Well, we have visited a ton of classes, and I have to say, that I gladly accepted a break today from introducing myself slowly in English and trying to converse with Chilean high school students who were akward and giggly:) We really have had a good experience with the students there, and I think that it has been a huge service to those schools that we come and spend some time with them. My group has been asking about service projects and why they haven´t built a house or cleaned up a neighborhood or anything like that. I have been thinking about that and have decied that our service has been our time with the students. I think my students especially have made huge impressions. So much so, that I call them my rock stars, and they are even starting to get a complex that they are the most popular kids in school:) One interesting thing yesterday, was at the beginning of the first class we attended, the students asked the profesora to leave the class, which she did, and then they promoted a strike for today, which many schools all over Chile participated in. It was really crazy, though, to see the teacher oblige their request and leave the room while they conspired. That would never happen in a high school in the U.S. I think. Here´s a couple more news releases about the protests, which continue and will most likely continue for a long time to come (in another Latin American country, I can´t remember which, they lasted for 9 months) Of course, our university visit today was cancelled due to the fact that the students had taken over the school:
Today, we spent about 4 hours with the firemen of Talcahuano, one of the cities that was most badly damaged by the tsunami that occurred after the 2010 earthquake. They gave us a tour of their station (which interestingly enough was created by German immigrants, so all of their equipment is German and all the words are in German!!) They shared detailed images with us of their rescues during the aftermath, and I was so touched that I started crying. Being all men, that have no time for wives or girlfriends, they all got really akward:) It was kind of funny. I just felt really honored to be in their presence and hear about their experiences. They are truly heros, and I can´t imagine what they went through. They showed us this Youtube video, that shows the before and after:
I have one student who is getting sick, and I´ve noticed that we´re all getting a little less enthusiastic with each day. We have two more days here in Concepción and then one day in Santiago. Time is flying!
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