Fin de Semana

Update on the weekend :)

So Friday I went with my two sisters to Talca. Its a city about 1 hour south of Curicó. We cut class early in order to make it on time to the ceremony. My program invited all of the volunteers down to get recognized. It was nice, we got diplomas and there was cake :) It only lasted about 2 hours and then we headed back to Curicó.

That night we went to a theater where two of my students were performing! They were so good! I´m really proud. They and the rest of their theatre troop played different characters from around the city, like a painter, a food vendor etc. It was really well done. After the show Amy and I went to a restaurant where we had some empanadas and sang karaoke!!!!!! It was so hilarious. We sang Shakira ¨wherever, whenever¨and Shania Twain ¨Man, I feel like a woman¨. It was pretty embarressing but mostly awesome! We made some friends too which is always pretty sweet.

Saturday I slept in pretty late and then met 2 of the other English teachers for lunch around 1pm. It was super delicious! Then I went to Amy´s house to have tea with her mother and to meet her host brother. Good times! Now I´m just preparing for class, Jeopardy day tomorrow!! Get excited :)

Well thats all for now!
Ciao Ciao!

Back to normal

Since I’ve been back to work things have gone rather smoothly. I started work on Tuesday and have enjoyed seeing my students again. We did short dialogues about natural disasters yesterday and it was hilarious! I wish you could see some of the things they come up with in a matter of 10 minutes. After school I eat lunch as usual with my sister and sometimes host mom (Mary) but then at night I have been going to a gym called energía with Mary. It is a cute little place and the owners are super nice. It is mainly just a good chance for us to spend time together.

I have been talking a lot with people back home getting ready things down at the U of I again. I spoke with my boss and I am very excited to start working the week I get home! We are at a new location this year and it should be a great one. I have also talked with Mahreen and she is already in our new place! It’s so fun moving into a new apartment even thought I’m sure it will be quite a lot of work. This time we have two bathrooms and I couldn’t be more thrilled about that!! Katie is going to Maine this Saturday which is pretty sweet. It sounds like everyone is getting in their last summer flings and then its back to school.

I have to teach in 10 minutes, today is Urban Crime day. I think I’ll focus on new vocabulary and phrases like “I’m INNOCENT!” and “You can’t handle the truth!

Hopefully they will like it :) Talk to you soon! Oh and this weekend I am going to a city called Talca for a day. I think there is some sort of ceremony with the government or something for all the volunteers. I’ll tell you all about it!

Con Cariño

Time for a vacation!

After a long but fabulous week of camp I was ready to head out for another adventure.

There were about 7 of us girls who decided to hop on a bus and see if we couldn’t explore more of what Chile had to offer! The night camp ended we packed our things and took a bus to a place called La Serena. It is a beautiful town right by the coast. We checked out some markets and El Faro (the lighthouse) which is kind of like their pride and joy :) During the day it was gorgeous and a nice change of pace from Curicó. The next day we took a day tour to the surrounding country side. We saw things like papaya plantations and many other fruits that are grown in the winter. The views were absolutely breathtaking!

We also visited a place where pisco is made (pisco is a very well known alcohol made in Chile) We were able to see the whole process which was very cool. We also hit up the town where Gabriela Mistral was born and raised. She is the only Chilean woman to win the Nobel peace prize. She won it for her literary work. I bought a book of her poems and am trying to memorize one called “piececitos” (little feet). She wrote a lot for children. After exploring a little bit more of La Serena and its neighboring city Coquimbo we hopped on another bus to San Pedro Atacama.

The Atacama Desert is one of the driest in the world and definitely worth the travel up north! We stayed in a cute little hostel called Cabañas Candelaria which was about a 15 minute walk from the middle of town. We met a lot of fun people there since it is a bit of a tourist town. People from all over all in this one little town, it was really a fun thing to be a part of. We tried to see as much as week could!

We went sand boarding in these beautiful dunes which is basically just snowboarding but on sand. I had sand EVERYWHERE let me tell you :) We then took a bus to the salt caves where we walked through. It was pretty small in some parts and really dark but of course tons of fun! After that we went to valle de la luna “Moon valley” where we climbed up to watch the sun set over the valley. I tried to take pictures but as most of you know no picture can ever do a sight like that justice. In the evenings we would hang out with people at the hostel and go dancing or wander around. Fun times for sure.

Another day I took a tour of the Tatio Geysers which was worth every penny! I had to wake up at 4am however which wasn’t my first choice lol. We traveled a about two hours where we proceeded to get out of the van and freeze our behinds off! I was soooo cold!!! :) We had breakfast while we watched the geysers erupt from our place inside the volcano. Totally amazing! We wandered around to the different ones and took pictures. Our guide told us there is a big fight right now in the towns because big companies want to use the geysers for electricity but that would mean huge machines would be placed all over and the geysers would practically disappear. It will be interesting to see how that all plays out. It is so sad to think they could all disappear in a few years time.

After that we traveled to a hot spring where a few brave souls got into swimming suits and braved the cold :) Of course I had to do it!! How many times does one get to do something like that?? Once you were in the water you were sure to forget all about the cold J Getting out was a funny sight though! I have never gotten dressed so fast. We headed off again spotting many animals along the way such as llama and Vicuña. So cute :)

We then proceeded to take a walk along a cactus filled field. Some of the cacti were 400 years old! I had no idea how slow they grow. We kept going until we reached a valley. We climbed down next to a little water fall and jumped over a small river to get further in. I think we went further than we were supposed to but it was so worth it!!! The view from inside was great!

The last tour we did was to an astronomical observatory. Now that was something that I seriously will never forget! They taught us a little bit about how to read the sky and pointed out things like the Southern Cross and the scorpion. The Milky Way was so clear it was unbelievable! It’s amazing how much the lights of a city cover up. They had about 7 telescopes set up and we took turns looking up close and personal to clusters of stars, galaxies and tons more! I’ve never seen a galaxy before!! I mean really how cool is that! The closest star to us is actually two starts that circle around each other every 80 years. One of the cooler things to see was Jupiter and its moons! I still don’t understand how we can get that close to things light-years away! We were able to take pictures through the telescope so that was really cool. We also got hot chocolate at the end which is always appreciated!!

All in all, my trip up north was exactly what I hoped for. Saturday morning we headed south on a 24 hour bus ride! It was surprisingly unpainful (however I’m not sure the food was actually eatable). You just have to go with the flow :) I got home yesterday during early afternoon and was grateful to be back in my room with a warm showers whenever I so desire :) Tomorrow I start school again and have 16 days before I go! Crazy to think it’s almost time to leave. It’s been quite the good time but I also miss my family and friends! I feel so torn about leaving. I’m just going to make the most out of the time I have left! I hope you enjoyed the update :) Sorry its so long winded :)

Camp Counselor

Well it has been quite a long few weeks but I want to catch up as much as possible!

So a week ago I started English Camp. Basically it was a week long camp where kids from schools all around the area came to improve their English and get an immersion all week :) There were 4 counselors including me and then about 40 students. So we split them into two groups most days with two teachers each. Now I didn’t know at all what to expect when I first started and I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to do it but let me tell you that it was the most meaningful experience I’ve had by far during my time in Chile. We had a total blast all week with the kids! It was a ton of work don’t get me wrong but seriously it was amazing and totally worth it!!

As with many things in South America plans weren’t really settled until the last minute :) Therefore, we didn’t know how many kids would show up or what their abilities were. We were given a rough schedule of what to teach and thrown in to fend for ourselves. As you can imagine I was a little nervous about this aspect. The first day was quite a long one. It felt like I spent most of it scrambling to keep my head above water. We tried to play games and practice with dialogues so as to get an idea of the English level of our kids. I surprisingly learned all their names thanks to a name game. My name was jumpin’ Jessica lol. We were supposed to go bowling the first day but that fell through so we just kind of went with the flow and tried to make it through! After we finished we regrouped at a local food court next to the school and put our heads together as to how we were going to make the next days go a lot more smoothly :) We got ice cream while we brainstormed because they always helps! We decided to take it one day at a time and plan for the next day at the end of every camp day (which was at 6pm)

The planning really paid off because the next days were great! I don’t want to bore you with too many details but I want to tell you a few things we did :)

- We did end up going bowling which was tons of fun and a first for many of the kids! I was so happy because a boy won who had never bowled before and he was just ecstatic!

- We had an Olympic day where we broke them up into teams and they had to complete different tasks at different stations. I had the trivia station where they answered questions like how many stripes are on the US flag, which two states have Disney land and Disney world, and who is Angelina Jolie dating :) I think the hardest for them was naming the two non-continental states of the US.

- We had them in 9 different groups where each was given a state to research. Of course Illinois was one of them!! They came up with hilarious cheers for their states and made posters full of interesting information to share on the last day. The Illinois kids made a great flag and gave it to me as a present :)

- We had a spelling bee which the kids got really into, I was really impressed with their skills! Spelling has certainly never been my strongest subject.

- We had a Christmas day where we made a tree and snowflakes! We had everyone bring a white elephant gift and it turned out really fun!! We also made chocolate chip cookies and watched a Christmas movie. I think that was one of the best days :)

- We also had the kids come up with a skit, a children’s book or a song for the last day where we put on a talent show for all the parents and a few members of the ministry of education. It turned out so good! The kids were so excited to share what they had been working on and it was great way to end everything.

- Another really fun thing we did was have a sort of supermarket sweep! We taught the kids English words of what you might buy shopping and then brought them to a local shopping mall where they had to find all of the objects and whoever did it first and cheapest won! We didn’t check with the store first however so it was interesting to figure out how to not get kicked out :) That was super fun.

- Every day we taught new vocabulary pertaining to the activities and tried to give them time to work with it and speak.

On the last day I was so sad to have to say goodbye to the kids. They all worked so hard and got so close throughout the week. They got together and bought us all aprons because of the cookie making day :) I though that was such a sweet idea! They also surprised us with little homemade gifts which I will keep forever!

I must admit I cried when we had to say goodbye. I feel like I learned so much from this experience. I learned how to think on my feet and go with the flow. There were so many unexpected surprises and things that didn’t workout how we wanted them too that I really feel it helped me to be creative and not worry so much about the outcome. Working with the other volunteers really helped us to become great friends. When you go through that kind of experience you really get to know the other people :) I think we all made a great team!

I love the beach...even in winter :)

HELLO!!!

Ok serious update time :) Well...

The end of the semester party for my Junior class was tons of fun of course and I had a blast with the students as well as practiced my Spanish. Good times all around I´d say! The next day, Saturday, I headed off with my family, Amy and Sam to my parents house on a beach in Aduao! It´s only right considering half of my family is on the Jersey Shore right now soaking up the sun!! The trip was about 2 hours and totally worth it. I loved the ride there because I feel like I got to see true Chilean countryside :) Lots of vineyards involved which I hope I will get to see upclose and personal one of these days!

So we arrived in Aduao around 7ish and took a little strole to the beach. Now it wasn´t really your sunny day white sand kind of beach :) There was actually black sand which I found really interesting and it was rainy lol. But I still can´t tell you how good it felt to get out of Curico and to see the ocean! I feel totally rejuvinated! We spent our time frolicking with umbrellas and eating good sea food :) It was a cute little town with a little (and I mean little) port. The port was actually called a Caleta. We played games into the night and slept all of our stresses away :) It was a nice start to our 2 weeks of vacation! Now I am back in Curico and off to Winter Camp!

Hope all is well!

Licanten and other goodies:)

Lets see..

Monday at school they had a break in the morning where the older kids did some sort of fair where they made healthy treats for the younger kids and pretty much tried to promote good health. It was a nice break from the school day, not to mention really delicious!

Thursday a few of the kids from the school and I went to Licanten which is a town about an hour away from here. They have experienced an intense amount of rain this year and had major problems with flooding!! The school was about knee deep in water for a while. One of my friends is working there so it was great to see her! We brought the younger kids balloons, candy, etc. We played games and pretty much just tried to lift their spirits! It was a total blast and I was even able to dress up like a clown, now I’d say that is a pretty sweet deal! The bus there and back was also great experience with the kids from my school because we were able to talk and sing lots of songs. They found out I like Juanes, the singer, and so most of the ride was filled with his sweet tunes. I thought it was a ncie gesture since most kids under 18 would not name Juanes as one of their favorite singers! Lol

Today was the last day of school before their two week break from school. I feel a little silly because I came to school in the morning totally forgetting it was Friday and that I never start classes on Friday’s until third period lol. But that’s ok because I was able to help in Juan Carlos’s class instead which was nice because there are really good kids in that class. that is a really good course. However, you could totally tell that it was the countdown until break because all the kids were getting really antsy, as was I :) After third period I went to my sisters classroom because I’m closest to that class and we had an end of the semester party. There was food and games and it was pretty sweet. We got out at 12 today which was a definite plus! One of the girls from the Junior class is having a get together tonight and they all invited me which I thought was a really nice gesture. I’m not sure I’ll go but maybe at least for a little while. It so hard to believe I only have one month left!! I better make the most of it! This next week I have to work at the English winter camp during the day from 9 until 6pm so that will take up most of my time. It should be a really good experience actually and since my sister will be attending that should make it even more fun. I think we are going bowling the first day, wish me luck! :) For the second week of vacation we are planning to do some sort trip to the beach and to the mountains. I’m so excited to explore more of the country!

PS I have taught a song in a few of my classes and the students really seem to get into it. I brought candy one day for a reward and they go so excited! Today one of the boys brought me the lyrics written out to his favorite Lincoln park song that said thanks for the candy at the bottom. I thought that was so sweet and lets you know a little about how blessed I am with the group of kids I am able to teach :)

I love the weekend!

Hey everyone!

Well Friday I was able to talk to lots of cousins and other family members through skype so that pretty much made my month! :) It was SO good to see everyone and be a part of the birthday celebrations. Later on Friday I also got to meet the host family of my friend Sam so it was a really fun night. Amy and I went over there and they were sooo nice to us. We just chatted it up. His sister was videoing us all night though so I hope I don´t end up on myspace or something! lol There was definitely a lot of singing to Spanish songs involved Friday night :)

Yesterday was also really fun. It rained most of the day so we thought a movie would be a good idea! We went to see Super Agent 86, and get this, it was all in spanish! No joke, usually its in English with Spanish subtitles but no sir! I understood about 5% of the words but you can pretty much get the gist of whats going on just by watching since it has a lot of action. After the movie we went back to my house and hung out there with my family for a while. Then we went to somewhere called Casavieja. There was lots of dancing done by all members of my family which pretty much made my night. My parents can really boogie down! :) I was definitely impressed :) We got home at about 330am so I slept in today for sure :)

It is a beautiful day so I´m trying to get outside and live it up as much as possible! Tomorrow starts my last week of school before I work at the winter camp for a week. I really can´t believe how fast time is flying! I´m having so much fun and I am just so grateful for this experience! I hope everyone is doing well!! Ciao!

Profesores

So tonight we had a teacher meeting and at first I wasn´t sure if it would be fun but I´m so glad I went! All the teachers are so nice and I´m glad I had a chance to hang out with them outside of school. We drove to a catholic church where a priest talked to us about somethign (I only understood about 20%) :) But when I told a teacher that they said they didnt´understand much either so I think its ok :) Then we had tea and these treats called calzonrotos or something (soooooooo delicious!) So that was worth the trip right there. It was just nice to have time with the teachers and a chance to practice espanol. They said we should have a bbq sometime so I hope that works out!

Today at school went pretty well, my walls are much less bare now that I had the kids draw future pictures. They are so creative it amazes me! One more day until the weekend!! Woot! My friend Sam invited Amy and myself to his host families house tomorrow night so I´m really excited to see how other volunteers are doing in their new environments (I´m not sure their parents could ever be as nice as mine though:)

Oh boy 2 posts in one day, whats gotten into me :)

Chillin at school

Hola todos!

I'm at school right now in between periods. I have seniors coming in a few minutes. I brought magazines from the states so we are going to take random pictures and come up with mini skits about them. The kids are really really creative so I'm excited to see what they come up with! Then later I have the sophomores and we are going to predict the future which should be fun. Coloring will be involved! (and thats always fun)

It is really nice because a bunch of girls always come in my room at the break to chat with me, today I had the magazines so they were really excited to look at them! Even if they didn't understand what it was saying :) The pictures are always the best part anyway!

Today after school I have debate and then a teachers meeting at 5pm. Not sure what that will be about but I think we are going to a church or something?? It should be a fun experience, the teachers are always so funny and have me laughing all the time! Even when I don't understand their Spanish :)

Thats all for now, I keep posting pictures so check 'em out if you are bored :) Let me know if you can't get to them! Lots of love!! Ciao!

Valparaiso and Vina del Mar!

Hey everyone! Hope you are having a great day! I had a fabulous weekend and just wanted to share a little with ya :)

First, some friends from my program and I headed out to Santiago on Friday in order to go to an orientation on our Winter Camps. It turns out about 5 of us are in charge of the Curico winter camp from July 21st until the 26th. There will be 60 kids and our days pretty much include having fun and speaking English so that shouldn´t be too difficult :) These students are chosen from among many who are really excited about learning English so those are always the most fun to teach! We get to do things like bowling, talent shows, cooking, watching movies and vocabulary lessons/games. I´m really looking forward to it even though I´m a little nervous to be one of the people in charge! At least there are a few of us to handle it :)

After Friday´s meeting I took a bus with my friend Stephanie to Valparaiso. It is a pretty big town along the coast line and about 4 hours north of Curico. The weather was so nice and the views are amazing! I took lots of pictures which you can hopefully see now. We got there around 730 so we just took a short walk to a cafe got some tea and headed back to the hostal before dark. Valparaiso is pretty but kind of dangerous during the night so we were extra careful. Our hostal was called Caracol which means snail so I found that entertaining :) It was really nice and no bed bugs which is always a plus! They provided breakfast the next morning so we definitely took advantage of that!

Throughout Saturday we did things such as hitting up the markets finding little treasures. We also headed to Vina del Mar which is a neighboring city and found a beach which was really beautiful! The first thing we did in Vina was actually find a pharmacy because I burnt my hand a little Saturday morning when I was making toast, not my finest hour lol. But hey another adventure to add to the list! I wish you could have seen me running around trying to explain to people how I hurt my hand and where could I find a pharmacy! But after that we were able to take in the beauty of the beach. The waves were huge and we definitely got soaked!

Later that day we took a little tram up a small mountain to take pictures of the city from above and let me tell you it was a great sight to see! There is only one port open to the public in Valpo and it was really fun to see all the ships. Later we took a small boat with a Chilean named Pablo. There was a lot of Reggaeton music blasting and fun was had for sure. He even let us drive the boat! You can pretty much call me captain Jessica now :) We also saw seals on our little boating adventure so that was pretty sweet.

We got some chow at a cute little restaurant where I got Paella (a traditional spanish dish). It was packed so full of so many different kinds of fish! I never actually knew what I was eating but it was delicious! Later that day we met up with other people from our program at their hostal and we went back to Vina to see the city at night. We had some fantastic Mexican food actually! That night we went out for a little but headed back to the hostal early so we would be ready for the next day.

Sunday morning we headed off to one of Pablo Neruda´s houses called La Sebastian. It was absolutely gorgeous inside and had an amazing view! It was crazy to think he was in the same room that I was at one point. Its also interesting to think that the view used to be nothing but land but now there are houses everywhere! One think I love about it though is how every house seems to be a different color, it adds so much character. We headed back to Santiago shortly after that last excursion and then to Curico. The buses were right on time which is always appreciated :) My family picked me up from the bus station and we had once when I got home and caught up on the events of the weekend.

Today and yesterday I had school. I started a new game dealing with putting sentences back in order. I have them break into three teams and compete. Let me just say these kids are really really competitive! It got pretty feisty! Thursday I´m teaching the English elective class a black eyed peas song which I really think they will enjoy so I´m looking forward to that! I also got interviewed for something today so we will see where that ends up lol. You just never know!

The debate team I´m helping out is going really well, they are starting to form their arguments on whether or not Chileans pay attention to animals rights. Its fun to see what they are coming up with :) The high school kids also put on a play for the younger kids in English today which was super cute! It was a combination of little red riding hood and I´m not sure what else but it was really fun to watch.

I walked home from school today which took about 45 mintues but I really enjoyed being able to explore a little! I´m also kind of excited that I could find my way back by myself! woot! Tonight will be pretty chill. Just getting ready for class tomorrow etc. I wish I could see all of you! feel free to come visit if you ever wanna get away :) And congratulations again to Brian and Nichole! I´m so excited for you guys!

Till next time!

Updates!

So.......... I think it´s about time for an update!

School: School is going so well! I have officially started a regular schedule at San Ramon. I work the mornings from 8:15-9:45 then from 10:05-11:35 then from 11:45-1:15. I also help out with the Debate Team on Mondays and Wednesdays! During my classes I basically do things just to get them talking! So we have done things like introduction games and today I brought in my computer and I taught them ¨respect¨by Aretha Franklin (everyone should know that song!) It was fun because they got into it and even made up a dance as the backup dancers. I have many different levels of students. I have 7th, 8th, Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. It´s a lot sometimes but I can do a lot of repeating of lesson plans during the week so that helps a lot. I really do like it here and the students or ¨alumnos¨are all really sweet. They call me Miss Jessica and always like to tell me any English words they can think of. Today 2 kids came to my room after class to play a Bon Jovi song they had learned. They were actually really good! I was thoroughly impressed. I like the school because every day is a little different than the next.

When I first got to the school the teachers had a little fiesta for me during our first break at school when we all have tea or coffee together. They made a sign and put up balloons so that made me feel really welcome! The junior class also threw me a little fiesta on my first day and there was food, music, dancing and even a little live music where 2 kids played Juanes (my favorite latino singer!) It was really sweet and a great way to start out my time here! My sister danced Cueca for the class which was really fun to see. Cueca is a traditional dance here and I´m really hoping to learn! I have one of the steps down but I´m still working on the turn! I´m trying to learn all the names but I have around 320 students during the work so it is quite the challenge! The teachers names are coming slowely but surely :) And gotta love Johnny, he works at the schools snack stand, always a good person to know :) I have my own room so I have tried to decorate it a little but it is super cold because there are lots of windows!! I´m used to wearing a jacket, scarf and gloves while I teach. I try and do activities where we can move around just to warm up!

My family has been nothing but super nice to me this whole time! My host mother got me some yarn and is helping me to knit a scarf (which is always nice to have here!) My sister Daniela just celebrated her 17th birthday July 1st so it was fun to see how everyone celebrates here. There was of course cake and a birthday song! They made me do a solo of the English version :) My host mother brings me breakfast while I´m getting ready in the morning and drives us to school at 8 everyday. Nice set up!! I have been so blessed with this family and I am so grateful. Dani and I usually come back together from school for lunch and are able to eat together so that is nice. I was able to go to a handball with my host dad one day which was really fun because I have never seen a handball game before! Its kind of a mix of basketball and soccer. They one both games of course :)

One night I was able to get together with four people from my program and we had dinner and shared stories. You can imagine that was a fun time. Everyone is really loving it. After dinner 2 of them came back to my house for a little unexpected bbq and fiesta with my family and some friends. It was fun but I was super stuffed after all the food!! hehe. It was also fun because a soccer player from the Chile team came so I got his autograph and picture for when he gets super famous. It was really crazy because he was only 18! I felt old haha.

This weekend I´m very excited about! Tomorrow Sam and I will take a bus to Santiago to learn about the winter camp we will be a part of. It is a week long event where the best students from all the schools come for a week long English immersion experience. The camp will take place at the end of July but we are going to learn about it tomorrow. After the camp session a few of us are going to Valparaiso for Saturday and Sunday! It is supposed to be really pretty so I´m excited to go and report back :) It will be fun to explore more of the country. I think it is an hour north of Santiago so the travel won´t be bad at all! I should be back Sunday in time to prepare for Monday class no problem :)

That pretty much sums it up for now! I hope everyone is well and enjoying the warm weather for me :)

Exporing and movies

So today was a pretty easy day. I woke up around 10 and had a wonderful breakfast waiting for me! I had toast with some jam and some oatmeal but only the milky part (strange but really good!). I was able to talk with maria while I ate so that was really nice. Then I took a shower and went for an hour walk just seeing what there was to see. There is one main street that I took and I saw many small shops and was able to say hola to a few people so I call that a success! I went to the supermercado but couldn´t understand the lady at the cash register. After some awkward staring she got the fact that I couldn´t understand and we both kind of laughed it off :)

When I got home I chatted with Augusto and we looked at my phrase book which he thougt was really cool. He explained some key phrases which was really helpful! Then Dani came home and as well as Maria and we ate lunch (lettuce, rice and pork) it was very delicious :) I like how they always have music playing in the house, the atmosphere is very chill. After that we picked up their grandma and did a little shopping. I tried to buy a sweater but I forgot that you need a copy of your passport to use a credit card so that wasn´t so successful :( But I think we will go back tomorrow and try again! Its funny because for some reason I always set off the alarms in the store so Dani says they can detect people from the U S :) There was a lot of laughing today from misunderstandings etc. I enjoy those moments the most :)

After shopping we went to a movie with a few of her frineds from school (We saw the happening ) It was in English with spanish subtitiles so taht was nice. We got popcorn (palomitas) and it was sweet insted of salty! An interesting variation and very tasty. AFter the movie we came to the house where one of the primas (cousins) of maria was and we chatted with her over once (tea time). She is also very nice and we understood eachohter pretty well. Now I am going to hang out and go to bed pretty soon :) I´m excited to be doing my first load of laundry! Yay for clean clothes. thats all for now!

Tengo un hogar!!

Hey everyone
Where do I even start! I am so excited right now and everything is just amazing. So this morning we woke up pretty early and got on a bus to Curico which is going to be my hometown for a while. When we got there there was no one to pick us up but no worries because they got there eventually :) We then got taken in taxis to the department of education where we got a little bit of an introduction to a few important people and just kind of chatted it up as best we could considering the language here is really fast and kind of hard to understand! I´m starting to get used to it though so hopefullyI´ll catch on sooner or later¨:) My family actually came right then to meet me and that was so nice! There was Maria (mom) Augusto (dad) Daniela (sister, 16 years old) and Javi (other sister, 11years). They were so welcoming and telling all my friends that they must come visit their home and just being really warm so we got off to a great start! They took my bags for me (also amazingly nice) and then they left because we were supposed to have lunch with the staff at the dept of education. So we took a little tour around the city and then went to lunch.

Lunch was muy rico, we had chicken and soup and some sort of mousse for dessert! I was really full but in a good way :) So after that we went back at 3 and all teh families were there waiting for us! It was a little intimidating just because we had to sit in front of everyone like a panel. I tried to answer all their questions and it was actually really fun to just see who everyone would be with.

After the introductions we went with our families. They were so nice and willing to talk slow so I could understand. We took their car back to the house and they pointed out the school I will be teaching in which is where Dani goes to school. We went home and just had some really nice conversations. I have the cutest room and I can´t wait to post pictures for you guys. (That has been a complicated process). The house is really nice and they are just telling me that whatever I need they can get and just to feel right at home.

We went to pick up Maria from her work (at a hardware store) and it was really cute because all of her coworkers wanted to meet me and I was waving to people from across the store like I was something special . I was like, its just me and I´m not that exciting lol but it was fun at the same time. She was just as nice as the rest. We went home and had once which is basically a tea time where we all sit together and chat it up. We had bread tea and some really good lemon pie! After that we went shopping and they surprised me by getting me a phone which was so nice I can´t even say! I mean they are just so sweet and want me to be able to call if I´m in trouble or anything. I feel bad accepting it but they were really excited to give it to me so I just thanked them muchisimo!!!! They also got me some beautful flowers that are now in my room and some chocolate :) After once we went to the mall and got a few groceries (oh ya and before I gave them my gifts and they really loved them so I´m so excited!) . We also went to see Marias mother which was so sweet. They are really taking me in and making me feel part of the family.

Now we are back at home and everyone is just hanging out. None of them speak much English so that will actually make me practise more so this is great! We exchange words and its really a lot of fun for all. Tomorrow I guess there is a vollyball game of some sort and Daniela said her friends want to meet me so we will see how that goes :) She is such a sweetheart and I know we are going to get along really well.

So I´m off to bed soon but just wanted to say I have a home and I´m really excited!!

Me voy a Curico manana!

Hey Hey!

I found out my family information finally!! Woot! So it turns out I will be with a dad named Augusto (like the month :)) and a mother named Maria! I also have a 16 year old sister so I'm so excited to meet everyone! I leave tomorrow at 730am and get to my house around 1030 I think so its really coming up! I feel like I've been waiting to meet them for so long that its crazy that it is finally here, I almost don't believe it :)

It turns out I'm teaching high school so I'm a little nervous about that because I was expecting little kids lol. This will be quite a different experience I'm sure but I'm thinking that maybe these kids will know a little more English since they are a little older! My school I guess is a semi-private school. All I've found out is that there are nuns that work there, and that it has wireless internet! i really hope the internet is really usable because that would make me life so much easier! I was also told that this school has a little bit more money than the others so there might be more resources available so that is really nice!

Today was a very productive day. We finished up classes by presenting a lesson plan. I presented with my friend Stephanie and I think it went pretty well considering neither of us have done anything like this before :) Later that day I did some shopping and got things like a warmer coat, a hair dryer that fits the plugs here, a watch because now I don't have a phone that I'm using to tell time, a small despertador (alarm clock) and a few other fun things I picked up at a local artisan market.

Stephanie and I did a little exploring today which was really fun! We figured out how to use the subway system and got ourselves to a place where you can ride a train like thing up a mountain to a statue of the virgin Mary. From there you can take a cable car further around the city. It was soooooooooooo scary but I'm so excited I did it! Even though I was so scared because heights and I are not best of friends it was still so worth it because the views were amazing and I think I was able to get some descent pictures :) I'm trying to post some right now so hopefully you guys can see them soon!

I think I'm going to try and go to sleep soon since I have to get up muy temprano! I'll write you as soon as I find out all about my family, I can't wait for tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found an internet connection!

So I finally figured out how to get internet in our hostel so woohoo! Right now I am waiting for almuerzo (lunch). We have a break from workshops for lunch and a few other breaks in between. The workshops are helpful but it is just a long time to sit still J We are supposed to find out our families today so that is very exciting. Then I can stop guessing and start knowing who they are. Last night was fun, a few of us went out on the town a little and ran into some really nice locals. That is the best way to practice Spanish for sure! Lets see, today is Wednesday so I still have all day tomorrow in Santiago and then off to Molina Maule!!!!! That is where I’m going to be for the rest of my trip.

This morning was eventful because my blow dryer totally blew up lol. It happens I suppose! I just made a loud noise and died L I guess it just isn’t compatible enough even with the converters. Oh well, I’m just getting used to air-drying looking a little less fabulous :)

So let me just say it has been quite a roller coaster of emotions this past week! I'm usually pretty good with handling things but I think its just because we are so out of the loop with all this stuff and don't know whats going on much of the time so I've just had a little bit of a hard time. Right now though I feel pretty good! I'm just going to go with the flow and accept whatever comes my way.

I'm off to eat almuerzo and then back to class! I'll let you know when I find out about my family!!

I made it!

I made it in one piece! After a really really long flight my luggage and I made it here together J It has been such a whirlwind that I can hardly keep my day straight but that’s the fun of it. We took a bus to our hostel after our 5:30am arrival and made friends with Luis our driver who told us some interesting stuff about the city. We got to the hostel about 7am this morning and checked in and they handed us our sheets which was a different concept but whatever works! We unloaded but people were already in my room sleeping so I decided to just wander a little. We ate some breakfast and went for a walk/tour of the city. It is actually a really beautiful city minus the smog J I was pleasantly surprised with our surroundings because when I first arrived I wasn’t too impressed but I think it is just because it was early and I wasn’t really awake and paying attention. So on closer investigation and lovely weather I totally approve!! So I became content with whatever placement I would be given because if I was in a rural part of the country than it would be like nothing I had ever done and if it was in the city than I would be able to see the beautiful sights and explore all there is to do here. It turns out I’m in Maule which is a region that I know nothing about as of right now but that’s ok J I heard it is really nice and I know other people going there so its all good. Tonight we had some workshops but I was so tired I’m not sure I got too much out of them. But we have 2 more days of workshops so I’m sure I’ll learn lots once I have some sleep J Right now we are waiting for dinner and just hanging around which is a nice slow part of the day.

6/16

Hey everybody! I’m on the plane right now and I’m pretty sure I just woke up from a nap J I’m been able to dose off a bit so that is good news! We left an hour late so we are a little off schedule for our arrival Miami. But really that is ok with me because we had such a long layover that it really makes no difference. Last night we were treated to some good old fashion Chicago pizza which was really delicious. It was the first time for deep dish for a little of people! (They’ve sure been missing out). After dinner we went for a small drive around the city to see a few of the sites and what the night life was like. After that most of us went to the hostel because it had been a long day! I went to bed about 12 after repacking my very full suitcases desperately trying to not let my big bag get over 50 pounds. (the good news is that I succeeded:!) We woke up bright an early and all met in the lobby at 830 to be taken to the airport. We had the most chatty driver in the world, she was quite the comedian. At least we were entertained! Once we got to the airport the group split up into 2. 5 of us on American Airlines and 15 on Delta. (I’m on American). One guy is already down there so we will meet him later. I really am surrounded by a great friendly group of people so I’m very grateful for that. We basically just hung around talking until we boarded. I still haven’t heard what region I’m living in even though the other volunteers have. But I’ve been reassured that all is well and sometimes there is just bad communication. So I’ll still be surprised when I get there J I am anxious to se what age group I will be teaching because that makes such a huge difference!

I’m going to go back to reading my book now, thanks to all my friends and family who have called and checked in on me in my first days away! Love you!

First Step, Chicago

So I made it part way! I'm in Chicago for the orientation and so far so good. Mom brought me here on the train early this morning (she is too good to me) and I checked in at 9ish. We did some pretty nice stuff like brainstorm about activities we can do with our class. This was very helpful seeing as how I've never taught before :) We also got some good tips about how to be safe traveling, I'm feeling ready to go! We talked a little about Chilean culture so it will be fun to compare what I've learned with what I actually encounter there. They said people talk fast and they omit 's' 'd' and 'b' so wish me luck!! :) I'm sure it will be fine after a little getting used to.
So right now we are just waiting for dinner in a half hour (which I think is pizza., probably won't have that for awhile). So that is good news! Everyone here is really nice and are all excited to get started. Ages vary from 18 to 31 so its a really fun mixture of people. Well thats all for now! Much love.

Tomorrow's the big day

I'm almost ready to rumble! I still have a few hours to throw all my random things into a bag and then I will sleep my last night in Geneva for the next 2 months. I'm thinkin that if I can do a 5 month trip away from home that 2 months is a piece of cake :) So really I'm just excited to get this party started! Right now I'm taking a break from the packing and just trying to relax so all the things I've forgotten will magically appear in my head. I still don't know where I'm living in Chile but that makes it all the more exciting! Tomorrow I'm in Chicago and then Sunday I'm on a plane, I'll get there Monday morning if all goes according to plan. I'm off to do more packing... All my love!

7 Days and Counting

I have one week to go before my Chilean adventure and I am getting very excited! Right now the fam and I are in Colorado celebrating Heathers graduation! We are very proud of her. The weather is amazing and as much as I would love to stay and enjoy these hills I am also ready to hit the mountains of Chile! My friends who are there teaching right now have let me know its pretty chilly so I'm packing many sweaters and warm jackets. Right now its hard to believe that in only 7 days I will be starting my teaching adventure in a brand new country! I will be trying to blog as much as possible (I will for sure do better than I did with my Ecuador blog!) So if you ever want to know what your crazy Jess is up to just check out this blog. I have also put a link (with Brian's expert computer skills) on the right hand side of this page that will take you straight to my Chile picture album. So there you have it. I hope everyone is doing fabulously and please feel free to write me back telling me about the happenings in your lives! I love hearing about it and it helps me when I'm feeling far from home :) All my love!!!!!!