I realized today that it's been almost two weeks since my last post. Time has been flying! We've been busy at school which is good. We're getting into a rhythm and anyone close to me knows that when my life has order I'm a happy man.
St. Patrick's Day was quite the event. We went to an Irish bar down the road from our apartment on Thursday. They had live music and dancers four days straight!
Though the Irish pubs celebrate and decorate to the nines, the rest of Chile is pretty oblivious to the holiday. I asked my students about it and they said "oh, yeah, that's the American holiday." So much for the Irish.
As is ChACE tradition, every holiday celebrated in the states that Chileans don't really observe mandates a huge party. So party we did! It was our first big party as the new occupants of the apartment and I'd say it was a huge success. I made puppy chow, it was delicious.
Speaking of the big apartment, they got hardwood floors last weekend and they look great.
Last Tuesday we bid farewell to a ChACEr that just finished her second year of teaching and is headed back to the states. We had an asado on the roof of her building on her last night in town. It had a great view of the city and this super awesome fountain.
Today I got some interesting news. I've learned that as the resident gringo at school that the administration only seeks me out if they want something. Today the principal asked me if I would teach preschool once a week for two hours. Always up for new experiences, I said yes without hesitation. I'm looking forward to the new challenge. This is part of a new program called Early English. San Nicolás has never taught English before first grade and they want the students to have some experience with a native speaker. Ok! I'm planning on lots of American kids shows, dancing, and singing. And games! Oh boy, it will be just like teaching my high schoolers.
Minnesota Friends arrive on Friday! Zach and Stuart, both of whom attended high school with me, will be coming with their significant others, Laura and Elizabeth, to spend Easter and the following week in Santiago. We're starting in Valparaíso for Easter weekend where they have stations of the cross on the beach and burn Judas in effigy. Sounds like a cultural experience! The week after we'll be in the city and activities on the menu include a soccer match and lots of good food and dancing. Check back for details!
Hey everyone! Happy Pi Day! I hear March really came in like a lion for those living in the North. I keep getting updates from Hyland Ski Area that they'll be open for an extra week. Down here we're about to complete our second week of school, and things are going great. I evaluated the 1st graders this week (a perk to being the only native speaker) and met this little guy, Alonso--quite the cutie. He likes to wear my sunglasses.
A great victory today: Lucas, a new student in my 7B class, knows very little English and was nervous coming into the class. He told his head teacher today that he loves my class, that he feels "buena onda" with me. Onda literally translates to wave, like a sound wave. The slang expression means good vibes. I have to say I'm feeling buena onda with all my students. They're great!
Elaine and I have buena onda going on in the apartment too. I was thrilled that she was interested in community cooking. Healthy, cheap, perfect. We trade off shopping on Sundays then cooking Monday through Thursday so we get two nights off a week. Weekends are usually spent out around Santiago with the other 5 ChACErs.
This is the beginning of some delicious chicken alfredo. Good stuff.
Every afternoon I come back intending to finish decorating my room but it still has yet to be completed. I get back around 5:30 and besides eating dinner and watching Criminal Minds (one of the few shows we get in English and I am now hooked on thanks to my host family) I don't really want to do much else. But we have managed to fix leaks in the washer and Elaine's sink, fix my toilet, and keep things clean which are all good things.
On Friday we had a visit from Fr. Tim Scully, the founder of both the ACE and the ChACE programs. If ever a guy had buena onda, this is the one. I have enjoyed mass with this guy on a balcony overlooking the Pacific Ocean, a deck on Lake Michigan, in a living room in Tampa, and now in another living room in Santiago. Our corporal for the offering was the first book he wrote which happened to be on our shelf--"Rethinking the Center." No Pope no rules, right?
We went to a great Italian restaurant called Nolita within walking distance from our place. The meal was fantastic, I will definitely be back. Great wine, great food, and great conversation. Fr. Scully really wants me to get my PhD in math education...we'll see. Right now I'm just having a blast getting to know my kids and teaching some English. Toda buena onda.
The perfect command for the first day of school! I'll admit that starting school in March is a little weird, but I felt very little anxiety today and I think it had something to do with the fact that it isn't August or September. Also I wasn't supposed to have students today, but in typical San Nicolas fashion, I got a call while I was working in the teacher's room saying that I was 30 minutes late for a class that wasn't actually mine. It was fine, we chatted about the summer and learned names. Here is my second bulletin board. I think the turkey was better.
I got around to hanging my map yesterday! I never really understood how art can make you happy (some things that artists come up with just make me puzzled) but now that I have something that reminds me of an exciting trip I kind of get it. I love maps, and this painting reminds me how much of South America I've seen and how much I have left to see. I love it!
The artist was pretty excited about this ship. He told me something about it in Portuguese. I found out quickly that while there are some similarities between Spanish and Portuguese, they're different enough to make no one understand anything. He also talked to me about surfing off the coast of Chile.
I can't get enough of depictions of sunsets over Rio. Cristo, Sugar Loaf, and the beach just make it amazing.
At the suggestion of a few followers, and partly to stay on a more regular sleep schedule, I'm going to drop back to a post a week. I hope to relay great successes and lots of personal learning moments in the coming months! Stay tuned.
Today was very productive. I sorted out all our finances that piled up while we were traveling, organized and distributed photos from my trip, and did some planning for the trip my high school friends are taking down here to Santiago at the end of March (yay!). Tonight we had a "despedida" or goodbye party for Garrett and Jamie. Garrett was a ChACEr 2 years ago and stayed at St. George for a second year. He and his girlfriend Jamie, who has been working in Santiago the last two years, will head back to the states this week. We had an asado then went out to a salsa club. It was a good time.
The picture below are the products of Sarah's baking this afternoon. She made chocolate chip cookies and banana bread. These are definitely simple pleasures but are tough to come by down here. Brown sugar doesn't exist in Chile so it has to be brought down from the states when people go home. We have a limited supply, so we have to pick our cookie dates wisely, but they're so delicious.
Hoping to do some epic apartment cleaning tomorrow. There is lots of food and lots of bathroom products that were left behind that have to go. And I will finally hang my paintings from Rio so I can post pictures!
Happy Friday everyone! I hear the states are cold and snowy. If you want to borrow some of our heat and sun you're welcome to it, there's plenty to go around.
Before I forget, I'm obviously back to my old format here. I noticed that when I was posting with my iPad the pictures were much bigger but were all stacked at the end. Does anyone have a preference? If so drop me a line. If not I'll just do whatever suits my mood.
I spent the last 6 Lenten Seasons of my life at institutions that did not serve meat on Fridays. Now that I'm in a country that doesn't observe abstention from meat, I can fully appreciate those 6 years. Lunch today was steamed veggies and rice.
Lots complain about the food in our cafeteria (or "casino" as they call it) but I'm thrilled to have a free hot meal every day.
Work the last few days has been useful but a bit monotonous. We did some team building around community today that was pretty cool. This is a collage of all our ideas for how a teacher can foster community in the classroom.
Dan and Sophie got back from the states today reuniting all of us for the first time since Christmas. We decided to celebrate by all wearing plaid and going out for sushi. Sarah told us to make these faces and then either deleted or never actually took the pictures where we look normal. Thanks, Sarah. And you're welcome Mom.
The sushi in Santiago is excellent. Tonight we were especially hungry which made it even better. Laura doubted our ability to finish 64 pieces of shushi but then she remembered she hasn't been around guys much for the past two months.
No problem.
We just finished "watching" Sherlock Holmes 2 during which 4 of the 5 of us watching fell asleep. I'm looking forward to sleeping in very late tomorrow and getting some things done around the apartment. We have a kitchen that needs sorting and paintings that need hanging. Come back for more! And I hope you all have a great March!
