Hey everyone! It always amazes me when I look through my pictures how much has happened since my last post. English Week was a blast. I was so impressed with the students from every level.
Here are Ciara and I, resident gringos at San Nicolas.
On Monday all the little kids were the stars. We started with Sala Cuna, the 0-2 year olds. They did a song called "Pet Store" and they definitely brought the house down.
Medio Menor, 2-3 years old, did Old McDonald. All the groups also did some of the warm-up songs we do every day. Big hits were "Open/Close" and "My Arms are for Hugging".
The Medio Mayor kids, 3-4 years old, did a song about the people in a family. They were definitely the loudest.
The pre-kinder and kinder kids did some of the songs I've been using all year, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, and the hello song. Everyone did so well, I am one proud teacher!
On Tuesday the 1st through 4th graders had a poetry contest and since I don't teach those grades I was replacing the teachers that do. This picture is from Wednesday when my 7th and 8th graders had their spelling bee. They were pretty nervous but did a great job. They also did some performances all together as a class, the Cha Cha Slide and Little Cabin in the Woods, a campfire song I learned in scouts.
We finished on Thursday with the high schoolers. The seniors did a really nice tribute to Alicia and sang "You're gonna miss me when I'm gone". Alicia has been so great this year, I'm very blessed to have her as a department head.
Friday was Teacher Day in Chile. We had classes in the morning then there was an awards presentation for the teachers. I got most relaxed. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it was nice to be recognized.
Then all the teachers went to El Rancho, a huge patch of land that has a restaurant and an orchard on it. We had lunch there and sang Karaoke, it was a blast.
Our teacher band performed as well. I'm their newest addition! We played a great set, Play That Funky Music, I Feel Good, Oye Como Va, and a few other songs in Spanish that I really enjoyed.
Pablo, Juan, Rody, Paolo, Alfredo, Alexis, Mauricio, and me. A wonderful group of friends, all of us misfit musicians.
Our classes continue to be fun and a little crazy. The medio menor kids are learning the numbers 1 through 3 so I had them lay on the ground. Sofia decided at this point that the 3 didn't need to be connected anymore.
I often draw inspiration for lessons from the English books we have on hand in the library. I found one the other day about hide and seek, so I read the book, made a power point with the rules in English, and had Medio Mayor practice counting and saying "Ready or not, here I come!" I also dug up the Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie song by Jay & The Techniques on youtube.
Alvaro, probably my favorite student. He's this little ball of energy that can barely speak Spanish but he belts out everything I ask them to repeat in English. He's quite the mover, we have a lot of fun.
This past Friday we had Cafe Concert. It's an opportunity for each grade 3rd through seniors to show off what they've been learning in music class. We had everything from The Beatles to Jesse y Joy.
I was once again impressed with the dedication from the students. They were really passionate about their singing and playing, we have some very talented musicians.
It was a really fun night. It was cool to see our students doing what they love.
Last night was the annual ChACE Halloween Party! I came as Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. I found most of the stuff in second hand stores in the city. The dress was definitely the best find. A little work with some scissors and I think it came out quite nicely.
Pumpkin-spewed guacamole, courtesy of Sarah's creativity.
Here's our group of Disney villains! Gaston, Captain Hook, Cruella DeVille, Malificent, Ursula, Scar, and the hunter from Bambi. Great job everyone!
Check out those horns. Great commitment, Dan.
The new ChACE crew did Mario Kart, and they did it very well.
Sarah and Ciaran made some clever gravestones for the yard. All in all a fantastic party, I was really impressed with all the creative costumes we saw from the Chileans.
We have a short week coming up (woohoo!) so this Wednesday Ryan and I are heading to Pucon for some adventure. Come back for volcano climbing, cave exploring, and undoubtedly some fun in the river rapids.
Remember a month or so back when we inaugurated the English Room? Apparently I did a good job with the little kids (1 through 5 years old). The first day I came back to work after the Argentina/Uruguay trip I learned that our English preschool teacher had been put on bed rest. This was two months earlier than expected. So what happened? My boss said, effective immediately, I was the new preschool teacher. Oh, and I also had to keep teaching 7th, 8th, and 12th grade too.
If you had told me a year and a half ago that my time in Chile would include teaching preschool for three months, I would have said that's crazy. But I kind of love it. We sing and dance and color all day, I have a regular schedule (finally) that runs from 8:55 to 12:35, and as of last week the new ChACE teacher took over my upper level classes so my afternoons are free and I finally feel like I'm actually planning and teaching effectively again.
Oh, and crazy adorable things like this happen all the time.
I do miss my older kids, but this will be a great experience. The first couple weeks I just felt like I was hanging on for my life, especially since I was running between buildings trying to keep up with both preschool and older kids. But now we're working through the material and it's going pretty well.
We have one more week of craziness and then my schedule should officially be on preschool time. This is English Week, so I'll be working with all the preschoolers, 7th, 8th, and 12th graders because I prepared them all for their songs, dances, skits, presentations, and spelling bees. It will be a whirlwind, but it will officially close my interaction with the older levels. I'll miss them, but this is a good change, it's working better than I could have imagined.
Typical pre-kinder class. They're learning the shapes so I have them lay on the floor in the different geometric forms. Here they're going for a star...it's kind of close.
For English Week the little kids end their shows with a song called "The Monsters". They love to growl. So I've taken to calling all of them "Los Monstruos" which occasionally is quite accurate.
As I mentioned above, the new ChACE group has arrived! Two weeks ago we got up at the crack of dawn to welcome them at the airport. This is almost the whole crew. Kevin, second in from the right, is teaching at San Nicolás with me. He's doing a great job, especially considering he was charged almost immediately with all my middle school and senior classes.
I turned 26 last week! On my birthday itself we went out for dinner and I got a deck of cards and a cupcake with a trick candle. Great success.
We also celebrated with my host family a few days before. I continue to be overwhelmed by their generosity. They've been so good to me.
My fellow ChACErs enjoyed shoving my cupcake in my face. South American tradition. When in Rome, I suppose.
The real celebration happened over last weekend. I've talked about Los Molles a lot before, it's a very special place for me here in Chile. So I planned a little trip there for anyone that wanted to come--we ended up with 18 people! What a great blessing to enjoy such a beautiful place with so many friends.
This was Friday night, we made pasta and hung out late into the night. And we played cards! It had been too long.
One of my favorite things about Los Molles is how peaceful it is. There is no rush to do anything--sleep as late as you want, go for a walk on the beach, grill some meat, whatever. We had a very lazy Saturday capped off by a beautiful sunset over the rocks at Puquen.
There are Sea Lions on that rock that make so much noise you have to hear it to believe it.
Probably my favorite place in Chile. I could listen to music and watch the waves all day.
Thanks to everyone for coming out and making this a great birthday!
We had some cake on Saturday night. Also, that thing with a candle in it is a potato. Those that know me well know how much I dislike potatoes. Thanks, Erin.
But in the spirit of the occasion I took a big bite out of it. I don't know how many of you have eaten raw potatoes but they're worse than cooked ones.
On Sunday, after one final stroll through Puquen, we went to my favorite fresh fish restaurant near the water. Always caught that day, always crazy delicious.
It was a fantastic weekend, and I hope to go back once more before heading back to the states for Christmas. I've thought about what will become of this blog when I leave Chile. I don't have much of an idea what I'll be doing next; I might come back here, I might stay in the states, or I might go somewhere else. Who knows? But I can promise that my travels in January will merit pictures and stories, so stay tuned.
Ok, first an apology. It's been over a month. Ouch. I'm going to split the time up into two posts with lots of pictures and less text; the second post will explain why I've been so busy and haven't posted. But first, my trip over September Break!
It had been in the plans to go to Buenos Aires for quite some time, but it just so happened our Chemistry teacher Alejandra was headed to Uruguay for the week so I tagged along with her the first weekend.
After landing in Buenos Aires, we took the Buquebus ferry to the sleepy town of Colonia. It was like stepping back in time. Cobblestone streets, stone buildings, and an old fort characterize the city.
I felt like I was in Boston.
Beautiful lighthouse attached to some of the old fort. Apparently the Spanish used Colonia to smuggle goods into Buenos Aires since it was the closest city across the river.
After our night in Colonia we hopped a bus to Montevideo to catch up with my friend Kelly who has been living there 2 years now. She visited us in Santiago before winter break.
Kelly took me to a meat market that looked a lot like Mercado Central in Santiago but instead of fish it was all beef. Tons of it. There must have been 100 of these little parilla (par-ee-sha with the Uruguayan accent) spots and everything smelled unbelievable.
Melted provalone cheese in a red pepper with oregano. Crazy good.
Sunday evening I took the ferry back to Buenos Aires. After a cab driver tried to scam me into a $20 cab ride to our hotel, I decided to walk the 25 or so blocks. I was glad I did. I got to see some beautifully lit buildings, like the "Casa Rosada" (pink house) where the president lives and works.
Monday was very rainy so after my travel companions arrived from Florida we had a lazy day at the indoor pool and hot tub followed by a huge steak with a Malbec wine, a famous Argentinian combination. That cow says "I'm Juicy". The meat temperatures are different in Spanish, from least to most done: inglese, apunto, jugoso, tres cuartos, bien cocido which translate to English, at the point, juicy, three quarters, and well cooked.
This is Mike. Mike and I taught together at St. Pete Catholic in Florida for a year. He was a great travel buddy. Each night after dinner we found a different scene to have a few beers.
Monday night was "Puerta Roja". No sign, just a red door. Fun spot, we played some pool and had Argentinian craft beer.
Tuesday brought much better weather so we went walking around the city. We saw the Cathedral, Casa Rosada, Obelisk, and a number of government buildings. Here's that Pink House again. Just over Mike's shoulder is where Evita gave her famous speech.
Buenos AIres is famous for their ritzy cafes. They're quite extravagant and serve good lunch food.
Here's the obelisk. It was built to celebrate the city's 400 year anniversary. Apparently the public wasn't crazy about it but by the time they mustered any support for a change it had become iconic to Buenos Aires. It was most recently made famous in the final scenes of the Dexter series finale (which, in my opinion, could have been better).
I was struck by its location. It's just plopped in the middle of the street! Nothing like the Washington monument surrounded by all that green space. I like this though, it's easily accessible and viewable from all over the city since it's a major intersection with several streets running to it.
Evita Perón's grave in La Recoletta cemetery. The mausoleum next door is open if anyone wants to rest eternally next to her. $250,000.
Memorial to the soldiers killed in the battle for the Falkland Islands (Las Malvinas to the Argentines). This is still a very sore subject. There are signs all over Argentina that say "Las Malvinas fueron, son, y siempre serán Argentinos". The Falklands were, are, and will always be Argentinian.
Tuesday night we went to see a tango show. Pictures were tough since no flash was allowed, but it was fantastic. Incredible style and acrobatic dancing, a great band, and good food to boot.
Probably my favorite couple. They were adorable and prove that dancing is a lifelong sport!
El Caminito in the Boca neighborhood is probably the most recognizable part of Buenos Aires. Bold pastel colors and tango music course through the streets. It's a little on the touristy side but it sure is beautiful.
Lunch plus tango at El Caminito. The guitar players were phenomenal.
I couldn't get enough of the colors. These buildings ran right to the water (Rio de la Plata, the world's widest river for those keeping score).
We figured we'd walk by the Boca Juniors stadium (probably the most famous soccer club in Argentina) as long as we were in Boca and we were lucky enough to get a tour. What a beautiful stadium.
We learned all kinds of cool secrets about the stadium, its team and its fans. It was a great stroke of luck!
Cafe Tortoni, the most famous cafe in Buenos Aires. They're known for snooty waiters and good desserts. I can account for both.
At dinner one night (delicious Italian food) I looked up and couldn't believe that the Tamba Bay Rays game was on. Perfect for the Florida company!
After the Italian food Mike and I went to this awesome old mansion that was converted into a bar.
It felt like a huge house party that everyone in Buenos Aires was invited to. Very cool atmosphere.
My travel companions hadn't been to Colonia so on Thursday we took the ferry across the river again. I was glad we did, the weather was way better. We rented a car and drove along the coast of the river. Beautiful beaches. I wanted to swim but lacked a towel so I settled for wading.
I also found some Uruguayan trees to climb.
Dulce de Leche flavored Gelato. So good.
After returning to Argentina we took a nap and headed out on one of Buenos Aires' famous pub crawls. 4 bars and a night club. It was a great way to see more cool spots and we met some fun Argentines. A great final night!
All week we had heard how beautiful the opera house was, Teatro Colón. So Friday morning we took a tour. Everyone was right. Here's the incredible foyer with marble imported from 4 different countries.
The artistry and craftsmanship is awesome. Everywhere you turn yields a breathtaking view.
The Gold Room, added after several years of operation.
We were only in the auditorium a few minutes because there was some staging going on so I didn't get a lot of great pictures, but it was quite impressive. They have a hole in the dome at the top to do "voice of God"-type scenes. The acoustics are crazy, I'm sure the effect is perfect.
From the moment I read in my guide book that polo is popular in Argentina I wanted to see a match. Unfortunately the rain at the beginning of the week made conditions unfavorable so there were no matches. Something for the bucket list.
Our last afternoon was spent wandering the parks of Palermo. They are stunning, and HUGE. I'm always impressed when a city sets apart so much space for public parks. I could have spend lots more time there but we had a flight to catch.
The Florida-bound flew Delta back stateside so after saying our goodbyes I was treated to this sunset as I walked between terminals.
I had a great week. Great company, great food, and great memories. Coming back to work was tough, and I could never have prepared for what I was walking into at San Nicolás. New post soon telling all about it!
