Settling In

Hey Friends!  Hope all of your Octobers are going well.  Many past ChACErs have let their blogs trail off after starting work in Chile.  In an effort to combat this statistic I'm going to try to write at least a short post once a week.  If I'm slacking, get on my case.

I'll start this week with the promised photos in the last post.  Here are all three of my host siblings: Florencia (Flo), Amelia (Ame), and Clemente (Cleme).

Here's Befi the cat, curled up in her usual place on my bed.  She's wonderful, one of the most friendly cats I've met.  My usual routine when I get home from school around 5 is to have "tea" (sandwiches and juice, very European) with the kids, play with the dogs, work out, then work on my computer on the couch or my bed with Befi.  We eat around 8 or 8:30 and though I try to go to sleep at 10 it usually ends up being 11:30 or 12.  The kids are obsessed with Criminal Minds and I get sucked in.

Friday was the last day of classes for the seniors (Quarto Medio, 4th year of high school).  They had a special breakfast then the school lined up to create a tunnel from their class to the exit of the school.  It was very emotional having Pre-K through 11th Grade lined up in order saying goodbye.  Many of the students have younger siblings following in their footsteps.  There were a lot of tears.  I barely know these kids and I even got emotional.  Maybe it was the Kenny G version of "Auld Lang Syne" they had on loop (seriously?).

I think teaching little kids would be quite the challenge for me but I love them in small doses.  They're so adorable.  They all had balloons to send off the seniors.  I've never experienced a school before that has all levels pre-K through 12.  There were 3 students that left who have been at the school for 13 years.  That blows my mind; this place has become such an important part of the fabric of their being.  No wonder it's emotional.

They'll spend the next month studying for the PSU which determines where they go to college, what they study, and what they'll do for a living.  No pressure, kids.

Friday was also Teacher's Day so the school took us all out for lunch.  Here is most of the English department.  We had a great time!  Very traditional Chilean food and drink.  Best Pisco Sour I've had yet for sure.

Some of the teachers have formed a band and they had a surprise performance at the lunch.  I had the pleasure of sitting in on their rehearsal a couple weeks ago.  If I can track down a trombone I'm hoping to join their ranks.  They call themselves "Montes Inc" as a play on the Pixar movie and the founding family of the Diacono schools.

This week 7th grade has been learning words for physical descriptions.  They had to draw themselves and describe their features.  Here's what they came up with for me and their teacher, Miss Catalina.  I hadn't shaved in a couple days so I taught them "scruffy" and "peach fuzz".  They were very interested in hair terms so we went over "frizzy", "bun", and "spiky".

 On Sunday we went to an asado (cook out) hosted by an ex-alumno of St. George.  They call students "alumnos" here.  Seems backwards, but I'm adjusting.  There were lots of graduates there that are still involved with pastoral ministries at St. George and they've been friends with the ChACErs over the years.  Very fun people, we had a great time.

Here we are with some of our new friends at the table.

I had my first experience with taking public transportation back to Chicureo after the asado.  It's not an easy process: a metro ride, a bus and a taxi (or you can hitchhike the last leg which is very common and safe here).  I'll likely find a colleague that can take me to school in the mornings next year.  It's half the cost and half the time.

This is a photo from (I think) last Easter with my cousin Jacquie's daughter Elliana.  She's incredible.  Her husband Nathan posted it on facebook the other day and I wanted to share it because she could make anyone look good in a picture.

I have a very busy week coming up: ChACE Halloween party Saturday, essay due for Notre Dame on Sunday, Octavo Adventura (8th grade trip to the coast!) Monday through Wednesday, then I'm going North to the Atacama Desert where there will hopefully be some sandboarding for the long weekend November 1-4.  Posts to come!