TOMAS

So last week there was drama with some of the other schools in Angol, where my volunteer friends are.  It is not uncommon here in Chile for students to go on strike, because there is a huge student-propelled movement for education reform nationwide. It usually happens in universities, but some high schools have taken up the charge as well.  But it's not just a strike, it's a takeover.  Students sneak in in the middle of the night and literally take over the school, barricading the gates and not letting any adults in (so there are no classes, obviously). Then a little group of these protesting students just live in the school, eating and sleeping (and doing other things) there until the issue that they are protesting is resolved.  This is called a toma, and it can last anywhere from a few days to a few months.  What blows my mind is that the protest is actually taken seriously- parents, staff, students groups, and education officials hold meetings with the protesting students to try to mediate the issue, and police are not allowed to enter the school or otherwise try to force the students out.  

WELL. This happened at my friend's school last week!  Unlike my school, his is only high school students, and they were upset because they feel the administration does not respond to their needs.  Apparently all year there have only been 6 functioning girls' toilets for the entire student body, and none of the staff or administrators would do anything about it.  And there seemed to be general accumulated dissent against the director (principal), so the students were demanding his resignation. Some students broke in on last Sunday night and a group of about 30 of them successfully held the school all week until they were satisfied with the mediation and gave it back up on Friday. Apparently they completely tore the school apart while they were in there, vandalizing and breaking things all over the place (this is not always the case with tomas).  The other volunteers and I were fascinated by all the updates and really just the whole general concept that this type of thing happens here.  No group of American high school students would ever be that organized and active like that, and I think it's amazing! The concept of it, not the vandalism. We got the impression it was a bit of a Lord-of-the-Flies situation in there.  

Hilariously (to me), another volunteer's school, which was very close by, was on toma-watch because their students were getting vocal, so the director and various parents slept in the school every night to prevent any kids from breaking in.  Some did try, but they got caught.  There seem to be minimal penalties for students who take over their schools, but often other non-students join them (either alumni or older siblings or bored, revolution-deprived 20-somethings), and those people get arrested. It's all very fascinating! 

Anyway, here are some pictures from the outside of the toma school. They barricaded the gate with desk chairs, put up signs and flags, and dragged furniture out onto the roof to keep watch over the front door at all times. It's basically every teenager's fantasy to take over their school and party in it for a week, right? Little rebels. 

Meanwhile, all is well at my semi-private Catholic school. I asked my host siblings a ton of questions about tomas and learned that there was a successful one at our school back in 2006, when the student reform movement first kicked off with the Penguin Revolution (b/c the uniforms that Chilean high schoolers wear make them look like penguins?), and a few years ago there was a failed attempt.  Based purely on the physical layout of our buildings and also the nun-ruled administration at our school, I would imagine it's very difficult to successfully take it over. But who knows! 

other recent things

Well, over the weekend we had another quesadilla-fueled volunteer get-together!  This time we were making quesadillas for 10, so it took us quite a while, but we had a pretty nice assembly line going. We were at one of the volunteer's houses, cooking for his host family and a friend of his who was a volunteer here in Angol last year, who was visiting for the weekend.  Look at the quesadilla/smiling face ratio here:

I also went this weekend with my host family to visit their great uncle (host grandma's brother), in the little villa town where host grandma and all her siblings grew up.  We got up at 8 to make the best of the daylight, since it was a 2-hr drive through countryside and bumpy hills, and we finally made it! It was tiny. Just one street and a cluster of houses set on a hillside.  The official population is 365! I believe that's a little more than half of my high school graduating class.  But they do have police, and a school, and apparently there is zero crime because everybody knows everybody like family.  My host great uncle had a very nice house, and a little locale in front where people could come in from the street to get drinks and food, plus a large plot at the end of the street with lots of livestock and vegetable gardens and whatnot. It seemed like quite the operation! We had a nice big meal with chicken, beef, and pork from their animals, and homemade bread and sausage. They told me the little town is called Pichi Pellahuen (which is Mapudungun, the Mapuche language, but I don't know what it means). Unfortunately, it was freezing cold that day, and I was extremely tired, so I don't have any pictures of it.  Just imagine a picturesque little neighborhood in the middle of hilly farmland where there is no cell service and everybody knows everybody's secrets (I am extrapolating here, but only with the second one). 

I DO have pictures of the copihue flower that I got that day.  The copihue is the Chilean national flower, and we saw a bunch of them growing along the side of the road on our drive so we pulled over and my host dad plucked some off for me and my host mom. They're pretty, bell-shaped flowers that hang down from their viney stalk, and come in red or white (but mostly red). From a distance I thought they must be very dainty, because you can see the light through their petals, but it turns out they're very sturdy/succulent. I was advised to hang mine so I can keep it when it dries out, so it's currently brightening up my bedroom.  Look! 

I also recently had another run-in with my favorite llama!  It made for a nice Monday treat.

still too scared to try to pet him, but stay tuned

In other news, it is getting COLD here. As I type this, it is pouring down rain outside and the internet says that it feels like 36 degrees (not having heat has really affect my perception of temperature, so the degrees hardly mean anything). I think tonight is the night I will finally use the hot water bottle that I bought as my failsafe! 

Debate/Temuco

Alright! Sorry for being out of touch for so long, I have been busy scrambling to get things organized for my remaining few weeks in the program and afterwards. 

But last week were the regional debates! We had to catch a 7am bus to get to Temuco (the regional capital) on time, and settled in to watch the first few debates before it was our turn.  The room we were in was too small to fit all 16 teams, and the students were very nervous to begin with, so it was a bit of a stressful atmosphere. The program gave everyone breakfast and lunch, and gave us a little break to get out and walk around a bit, but it was still a very long day to be in that little room listening to 8 debates about the same topic. We had to argue either for or against the statement that grades encourage students to learn (our team was against).  My students did a great job, and my host teacher and I were very proud of them! Our score ended up tying for 3rd place with the same team that we had debated against, but we officially received 4th place because our students chose to forfeit the re-debate that would have been necessary to decide the tie (as I said, it had been a longgg day).   

There was a little awards ceremony for the top 4 teams, so we went and got little medals and a trophy for the team.  There are official photos of that somewhere but they have not been passed along to us yet (though I have been assured that they will be!). In the meantime, here are some of my photos from the day.

this is their response to me saying, "just act naturallll"

lunch!  believe it or not, 3/7 smiling at the camera is actually a record

On our mid-day break we walked around the area and through one of the markets where there are lots of Mapuche products and things.  

why hello

After the debates were over, we had some time to kill before our bus back to Angol, so we went to the mall in Temuco and got a big pizza in the food court and walked around (and I helped two of the students film part of a group project video they're working on). Finally got home around 9:30, unbelievably tired. But at the debates I got the chance to talk to two women who I had been in contact with about a job, who work at a university in Temuco and were judging the debates that day. So I have at least one job prospect--still in the works, of course, but it's better than what I had before!  So it was a very productive day for everyone

 : ) 

in other news

Here's another picture for you!  Last week it was Karen's birthday (my host teacher at school) and one of our classes did a little surprise party for her the day before.  It was very sweet, and afterwards they wanted to take a class picture. Here we are, out on the patio at school! Karen is up on the top row and I'm the girl very obnoxiously not wearing a uniform, of course. This was my host brother's class (4th grade, high school seniors) so he's in here as well! 

In other news, I purchased today tickets to go to Peru at the end of my program! I am still looking for work here in Chile, but I'll be visiting Cuzco, Lima, and Machu Picchu with two other volunteers at the end of July. I'm already excited! 

Valdivia

This post is long overdue!  Last weekend a group of us volunteers got together in Valdivia, a city a bit south of Angol.  It's at the intersection of three large rivers, near the coast, so there's a lot going on there and it's very maritime-y.  It is apparently known for being always rainy, but we got lucky and had beautiful weather all weekend!  Which gave us a chance to explore and see how beautiful the city and the surrounding areas are.  Valdivia is the capital of the Lakes Region, and sure enough there are lakes/bodies of water every which way once you get outside the city.  I wish I had visited it earlier, I loved it!  The only downside I can report is that when I say the city name in my head, it's always to the tune of the "Activia" jingle...

But pictures!  Most of the things to do in the city are on or very near the riverfront, and our hostel was just a few blocks away so we mostly just mosey-d around towards whatever caught our eye.  Here's the lovely plaza and its gazebo, a giant map of Chile and a Foucault pendulum on the riverwalk, and the market.

Most of the map is further up-this is taken from me standing at the South Pole.
Did you know Chile claims territory on Antartica?  

it's a pendulum that shows the rotation of the earth!

yum?

this was a permanent 3-level craft market

We also visited a brewery outside of the city, for Kunstmann beer. You would think that I would have learned to like beer by now, but still no.  Instead I appreciated the creepy German mannequins...

(I am only the photographer here)

what is going on here?? it's the Sound of Music gone horribly wrong

I would like to meet the person who set these mannequin poses. those are definitely gang signs

And then my friend and I went on a submarine! It's docked permanently in Valdivia as a museum open to the public- you can tour it for only $4! It was pret-ty cool, we got to see the whole extent of the submarine and learned a lot.  This sub, the O'Brien, was built in the 70s and used by the Chilean navy, but never saw battle because Chile has not gone to war since then.  Our tour of 13 people all had to wear life-vests (in case we fell off while walking along the top, which I did not do) and hard hats (in case we hit our head on the various pipes and gauges and doorways, which I did do many times). Our tour guide was hilarious, and spoke English pretty well so he repeated everything for us in between his Spanish spiels. When the navy was using the sub, it had a crew of 75 men, for up to 40 days at a time! And to prevent their location from being picked up by enemy sonar (theoretically, in training) they had to be quiet all the time.  I can't imagine spending 40 days underwater with 74 other people in a confined space.  Our tour guide pointed out the lights everywhere that are white during daytime and red at night--that's the only way the crew knows days are passing.  I almost had a panic attack just thinking about it.  But back to the tour--the tour was cool! Look. 

cramped

the awesome tour guide man

oh and I got to look through the periscope!!! super cool

the engine room. everything is electric b/c burning fuel uses up their limited oxygen supply,

communication station

Saturday night we all went out to a karaoke bar to help a friend celebrate his last weekend in Chile (chao, Zach!) and Sunday we took a bus out to Niebla, a little fishing town only about 20 minutes outside of Valdivia. We were going to take a ferry across the river to an island where there's an old military fort, but we had to catch our bus back to Angol so we just strolled along the docks instead. 

Valdivia served us well! I hope I get a chance to go back again : ) 

The Llama

The Llama made an appearance yesterday, even closer than I could have hoped for! He had found his way across the street, and was just eating grass next to the sidewalk. I made a B-line his way even though it made several Chileans look at me strangely. I can't pass up on a llama, folks. 

Look at his face! And how dainty his little hooves look in comparison to the shaggy rest of him.  Haha what a llama. 

Oh and I'm going on another trip this weekend! Leaving tomorrow with my friends to meet up with some other volunteers in Valdivia, a pretty coast city in the region just south of us (about 5 bus hours total). As usual, I expect to take many pictures! 

my gang

My friends here in Angol and I finally had the perfect opportunity for another photoshoot with our school jackets. The pictures turned out pretty damn well... 

You can tell we're oozing with school pride, there's no hiding it.

Chilean things

You may have heard that there is a volcano ready to explode here in Chile--Volcan Copahue, right on the Chile-Argentina border.  Well, as it turns out, that peak is directly east of Angol, and on a clear day I can see it from my classroom!  We're far from it, nowhere near the parts being evacuated, but it's visible sometimes. Apparently it's been spewing smoke for a while, and seismic activity has increased so they expect it to erupt sometime this month.  I have been waiting for a clear day to see if I can spy it from my classroom again, but it's been cloudy!  I shall keep you updated. [UPDATE as of June 6th: I was wrong, I cannot see Copahue from my classroom. I only figured this out when I finally saw it clearly earlier this week and it was in no way a smoking volcano. So now I'm back to not knowing which volcano it actually is.]

In the meantime, here are some pictures I tried to take of it and the other volcanoes I can see from my room.  I only realized I could see them a few weeks ago, and got really really excited--apparently more excited than my students thought was necessary.  Seeing a volcano is so insignificant to them that at first they couldn't even tell me which ones we were looking at, and they teased me for taking pictures!  I had to explain that I've never lived anywhere near volcanoes before.  Whaaat really?? Yes, really, Chilean teenagers, not everyone has your luck when it comes to natural settings.  You really can't see anything in this first picture, it's just to give you an idea of the scope here (and to show off my Microsoft Paint skills, obviously).

These were all taken on my phone, since I kept forgetting to bring my camera to school, so my apologies for the bad quality.  But here's my little iPhone trying its hardest:

this would be the updated photo, from when I realized this is not in fact Copahue

someone eventually told me which ones these two are, but I'm drawing a blank

And primary elections are coming up!  The presidential elections in November will decide who replaces Piñera next year, and I have had trouble keeping the various primary candidates straight.  My host dad explained that there are usually 5 strong political parties here, and they each put up their own candidate but eventually form alliances so it comes down to just right- and left-wing competition.  But I do know that Michelle Bachelet, former President, is running again!  She served one term right before Piñera.  The most literal signs of the political fervor are graffiti murals supporting candidates, anywhere and everywhere. I saw them all over the place in Concepción, but so far not too much in Angol. I did spot this one here last week, and it's more colorful than usual, so I thought I'd share! 

Also, this past week I learned from my host brother that one of the fields near our neighborhood, where I occasionally see cows, is also home to a llama!  And the very next day I actually saw the llama itself.  Standing stock-still, in all its brown fuzzy glory.  I will try to get a picture next time!