My once foray

Had a good weekend! The gringos had a fun powow, made ourselves dinner and dessert and sang our hearts out.  Then Monday was the second part of the first round of debates--we were arguing in favor of rap having a bad influence.  I must say (and every other single person I talked to there, including volunteers and teachers from our competition schools, agreed) that our team blew it out of the park.  The students were fantastic! Unfortunately we were a little disappointed with our score, but that doesn't matter b/c we made it through to the next round! And now the students are even more keen to win.  I'm not usually a competitive person, as you may know, but this certainly brings it out of me...

Also, for once Sunday night ("once" as in ohn-say, or late meal) my host family wanted to try some food that I usually eat back home. So I made them chicken quesadillas! It was actually pretty fun turning the tables on them, explaining the new food and watching their reactions.  On a more selfish note, the quesadillas were delicious.  My first bite was instant nostalgic bliss. Well, I'm biased, obviously, but I think some people will back me up on the fact that I make a mean quesadilla.  My host mom was tickled that she was the one who didn't know what I was doing in the kitchen--she took pictures of me! haha

Student News

First of all, there appears to be a trend sweeping Chilean classrooms that I did not realize was a trend until after it happened to me.  One of my adorable freshmen raised his hand to ask me, 'Maddie, how do you say "vayanse" in English?' Without even looking up from what I was doing, I answered, '"go away,"' and half the class stood up and started walking towards the door!  Luckily, this is one of my favorite classes and they were only doing it as a joke--none of them actually left, they just thought it was hilarious that I had fallen for it. I also thought it was hilarious. But later I saw a bunch of youtube videos of high school classes tricking their unsuspecting grammar teachers and actually making a break for it. A bunch of hoodlums.

On a different note, I have been practicing a LOT with our team of English debate students over the past two weeks, and yesterday we had our first competition day.  The topic was "rap music has a negative influence on youth," and our team was arguing opposition (so saying that rap music does NOT have a negative influence).  They tied for second place!!! I was so worked up about it and then so obnoxiously proud of them. They're fantastic. I brag a lot about how awesome my students are to the other volunteers, and it was pretty satisfying when my friends admitted how impressed they were. YEAH COLEGIO SAN FRANCISCO.

last-minute rehearsal in the library

then showtime!

somehow sheepish about having their picture taken even though they had just killed it up at the podium

there we go!

We have to go back to do proposition on Monday. Still practicing, but I already know they'll be great!


[host family postscript:] my host dad has taken to calling me Maddieboots.  Glad to know the appeal of my full name is more powerful than any language barrier! My host mom was getting on his case about it but I had to step in and explain that actually a lot of people call me that and it's totally fine.  It's kind of a nice little taste of home, actually! So he happily continues to do it. Just thought you would all appreciate that : ) 

Lota and Coronel

Alright. Last full day of our trip we wanted to drive out to this town called Lota. It's known specifically for the mine there, which tourists can go into (that extends out under the ocean), but a) I specifically promised friends and family at home that I would not enter a mine in Chile, and b) you couldn't pay me all the money in the world to go down an elevator shaft into the deep earth underneath an ocean. No way in hell. So we did not go to the mine! Instead we went into this little museum that had a lot of old mining stuff and little ceramics and fancy things and then meandered around a park.  But it was a really cool park because it's the gardens and grounds of what used to be the fancy estate of this super rich family whose name is all over everything in Lota. Oh and it extends out onto a cliff over the sea, where the still-functioning lighthouse beckons Lota boats.  There were topiaries and fountains and funky little statuettes of Greek mythological characters everywhere.  Fan-cy. 

not sure what this is, but it's under construction

fancy peacocks

fancy birdhouse

fancy greenhouse that's also under construction (thanks, earthquake)

??

where the big house used to be- it made a lovely maze for pushing
host sister &cousin around in host dad's wheelchair really fast

host fam!

the sign seems unnecessary 

vultures! how not fancy

look mom! I told everybody about how you like weird fungi : )

The other car full of people went to see the mine, but we took off instead for Coronel, on the way back to Concepción. We stopped off at the fishing beach so that I could see it (the gritty underbelly of the fish market in Conce!) and my host mom could buy some fish.  I don't really know what I expected, but it was not this.  First of all, came into contact with a sea lion again!  Not just one, either, but a whole flotilla. They had parked themselves on the beach to eat the fish scraps that the fishermen threw to them.  There were also a lot of stray dogs running around, and when I first walked up it was general mayhem so they were trying to get the sea lions to back it up a bit.

apparently pretending like you're going to throw a rock at them works pretty effectively. remember that.

this big fatty on the right seemed to be the kingpin

they flopped down like this and made puppy eyes to beg for fish

So the general operation here seemed to be that the fishermen bring in all the fish they caught in little rowboats, and then they just throw them in flat crates and then there are ladies set up to gut/filet them on planks laid out right there.  Then they had an entire semi-truck full of ice bags, to pack the fish in ice and drive them off somewhere to sell. But you can just walk up there and buy they fish out of their hands, and watch them gut it for you (which is what my host mom did).  They were moving a hefty amount of fish, and it seemed remarkably unsanitary between the stray dogs and trash on the beach and sea gulls swooping everywhere (they must also be pooping everywhere, am I right?).  Is this how all little fishing industries are run and I just didn't know?  I mean there's something to be said for immediacy, but these crates of fish are just stacked on the sand, next to buckets of guts and dogs and trash.  It was very interesting to see! Kind of cool, in a way.

those are fish in those three crates on the right

gettin down to bidness (notice the pile of sea lion treats at her feet)

this child was pooped on moments after I took this picture. that was when I knew it was time for me to leave.

but not before I watched this badass feed a fish head to a sea lion out of his bare hands!

Something I've never seen before, for sure! So I loved it for that reason. The adventures in Chile continue!

 

Concepción and Tumbes

So on Saturday we mostly hung out with the cousins.  I woke up with a migraine so that took a while to die down, and eventually we met up for lunch and to go to the huge mall near where the cousins live.  They live more on the edge of Conce, so I got to see completely different parts of the city than when I was there last, which was awesome.  

Anyway, at this huge mall there was a big arcade/kiddy rides/birthday party place with a haunted house in the back.  We all know I don't like haunted houses, but it had been a while since I was in one and my host siblings and cousins wanted to show it to me, so I went ahead.  Luckily it was relatively small--just a little corridor that you have to pass through in a single-file line to go through 5 different little horror rooms. We survived!  I will admit that it did make me a little jumpy, though... 

Then that night my host cousins (another 22yo girl, a 25yo, and her husband) and my host brother and I went out for a night on the town.  The DJ where we were dancing could tell I was a gringa and was trying, over the mic, to impress me with his English, which was entertaining for everybody. I had a lot of fun! Even though for a while I was the tallest person there...

Then the next day we all piled into the car to go out to the port area, to a little fishing town called Tumbes for a seafood lunch.  "Town" might be a generous word; it was more like a cluster of houses in a little dip in the mountains, with one main road along the beach that has seafood restaurants on one side and fishing boats/seafood vendors on the other side.  And a short pier.  We had seafood empanadas (YUM) and then one of the most fantastically/painfully filling meals I have had in as long as I can remember: (fresh as can be) fried fish, over a pile of french fries, onions, and eggs. This fries/onions/eggs combo is called a lo pobre (as in, "fish a lo pobre") and my host dad explained it's because poor people (the pobre) eat everything heaped in huge piles like that (stereotypically).  It was delicious but we all had some trouble even just breathing after that, so we took a walk along the dock to digest. A fresh sea breeze cures all! 

(little cousin, still a 10yo bundle of energy)

painting their boat, freehand!

she has crabs and she is not pleased about it

two guys were fishing off the dock... 

...and then putting their live fish into a plastic bag in a briefcase. alright.

but there were real I-use-a-net fishermen too!

  

proudly showing off his catch for the gringa. thank you sir.

Once we were comfortable breathing again, we got back into the car to return to Conce, but took a scenic hilly route.  On the way there we had driven through a naval base-the same one I saw when I toured the Huascar warship last time! But instead we passed this overlook, from which you can see the ocean and all the little fishing coastline and in the distance the skyscrapers of Conce. Good day! 

Purén and Lebu

Over my extra long weekend I drove with my host family all over creation (but specifically around Concepción) and had a fantastic time!  I took a huge number of photos, so I'm going to split these posts up by location.  First up!  We took off Friday afternoon and took the long route to Conce so that I could see some places that I've never seen, like the little town of Purén and then Lebu.  Purén is pretty close to us--I have some students from there, and one of my volunteer friends is there--but I had never seen it! It's a very small town, but up at the top of the hill overlooking everything is an old Mapuche fort.  The Mapuche are the Native Americans in southern Chile and Argentina, and they were one of the few groups that actually succeeded in holding off the Spaniards for a while.  Apparently this fort in Purén is where all the Mapuche in the area would send their men and boys to train for war before sending them off against the Spaniards! If I understood our guide correctly.  There's a little museum next to the fort that had weird animals in jars in one room and Mapuche artifacts in another room.  Then we got to go in the fort, which I think looks exactly like the cartoon fort in Pocahontas.  Judge for yourselves!

couldn't figure out how these were relevant to anything

I think this is a god mask used in Mapuche prayer ceremonies. he also seems unsure... 

lookouts! if it weren't so foggy we could have seen all of Puren from up there

Then we made our way to the coast, and to Lebu!  Well, to part of the beach near Lebu.  We were headed to some caves there, specifically one called la Cueva del Toro. By the time we got there the fog had lifted and the sun had come out and it was beautiful!  It's called la Cueva del Toro because water laps in under the rocks and you can hear the echoes up above, and in one spot apparently it used to sound like a bull (a toro). But the earthquake shifted the rocks and we couldn't find the spot anymore.  The only real CAVE part was one huge cavern we walked through to clamber over rocks on the other side. Not too shabby though... 

notice host dad on crutches- he had his stitches out the day before! trooper 

this weird algae was washed up everywhere. it had a strangely mesmerizing texture...

We had some lunch in the car and set north along the coast towards Conce.  We hit a lot of traffic, so didn't get there till it was dark even though it should be like a 3-hr journey. We stopped by the cousins' house to eat with them and then settled in for the night at another uncle's apartment (who was letting us stay there while he was out of town). It was a long day!