Winter Vacation 2010 coming...

It has been several weeks since my last post about Pucon (which seems like forever ago), and I have seen so much of this country since then. I was gifted with a three week winter vacation and had the opportunity to travel, travel, and travel some more. I took roughly 15 bus/taxi rides, two flights, and two ferries to accomplish it all. I will briefly fill y'all in on my travels before explaining in much more detail after I eat almuerzo.

First, my adventures took me to Lago Rupanco, a lake surrounded by five volcanoes in the Chilean Andes. We (two Americans and two Chileans) hiked to remote lakes, dug our own hot springs, fished for salmon, and visited waterfalls. We spent our nights in a hut made of bamboo listening to Chilean music, eating homemade sopapillas, drinking mate and Ron, and dancing around.

After four days there and a brief stint back home in Osorno, a group of volunteers and I flew from Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas to take in the sights from the end of the world. After a day in Punta Arenas we headed to Puerto Natales on a three hour bus ride. The landscape was full of snow, ice, and strong southern winds. We stayed in the impeccable Erratic Rock hostal/guide service who outfitted us for our last minute decision to hike the W Circuit of Torres Del Paine National Park. It is one of the gems of the world and I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity. The hike is 50 miles long taking four nights and five days to accomplish. Here are some pictures to keep the interest high! I'll be back.

Pucon; Enjoying the small things

I realized a few days back that the key to a successful blog is continuity and thus I feel that every travel or noteworthy subject should be addressed to my 'anxious' readers. With that said, last weekend in Pucon was truly noteworthy and a highlight of my South American tour six weeks in. Not only was it my longest bus-ride since traveling from Santiago but the travel came during the day so I soaked in all the sights. This included seeing the preparations for a dark beer festival in Valdivia and the rolling countryside with cows and wineries all shadowed by the distant yet intimate snow-capped Andes which magically form the backbone for this monkey arm of a country. After draining the battery of my iTouch we finally arrived in Pucon, a touristy city four hours northeast of Osorno. The town's population is much smaller than Oxford, MS and in the night you have no idea that the town is smack dab in the middle of the mountains.

After an evening of exchanging classroom stories with eight other volunteers, dancing to the Black Eyed Peas, eating Churrasco sandwiches, and drinking cheap Chilean box wine (El Gato), we roamed the town and took pictures of the mountains before heading to a hot springs 45 minutes away. We ate fried empanadas stuffed with poached egg, beef, and onions...I forgot what they are called but they are my favorite.

The drive was beautiful and when we arrived at the national park the clouds sympathetically parted ways and showed us a sunny, cool afternoon. We took pictures at the top of the hill and kicked the Jabulani ball around before I clumsily knocked it off the trail and into a steep ravine. While we managed to recover it we also found a different trail that took us straight to a fierce flowing river. This river continued on past our hot springs providing a natural chime as we sat in the hot tubs and stared at the mountains. Since I forgot to pack a swim suit in Dallas (who would have thought) I relegated myself to boxer briefs and nothing more. The elderly Chilean women probably didn't appreciate it but boy was I comfortable.

That night we celebrated July 4th by first finding a hamburger place (see above) and then having a party at our hostel with just as many natives as Americans. The Chileans watched comically as we drank a beer and sang the Pledge of Allegiance. It is these weekends that I feel like I am studying abroad. A bunch of Americans hanging out and talking about the food we wish could have (McDonalds breakfast No. 2, Marco's pizza, Mi-Cocina, Burger House, Gordita crunch, Dr. Pepper, etc.), Chilean customs, and the ridiculous Chilean-like haircut one volunteer gave to another. But then during the weeks I am teaching early on in the mornings and relaxing in the afternoons.

I have discovered how happy the small things make me when living abroad. The other day I found a soccer field very close to my house and I plan on improving my game for the next six months. I appreciate the wool scarf I just bought that keeps my neck from the never ceasing wind. I listen to the Rangers baseball games several times a week with the same announcers that I grew up with (CLIFF LEE!). I watch my own movies with Spanish sub-titles because I want to learn more words. I smile every time my Chilean mom puts mustard and pepper in front of me at meals because she knows how much I like them. She also puts them out with meals that one would dread putting those things on. I even appreciate the ATM giving me the English language button option. All of this is part of my South American experience and this month is only going to get better as I leave for a back-packing trip in three days and for Punta Arenas (Google maps that I dare you) the following Wednesday!

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the Texas heat as much as I am the continuous rainfall and needling wind. Ciao!

Las Termas

In Chile lay more hot springs or termas than I could possibly imagine. And when there are termas, there are also volcanoes. Fortunately none of these magma-tossing phenomenons has erupted since the 80's or so I am forcing myself to believe. Therefore the past two weekends I decided to visit two different national parks, their trails, and the hot springs that they have to offer hoping for clear skies and a readable map. Since school was out of session last Monday for some holiday, I arranged to go spend all day Sunday at Puyuhue National Park located about an hour east of Osorno. It's one of the most popular parks in all of Chile and has some amazing trails. I went with a fellow volunteer and for lack of better words, I plan on going back there many, many times.

In Osorno, we boarded the Lago Puyuhue Express, which for less than $4 will take you all the way to the Aguas Calientes, and spent slightly more than an hour watching the passing scenery of cows, more cows, miniature soccer fields, cows again, and finally the mountains and Lago Puyuhue. The lake sneaks up on you especially on a cloudy day. After passing the prestigious Chilean hotel, Hotel Termas de Puyuhue we finally arrived at rainy Aguas Calientes. Unfortuntely my best purchase thus far in 2010, my REI-waterproof-like-a-pair-of-dockers-pants-rain jacket was dirty and smelling like smoke due to the permitting of cigarettes in city bars and hangouts, so I was relegated to my vintage 2001 Helly Hansen rain gear. Nothing against this jacket-it has been through it all-but when it rains constantly for four hours, you're gonna get wet!

So in the nagging, steady rain we hiked a two hour trail called El Pionero. We hiked up through giant trees, crazy flora that Alex recognized, and a soothing river, before reaching a rest area overlooking the entire national park, the termas, and Lago Puyuhue. It was fantastic. We took pictures, met a teacher from Osorno who teaches...English, and ate some of my pizza-flavored Pringles to reward ourselves. You could even see the heat rising from the hot springs! It felt great to get out of Osorno and visit a place so close yet with such different natural features than anything you would ever see in the 'Milwaukee' of Chile. While we didn't go for a dip in the hotsprings (the idea of swimming in an unfiltered hot pool with 100 half-dressed Chileans, mostly overweight men, just didn't appeal to me), we both felt relaxed, re-focused and grateful for the proximity of this park. You all will hear much more about this park as the weather gets warm and skies clear!

I have much more to tell but must finish a worksheet containing questions about The Sandlot. In light of the 4th of July, I decided to show a movie containing America's favorite past-time!

On a emotional note, being in Chile has made me love my country even more and we are all truly blessed to call America home. I think about family and friends, Tex-Mex, and all things American many times a day and this experience has been everything I wanted it to be so far in my first five weeks.

Coming up next I will talk about my weekend in Pucon, my upcoming backpacking trip, as well as my winter vacation to Punta Arenas, Torres del Paine (weather pending), and Tierra Del Fuego. Oh, and this week is anniversary week for my school and I have been asked to dance and play sports with the high school freshmen! Can't wait.

Puerto Varas and Team USA

First and foremost- VIVA USA EN LA COPA MUNDIAL! What a game and finish by Landon Donovan. Add that one to his most goals ever scored in a USA uniform! The fact that I had to watch the game and most important goal in USA soccer history on a scratchy internet signal in Southern Chile truly tops the mark. Okay, it wasn't the internet signal's fault as much as it was the website I found to watch the game on. I kept battling with two different computers for a steady stream and ideally wanted to listen to it in anything but the previously chosen language of Arabic. And which Chilean producer chose England-Slovenia as the better match to show on TV? In any event, I didn't know how to celebrate the goal except to yell Spanglish at my host family and then start texting exclamation points with brief comments to friends back home. (Family, forward my phone bill to Team USA HQ in Chicago).

The reason for this post is not to ooze on the recent successes of Team USA because I told you we had the tools to be successful. Check my Facebook status before the World Cup began for proof. Last week the Chilean Ministry of Education decided it would benefit my program, English Open Doors, if the entirety of my region' volunteers (Los Lagos) met in Puerto Varas for a collection of meetings about English debates, etc., for the weekend. Thus a fellow volunteer, Luisa and I took an hour or so long bus-ride to Puerto Varas in the pouring rain. I counted 11 straight days of rain yesterday when I finally saw brilliant, sizzling sunlight. And then it rained in broad daylight..

We arrived at the Puerto Varas bus station on the outskirts of the town. After walking down a hill we soon came across Orvis stores, a huge casino, and a North Face store. Then we walked along the regionally famous Lago Llanquihue. Even the rain couldn't dampen our spirits because seeing and hearing water was simply refreshing. We had hoped to see Volcan Osorno on the other side but that never happened. I guess the postcards took all the good shots. Our hotel was also phenomenal offering great views, several antiques, and some real cool artwork. Our room keys were paintbrushes with keys attached to them. The city is most definitely a tourist hub offering outdoor adventures to the mountains, rivers, and of course Volcan Osorno. After a fun night at a bar called Barometre that offered a DJ, pool table, the fine Chilean beer Austral, and fun with other volunteers and regional coordinators we sat through meetings all the next morning.

Later that afternoon after we left the hotel and found a new hostel, several other volunteers from the area joined us at a cool, Jimi Hendrix-hippiesque, French hostel. When we first rang the doorbell to see if they had room, the owner opened the door and said, "Que Tal?" As in what's up and what do you need? He said they are very slow in the winter so this was a surprise to him. They offered us a great bunk room for very cheap and it was in the heart of the town so how could we turn it down!

Bottom line is that the weekend gave me the opportunity to get out, see a different city, hang with friends I made from my time in Santiago, and hear their stories with school and their host families. One of my personnel favorites is that a buddy had nearly 200 girls Facebook him wanting to be friends. Hence the reason all of my privacy settings are up. Here are some Chile by the numbers/facts for you all:

17: Days I went attempting to grow the beard until it became unbearable.
1: Comment from a random guy who said, "Mira, un gringo naranja!" Look, an orange gringo...
4: Times a day I take the micro or bus to and from school.
4: Days I have seen the sun. That will change or hopefully will change when winter vacation comes. Its not as bad as it seems though
3: Number of weeks off I have for winter vacation!
Profe: The name the students call me. Its an abbreviation of Prefesor.
10: Roughly the number of times I have thought about Mi Cocina. UPS??
1: Times I have been in a car full of Chileans and listened to an Rick Ansley/Michael Jackson remix.
Senor de los Anillos: The Lord of The Rings in Spanish. Going to watch it now.

Hope everyone is well. Things are great here! I want to hear your stories also so spill for me.

Come se dice "oops" in english?

After attending teacher training sessions for seven days in Santiago, completing an online teaching course, and one week of classroom observations in Osorno, I finally stepped in front of the classroom for the first time this past week and it could not have gone any better. Well maybe if the student in the back of the classroom took his headphones out, but don't worry he'll be reprimanded. Somethings about my classes: four classes of 9th and 10th graders, one class of 5th graders, just under 20 hours a week and Wednesday-Friday I only work in the mornings! I teach roughly 18 students for 45 minutes then they go back to their Chilean English teacher who sends me the next 16-18 students. They all enjoy soccer and listening to music particularly Metallica, Pantera, and Justin Bieber. One student when I asked her what she likes to do responded with, "I like to smoke, drink, and go dancing." She is 15 years old.

To paint a picture of where I work, imagine the upper part of a church. The roof angles in towards the top of the building. My classroom is the same. The walls carve in so nearly every time a student sitting along the wall stands up they hit their heads. However small it may be and smaller it may seem with 18 students in the room with me, it is my own and they even bought a califant (heater) for me. Great because my first day it was -5 Celsius in Osorno.

The first day of class after I presented a PowerPoint about my life in the USA ("Your family and friends are so pretty," said one student), I had the students make posters for their class to help decorate my room. One group of girls drew a heart, wrote my name in it and after putting lipstick on, kissed the poster leaving sets of red lips all over the poster. Oh, and another wrote, "I love you Robert". Madness I tell you. In addition to the student-made posters in my room is the beautiful state flag of Texas. Google image search 'Chile flag' and you will see the crazy resemblance between the two flags. All the students said "Casi iguales!" or "almost the same" about the two flags. I even taught the class the phrase, "Everything is bigger in Texas," and we listened to "My Hometown" by Charlie Robison, a country favorite of mine.

My first real lessons were vocabulary words to use when traveling. Sleeping bag, sunscreen, watch, guidebook, and the sentence structure 'We are going ______' and 'We are bringing ________.' With the 5th grade students, I taught them classroom instructions such as sit down, raise your hand, be quiet please, and stand up. We played a game of Simon Says with these instructions and they loved the game so much that they were playing it when they went back to their homeroom.

Wednesday we started class late as Chile was playing in the World Cup for the first time in 12 years and they WON (1-0) to give them their first World Cup win in 48 years. Cars were driving down the street honking their horns and all the kids were singing, "Chi-Chi-Chi-Le-Le-Le, Viva Chile!" and blowing their vuvuzuelas (sp?). The teachers even set up a projector screen to watch the game and made coffee and sandwiches for us. Then also served beer..at 7 am before class!

Finally, the title of this entry comes from a seven-year old girl named Camilla who kept sneaking into my classroom wanting to play tag, hide-and-seek, or some combination of the two. When she dropped a marker, I said 'oops' and she then asked, "como se dice 'oops' in ingles?" I kept saying 'oops' and she kept asking the question not understanding that the word 'oops' is a universal term spoken by many different languages. Or so I assume. It was a classic exchange between two people who know un poco sobre otras lenguas.

Later today I'll post an entry about my weekend in the wonderful, touristy city of Puerto Varas. Happy Father's Day to the best dad. I love you Pops! Hasta Luego

Pictured:
1) On a puente (bridge) with my Chilean sister. The bridge shakes like something you would see in an Indiana Jones movie.
2) Pictures taken last Sunday on a hill at the top of Osorno. It's an hour from Puerto Varas, the beach, and the Andes.

Sidenote: We are thinking about making t-shirts that say 'BROsorno' and 'gringo naranja' tambien. More coming on the gringo naranja part!

Bienvenido a Osorno, Part Uno

My first week in Osorno has been incredible. My host family is amazing, helping me out whenever I need it. The daughter, Dani was a lifesaver in more than one situation this week. While speaking with a local police officer so I could receive my Chilean ID, I thought he said, "Eres Casner?" or something of that sort. Well he actually said, "Eres casado?" or "are you married?" I said yes and Dani quickly corrected me. I mean come on, would my wife, if I had one, let me leave the country for six months without her? Food for thought.

My school, Colegio San Alberto Hurtado has got some cool students as well as professors. I have been invited to play with the professors soccer team and they play in the semi-finals this Tuesday. One day, my teacher did not arrive at the school until 10 am (miscommunication), so I sat in on the 5th grade History class. For an hour and 15 minutes I answered questions from, "Have you ever met anyone famous?" to "Why do you have so many pecas (freckles) on your face?" to "Are you a fan of NASA?" to my personal fav "Do you personally know Barack Obama?" I wish I could teach the 5th graders everyday but only have them twice a week. Otherwise I am solely teaching freshman and sophomores. They seem eager but I will really find everything out tomorrow- my first day of teaching!

I think my students will enjoy some of the angles I take and many of my ideas stream from past teachers whom I really enjoyed. I want to be helpful like Mr. Burgess, do the student biography on the wall like Mrs. O'Rear, and have incentives for learning like Mrs. Fuch.

Anyways, this weekend we had a huge asado, BBQ, welcoming party for me at my house. For four hours, we grilled, well they grilled while I watched the USA game (!!!), drank beer and red wine, and talked. Chileans are very nosy, in a funny way, and want to know everything about you. What is your longest relationship? Why don't you want more food? Is everything ok? What does America know about Chile? They are very touchy also and show love all the time. My mom says, "goodnight precious" to me and even that throws me off but it's how they act. One of our family friends, Christian knows some English but his favorite phrase is, "I'll be back baby." And his favorite beer is Budweiser!

Teaching begins tomorrow so I have to get to bed but more stories to come and hope everyone is enjoying the world cup. Oh and I have a feeling the quote from Forrest Gump, "And it rained somemore" will be used much. Day three of rain here in Osorno. Buenas Noches!

Oh some quick notes:
1) I sleep with five blankets covering me every night.
2) The pic with the family is showing their tributes to the Longhorns!
3) Someone asked me if I was Chilean the other day. Points for me
4) If you can see it, the students in the picture drew pictures of the Texas flag for class. Even more amazing.
5) One student told the Chilean English teacher the following, verbatuum: "Miss Andrea don't be jealous that all of us want to be in Senor Robert's class and not yours or Carlos'. We just want to hang out with Senor Robert and learn from him."
6) Wal-mart bought the grocery store right next to our house. Talk about expansion..

First days in O-O-O-sorno

And I thought last week was a rollercoaster of a week in Santiago. Sunday night as we were all saying our good-bye’s and heading to the bus station, everyone found themselves wondering, “what in the world are we doing?”

After a week of orientation with all English speaking college graduates, the real world of Chile hits you in the face like an unexpected snowball. We were all dispersing our own ways and felt completely vulnerable to the things around us. The conductor asked me where I was going and I hesitated because I forgot what was going on. It was an incredible feeling of confusion but I managed to say, “Osorno”. Then I said my goodbyes to the EOD intern and boarded the bus.

The bussing system in Chile is well known because since the country is so long many people bus up and down the country taking in the sights. I had a chair that reclined about 140 degrees and a TV in my face where I had no choice but to take in two John Travolta flicks, Face-off and Old Dogs. Old Dogs might be worse than the second most recent Robin Williams flick, RV. I could have done without both but whose complaining. After sleeping on and off throughout the night, I awoke to people exiting the bus in the city of Rio Bueno. I am glad that was not my stop, bottom-line.

Anyways, when the bus attendant told me that Osorno was five minutes away, my heart started jumping out of my chest. I had a mixed emotion of readiness to meet my host family and nervousness that my Spanish was about as useful as wet toilet paper. Well my Spanish was awful but my family did not care. I greeted them with a big “abrazo” and they were all smiles. They told me that they are rarely serious and like to be funny and have a good time. My host mom Veronica said I was an “American David Beckham” and she did not recognize me because the picture I sent was much different than my present self. I guess the freckles can be passed for beauty here in Chile.

I am beyond thrilled to have this family. She said that I can come and go as I please, that she will do my laundry whenever necessary, and wants me to feel at home with the family. She prepared some eggs, bread, and Nescafe (I drink four cups a day now). When I got home and I feel very welcome into this household. Daniella, the 16-year old daughter showed me around the town and I spoke more Spanish in one day than I have in a very long time.

It felt great to immerse myself in the culture and sit with the family at dinner. Dani said that they live in a rich neighborhood but are not rich themselves. I have a nice bedroom with a twin bed, wireless internet (although I will use sparingly and hope to turn-off the iPhone in the next week or so), and my own bathroom! I was not prepared to have this nice of a home and family but am very grateful nonetheless. After going to the supermercado to buy some dinner items, we ate, talked about my family and home, and then went to meet some of their family friends. They were all very welcoming and I can safely say I understand the general idea of conversation but not the smaller words.


Much more to come tomorrow and with photos.

Attached are some pictures from my weekend excursion to Cajon de Maipu. Sweet stuff..