If you can´t beat them, join them!!

Hola Todos,

I´m back again! This makes 2 days in a row that I´ve blogged, but with lots of time on my hands lately (due to the continued strike) I have a lot more time to email and blog. Speaking of the strike, I have realized that I´ve had the wrong attitude the whole time!! Yeah, I mean what´s the point of fighting an organized strike by teachers all over Chile? Now that we are going on week 4 of the strike I decided that "if you can´t beat them, join them!"

Here are a group of teachers from Copiapó marching around the Plaza.

(notice: the two street dogs participating in the march)

Here are some of the teachers from my school with a fancy new banner. Lookin´good!

Anna and I didn´t know that there was going to be a march downtown. Once again it paid to have my camera on me because I was able to snap a few photos of my collegues. Here they stopped briefly to let me get a better pic of them.



And then I decided to join in! Walter, a really nice teacher at my school, waved at me to come join them. I shook my head "no" because we are volunteers with the Chilean government so we are not allowed to get involved in teacher´s strikes (since the teachers are demanding money owed them by the gov).

But, right after saying no Anna and I thought "what the heck, why not?!" I mean, what are they going to do, kick us out of the program? Yeah right, we only have a few days left! So, here I am marching with my teachers (I was saying "we want money!" or something like that so that is why I have a weird expression).



Another pic of me marching with the teachers.

So, yeah I sort of joined my teachers in their strike. I think my marching with them lasted only a couple of minutes so I guess I can´t say I am one of the die hard strikers. Ironically I got a call today saying we might go back to school tomorrow. That is ironic because the strike has been going almost 4 weeks and tomorrow is technically my last day teaching. I am kind of hoping it works out because I can teach one more time, say good bye to the students and teachers, and give some small gifts to my two co-teachers and director. But, being Chile anything could happen so I am not keeping my fingers crossed. If you get a chance though pray that I get that last chance!! Ok, until next time...

Going Crazy, Good Food, and Yummy Donkey

Hola Todos!

How are you all? Well, I thought I would update you guys on what Anna and I have been up to. The strike continues on and one of the dangers of too much time on your hands is going crazy! Here is proof that Anna and I are loosing our minds :).

Anna ate a grapefruit and after she was done said "hey we should make Tolby (our street cat) a helmet! So we did ;). Bad owners, bad.

Last Friday all the volunteers in the area went to "Kactus" which is an awesome Mexican Food place here in Copiapó.

Here, from left to right, are the volunteers Nick, Zack, and Paula. We all enjoyed hanging out all together since pretty soon we will be splitting up and traveling. It is sad to think we may never see some of the volunteers again.


The waitress thought that we would like to wear their Sombreros that they had around the restraunt as decoration. The favorite of course was the biggest one. Here is Anna trying it on.

Joe and I acting silly. We thought it would be funny for "big Joe" to wear the little hat and for "smaller Jason" to wear the big one. Maybe you just had to be there.

Now that the end is near we are getting even more invitations to eat out with friends. Last week we went over to José and Katy´s house (they are good friends of Lorena and David). They also got married not too long ago, are Christians, and love to travel. They are SUPER nice and we all had a great time.

Salchicón de Burro

Yeah, that´s right! We ate DONKEY MEAT!!! And it was good! I guess you can buy it in the "campo" or countryside and it is a traditional Chilean sausage.

The aroma of the donkey meat was strong, but it was actually delicious! I kept thinking of the donkey in Shrek :).

Anna made awards for the best student in each of her classes. She spent a lot of time making these cool awards and prizes. I´ll let her tell you about the ceremony she had for her kids.

A couple of pics of the pretty hills that surround Copiapó.

I will definately miss the hills....

Do you want the good first or the bad??? How about the GOOD!

Ok folks! Here are some TOP 10´s. Jason and I have both created two lists for fun, The Top 10 Things We Will Miss and the Top 10 Things We Won´t Miss. We thought that it would be fun to post them on the blog! So here are my TOP 10 THINGS I WILL MISS when I leave Chile:

10. Manjar! It´s basically Dulce de Leche and I have grown to LOVE it. I´m pretty sure that it´s not in the USA...though I may be able to make it.

9. The dry hills. I love the green but the hills are really stunning at sunset here. I will miss seeing the beautiful shadows!

8. Walking everywhere. This is a mixed basket becuase I don´t like having to walk with a ton of groceries in my hands. I do like how non-dependent though we are on a car. Everyone else walks too which is nice.

7. Being unique. Not SO sure about this one but it´s sometimes nice to have people be generally interested in you and your story. We are by no means "another face in the crowd" here. haha. There is a rather LARGE part of me though that looks forward to not being unique anymore. Being constantly stared at gets a little old sometimes.

6. Don Gelato icecream. I know. It´s a bit high on the list. But seriously...it´s really THAT amazing.

5. The daily challenges and oppurtunities that Jason and I have to grow and draw near to the Lord with. This has been a huge growing time for me...or so it feels to me. :)

4. Spanish! Seriously, it really bums me out to realize that I won´t be speaking in Spanish daily. All that work and effort from the last months could possibly be lost. I guess not lost forever if we return to a Spanish speaking country. But yeah...kinda sad.

3. My school and my students. I have had them for almost a whole school year and have grown very attached to so many of them. They are a constant joy and you wouldn´t believe how many times they have me cracking up in a day! They are so sweet and they will be greatly missed. I will also miss the other teachers who have helped to make me feel welcome, made me speak in Spanish, and have just made me laugh. It will be hard to say good bye on Thur.

2. The life in general that Jason and I have created here. Just the every day things. I will miss sitting at our table drinking coffee in the morning. The routes that we always walk. Going to our grocery store. Sometimes what makes life so great and nice aren´t the big, exciting things, but the everyday normalcies. Not sure if that makes sense!?

AND FINALLY....

#1. THE PEOPLE. We will miss our co-teachers, our friends, the hospitality, and laughs we have had with friends. It will be so hard to leave and really, I can´t imagine doing it at this point! By far, the people in Chile have been the greatest part of being here!

Caldera

Hola Todos!

Yeah!!! The Library is open again! Phew, I was having withdrawels from not getting to use the internet for 4 days or so :). Well, today for your viewing pleasure I uploaded some photos from Anna´s and my day trip to Caldera last Saturday. Caldera is about 45 minutes away and is a cool little beach town that reminds me of a mix between Avila and Los Osos. So, here aer some pics of our fun day!

One of the first things that we did when we got there was walked along the pier. Right next to the pier is a Fish Market which Anna and I strolled through.

In the Fish Market there were all sorts of crazy looking shell fish and fish that we have only seen in Chile. It was fun to mix into the energized atmosphere of the market with fish mongers shouting their wares and prices, locals buying things for lunch or dinner, etc.

Piure
This is one weird...what do you call it? Shell fish? I have no idea what it scientifically is classified as. This red mass is called Piure and is not for the faint of heart. Anna and I have tried it once and hated it. If you look up a description of it, you usually will find the phrase "tastes like iodine". GROSS! Yeah, I definately never have a craving for iodine. If you notice there are oval impressions all over it and that is because the "meat" that you eat has been taken out and...



...put in a bucket and then...

...washed and put in a bowl to sell. Mmmmm, doesn´t that look appetizing!

But, there is a good restaurante that is at the end of the Fish Market if you want something a little more "normal". So far Anna and I haven´t had a chance to try out the food there.

Here is a picture of all the people shopping. It wasn´t a huge market, but definately popular among the locals and tourists.

Ceviche

Sorry about the pic being rotated the wrong way. I´m not sure how to fix that. Anyways, this is Ceviche otherwise known as raw fix bathed in lemon juice. Supposedly the acid in the lemon "cooks" the fish or shell fish, but my rule of thumb is to not buy this stuff. Don´t get me wrong, I like Ceviche, but just not when I am unsure when it was prepared. I love scallops "ceviche" style, but only when I catch the scallops and make it myself.

Here are some of the things that they were selling. Look in the back at the long fish. Those are called "Congrio" or Conger Eel. They are not eel, but kind of like the Lingcod found in CA. I REALLY want to catch one, but I may just have to be satisfied with eating one at a restaurante.

More fish, crabs, and shell fish.

The boats were very cool to look at because they were all so brightly painted.

On the pier the fishermen were repairing their nets. That was also interesting to Anna and me so we watched them for a bit.

Here a local fishergal is filleting some fish to sell. When she was done filleting she threw the guts and scaps behind her for the...

...fat lazy seals. Watching them kind of reminded me of being on the pier in Port San Luis. It made Anna and I miss home a bit.

Here is a close up of one of the big males.

Anna checking out the seals.

After walking along the pier Anna and I went to two different Empanaderías. The first was Empanadopolis which is very popular. Here I am eating an awesome Chicken, chees, and olive empanada.

Here is a pic of the front of the restaurante.

After eating at Empanadopolis Anna and I went to the other very famous Empanada shop. The other one is called "Casa de las Empanadas". Well, after eating there we wished we had just gone to Casa de las Empanadas because they were SOOOOOOO good!!!!!!!!

A shot fo the sign above the restaurante.

After eating lunch Anna and I went to Bahía Inglesa or "English Bay". It is super touristy and during the summer it gets very crowded.

Two hot lookin´gringos.

Normally the water is crystal tourqoise blue, but there was all this kelp making the color gross green! It was too cold to swim, but fun nonetheless.

Ok, I´m getting kicked off the internet! My 1 free hour is way up, so until next time!!!

I have a Buddy!

A running buddy that is!!! So, after like 11 weeks of training or so I have realized that it would be a whole lot more fun and motivating to run a marathon with a buddy. So, Jason's cuz, Ashley, who is an old friend from Cross Country in high school has agreed to join me in the endeavor. She's a perfect match for me. She's faster and motivated. She WILL finish the marathon FOR SURE and so there is no way I won't. haha. I'm a little competitive when it comes to sports and exercise. We are planning on an April or May marathon. We just need to pick one now! I will start training with her on our long run's when we get back to the States at the beginning of December! Here's to running till you can't possibly move another muscle...and then running 10 MORE miles! Thanks Ashley!!!

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.