'm going to make an effort to help them with English anyway, starting today with my host sister!

On Sunday we hung out for a while and taught each other some card games (BS seems to have universal appeal as long as you pick a different word to yell), and then I went with them to mass.  I was blessed by the priest!  It may have been my imagination, but the holy water itched a bit.  Such is my life.  Then we drove about 45 min away to the larger city nearby (Los Angeles) where there's a big mall and shops that they don't have here.  I finally tried a completo, a gourmet hot dog thing popular in Chile (with diced tomatoes, avocado, and mayo).    Not bad, but messy to eat!  But really I love my host family already.  My host brother and sister both sing and play the guitar, really well!  It's a nice treat.  Apparently we're all going to the beach in two weeks and to an asado (barbecue) in the countryside the next week.  Can't wait!  

Yesterday I went down to Temuco, the regional capital, for orienation with the volunteers and co-teachers from Araucania.  My co-teacher seems very nice!  I went to school for the first time this morning to start observing classes with her, and I'm excited to start my own classes next week!  I was surprised that some of the students in the first class knew about Indy cars and the Pacers when I said that I was from Indianapolis.  They seem pretty well-behaved relative to all the warning stories we heard in orientation, but I hope I'm not jinxing myself saying that.**  At orientation I got a big box of school/classroom supplies so I'll have to set my room up soon!  And start planning lessons for next week... fun stuff! 
  
*every time anyone said "war horse," I couldn't help but picture that weird SNL skit where Jimmy Fallon was galloping around saying "WAAAAR horse." anyone?  

**the students call the teacher just "Miss," and it sounds like Jonah from Summer Heights High so I laugh to myself almost every time they say it, which is a lot.  Gonna have to reign that in.  

The graffiti post

And, as promised, some of my favorite graffiti and murals.  A lot were taken in the Bellavista neighborhood but others I found on my wandering voyages.  Now that I'm getting ready to leave in an hour for my placement in Angol, I'm already missing Santiago!  I've really loved it, can't believe it's only been 5 days.  I'll be back at some point!

yes, that is a swastika on his forehead

not graffiti, but the coolest door in the world

and my favorite:

Santa Lucía

Also got the chance this week to go to Santa Lucía Hill, a park in the middle of the city with one of the best views around.  All the way up are ornate buildings and statues and gardens--it was the most beautiful part of Santiago I've seen!  Absolutely gorgeous.  From the view up here you can see the Andes in the background, to the north and east of the city.  It looks cloudy in these pictures but it was actually quite sunny that day--it could be because Santiago gets pretty smoggy in the summer.  But it still takes your breath away!