Well, as I type this last post from Chile I am sitting in a fancy hotel in downtown Santiago. We left Concepcion this morning at 9am from the bus terminal and were sent off by several teary Chilean families. We have really found Conce to be a much more hospitable place than Santiago; much more layed back and homey.
Before I write about our last couple of days, first a few words from my young friends Alanna and Hope from Laramie.
Hope and Alanna, please complete the following sentences:
In three words, Rebecca is.... crunk, classy, NACAB jk we love you (we will let Rebecca explain... :) lol?)
I will always remember Rebecca... with her aaaaacchhhhhh noise:)
The funniest thing that Rebecca said during our trip was... "You two are officially the freakiest people I know¨
These are the kind of people I have spent the last four weeks with.
But I have to honestly say that I have really enjoyed working with the youth on the trip. They have really been great. And although sometimes my maternal instincts caused some intese stress, overall, I feel like I have passed the test this trip. It has streched my chaperoning ability and help me feel more confident in traveling internationally with the youth.
Anywho... The last couple of days we spent more time at the schools, and guess what WE WERE ON TV.!!!!!!! Here is our story on the national chilean news station 24 Horas. My first international TV appearance!
On Wednesday night, I had a super fun time with 5 Chilean English teachers in their late 20s early 39s. It was the first, and only, time I spent with people my own age! We went to one of their homes and ate some delicious sushi, and I had a blast. They were all like me, but the Chilean version. Very cool people.
On Thursday, we were able to visit the city of Dichato, which was totally crushed by the tsunami of 2010, the worst we had seen yet. The whole place was full of mud with only the yellow bathrooms of the previously standing houses left against the brown background. We visited a public school, which housed elementary students in a temporary structure while a replacement building is being completed. All the kids were happy and running, and it was really inspiring. It has really impacted my thinking, as well as my heart, to see the leftovers of the terremoto. Still, seeing that life goes on, including games and fun, is the most inspirational of all.
Here is a link to another appearance of ours on the Chilean web.
Well, today we arrived in Santiago and reunited with our group from Valparaiso and had a lovely, formal dinner with all of our host families from Santiago. As is custom in Latin America, everyone had to give a impromptu speech of gratitude, and we had some Italian food that was no where near as good as what I am used to :) Tomorrow, if everything goes well with our flight, which is currently up in the air.... We will be leaving for DC in the evening.
As we were riding on the bus today and looking out the window at all of the landscape and houses and people, I thought how great this experience has truly been. I feel very fortunate for all of the experiences I have been able to have in my life, and this is no exception. I am truly blessed to know some of the great people of Chile, and as always, I leave a changed person.
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Friday, August 12, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Chile Part VI
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!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Some pictures of Concepcion
I had a sec today to upload some pictures from the last week in Concepción:
Here´s a couple of Earthquake victimes that have not been removed yet:
We had a chance to play in the black sand by the Pacific. This is my group I´m with right now:
With some high school students at the Almondale Bilingual School:
With the mayor of our city:
With Maria José, one of our guides, and a Mapuche woman who did a musical demonstration for us:
With some of the students at the English Access program at the Cultural Institute in our city:
Here´s a couple of Earthquake victimes that have not been removed yet:
We had a chance to play in the black sand by the Pacific. This is my group I´m with right now:
With some high school students at the Almondale Bilingual School:
With the mayor of our city:
With Maria José, one of our guides, and a Mapuche woman who did a musical demonstration for us:
With some of the students at the English Access program at the Cultural Institute in our city:
Chile Parte V
I felt my first tremor today! I was laying in my bed this morning, and it suddenly felt like someone was rocking my bed back and forth. It only lasted for about 5 seconds, and wasn`t as alarming as I thought it would be.
During the last couple of days, we have been spending a lot of time with English language students. Chile is huge on everyone learning English now, because of their desire to increase their international business and educational ties. The señora of the family I`m staying with works at a pretty fancy bilingual school. Two days ago we spend the majority of the day with the students, and I had lots of opportunities to talk to teachers there and make some good contacts that might allow our students to connect with one another. One thing that has struck me during my time in Chile, is the amount of English words that are now. Here are some examples:
During the last couple of days, we have been spending a lot of time with English language students. Chile is huge on everyone learning English now, because of their desire to increase their international business and educational ties. The señora of the family I`m staying with works at a pretty fancy bilingual school. Two days ago we spend the majority of the day with the students, and I had lots of opportunities to talk to teachers there and make some good contacts that might allow our students to connect with one another. One thing that has struck me during my time in Chile, is the amount of English words that are now. Here are some examples:
- ¿cachai? This is a bizarro word that¨s used ALL the time that means something like ¿You know what I mean? It comes from the verb cachar , which is a descendant from the English word ¨catch¨. So it´s like ¨Did you catch that?¨
- pen drive This is a flash drive
- bowl This is a bowl
Germany has also had a tremendous influence on Chilean culture. We passed by a German-Spanish bilingual school yesterday, and we ate at the Fuente Alemana, the German Fountain, or could also be translated as the German Dish. When you listen to a Chilean speak, you immediately recongize that besides cachai, you hear yah all the time. This is an expression of affirmation, just like ¨yeah¨in English. So you say something, and they continuously say yah to show they are following you. They totally sound German. And they often ad po (meaning pues-¨well¨) after everything...So pretty much these are the two phrases I hear about 100 times a day:
- yah po
- ¿cachai po?
And there you have it. Oh, and I´ve eaten at two Peruvian restaurants, which serve quite tasty food.
A couple more things about English in Chile. Jaqueline, my señora, tells me that a lot of the male English teachers in Chile tend to be gay. I have found this to be true about 50% of the time (based on superficial stereotyping of course). And, Ive talked to a couple of female ex-patriots who came here as volunteers teaching English and never went back. Both are now married to Chileans. One told me that it is rare that American males stay in Chile, because they do not like the Chilean women especially. All of the English teachers I met at an Institute yesterday are young and really nice, and they are taking me out for sushi next Wednesday, which sould be a trip. As I think about the concept of living outside the States on a permanent basis, I am still not convinced. The more time I spend outside of the States, the more I appreciate living inside them:) I will definitely be excited to go home when the time comes.
Lots of love to all of you!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Concepcion: Chile Parte IV
Well, I write now from the lovely Concepcion, about a 8 hour bus ride south from Santiago, on the coast. We were greated by a nice group of people and I was swept to the home of Jaqueline Perez and her two children Alejandro y Fernanda. I have to confess that for a few hours I couldn`t remember if it was Alejandra and Fernando or Alejandro and Fernanda....so confusing! But, I eventually figured it out and had a fab night of sleep in a SUPER warm home with a wood burning stove that fills my soul (and the rest of the house) with joy! I was all prepared for more of roughing-it lifestyle, but so far, I find Concepcion to be a sort of paradise! Warm homes, warm people, warm shower. Excelente!
Concepcion is a different ballgame, however. We have been separated from half our original group, who are now in a touristy city called Valparaiso, so now we number 6, and we are in a city that was heavily damaged from the 8.8 earthquake and sunami from 2010. First thing I saw driving home was a 20 story building that had fallen over and split in half!!! Unbelievable, I`m telling you; unlike anything I`ve ever seen. We have already heard several stories of the day of the terremoto and how the tremors, los temblores, are nothing now, compared to what they have experienced in the past. Another family I visited today lives in a super nice, small home, which they have lived in only about 6 months. Their prior home was destroyed by the sunami. These people are troopers. There is some construction around, but overall, it`s kind of difficult to tell that an earthquake happeded at first glance (ok, except for that building knocked in half).
Compared to my last homestay, this family is full of energy. We are up and at em at 6 30 and we leave at 7 15 (Jaqueline is a teacher, so has an earlier schedule). The presence of teens makes everything more interesting, and we get along well. As I speak, I am listening to Alejandro play soccer on his gaming system, and I am struggling to type on a HP notebook, with a Chilean keyboard. The most difficult to type is apostrophe because its not used in Spanish, so it`s rediculousy hard to type. On the other hand, these are snap:ñ, Ñ ¡ ¿ One key stroke and bam!
Today we went to a nearby town and checked out an open air market. I am loving being in a metropolitan of only 1.000.000 instead of 5.000.000 people. Way more relaxed and less stress for me. Except there are still perros callejeros everywhere!!!!
¡Saludos!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Chile Part III
Dogs. Yes, they have them. Everywhere. At one point Chile decided to pass a law that prohibits anyone from killing a stray dog. Because of this, everywhere you go there are giant stray dogs wandering around the city, scavenging for food and trying to survive. I have to admit that it´s one of the greatest sources of stress for me, because my naive student companions are always squealing and trying to pet all 100 of them. I try to deter them by saying something like ¨they have fleas¨ or ¨see how it´s ear is hanging by a thread? Probably not something you want to touch¨ or my favorite ¨I wonder how many diseases a dog can carry at one time...¨ Needless to say that I am constantly aware of the multitudes of canines in the streets, and I have a new found appreciation for dog snatchers and animal shelters.
Another thing I appreciate very much is central heating, which Chile has none of. It´s quite the challenge, although possible, to stay warm here in Chile. In fact, it actually feels colder inside the buildings than outside because of the lack of sunshine indoors. So just to give you an example of how I keep myself warm, I will tell you what you should do in the morning: Alarm goes off 15 mins before you need to get up. Force yourself out of bed and start the Kerosene stove in your room. Go back into bed for 15 mins to let the room warm up. Get out of bed and put on your fleece coat and stand by the stove for a couple of minutes. Gather up enough courage to leave your warmer environment for the frigid bathroom where you force yourself to sit on the cold toilet and wash your hands with cold water (don´t even think about taking a shower in the morning. It´s much warmer to take one at night with the electric stove going in the bathroom. This also gives your hair the whole night to dry). Go back to your now less than cold bedroom and pull out your clothes for the day and place them on the stove so they can warm up. Meanwhile, locate your mittens and put them on. When your clothes are warm put them on and then go to kitchen for breakfast with your down vest on, because you know it´s going to be freezing in there. After breakfast return to your room, turn off your stove and already begin to miss its heat and put on every other piece of clothing you can and go out into the cold outdoors.....There you have it. That´s my survival guide for you in case you ever come here in the middle of winter.
We have had a good time here in Santiago and are preparing ourselves for a 6-8 hour bus trip south to Concepcion tomorrow afternoon on what is called a ¨bus cama¨- a bus bed. In other words it´s like a Greyhound of some sort. That means a completely different host family and new metro and bus routes to figure out. Flexibility is the key!
Another thing I appreciate very much is central heating, which Chile has none of. It´s quite the challenge, although possible, to stay warm here in Chile. In fact, it actually feels colder inside the buildings than outside because of the lack of sunshine indoors. So just to give you an example of how I keep myself warm, I will tell you what you should do in the morning: Alarm goes off 15 mins before you need to get up. Force yourself out of bed and start the Kerosene stove in your room. Go back into bed for 15 mins to let the room warm up. Get out of bed and put on your fleece coat and stand by the stove for a couple of minutes. Gather up enough courage to leave your warmer environment for the frigid bathroom where you force yourself to sit on the cold toilet and wash your hands with cold water (don´t even think about taking a shower in the morning. It´s much warmer to take one at night with the electric stove going in the bathroom. This also gives your hair the whole night to dry). Go back to your now less than cold bedroom and pull out your clothes for the day and place them on the stove so they can warm up. Meanwhile, locate your mittens and put them on. When your clothes are warm put them on and then go to kitchen for breakfast with your down vest on, because you know it´s going to be freezing in there. After breakfast return to your room, turn off your stove and already begin to miss its heat and put on every other piece of clothing you can and go out into the cold outdoors.....There you have it. That´s my survival guide for you in case you ever come here in the middle of winter.
We have had a good time here in Santiago and are preparing ourselves for a 6-8 hour bus trip south to Concepcion tomorrow afternoon on what is called a ¨bus cama¨- a bus bed. In other words it´s like a Greyhound of some sort. That means a completely different host family and new metro and bus routes to figure out. Flexibility is the key!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Chile Part II
I have come to the realization that Chileans are much more punctual than all other Latin American cultures I have come across. So much so, in fact, that my host dad Jorge was almost about to leave me at home because I wasn´t out to the car at the exact moment he wanted to leave. I talked to him about it later, and appologized for not being on his schedule, and he explained that Chileans are ¨the Englishmen of Latin America.¨ That is to say that Chileans, in many ways, are much more like the US and England than the rest of Latin America. Being quite the isolated country, with the Andes on the East, the Atacama Dessert on the North, the Pacific on the West and Patagonia on the South, they have kind of been selective in which cultures they have aborbed. They are quite prejudiced against Bolivians, Peruvians and Ecuatorianos, and their manner of speaking Spanish is very different. They drive normal sized Toyotas and Subarus (and yes, mum, I rode in mini van today, so they do have them), they are a cosumer based society, they listen to almost all US music, they eat large portions at the restaurants, and they watch all of their TV in English with Spanish subtitles. Needless to say I was very surprised when we drove through a neighborhood that looked exactly like the suburbs of SanDiego.
The last few days can be summed up into two main categories: education and politics. On the education front, we visited the sophisticated and elitest Universidad de Chile, which was cool, but would have been even cooler if students had been present. All week, we have been witnessing and hearing about student protests in Chile, which have shut down all of the universities and high schools in the city. Chilean students are demanding free high school and university educations (both of which cost money), and a better education. Students have totally blocked off the downtown in the mornings, and are quite creative in their demonstrations. We have been told that a group of hundreds of students performed Michael Jackson´s thriller dance in front of the presidential palace as a protest that they would be in debt till they turned into zombies. A lot of our educational visits have been canceled due to the fact that students are currently occupying the universities as headquarters for their protests. Today, the president (a female by the way) sat down with the Minister of Education to discuss reforms. Tomorrow we find out if an agreement has been made, or if the students lose an entire semester and don´t go back to school for the rest of the year (school year ends in Novemeber). Here´s an article about the protests. Along the lines of education, we have visited an English volunteer program, English is a big deal here for international business especially, and we have also visited some community cultural centers that promote culture and the arts as after school programs. All very interesting, and I think it has provoked a lot of thought amongst our group about the right to an education and what that means to us.
Onto the political side of our journey...We have had several presentations about the economy of Chile and US-Chilean relations, both of which are quite good. The highlight was yesterday when we went to the US embassy and ate lunch there with Chileans who have traveled to the US with the same program. After our formal lunch, we sat down with the US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff for a little chat and took some pictures. We are currently featured on the embassy´s website (although my name isn´t mentioned, I´m in the photo!) We have had a lot of exposure to the Department of State during our trip and what it means to be a foreign service worker. It´s an interesting field with a lifetime commitment to living in big cities and foreign countries. Interesting... but not sure how I feel about the superficial formalities that come with the formal interactions. Doesn´t seem like you get to really know the culture on a personal level. Still, super fun to be treated like a special guest!
Weather is super cold!! But flowers still grow here and their are palm trees. Next Tuesday half of us are headed to Concepcion, which was the center of the 8.8 earthquake last year. Should be even colder with the ocassional tremor.... Yikes!!!
The last few days can be summed up into two main categories: education and politics. On the education front, we visited the sophisticated and elitest Universidad de Chile, which was cool, but would have been even cooler if students had been present. All week, we have been witnessing and hearing about student protests in Chile, which have shut down all of the universities and high schools in the city. Chilean students are demanding free high school and university educations (both of which cost money), and a better education. Students have totally blocked off the downtown in the mornings, and are quite creative in their demonstrations. We have been told that a group of hundreds of students performed Michael Jackson´s thriller dance in front of the presidential palace as a protest that they would be in debt till they turned into zombies. A lot of our educational visits have been canceled due to the fact that students are currently occupying the universities as headquarters for their protests. Today, the president (a female by the way) sat down with the Minister of Education to discuss reforms. Tomorrow we find out if an agreement has been made, or if the students lose an entire semester and don´t go back to school for the rest of the year (school year ends in Novemeber). Here´s an article about the protests. Along the lines of education, we have visited an English volunteer program, English is a big deal here for international business especially, and we have also visited some community cultural centers that promote culture and the arts as after school programs. All very interesting, and I think it has provoked a lot of thought amongst our group about the right to an education and what that means to us.
Onto the political side of our journey...We have had several presentations about the economy of Chile and US-Chilean relations, both of which are quite good. The highlight was yesterday when we went to the US embassy and ate lunch there with Chileans who have traveled to the US with the same program. After our formal lunch, we sat down with the US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff for a little chat and took some pictures. We are currently featured on the embassy´s website (although my name isn´t mentioned, I´m in the photo!) We have had a lot of exposure to the Department of State during our trip and what it means to be a foreign service worker. It´s an interesting field with a lifetime commitment to living in big cities and foreign countries. Interesting... but not sure how I feel about the superficial formalities that come with the formal interactions. Doesn´t seem like you get to really know the culture on a personal level. Still, super fun to be treated like a special guest!
Weather is super cold!! But flowers still grow here and their are palm trees. Next Tuesday half of us are headed to Concepcion, which was the center of the 8.8 earthquake last year. Should be even colder with the ocassional tremor.... Yikes!!!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Chile Parte I
Well, after a great time in DC, we packed up and left our group of 47 for 12, and we set off to the grandeous Chile!! We left DC after minor delays because of heat, and flew to Dallas, where we had a short layover. We left for Santiago in a full plane and flew overnight to Chile. When we got there, it appeared that everything was running smoothly. Until, we got to immigration and discovered that Partners had forgotten to tell us about the US$140 we needed to pay to get into the country. Without a cell phone or enough cash to pay for 12 of us, we had to track down the Chileans there to greet us, use a phone to call DC, and eventually figured out a way to balance credit and debit limits to pay for everyone (which is going to be reimbursed by Partners of course). So, my entry to Chile took about 2 hours, but no importa, we got in, and I was greeted by the gentile Jorge Valonzuela, a 65 year old Chilean who would be my and Shawnice´s host.
We drove to his home in complete fog and cold weather, where we were greeted by his wife Nery, a shy but talented painter and very good cook. We spent the afternoon eating bread and drinking tea and chatting, and to my delight, the Chilean accent is very similar to the Spanish accent, and I have very little problems communicating (although I have to say that my Español is rusty and I´m slowly resurrecting my vocabulary). Later, we ate dinner with his son and grandchildren, who later took me and Shawnice out to the shopping mall. Santiago has very nice fashion, but everything we looked at was super expensive and all I came away with was a geography book in Spanish to use in my aula.
Today we had more bread and tea for breakfast and left at 8:30am for the YMCA, which will serve as our headquarters here in Santiago. We met up with the rest of our group and Alejandra Molina, who is the coordinator here in Santiago. We had cookies and tea and juice while she explained the logistics of living in Santiago, followed by a presentation by the Partners president Jaime something and a testimonial by a YMCA product, Flavio, who was rescued from the streets of Chile and a life of drugs and robbery and taking in by the YMCA were he is now the head accountant of a US$5.000 budget.
We then walked to the presidential palace La Moneda (the money), and got a tour of the inside. They have a changing of the guard here, and I got a picture with one of them, although I was too afraid to stand very close to him. During the tour, we were always accompanied by a guard who was actually quite friendly and talked a lot. Later, we walked around Santiago and tried not to trip over the stray dogs sleeping on the sidewalks. We visited a ¨small¨ church and observed a major protest going on right now by students and professors (more on this in next post). We then, returned to the Y (pronouned by some ¨Ing-kah¨) and had more juice and cookies and waited for Jorget to come pick us up.
We had some excellent soup for dinner that has warmed me right up. I like the food here, although it is somewhat bland. I am looking forward to another warm night of sleep and more about the educational protests tomorrow.
My Chilean phrase for the day: El ocio es la madre de todo vicios (Laziness is the mother of all vices, in other words an idle hand is the devil´s tool, or something like that)
¡Buenas noches!
We drove to his home in complete fog and cold weather, where we were greeted by his wife Nery, a shy but talented painter and very good cook. We spent the afternoon eating bread and drinking tea and chatting, and to my delight, the Chilean accent is very similar to the Spanish accent, and I have very little problems communicating (although I have to say that my Español is rusty and I´m slowly resurrecting my vocabulary). Later, we ate dinner with his son and grandchildren, who later took me and Shawnice out to the shopping mall. Santiago has very nice fashion, but everything we looked at was super expensive and all I came away with was a geography book in Spanish to use in my aula.
Today we had more bread and tea for breakfast and left at 8:30am for the YMCA, which will serve as our headquarters here in Santiago. We met up with the rest of our group and Alejandra Molina, who is the coordinator here in Santiago. We had cookies and tea and juice while she explained the logistics of living in Santiago, followed by a presentation by the Partners president Jaime something and a testimonial by a YMCA product, Flavio, who was rescued from the streets of Chile and a life of drugs and robbery and taking in by the YMCA were he is now the head accountant of a US$5.000 budget.
We then walked to the presidential palace La Moneda (the money), and got a tour of the inside. They have a changing of the guard here, and I got a picture with one of them, although I was too afraid to stand very close to him. During the tour, we were always accompanied by a guard who was actually quite friendly and talked a lot. Later, we walked around Santiago and tried not to trip over the stray dogs sleeping on the sidewalks. We visited a ¨small¨ church and observed a major protest going on right now by students and professors (more on this in next post). We then, returned to the Y (pronouned by some ¨Ing-kah¨) and had more juice and cookies and waited for Jorget to come pick us up.
We had some excellent soup for dinner that has warmed me right up. I like the food here, although it is somewhat bland. I am looking forward to another warm night of sleep and more about the educational protests tomorrow.
My Chilean phrase for the day: El ocio es la madre de todo vicios (Laziness is the mother of all vices, in other words an idle hand is the devil´s tool, or something like that)
¡Buenas noches!
Pre-Chile Adventure:Washington DC
As I type this, I am currently sitting in the frigid air of my accomodating Chilean home, with mittens on my hands, and my North Face gear in full blow. Fortunately, in Chile, unlike in Spain, they believe in having a space heater in every room. So, currently, I have my room´s space heater working and it will be nice and toasty by the time I´m ready for bed. I was also thrilled to discover last night that I have about 5 blankets plus a down comforter, plus another comforter on my bed. So don´t worry, dad, I´m staying warm! My appreciation for space heaters has tremendously increased in my 24 hours of Chilean experiences.
I know you´re all wanting to hear more about Chile, and I´ll get to that soon, but I didn´t have access to the internet during the last week in DC, so I wanted to drop a line and let you know how awsome that experience was.
I flew out from Billings, Montana, after we finished a fun family reunion with cousins from my mom´s side. I traveled all day and arrived in DC at 10pm ET. My first challenge was to catch a taxi, which I was remembering has only been my lot about 3 times in my life. But, it turns out that DC is a very organized city, and I was directed towards a cab and got to my homestay with no problems. I stayed the night with a lady from my sponsoring organization, Partners of the Americas, who has traveled to something like 20 countries in her 35 years of living.
The following day we all met up at a fancy hotel in downtown DC, where we spent the day as mentors getting oriented and waiting for students to arrive. By the end of the day, we had all of our group, from Washington, N. Carolina, Texas, NY, Idaho, Wyoming and other states, and got aquainted. My Chilean group consists of fellow mentor Rick, from N. Carolina, and high school students Nico, Erik and Tori from Texas; Haley, Sebastian and Nancy from Washington State; Michelle and Shawnice from N. Carolina, and Hope and Alana from Laramie, WY. All are great kids and great at Spanish for their age. Below is a picture we took with an Argentine intern Lorena (btw, there are a ton of interns in DC...)
Our week in DC was terrific, although terribly hot. Everyday there was a heat warning of some kind, with 100+ temps everday. We managed to survive, altough I can´t remember that last time I have sweat that much. We visited the Capital Building, the Department of State (where we visited with Foreign officers, all my age, who have traveled the world), the Organization of American States (kind of like the UN, but only the countries in the W. Hemisphere), various Smithsonian museums (my favorite was the Star Spangled Banner, which was huge! And I enjoyed Julia Child´s kitchen). We also visited Kaboom!, a non-profit org that builds playgrounds in low-income neighborhoods, and of course, we enjoyed a tour of the presidential monuments in DC.
I have to say that my experience in DC suprised me a bit. I wasn´t expecting to be so inspired by the cosmopolitan nature of the place, and I have been very impressed with Elizabeth, Lauren and Abraham, our Partners staff, who are incredible individuals who travel the world and have amazing Spanish skills. It is impossible to not be inspired by the organization of the city, and the power that the government buildings express. No matter what your political viewpoints, it is undeniable that our Capital is an amazing place.
In summary, DC was a great experience, and in my excitement for Chile, I initially overlooked the impact that it would have on me. I really enjoyed it!
I know you´re all wanting to hear more about Chile, and I´ll get to that soon, but I didn´t have access to the internet during the last week in DC, so I wanted to drop a line and let you know how awsome that experience was.
I flew out from Billings, Montana, after we finished a fun family reunion with cousins from my mom´s side. I traveled all day and arrived in DC at 10pm ET. My first challenge was to catch a taxi, which I was remembering has only been my lot about 3 times in my life. But, it turns out that DC is a very organized city, and I was directed towards a cab and got to my homestay with no problems. I stayed the night with a lady from my sponsoring organization, Partners of the Americas, who has traveled to something like 20 countries in her 35 years of living.
The following day we all met up at a fancy hotel in downtown DC, where we spent the day as mentors getting oriented and waiting for students to arrive. By the end of the day, we had all of our group, from Washington, N. Carolina, Texas, NY, Idaho, Wyoming and other states, and got aquainted. My Chilean group consists of fellow mentor Rick, from N. Carolina, and high school students Nico, Erik and Tori from Texas; Haley, Sebastian and Nancy from Washington State; Michelle and Shawnice from N. Carolina, and Hope and Alana from Laramie, WY. All are great kids and great at Spanish for their age. Below is a picture we took with an Argentine intern Lorena (btw, there are a ton of interns in DC...)
Our week in DC was terrific, although terribly hot. Everyday there was a heat warning of some kind, with 100+ temps everday. We managed to survive, altough I can´t remember that last time I have sweat that much. We visited the Capital Building, the Department of State (where we visited with Foreign officers, all my age, who have traveled the world), the Organization of American States (kind of like the UN, but only the countries in the W. Hemisphere), various Smithsonian museums (my favorite was the Star Spangled Banner, which was huge! And I enjoyed Julia Child´s kitchen). We also visited Kaboom!, a non-profit org that builds playgrounds in low-income neighborhoods, and of course, we enjoyed a tour of the presidential monuments in DC.
I have to say that my experience in DC suprised me a bit. I wasn´t expecting to be so inspired by the cosmopolitan nature of the place, and I have been very impressed with Elizabeth, Lauren and Abraham, our Partners staff, who are incredible individuals who travel the world and have amazing Spanish skills. It is impossible to not be inspired by the organization of the city, and the power that the government buildings express. No matter what your political viewpoints, it is undeniable that our Capital is an amazing place.
In summary, DC was a great experience, and in my excitement for Chile, I initially overlooked the impact that it would have on me. I really enjoyed it!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Partners of the Americas and Chile
So in case you haven't heard... I'm going to Chile in a few weeks with an organization called Partners of the Americas, an international "grassroots" network that has about 120 chapters in the Western Hemisphere.
As best I can tell... It was founded in 1964 as part of the US. Agency for International Development. It all started when this guy named Jim Boren was in Peru and wanted to create a network pairing up US communities with Latin American communities in performing small service projects in different place where the receivers of the service are also participants.
So today, it is sponsored by the US Department of State, and has various programs throughout the year dealing with agriculture, cultural and educational exchange, domestic violence prevention, social inclusion and youth. One program they sponsor is called Youth Ambassadors, which groups 10 high school students with 2 adults and sends them to a country in Latin America for a few weeks.
I, on the other hand, had never heard of this organization until a fellow foreign language teacher from Laramie, WY told me about her experience with it at a World Language Conference last year (which I planned BTW :) ). At first, it sounded cool, but still no interest from me. Then I got an e-mail from her announcing mentor applications; I ignored it. Then, a couple weeks later I got another e-mail from her stating that the deadline was approaching quickly; I ignored it. Then I got another e-mail from her stating that the deadline had been extended for mentors, because they were still in need of one more; I was going to ignore it... And then I thought "maybe this is a sign that I should apply?????" So I did. Literally, at the last second. I had to overnight the application to DC.
Well, as good fortune has it, I was accepted! I had to write several essays in English and Spanish, interview on the phone in both languages, and it paid off! And to further my good fortune, the program is exactly one day after our family reunion in Montana (I have to fly out of Billings even), and ends exactly one day before I have to report back at school. This is no coincidence, my friends. Every crazy and wonderful thing I have ever done has included me applying at the last microsecond and having everything work out like a beautiful, tight-fitting puzzle.
I will write much more about everything as I find out (itinerary, program details, etc), but for now, I'll attach the link to the announcement about 2011 participants (including me!). There are actually 3 students from Laramie, WY going, including one girl I taught as a student teacher.
Here's to adventure!
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