So, there were 4 but now there´s only 1!

Hola Todos,

How are you guys doing? Well, I wanted to post about what Anna and I have been up to lately, but I forgot to upload our photos on our pen drive. So, after looking throught the photos that I do have I thought I would let you guys know our "current" cat situation. Well, as Anna and I told you guys before, we had a mamma street cat show up at our house near the end of August. She brought with her three tiny little kittens that were all half starved and one was very sick. Anna and I gave a little food to "Mamma cat" as we called her and the one kitten she had brought and after that they sort of adopted us. Well, since then Mamma cat died mysteriously (we suspect that she was poisoned by someone in the neighborhood...not uncommon here unfortunately), we gave Rocky away to a neighbor who wanted a kitten, Lucy disappeared around 3 weeks ago (could be she met the same fate as Mamma), and now we only have Toby. Toby is a taby cat who out of the bunch was SUPER skiddish and would trip over himself trying to get away from us if we tried to pet him. Well Anna, being the cat whisperer and all, broke Toby and now he BEGS to be petted. It is kind of funny to watch him arch his back when he wants to be petted and he will put up with anthing as long as you scatch his back and neck. For example, Anna and I made him a little harness so that he can go on walks :). Yeah, he didn´t like that and just kind of went limp while I "took him for a walk". He is a funny little cat and we are going to miss our kittens when we leave. In a way they have made Copiapó feel even more like home.

Well, nothing exciting today but that is all I got for now! I hope the gov. strike ends soon so that I can use the internet at the library and update you guys on Anna´s and my life here in Chile (oh, the gov strike is different than the teachers strike). Ok, gotta go! Hasta luego.

Bored...Why not Post. Hey, where did the question mark go

So, the title is supposed to have a couple of question marks but surprise, surprise...this keyboard is different from the others that I have used and though there is in fact a question mark on the keyboard...it doesn't work. hmmmm. So, I will try not to ask any questions. hehe.

So, guess what! I have only 10 days of teaching left...only 10 more school days. Super weird and also a bit exciting AND also a bit sad. I have moved once in my life...from North Carolina to California. As a little 7th grader it kind of rocked my world and I was pretty certain that my life would end once I left behind all my friends. Well, it didn't. It's strange to think that very soon we will be saying goodbye to our Chilean friends, students, and co teachers (The dash symbol is also missing...haha). It was strange for my to realize at the age of 12 that I would probably never see those friends in NC again. It's even stranger and more "real" to realize that we probably won't ever see these people here again either. Jason and I have both agreed that it's kind of akward (I can never spell that word!) to say goodbye. I'm so the person who would rather say bye to a few friends and then duck out of a party rather than make a big shindig about it. There is talk of a few going away parties though and so we can't just "duck out of Chile"...not that we really want to of course. Hmm...things to think about. Also...being home seems like a weird dream that isn't REALLY going to happen. It's really hard to imagine being back.

In other news...we have a beach day coming up! Jason and I are traveling an hour on Saturday to Caldera (the local beach town). We are going to explore Caldera a little more, eat our weight in deep fried cheese empanadas, and then go down a few miles to another beach town called Bahia Iglesia...which basically looks like a place straight out of the Carribean...crystal clear water and white sand! Oh yeah! I'm goin' to get my tan on...um, well, you know...my red on which will eventually turn into a tan if it doesn't peel off first! haha. So, I'm a bit excited!

Anyways, that's about all for now. I'm going to go eat my banana before my class starts!!!

PS. Did you know that when you use blogspot in another country the spellcheck doesn't work. It really bugs me. So, I used to think that I was a good speller and then I started learning another language. I get the spelling mixed up of Span and Eng words all the time now. It's kinda pathetic. Oh well...

I was taught not to use the word HATE, but....

Hola Todos,

Hey Guys, how are you? Well, today got off to a rought start....I woke up with Anna and got ready for the day and then walked her to school. Since I am not teaching because of the teachers strike I went to the Public Library as has been my custom for the last week or so. Well, I arrived at the Library a bit before it opened and decided to read a little while I waited. While I was getting ready to read a man who washes cars in the Library's parking lot informed me that the people who work at the Library are on STRIKE!!! That means that there is the national teacher's strike, a strike at the Deca supermarket near our house, a Library strike, AND while I was walking throught the plaza some other demonstration-strike that I have no knowledge of. That means 4 strikes all on the same day! Now, like I titled this blog post I was taught not to use the word "Hate" because of the weight that it carries, but I can honestly say that after living in Chile for over 7 months now I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE strikes!!! I understand that this is a developing country and that they are going through a lot of changes and difficulties that the U.S. went through in the past (with all of the workers strikes and unions forming), but I am just tired of being caught in the middle and having nothing to do. As a guy I feel like a bum and a drain on society when I am not working. Sure a break is great once in awhile because it refreshes you and helps you take a step back from the hectic pace of life, but when you have TOO much free time with not much to do it really wears on you. The Public Library here has been a haven for me the last week or so because it gave me something to do: read books in Spanish, learn about the Chilean culture (there are cool books about the food, places to travel, etc), and use the internet for free. Now for the next two days that is no longer available to me which is quite depressing.

So, if you get the chance please pray for the strike to end and that I would have a good attitude. I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Some Randoms...

Ok, so can I just tell you that I have been thinking about "crafting" a lot lately. First off I will say though that I thought I would miss all of our "stuff" at home a lot more than I have. I mean we only have a whole NEW kitchen's worth of stuff waiting for us at home. I missed it at first but have in general become fairly content with living simply (though there have been a few moments of frustration with cooking...seriously, you shouldn't have to do a load of dishes in the MIDDLE of cooking something. Yes, we do have that few of things...and yes, I am tired of cooking everything in a pyrex pie dish, haha) In general though...it hasn't been bad. Lately though I have been thinking about that lovely sewing machine, that new, beautiful sewing machine that my wonderful grandparents gave us as a wedding gift...who am I kidding, they gave ME as a wedding gift! haha. That sewing machine that doesn't have a sticky pedal that likes to randomly ZoooOOOm and ruin what I'm doing (my old one from the 70's had a tendancy to do that at times). Yes, I would love to craft right about now. What kicked this feeling off? A giant homemade blue ribbon that I made. haha. My kids are creating "cities" on a giant piece of poster paper complete with English labels and an English name. hehe. Anyways, there is a competition amongst the classes for the best, most creative one. So, I made giant blue ribbons for the winning posters. It's pretty bomb-digidy. And now I want to go home and be crafty. Well, I don't know that I quite want to go home...but I want to be crafty!

In other news...we are 3 weeks out from being done here in Copiapo. So weird. I am still teaching although Jason isn't as of now. What's a bit exciting is that we are 3 weeks out from TRAVELING! Woohoo! I love the anticipation of going somewhere new! I love how it's almost never the way you imagined it. I love finding those little "jewel" of a places like a great coffee shop, cultural differences, food, and the people. I love it all! Some possible places that we may hit after Copiapo are...(yes, this is for you parents) Pucon (the outdoor adventure capital of Chile), Chiloe, Viña del Mar, and Valparaiso. Hopefully we have the money! hehe. Anyways, that`s all for now. Here are a couple of pics pulled from the web of where we would like to go!

Pucon: A volcano that you can hike up! So beautiful!

Pucon: There is also white water rafting...how awesome!

Pucon: OF COURSE they have mountain biking! Yes Please!

Pucon: Here is a picture of the little mountain town...why yes, it does look NOTHING like what we have seen so far in Chile. It reminds me of Mammoth Mountain really. But, we want to go none the less. This would be by far the most expensive part of our trip so if we don`t have enough money this will probably be cut out first! :)

Now onto Chiloe (I`m super excited for this island!)...

Chiloe is known for it's many churches...so here are a couple.

Chiloe is an island and many houses are built on stilts becuase of the rising tides. It's a sight to see!

Chiloe: Doesn't this picture just make you want to explore and have some great seafood...mmmm. There is also another island nearby that is a penguin refuge and ALSO a super beautiful national park to explore! :) yaya!


Now onto Valparaiso!

Valparaiso is on the coast built on the side of a bunch of cliffs. The building are all different colors and there are miles of windy tiny streets to walk through and explore.

Valparaiso: Some of the hills are so steep that there are these trolly lift things to take you up to the next "level" of the city.

Valparaiso: There are a ton of old victorian houses to see and explore. It´s sard to tell in this pic but the blue house is built literally on the edge of a cliff...crazy stuff.

And now onto Valparaiso´s rich neighbor...Viña del Mar.

Viña: Pretty water. We figure if we run out of money at the end we will just relax and get our tan on on the beaches of Viña. Not a bad way to end our time in Chile :)

And now I´m done. Hope you enjoyed our little preview of some traveling to come!!! :) Also, pray for an end to the strike too if you think about it!!!

Spelling Bee

Hola Todos,

Hi guys! How is everyone? Well, today is DAY 4 of the strike and there still is no end in sight. It is super frustrating that Anna is able to teach (some teachers at her school are not striking) and I´m left on my own with very little to do. I can´t go to the English Institute here in Copiapó to work because there is no exact end date to the strike...so, I could possibly get work but then have to quite when the strike ends. There is a possability that the strike could go until the end of our program which would mean I would never get to say good-bye to all the teachers and students at my school. Very lame. Yesterday I received an email from the Ministry of Education saying they may re-assign me to another school so that I have something to do and so they aren´t wasting their money. That option seems ridiculous to me because by the time I get started I would only have 2 weeks to teach! It would keep me busy, but what would happen if the strike ended after I had switched to a new school? Would I stay at that new school or go back to the one I have been teaching at for the last 7 months? All in all this is a lame situation. Anna and I have had an awesome time here in Chile, but one of our biggest complaints with working here are the constant strikes. I would love to come back someday and teach full time at a university, but since the educational system still has a few kinks in it I may choose another country. Please pray for a quick resolution to this mess.

Anyways, today I wanted to tell you guys about our day trip to El Salvador last Thursday. On Wednesday of last week Anna´s co-teacher asked her if she and I would be interested going to the town of El Salvador to help with an English Spelling Bee. We said "totally!" and that was the start to a last minute trip to that little mining town. The English Teacher from El Salvador contacted Anna and arranged a time for us to take the bus...7am! So, Thursday we woke up at 5:15 am, got ready, and went to the Pullman bus station to catch the bus. I asked one of the Pullman workers which was the right bus for El Salvador and he lead us to the one he thought was the correct one. So, Anna and I boarded the bus and waited for awhile trying to stay awake at least until we departed. All of a sudden the man I asked jumped on the bus and told us that we were on the wrong bus and that the one that had just started to leave was the one we wanted! So, we hopped off the bus and ran over to the other one, barely making it. I guess there are two buses that go to El Salvador - one goes along the coast which takes 5 hours and the other goes a more direct route that takes 3 hours!! So, thank God we made the right bus otherwise we would have taken a super long bus ride for no reason!

So, once we arrived the English Teacher, Valentina, picked us up and took us to her school. Her principle re-imbursed us for the bus tickets and then Valentina told us to meet her downtown at 1:15 since she had classes until then. So, Anna and I rolled up our sleeves and explored the giant town of El Salvador!

Ok, well El Salvador is not exactly giant. The town is pretty small, but as you can see in the photo above the streets are SUPER wide. The copper mine in El Salvador used to be owned by an American company so that is why the streets and houses have an American feel.

Since the town was pretty small Anna and I explored the majority of it rather quickly, so we found a bench in the shade and read for a bit.

Since we were tired Anna got bored with reading after awhile and decided to try out the swing set in the Plaza. I would have joined her, but there was some bird cacky on the other swing! At 1:15 we met Valentina and had a yummy traditional Chilean meal for lunch and then afterward went to her school to wait until the Spelling Bee started.

The Spelling Bee first started with the little kids putting on a demonstration to show what they´ve been learning lately. It was a cute little show where four kids had flash cards of a toy (written of course in English) and they each had to say "I have a _____". Then they hid their flash card and mixed themselves up and their classmates (to the right, outside of the photo) had to ask them "Do you have a bike, etc.?" and that student either responded "yes I do" or "no I don´t". It sounds simple, but for their age level it was pretty impressive. After that was the Spelling Bee with 5th grade to 8th grade.

After judging the Spelling Bee Valentina gave out prizes to the kids and a thank you gift to Anna, me and the other two judges.

The Principle gave me my prize which was a nice pen with "El Salvador" written on it.

Here are the famous judges plus Valentina (in the middle).

After the Spelling Bee there was a little party for the students who participated, the teachers, and the judges. Anna and I definately took the opportunity to fill up on yummy snacks. Since we live on a modest budget whenever there is free food we joke "eat as much as you can so we don´t have to eat Dinner!" :)

After the Spelling Bee Anna and I toured other parts of the city with Valentina and then ate a small dinner. Valentina was very nice and spoke amazingly good English. She kept thanking us for helping her with the Spelling Bee. For Anna and I it wasn´t completely an act of charity :), we did get to visit another place in Chile for free :). Anyways, so at 9 pm we boarded our bus and 3 hours later (12 pm) arrived in Copiapó. We were exhausted, but the day was super fun and well worth the effort.

So, that was our trip to El Salvador...I hope you enjoyed it! Ok, well I am going to go explore the Library now so have a great day!

Día de Recreación

Hola Todos!

Hey Guys! How are you doing? Well, I am here at the Public Library in Copiapó using the free internet. Why am I here you ask on a Monday when I should be in class? Well, once again the Professores in Chile are on strike over the money that the government owes them. This time only 50 % of the teachers are striking...unfortunately the professors at my school are a part of that statistic. Anna's school has decided not to strike and to continue classes so that is why today she is teaching and I am visiting the Library. So, with all this free time on my hands I thought I would post and tell you guys about the event at my school last Wednesday called "Día de Recreación."

But first, have you guys ever seen or tried this fruit before?

This is a Chirimoya or "Wood apple" in English. It is a common fruit here in Chile and Anna loves them! I think that they are ok...they kind of have a funny flavor and a ton of seeds.

Anyways, so last Wednesday I didn´t teach because once again we had a celebration. AGAIN!! I swear, Chileans celebrate everything!! Wednesday´s celebration was called "Día de Recreación" or "Recreation Day." The whole day was filled with recreation games and activities.

Here are some of my 7th grade students playing ping pong while waiting for the activities to start. I thought that they were pretty clever to convert a table from the cafeteria into a ping pong table with a card board strip as the net. They talked me into playing a game or two with them, so I hung out for awhile and tried to dust off my ping pong skills. It was fun to connect with the students outside of the classroom.


The first event of the day for the young kids was an Aerobic Class. I watched a little, but I did NOT want to dance so I hung out in the back and talked with the kids. After that the PDI, or Chile´s FBI of sorts, came with their Canine Unit and put on a demonstration for the kids. The kids loved the show and kept chanting "Canela, Canela, Canela", the name of the dog, over and over again. Whenever the dog came near them they lunged forward and tried to pet it. A few times they charged the field to pet the dog and the Director or Principle had to shew them away and tell them to sit down (only in Chile :).

One of the things that the PDI Detectives did was have their search dog look for a "drug" that they had placed in one of the kids backpacks. Or course the kids loved being a part of the show and seeing the search dog at work. The demonstration wasn´t super long, but it was fun to watch the police interact with school kids just like they do back in the U.S.

After the PDI demonstration I watched some of the kids play "baby fútbol." Baby fútbol is a smaller version of soccer with 5 players on each team that play on a smaller concrete field and with a smaller soccer ball. While I was watching some kids from my 6A class asked if I wanted to play some Jenga. I said "Yeah!" and found myself battling it out with 6th graders to see who would win at Jenga.

Here I am taking my turn at pulling out a block. Just like with Ping-Pong it was fun to connect with the kids outside of the classroom. They really didn´t care who won or lost, they just wanted to hang out and spend time with the strage Gringo, me!

Here are the 5th and 6th grade classes battling it out. You guys would be amazed at how good these kids are! They play very seriously and with a lot of passion which make it a lot of fun to watch.

Well, that was basically "Día de Recreación"; lots of games and activities. Some of you are probably thinking the same as me "don´t they ever have class and study?!" But, then you have to look at things from their perspective...they´ve asked me "Why do you guys celebrate so little in the U.S.?" When you really think about it what do we celebrate in the U.S. at school? In Elementary School I remember dressing up for Halloween (Kindergarten), dressing up with my classmates as a Pilgrim or Indian for Thanksgiving, having a class party for Christmas, Easter, and Valentines Day. That is a lot of fun activities, but we always did things on a smaller scale from what I remember. When I compare the funnest activity I did in Elementary School it pales in comparison to the celebration of the "Aniversario" or "Día de Independencia" at my colegio. Both of those activities involved the whole school and in the case of the Aniversario each class was pitted against the others for a championship.

What you have to realize is that here in Chile they love to enjoy life and be with friends and family and so they have lots of holidays and celebrations. Part of me sees the inefficiency in that, but then part of me wishes I had grown up that way too.

Well, I hope that you guys enjoyed today´s post! :) Since the Strike is "undefined", meaning there is no exact end date, I may be able to post again soon. But with only 4 weeks left I would prefer to be teaching so pray for a quick resolution between the Gov. and the Professors. Thanks and ¡Hasta luego!

El Salvador and Coming Back "Different"

Jas and I are in the GI-NorMous town of El Slavador. haha. jk. It´s a tiny town and for those of you who want to google it...probably only our parents, you will find that it has a huge copper mine that sustains the town, the US copper supply, and a large part of the Chilean economy. Not bad for a town of like 7,000.

Anyways, we were invited here to be judges in an English Spelling Bee. Basically, they have a volunteer but she went out of town during this week and they needed a couple of people. The teacher here is BF´s with my co-teacher and so she asked my co-teacher if she could steal me for the day. She needed Jason too and so it worked perfectly. They paid for our travels and lunch and we were able to see yet another place in Chile for FREE! Free is very, very good. We had to wake up at like 5:15am and travel for 2.5 hours but it´s been nice none the less. The competition starts in about an hour.

So, yeah. Not much else is going on down south of the equator. We have 4 weeks left. That kind of wigs me out but what can you do? I´m trying to think of what I can change about myself when I come home to show that I´m "different" now. haha. Really though, it´s like the guys that are in the program who are not cutting their hair the whole time they are here in Chile so that they can go home and look "different"...like they have changed. I don´t know if you know what I mean. It´s like you WANT to be different now then from when you left and for people to think, "Hey wow, look what that experience did to him/her." Maybe I´ll get a tattoo or some kind of peircing...or dye my hair...or binge eat majar and cookies and come back really fat...hahahaha. Ok, maybe not. Or maybe I´ll know a little more Spanish than I did, be a little more aware of the greatness of God then I was, love my handsome husband even more now then when we left, and be a little more aware of what the world is REALLY like. I guess that will have to do! hehe. See you all in 6 weeks then! :)