It's been Six months!!

And that's that. Today was my last day in the classroom and I cannot believe how incredibly fast the time has flown by. As I was sitting my my classroom today, I tried to recall everything that had been done there and that now I hav to leave. This trip has done exactly what I wanted it to do and more. It gave me the opportunity to realize how great a life I live, how great of family and friends I have, that I can actually speak Spanish and get a point across, that my beard in indeed a Ron Weasley orange, that 'liztaylor' means 'ready' in Chile, futbol can be a game for the USA, Phase Ten is just as cool in Chile, and finally I have a refreshed viewpoint on the world around us. Especially after seeing the 33 miners come out of the mine in Copiapo, anything is possible.

I have become so comfortable in this country, not only in my school with my colleagues and students, but with transportation , communication, and just being myself. Chile is a unique country that has much social, political, and economical development and it's national pride swells from the far northern tip in the San Pedro de Atacama Desert all the way south to Punta Arenas and Tierra Del Fuego. It has been great to be apart of such pride in this country and 2010 has been year to remember here in Chile.

I feel quite fortunate to have found my program via the internet. Ingles Abre Puertas truly is a worthwhile program trying to educate every Chilean with the English language in hopes that within in generation everyone in the country (16.7 million), will know and speak the language. While the task sounds entirely too far-fetched, the program is still in existence after 7 years and into it's third presidency. If anyone knows the importance of English, it's President Pinera, who speaks English and studied at Harvard. In a world where English dominates the business scene and one can skype from one end of the world to the other, the language has never been more important.

My host family has been an even better experience than my school's. Never did I imagine I would enjoy a host family as much as my familia Jara. They welcomed me with open arms and now they send me off not wanting to let go. The feeling is mutual. I will never forget their hospitality, love, and the conversations we had over meals, BBQ's, and other activities. I am truly grateful to the Ministry of Education and Rocio (my regional boss) who interviewed and placed me with this family. I absolutely had the best luck of my entire group, I feel, and will share stories of this family for a long, long time.

Andres, Diego, and Daniella were the greatest host siblings I could have asked for. Diego even came home (a 12 hour bus ride from Santiago) this past weekend for my going away party. Andres showed me his hospitality when I visited him in Valdivia one weekend. When he was in Osorno, he always invited me over to his friends house for drinks and cook-outs and to play futbol. Dani showed me Osorno, how to get about and always entertained me during lunch. Her English made me laugh and since she did not attend school during these six months, we hung out frequently.

For the parents, I cannot say enough. Their open arms, willingness to do nearly anything for me, and kind hearts only made my time here more enjoyable. Ivan and I would watch Colo-Colo, the best futbol team in Chile, during the weekend's, and drink Escudo's. He took me to a pro futbol game here in Osorno one Saturday, and introduced me to his military friends. Veronica was an angel in every sense of the word. Not only is she an excellent cook (pretty sure I have gained 7-10 pounds), but her ability to put others first made me feel like a part of the family. It is true that hospitality in the Latino culture is incomparable and Veronica demonstrated that every day. I can and never will forget how the accepted me into their family. Presents, words, nothing can let them know I appreciative I am for how they have made me feel over the past six months.

With all that said, now I get to see my FAMILY. My dad arrives this weekend in Santiago and we are going on a two week trip throughout South America. The highlight of our trip is a fly-fishing trip for three days. Thank you all for reading my blog and I will have a few most posts before I wrap it up. Happy Thanksgiving and God Bless Chile.

Bariloche, Argentina

This past weekend we enjoyed the Monday off and traveled to Bariloche, Argentina. It's the second Monday day-off Chile has had in the last month. Holidays here rock and happen as frequently as the Cowboys lose football games nowadays. Too soon?

Friday afternoon myself and some volunteers in my program boarded a bus to take the 5 hour trip to Bariloche. The bus drive included incredible scenery as we passed through Puyehue National Park. Thank goodness because the bus showed 'Titanic II' as its feature video. Didn't know what was going to happen...Anyways, with snow of both sides of the rode, the bus drove quite slow until we got to the border. Once I got my passport stamped and was asked what I was doing in Chile and coming to Argentina for, we re-boarded and drove in darkness until we arrived in Bariloche a little after 10pm. Our hostal was a solid recommendation from a previous volunteer as we had a penthouse hostal for only $10 USD a night. The view, which I saw for the first time when I woke up Saturday morning was a panoramic view of all of Bariloche and Lago Nahuel Huapi. There were mountains, mountains, and more mountains.

Also since the town is a very tourist driven city, English is as common as Spanish. It is always a treat to talk English with Latin Americans and I even managed to get a business card from a 35 year-old international marketing manager from Buenos Aires. Email her or no? On Saturday we walked around the city, visiting many chocolate stores which Bariloche is known for, saw St. Bernard dogs who pose for pictures with people for a small fee, ate delicious pizza, and celebrated Halloween at a local Irish pub.

On Sunday myself and Laura, a fellow volunteer went on a 15 mile bike ride through the mountains. The views for absolutely incredible, as southern South American always provides, and until my camera died I managed to snap some great shots. I ate a pancho, which is simply a hot dog and at this particular place, a hot dog with potato chips on top, then resumed my bike ride. Great energizer. For every downhill we cruised down, and cruised down fast I tell you, there was a nice-sized uphill waiting after. Along the trail we met students who were studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Israeli's who had just gotten out of the army (and in a conversation with each-other I heard them called me Ging-Ging. I asked them if I was Ging-Ging and they confirmed it. The beard doesn't disguise anything..), a South African, and many Europeans. Aside from losing my Nalgene of three years, all went great. Argentina is a beautiful place, and Bariloche is equivalent to the Aspen of South America with all it's tourist attractions, high-priced hotels, and skiing attractions.

I thoroughly enjoyed Argentina, its people, and the distinct accent (much easier to understand them than Chileans or maybe that's my five months on this continent talking), and the beautiful scenery it provided. I now enter my last month in South America with trips lined up for Cochamo, Chile, called by many the Yosemite of Chile because of its huge stone walls famous for climbing, a hike up Volcan Villarica in two weeks with a volunteer, and then off to Santiago for the closing ceremonies and to meet my dad at the airport as we embark on the fly-fishing trip of a lifetime in Southern Chile. He also gets to meet my host family and students!

Some quick notes:
1) My host family has put pictures of me up on their family wall. There is a picture of me solo and also with the family. This will no doubt be a difficult good-bye.
2) I gave one of my students a Twizzler last week courtesy of a package sent by my mom, and as soon as he put it in his mouth his loose tooth fell out. He told me he was going to get $15,000 CHP (roughly $30 USD)
3) I showed a Man vs. Food episode to my students. Not a good idea when you miss American cuisine.
4) Host family said I look like Shaggy from Scooby Doo. Not the first time (Dad...)
5) The dog is peeing in the picture with the church.

La Isla de Chiloe

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After a week in which a 5.6 earthquake struck smack dab in Osorno (I was in a car and didn't feel a thing somehow), I traveled to Chiloe, an island a five hour bus and a ferry away from my city. I was eager to check out the famous curanto dish, which combines clams with meat with potatoes with many other things and is cooked in a hole in the ground for many, many hours.

The method for cooking it goes something like this: First, extremely hot rocks are placed at the bottom of a pit in the earth. Shellfish is then added, then meat, then chicken, then sausage, potatoes, and some herbal leaf. As the shellfish cook, their shells naturally open, pouring out their juices and steaming the ingredients. I am getting all this out of my guidebook FYI, I couldn't remember the whole process so I took to the book I have held closest to me the past four months. Sound delicious or a bit primitive? If the latter, these pictures above should change your mind. Anyways, after a day or two (woah, didn't realize it was this long), you take it all out and serve it up with some cilantro. Or you can just have it oven-baked which I am pretty sure is how mine was prepared. Chilenos flojos (lazy). Also served with the curanto is the shellfish juice on the side. As not only the book tells me but several other volunteers, the shellfish juice is commonly referred to as 'Liquid Viagra'. It was good but can't exactly make a comparison...

Now as to how we got there to this island of myths and 19th century wooden churches. After taking a ferry across the Canal de Chacao, we sat in a bus for 2.5 hours passing through the island's countryside to the main city of Castro. When looking at pictures that describe Chiloe, normally the curanto ranks high on the list, but also among the regulars are houses called palafitos. Palafitos are timber houses that sit on stilts and we had the privilege to stay in one on Friday night! Overlooking a part of the Gulfo de Ancud, we had all the proper amenities and even an included breakfast where I met my first group of New Zealanders and first group of Spaniards while in Chile. Oh how different the spanish accents are. All this came after a night of singing karaoke with ten other volunteers. The top song of the night had to go to Kim and her performance to Pat Benetar's 'Heartbreaker'. The Chileans loved it.

Finally, we went to Conchi, a city further south where a volunteer, Laura, lives. I thought I had a good situation with my host family. This family has a tennis court, trampoline, and are currently building a swimming pool in their backyard! Later in Conchi, we drank beer on the beach as the sun went down, and then headed back to Castro for the night. While the time in Chiloe was short-lived (although I am going back next month), to experience the curanto, the palafitos, and see the beaches was a great weekend away from the classroom. Check back for more next week as I head to Lago Todos Los Santos for the long three day weekend. Backpacking and fishing, what more could one ask for!

Oh and the picture of the hot dog is a 30 centimeter completo nicknamed the 'Trauco Gigante'. Trauco are deformed and ugly trolls that dwell in the forests of Chiloe as the myth goes. They wear ragged clothes, carry a stone axe, and their breath apparently is irresistible to women. An ugly man with an impeccable breath. Sounds like Sayid from Lost after he found a tube of Crest. I promise I didn't make that business up. Only in Chiloe would an ugly troll-man have such fortunes.

Happy 200th Birthday Chile!

As one of my earlier post's said, continuity is the key to any good blog. With that said, I have failed miserably with any kind of consistency. Therefore, here is my unofficial pledge to provide you with all the updates, all the time. -I will do my best to write much and write often.- There I said it, just don't hold me to it please, I am having too much fun here in the El Sur de Chile to think about obligations.

If this year in Chile hasn't already been filled with enough news including the 8.8 earthquake in February, the national soccer teams first win in the World Cup in 48 years, and the entrapment of 33 miners in a northern Chile mine, then the fact that this year represents the 200th birthday (September 18), the bicentennial of the Republic of Chile should come as no surprise. (Picked a good year, I have to say!) Activities began all over the country at the beginning of the month and culminated with a four-day weekend of celebrations just two days ago.

Friday and Monday were national holidays, Chilean wine and beef was in overhaul, fireworks lit up the skies all over the country, and military parades took place in many of the major cities. In Osorno on Saturday a huge military parade took place and was unlike anything I have ever seen. People came from all over the south to watch the parade that included United Nations soldiers like my Chilean dad, to tanks, to Hummers, to trucks full of soldiers pointing their rifles towards the sky as if an enemy was near, to a military band. The whole thing was incredible, eye-opening, and one couldn't help but fell a sense of pride for the country, even me the foreigner.

The rest of the weekend was spent dancing the Chilean national dance, the cueca, grilling outside with friends and family, and stuffing my face with anti-chucho (think shish ka bob), choripan, empanadas, and drinking chicha, a spritzer-type Chilean beverage that comes in grape and apple flavors. It's safe to say nobody was left hungry or thirsty. Here are some pictures to show what really went down, and I promise to be back real soon.

Chi-Chi-Chi-Le-Le-Le! Viva Chi-Le!

33: The Entrapped Miners in Northern Chile

Yesterday, Sunday, was a very memorable day throughout Chile. For the past 18 days, 33 miners have been trapped in a mine in Copiapo, Chile (northern Chile). Along the pathway to reach the mine, rocks fell preventing anyone from entering and exiting the mine. The miners were left nearly half a mile below the surface in a refugio where they fortunately had some supply of water, beds, and plenty of space to move around.

No word had been reported of their health and even if they were alive. Until yesterday. Yesterday afternoon President Pinera and the rescue crew announced to the entire country that the 33 miners are alive and in reasonable health, 700 meters below the surface. They dug a space wide enough to send a camera down to the refugio and yesterday we saw the first signs of communication with the miners. They wrote a note saying, "Estamos bien en el refugio, los 33." "We are fine in the refuge, the 33 of us." It is truly incredible and I had had many doubts that they were still alive.

Now the real rescue process is set to begin. The rescue team says the operation may take four months to reach the refugio where the miners are. With that said, camera crews are reporting the latest 24/7, famous people are donating money to the families of the miners, and plans are being set to change the way mining operates in Chile. Yesterday I felt proud of the Chileans, their strength, and the unity that this country has. While it is ridiculously long and different regions offer completely different lifestyles, everyone was glued to their televisions to see that the miners were alive. Cars throughout the country were honking their horns, people were waving Chilean flags in the streets, and today schoolchildren were welcoming the machinery that is to guide the team to the refugio where the miners await.

Stay tuned for more news! Los Mineros volveran!!

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/08/23/chile.miners/index.html#fbid=yX7Dqie1z7o&wom=false

Fear the Gringo

Each day I take the micro (bus) to school. I come home for lunch and go back in the afternoons. I tend to listen to my iPod and mind my own business until several of my students board the bus and sit next to me. We talk about music, mix Spanish and English, and revel in how they sat on the sofa all weekend watching TV. Nothing exciting. However, it is during the lunch-time travels where Chileans avoid sitting next to me at all costs. It's as if a force around me prevents them from 'popping a squat'. If their is a seat open next to me, they would rather stand than do so. I don't know what it is. I shower, use deodorant, the whole nine yards. But last week I couldn't help but laugh at how far two kids would go to avoid sitting next to me on the micro.

The day was Wednesday, August 11, 2010. I was listening to the likes of Robert Earl Keen, 'I'm Coming Home'. Nothing compares to some Texas country in southern Chile. And no I am not coming home for several months. Anyways, two boys probably in third grade, were arguing over which one was going to sit next to me. They pushed and shoved, until finally settling on a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide their fate. At this point, I wanted to say something but couldn't stop laughing. Ultimately one of the kids sat next to me after much emotion from his loss. I think we have even progressed in our bus-riding relations as he sat next to me again later that week.

With all the hoopla about Chilean children, I am going to share some more stories about my Fifth graders. It's common knowledge that I have quite a techni-colored beard growing. It's mostly burnt orange, but I recently discovered a gray hair mixed in the bunch. One of my younger students, Sebastian, full of curiousity, asked me after class last Thursday, "Profe, why is your beard a different color than your hair?" Classic. He then grabbed at my beard and ripped some hairs from my beard. After confirming that he had in fact taken some of my hairs, he scampered out of my classroom smiling and laughing. Kids do the dangest things. This is also the same student that responds to everything I ask with, "Yes, I do!" ....What is today's date? "Yes, I do" How are you today class? "Yes, I do!" You get the picture.

Sticking with the same group of students, Jose, recently decided to watch several episodes of Simpson's. I can't blame him. I watch Simpson's everyday during onces with my family. However, Homer typically udders a few foul words in there. Thus Jose came into my class Monday morning full of new ideas, and when he forgot what 'skinny' meant in English, he said, "maldita sea" or damn it. He kept saying it over and over until I finally told him I understood him. I love my students so very much. They are hilarious.

In other news, our English Day at school is next Friday. The students are performing everything from Jeff Buckley's 'Hallejulah' to a Backstreet Boys song to a Mad TV skit, 'The Interview' to the Titantic theme song between Rose and that other guy Leo played. I plan on recording it for all to view.

Finally, here's an article the newspaper in Osorno published about me. Page 9, July 19, 2010. http://www.australosorno.cl/prontus4_nots/site/extra/pdp/pdp.html

Vacation: Part II

The difference between our hostel in Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales was night and day. At Erratic Rock we had heat, lots of it, a constant flux of people coming and going which made it seem like a hot spot of sorts for travelers, a nice kitchen (where they make breakfast for clients every morning), eating area, and a TV with hundreds of movies beneath it. The people that ran the place also double as guides to Torres Del Paine, Tierra Del Fuego, and pretty much anywhere you want to go in the Southern parts of Chile and Argentina. There is little wonder why after such demand they made an Erratic Rock II in Puerto Natales and even one in Punta Arenas!

Everyday they hold meetings at 3 pm, providing insight on what you can do in the park and how long everything takes to accomplish. We had thought about a day-trip or something where we could get our feet wet but not put our whole body in. Then we changed to a two-night-three-day trip. Then Tyler, a fellow volunteer, asked us, "Why don't we just do the whole thing?" The whole thing as in the W Circuit that carves itself into the famous Towers of Torres Del Paine. Woah. We thought, thought some more, and then said why not, we have time and it's relatively cheap. So that was that. After we bought groceries for the trip including pasta, oatmeal, hot dogs, mashed potatoes, more pasta, quesadilla supplies, lots of chocolate, gummy bears, and fruit, we packed our bags and went to bed, ready to head out at 8 am the next morning.

The drive to Torres Del Paine Parque takes roughly 40 minutes and the scenery only gets better. We saw the sun rise over the mountains, and then finally, the shape of the Torres Towers that steals front covers of many adventure magazines and also is the Patagonia clothing logo. After registering at the sign-in, confirming our pick-up with the driver, and finalizing the comfort of our backpacks we took off...in the wrong direction. For 45 minutes, we walked completely in the wrong way after a misunderstanding with the park ranger who said to turn in front of the house. There were two houses and we went in the wrong direction from the wrong house.

Thus our five-hour hike took us nearly seven hours through rolling countryside, heavy winds, streaming rivers, all of which had the giant Paine Grande mountain casting a bigger and bigger shadow over our group. We stopped along the trail, munched on our trail mix (thanks Alex), and took photos of the magnificent views. As the sun set we finally arrived at camp one. There is a hostel, which has a kitchen, and also bathrooms with running water, so the first two nights were rather luxurious. While we slept in our tents, we prepared our food inside and were able to do the simple things like wash our hands and take showers.

Day two we day-hiked to Glacier Gray, a monstrous glacier that reaches heights of 119 meters high at places. It is truly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen and we were able to enjoy lunch with the glacier as our backdrop. Day three we went to the middle part of the W and witnessed two avalanches high up in the mountains. Sighting an avalanche is no easy task. First you hear something rumbling in the distance. Then you look and look until you see white stuff moving fast down the mountains. After seeing the rapidity of the avalanche you realize how massive it actually is. One of our Dutch friends was able to capture nearly a minutes worth of footage on his video camera.

Day four was the hardest day. We had a mostly uphill hike and the final haul had quite a steep fall to the right. The river down below reminded you how far the drop really was. But we did it. The nights were incredible, as we ate delicious dinners, conversed, and passed a Sprite bottle with some hard stuff in it. The third and fourth nights we had fires, nature's tv, and of course we played many a game of Phase Ten. It is safe to say that much of Southern Chile is familiar with this card game now. Finally, after a rain storm on the last day held us back an hour or so, we managed to get out of the park having accomplished the W. 50 miles, four nights, five days, and just enough food to keep us all happy. It was the trip of a lifetime and future backpacking trips will have a tough time beating this one. The weather was hiker-friendly (43 degrees would be a good average), the five of us got along splendidly, and aside from getting lost on Day One, we knew what we were doing. We even made friends along the trail which was hard to do seeing as we only saw maybe 10 people for five days.

That night back in Puerto Natales we all slept the best night's sleep in a long time and stuffed our mouths with pizza. Two days later, after spending the night in a Chilean couple's apartment that we had meet on the trail in Torres, we flew back from Punta Arenas to Puerto Montt, having experienced the best spent ten days in the Southern Patagonia that I could ever imagine.