I just got the pictures of this and it's too cute not to share. A few weeks ago I brought my trombone to all the preschool classes. It was a big hit. I started off by having them guess what was in the case. Guesses ranged from a mouse to a naughty student. I put the horn together (amazing to them in itself) and played some loud notes, soft notes, and had some fun with the slide. Then I played all their favorite songs--Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, Happy and You Know it--classics.
Next I asked them if they wanted to move the slide. You'd think Christmas had come early. They especially loved to move it all the way out to last position, but would get scared if it came off the end as if they broke it.
It was a lot of fun.
Only my youngest students, because there wasn't time in my older classes, had the chance to play. It was tough for them to buzz their lips correctly but boy did it ever make for some cute pictures.
Seriously, I have like 50 of these and they're all adorable.
Fast forward two weeks, to Tuesday the 5th of November. We had a 4-day weekend coming up and Ryan and I had been planning our trip to Pucón in the 9th region (Lakes Region) of Chile. I got hit with some pretty nasty food poisoning. I missed school on Wednesday, but recovered and caught the late-night bus to Pucón. Mom reminded me that I was in a weakened state--NOT a weekend state--so I should take it easy. Thankfully by Thursday afternoon I was back to 100% and was able to enjoy our vacation.
Pucón is a nice little tourist town. Its main attractions are the lake to the West and the volcano to the South. There are several other volcanoes around but Villarrica is the closest and most picturesque--and it's active. Check it out in the background here. You can see it from all over town. People come here from all over the world to climb it, an attainable feat for any moderately fit person.
The first two days in Pucón were wonderful. We went rafting on Thursday and took a drive around with a friend who lives in the area on Friday to see the surrounding lakes and towns. Unfortunately my SD card was acting up and in order to document the volcano (definitely most photo-worthy) I had to format it on Saturday morning.
Here's the route up to the crater. The red lines at the bottom are ski lifts for the ski resort that operates in the winter.
After driving to the base, one of the first things you see are other volcanoes off in the distance. These things are everywhere. It depends on who you ask, but there are up to 500 volcanoes in Chile with 123 active.
Elaine and Laura met Cristian on their trip to Pucón last summer and he came up to Santiago to ski with us in August. We got in touch with him and he offered to take us up the volcano. He's a skier and encouraged me to bring my board. The upper cone got a huge fresh snowfall two days before we climbed so conditions were perfect. I was excited, this was the first serious climb I did with my board.
This time of year, the hike is almost entirely on the snow. There are around 300 people that do the climb every day, generally in groups of 15-20. We were lucky, we only had 5, so we were able to take pretty much whatever path we wanted.
Cristian and Ryan at the beginning of the trek.
This cloud was awesome. It rapidly changed shape and was in front of the sun almost the entire hike which kept temperatures down and sun exposure to a minimum.
The Lakes Region of Chile is beautiful. We saw maybe 4 or 5 lakes from the volcano all surrounded by mountains. Clouds hovered around the cone all day but you could easily see past them.
Towards the top the it gets quite steep and crampons are definitely required. I used my snowboard boots the whole way up and I think we found the only pair of crampons in Pucón that would fit them.
We were really moving and made it to the top in something like 2-3 hours. We were the first ones up that day! It offered some great picture opportunities. Here's the smoking crater.
The smoke was very sulfurous. At one point we got covered in the stuff and breathing it in was not pleasant.
Board on my back, pick axe in the ground, checking out the crater.
Ryan and me at the top.
The descent was a blast. This was definitely the most unique natural feature I've been able to snowboard on. Cristian had his GoPro camera with him and had me film on the way down. It gives a really cool perspective.
I had eyed this huge cliff on the way up and was glad I could sneak over to it on the way down. It was a little nerve-racking riding out there with the camera but it was worth it.
Here's the video of the traverse out to the point.
If you squint you can see a little black dot out on the tip of the cliff. That's me. Credit to Ryan for the photo.
Here's the video of the descent from the cliff. The landscape is so beautiful, I loved riding above the clouds.
After the hike we went to a pub for a couple local beers, appropriately named crater.
And here's the crew eating a hard-earned dinner. Alexis, me, Ryan, Tomas and Cristian. What a great day!
We came back on the overnight bus, arriving Sunday morning. One full week of teaching, then this past weekend Dan and I took a trip to Mendoza, Argentina. Watch for a post soon--this one won't take so long, I promise!
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.
And here's the crew eating a hard-earned dinner. Alexis, me, Ryan, Tomas and Cristian. What a great day!
