Have you ever stood back and examined your life only to see in disbelief how different it is than you ever expected it to be? That is exactly how I feel as I look back on my time here in Chile. As of today, I’ve been in Chile for 14 weeks and as of next Tuesday, I’ll be half way through my entire program. In other words, instead of counting up the time I’ve been here, I’ll be counting down the time I have left. This is such an odd thing for me because every day feels a little bit different here. One day, I feel like I’ve been here forever and can’t believe I’m only half way through with everything that I’ve gotten to do, but the next day, I feel like I just got here and haven’t done half of the things I thought I would. I guess that’s just part of traveling and being mindful of every experience.
Thursday (March 31) began with classes (which all went fantastic) and then a quick exit to the bus station where I was to take a bus to Puerto Montt. From there, I hopped on a plane and headed back to where my entire journey began…Santiago! See, my friends are beginning a new business in Chile with headquarters in Santiago and were beginning their launch at Lollapalooza 2 weekends ago (April 2-3). They asked me to come up and help with promotions and a housewarming party for the apartment. Little did I know that I’d be asked to do some live entertainment (i.e. singing) at the party and end up with incredible tickets to see bands like The Killers, Kanye West, Los Bunkers, Jane’s Addiction, 311, The National, etc. Such a fantastic weekend with fantastic people!!
Wednesday, April 6th through Friday, April 8th was the celebration of the school’s birthday (Proyeccion Siglo XXI). With only one day of classes, Tuesday, I relished the idea of having a chance to spend one-on-one time with my students during the festivities and celebration. Wednesday began with an introduction to the activities and I was asked to sing something. I defaulted to the one song I can confidently sing acapella…“Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. Surprisingly, my confidence level has skyrocketed since being in Chile. I used to freeze and blush to my toes when someone asked me to sing on the spot...now, I just bust out one of my favorite songs and leave it at that =D. I spent the rest of Wednesday watching the competitions (i.e. soccer, basketball, towel volleyball, limbo) The students were constantly laughing at my Spanish, but I was proud of my ability to understand and respond even though it wasn’t perfect.
Thursday was a day full of dressing up, music, acting, and having a whole lot of fun! I did realize how sensitive I am to the way my students think of me. I had one boy that has been fantastic since I arrived get a bit too into the competitive spirit and completely disrespect me. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. I can just see it now...me with teenage kids saying that they hate me because I won’t let them to go a party or something and I will fall apart for sure!! Thankfully it was towards the end of the day and I was able to go home and process it. Also, after all was said and done, he went back to being the way he was in the beginning. I think I just forgot how intense high school boys get about their competitions lol.
Friday was the last day of the festivities and we had games like “Yo soy” and “Battle of the Bands”. I was a judge and was constantly impressed by the talent of my students. I can’t wait to use those talents to help them learn English. The day ended in exhaustion but smiles all around. The professors and staff got together for lunch to celebrate the amazing scores the students received on the standardized tests. We ate “curanto” which was comprised of lots of different shellfish like oyster and clam with chicken and beef; and then we had something that looked and tasted like hashbrowns! So delicious and definitely not healthy. That night, I went with some of the professors to take salsa lessons but because they don’t have the lessons Fridays, we ended up at the Casino and I ended up on stage singing a Dixie Chicks song!
Saturday was mostly spent relaxing and doing laundry. So not much to report about that.
Sunday morning we got ready and headed to the beach. First stop was Maicolpue where my host parents have a vacation house in which they spend the 3 summer months. After a short coffee break there, we headed for the next beach, Pucatrihue. There we entered a large home that had been converted into a quaint bed and breakfast where we were to have a birthday celebration for my Chilean aunt, Norma. Apon arriving, I met several family members related to my host father. His sister ended up speaking fluent English because she lived in San Francisco for one year when she was in college. I still spoke in Spanish to her just because I really need to keep working on it, but it was fun to learn new vocabulary and have someone assist when I got stuck. We enjoyed a lot of great conversation before we even sat down to eat lunch which consisted of a delicious salad, a baked fish dish, and homemade bread. When we were all finished, several of us piled into cars to head up the windy mountain for an incredible view of the ocean and forests surrounding it. See, here in the south of Chile, the beaches are crowded with hotels, homes, restaurants, and bars; instead, there are only a few small houses tucked into the trees and animals grazing in a very natural habitat. So from the top of the windy road, we looked out to see an array of God’s beautiful creation. This was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve seen since arriving to Chile (and I’ve seen some incredible things). On the top of that mountain, I sat and just sang a few worship songs praising my Lord for a job well done. His creativity shone through and filled my heart with His joy. We ended up taking a walk down a dirt path for a little while. It wasn’t really smooth so I was glad to be in tennis shoes and not my boots. The walk back up proved to be even more difficult as the dirt slipped beneath our shoes and threaten to land us on our faces. We made it back to the top and into the car just as it began to rain.
Back at the house, we enjoyed lots of different desserts like strudel, torta (cake), and sweet jams. We also sang happy birthday in 3 different languages: Spanish, English, and German! The way they sing Happy Birthday in Chile is definitely different than the way I learned it in my high school Spanish classes. Before we left, we enjoyed playing some games and just relaxing, but then it was time to head home and prepare for Monday to come bright and early.
Monday, April 11-Thursday, April 14 seemed to just fly by. My activities planned for my classes all went really well. I had the chance to show pictures of friends and family and places around Simi Valley. I reviewed how to ask someone if they’ve ever done something (i.e. ridden a horse, sang on stage, met Minnie Mouse, etc.) and then taught my seniors how to give directions (they are ready to give directions from my parents’ house to In-N-Out, Vons, Albertsons, or Carl’s). I also taught my 5th & 6th graders about Old McDonald’s Farm and the animals that he keeps there.
Yesterday, Thursday, I was supposed to go and become a legal temporary citizen of Chile. My regional coordinator came down and met me at the “Gobernacional” and we went up to begin the process; however, what the woman neglected to tell my coordinator before she took a bus up from Puerto Montt was that I’d have to leave my passport there until Tuesday before we could do the rest of the process (which is slightly complicated and includes alot of running around the city to different buildings). So after making a copy of my passport, we left it with the woman and told her we’d be back Tuesday and left to figure out what to do with the rest of our day. We ended up getting tea and lunch at a really cute little house turned into a coffee shop. I also met Louisa, a former volunteer who decided to come back to Osorno for another 4 months to live with the same family and work at the same school because she loved it so much! That was very encouraging to me. I think I am just as fortunate with my host family and school, but I need to figure out how to best take advantage of my time here. It’s hard to motivate myself to get out of the house when I don’t have plans because I really hate walking around and doing stuff in the cold. I end up spending most of the day in my warm bed reading or writing or watching something on-line. I’m making the commitment now though to be more adventurous in this city like I was in Santiago. I never spent a full day doing nothing in the house! So, we’ll see how this goes when it gets even colder and begins raining for days at a time, but today it’s beautiful, so I’m going to get out and go for a run or something! Well, just after I watch an episode of “How I Met Your Mother” ;-)
