More Than Just a Transport (10/28)

I'm going to miss the public buses in Santiago when we go. They are crowded sometimes, they smell stale, and the drivers are reckless beyond my belief. But, they really do have a charm about them. You meet real people on them. And, often times, I am surprised at how I feel. I enjoy the oddity of events. Or the closeness to perfect strangers. Most of all, I will miss the unexpected talent. Many board to beg, bargain, or bear their hearts. It's often an ethical dilemna. But, there is never a doubt when someone earns it with a display of their talent. Sometimes, I find myself wishing for another ride.

Seeing St. Francis (10/28)

We're not Catholic, of course, but our curiosity gets the best of us sometimes. We just had to see the inside of Santiago's oldest church, St. Fancis of Asissi. Fortunately, we didn't have to sneak into this church. It has a rather nice museum. With many paintings detailing the lives of Saint Francis and a few other important priests, it was more of an art gallery than a relic museum. I was amazed to find tucked in one of the little nooks in the labrynth a tribute to Gabriela Mistral who apparently left her Nobel Prize to the church. Another exhibit that was stiking (a terrible pun here) was a display of whips and belts used for self-inflicted punishment. (If you saw the movie The Da Vinci Code, the bishop's "Angel" punished himself with similar tools.) The courtyard garden was nice also. Deb and I just sat there looking at the goldfish in the fountain pool and watching the birds (including a rooster) around us.

Well. While eating a light tea, we realized we have about 8 more weeks here in Chile. So we made a list of things that we want to do before "the end." We are going to work hard to do them all.

Cute Kids (10/27)

OK, ok. Kiddies can be really cute at times, I admit.

Background information: Deb and I got together right after an early dimissal from school today to go to the bank and see about adding my name to her account. (This is a frustrating topic worthy of a separate blog. Chilean banks, and maybe the bankers, are retarded.) So, then we went out for lunch and I went to ADS for the rest of the work day.

Main content body: After work, we had plans to go out with Alicia, one of Deb's cohort. First, however, we had to stop at Alicia's house to meet her husband. Alicia has 4 children, and the youngest 3 greeted us upon our arrival. Sebastian, age seven, was energetic and wanted to show us how he jumps. Tomas (almost 2) was busy and had problems with his falling-down pants. But, the star cutie of the evening was Daniela. Daniela (age 5) loves Disney and McDonalds and is enjoying learning English at school. She sang The Rainbow Song to us. It was quite precious, I think.

Disclaimer: The contents of this blog does not grant the parents of said blogger, or of said blogger's wife, the right to ask the said blogger and/or his wife when they are having children, hope that it implies a recent change of perspective, or even get excited about any unknown possibilities. And, any comments regarding such matters shall promptly be dismissed with the usual roll of the eyes, "Whatever." (or similar comment), and it's implied attitude.

Science Fun (10/26)

At Lincoln, we are working on Science Fair projects. And the experiments have been pretty exciting! Some students cut fruit apart and watch how it changed over time. (You should see what a banana looks like after sitting in a classroom for a few days. Rico!!!) Other students are trying to make rockets. One group tried pumping air into a bottle of water. They stuck a pump needle through a hole they made in the lid. They they pumped as much as 70 lbs. of pressure into the bottle. They didn't get the bottle to fly, but water sure did. After some of the water had come out of the bottle, it was lighter and there was more room for air pressure. They discovered that by laying the bottle on its side, they could make it slide across the floor. Other groups are working on simulating tsunami and volcano eruptions. Energy is definitely high these days!!!

Music Festival (10/25)

There are many opportunities here for children to perform. I'm not always sure that a lot of preparation goes into the performances, but I do know that the students enjoy them. Today we had a singing competition. Students didn't compete so much as express themselves. Many different styles of music and many different degrees of ability. But it was fun, even if it was kind of long. Several of my students participated. They sang kiddie pop tunes and a selection from the High School Musical (no surprise there!!!). Actually, two girls from my class got second prize.

I wish we had more opportunities back home for kids to perform in school. I wonder if I could fit a Talent Show into the grade level objectives...!?!

A Grave Subject (10/23)

As a teacher in a public school in the States, the worst thing that could happen if a student isn't doing well is repeating the grade. That's a serious decision that has lifelong effects. Steps must be taken in order for it to be an option. Here, retention is a possibility, but not the most grave consequence. If you don't keep up with expectations, you will be asked to leave the school. I have a student who received this letter. It recommended that the family investigate other options for next year. And I had to hand this letter to them. Wow, that was hard. I nearly cried.

A Sunday Stroll (10/22)

Deb and I went out with some friends after church today. We decided to do lunch and a stroll in the park. Things are feeling so warm and summer-ish. Everyone was out in shorts and sandals. Deb and I even smathered on the suntan lotion to prevent grilling. What was so cool about it was we heard all about this park, Parque O'Higgins, around the Sept. 18th holiday. Apparently the military paraded a rather large regime, complete with armed vehicles, through this park. We marched in honor of Chile too. The presidenta herself sat in the bleachers where we sat (until some military individuals asked us to leave. Oops!). While in the park we spied Fantasilandia, an amusement park as we understand amusement parks. It has everything from serious rollercoasters and freefall towers to "Evolution," a ride that spun in circles while making loops. I swear the riders were upside down more than they were upright. We will have to come back and try them sometime.

Sendero Interpretativo (10/22)

Deb and I finally made it to Yerba Loca (Crazy Weed) National Park. One might expect that "Interprative Trails" are used to educate the hiker about certain aspects of nature. As we discovered, this title should be taken in a very literal way. Now the park personnel told us that there were two trails and the harder trail was to the left. So Deb and I intended to do the one on the right. He said there were no maps, but the trails were clearly marked. After driving past the guard house and down a windy, bumpy dirt road (complete with little streams to drive through), we reached parking and picnic areas. After parking, we found no left or right trail. We wandered around until we found a sign that indicated the trail we wanted. That must have been what the dude meant by "clearly marked" because from that point on we "interpreted" our own trail. Granted, we were to hike between the two mountains, no mistake there. But, we happened upon marshy land and couldn't find our way around it, so we squished through it. The attached photo was taken while washing my shoes, socks and pants in the glacier melt stream. Though we didn't hike the 17 km. to the glacier, the scenes were definitely pretty. I wish the dude in the shack would have given me a bit more information. I think I know what the "yerba loca" park personnel are smoking in that guard house, and it's not helping hikers.

Did You Feel That?!?! (10/15)

Some people live on the edge. We live on the Ring. The Ring of Fire, that is. While the title might sound like a cheap pickup line, we've been asking it a lot lately. Thursday's was the first of four daily earthquakes. That was around 2PM. My class went from calm and quietly working to wild excitement and chaos. Though it wasn't strong enough to merit ducking under our desks, it did shake and last long enough to make me consider inquiring if we should. It was a pretty strong 4 on the Richter scale, I'd guess. We had one Friday night too. Deb and I were at home, and we had that moment of "Oh my gosh!!!" Saturday's was too light to feel. But today we felt the shaking around 10:30PM. It was serious enough to make rattling sounds around the room. Short, but grabbed the attention. The coolest part is that we track these earthquakes on the US Geological Survey website. (Take a look!!!) About half an hour after the quake it appeared on the site as a 5.4 in northern Chile. 230 miles away and we certainly felt it. Kind of mindboggling, we only think the earth is solid and stable!

Hot Springs!!! (10/9)

You got it!!! We were looking for some luxury in the midst of Pucon's incredible nature. What we didn't know is that we would have to drive up the roughest roads we have seen since Costa Rica's Panamerican Highway! After a casual morning and a wonderful Swiss breakfast, we set out for the hot spring waters of Termas de Panqui. We headed east towards Argentina, then turned north on a dirt road. It was rough, but the scenery was beautiful. We were held up by some Huaso cowboys and their herd of cattle as they chased them down the road in front of us. We knew we were in for rustic, though, when we made our last turn onto a mountain trail. Though it had been traveled recently, it sure wasn't kept up. We pulled in right as the skies opened and rain started to fall. We were given a tour of the grounds by a very hospitable Chilean who didn't seem to note the absurd journey or the rain. Resolved after the rough ride to relax in geothermal waters, we reluctantly prepared for the cold of rain and chilly conditions (there was snow still hiding in the shadow of buildings and trees) on our nearly naked bodies. But, after the initial freeze and slip into the water, we decided it was well worth all the trouble. This was MUCH better than an outdoor hot tub. We ended the about 4 hour swim with an incredible Chilean meal. Even the bushwhack out was anti-climatic.

Los Ojos de Caburgua (10/8)

So we actually went to Temuco on the bus. We rented a car and drove the rest of the way to Pucón. Ironically, though we were supposed to rent an economic Yaris, there were none in house when we arrived to pick up the car. So they gave us a free upgrade -- a honking truck!!! (I was going to protest because it would cost more for the fuel, but then decided to enjoy it. We were actually very fortunate to have had it because not all roads we took were so user-friendly.) So we drove to Pucón, checked into our bed & breakfast and went to find some of the beauty southern Chile is known for.

With many recommendations, we decided to go to Los Ojos de Caburgua where waterfalls can be found within close proximity and very little hiking. The funny thing is that we found several entrances to see the Ojos and other waterfalls and they all seemed to be on private property. When visitors arrived, someone would come out of the house and collect the entrance fee. Many times we thought how amazing it must be to live in an area like that with two very impressive forces of nature in your backyard: an active volcano looming over the river of rushing falls. The little paths we walked were rustic, root-covered and difficult; they took you right to the water and nearly into the falls themselves. We were seeing nature in such a virgin state - something you'll never find in the US because there are always paved walkways or iron railings to keep people from falling in the water. "Amazing," "impressive" and "beautiful" just don't really cover it. I can safely say that our camera worked twice as hard as Deb and I put together on our hike. I was in picture-taking paradise!

We wandered around Pucón in the evening, relaxing, shopping, and finding good things to eat.

(Disclaimer: Chris wants me to let you know that the words in bold and italics are from me, Deb.)

Pucon or Bust! (10/7)

We are definitely learning! We traveled south to Pucon for the weekend. We traveled 8 hours on a bus. BUT, there are different kinds of buses. And we took the spacious, "Pamper me, pamper me!" class this time. It was much more enjoyable than riding in the coach class. Though I still had trouble sleeping.

Alliance Field Day (10/5)

In the typical fashion (chaos) we took a trip to Chicureo where our sister school is located. There, in their ample, agricultural ambiance, we held multi-aged, sports competitions. Those who chose to compete played volleyball, soccer, and ran. Those who didn't bounced on inflatable castles or played on the playground. My job was refereeing the high school volleyball games. I was worried that students would argue with me about the calls I make. But, I did my best to call the plays and be consistent, and they seemed happy with my reffing. After lunch, everyone was free to do whatever they wanted. So I played volleyball with some staff and students. Then later I played soccer (which after warning everyone that I was bad, I felt rather good about how I played). I also checked in on the kids on the playground. They were sorely unsupervised, so they inadvertently clogged a sink with sand while getting water to make motes for castles and lava for volcanoes. But, they were having a great time. The last event of the day was a relay race involving one student from each grade and one staff member for each color. I was exciting to see all the children work together and cheer for each other. I like the multi-aged activities for this reason. Little kids always cheer for the big kids, but big kids really worked to make little kids feel good too. The Alliance team scores were released and a winner was declared, but I remain rather confused about who was really in first place. The most important thing though was that we all had fun and everyone contributed in some way. I think that was the conclusion. Although, who could tell for sure?

The Alliances!!! (10/4)

An interesting idea, difficult to actualize. Alliances are multi-grade teams. They competed today in a contest that eventually leads to a winning team. (When, I don't know.) The primary problem was organization. (No surprise here. It was a bit chaotic.) It was mostly those who were interested participated, everyone else did whatever they wanted. The activities, though I think they came from a staff member, were directed by high school students. Flamboyant (!!!) teenagers pleaded over microphones for demonstrations of team spirit and best efforts. It was probably a good experience in sympathy for teachers. Little kids and faithful peers were the typical participants. Games like Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, relay races, scavenger hunts, and dancing contests earned points for Alliances. I was on the Green Alliance. Few teachers participated (in fact, few were present) so I didn't go crazy, but I cheered and lent a hand as appropriate. It was mostly a good time. We continue tomorrow with Field Day. Go Green!!!