Lovely little Tuesday....

Just back from yet another field trip today. I have not had this many field trips in my life!

Today we went to a little town southwest of Santiago called Pomaire (pronounced Po-My-Rey of course) which is famous for its pottery. We found a studio and got our hands dirty. Who would have thought I would be a natural on the potting wheel. I was fairly skeptical since you actually had to spin the wooden wheel with one bare foot. I wish I had taken some video of it. Then just strolled around town and found a place to have a cold beer and some snacks. I opted for the Pastel de Choclo since I had heard so much about it and yet to try. Let me tell you, it is not, in fact, a chocolate pastry as you may have thought, but an ever so delicious concoction of corn, onions, beef, egg, chicken and whatever else they feel necessary. Love.

No other field trips this week until we leave for Pichilemu on Friday to surf for a couple of days. Really, pretty excited. I will obviously be off the radar for a few days but will surely have some pictures to rub in your face when I get back.

I forgot to add this one the other day from La Chascona. Apparently Pablo Neruda drank root beer out of cowboy boot glasses as well.
Smells like fresh laundry.....Ahhhhhhhh!
Where I found my next calling.
Ceramic graveyard.
How come the pictures never do the food justice?

Into the mine....

So, first I apologize for not updating more frequently. My days seem to fill to the moment right before I fall over on my bed and immediately asleep, possibly something I have never before accomplished in my life.

Second, I must say, I have never been more terrified in my life than I was today. We had yet another outing today with our school and having not given it a second thought, I went along with the rest of the campers with absolutely no idea what I had signed myself up for. For someone who is afraid of elevators and caves, today was a challenge to say the least. I knew we were going to a town with a copper mine, but I had NO idea said mine was the LARGEST mine in the world and still functioning. I also did not know we would drive our bus right into it. I thought, "Surely there will be a moment, when all the other yayhoos are loading up in their little carts to descend into the abyss, where I will be able to politely decline and offer to hold their bags." This moment never came. Before I knew how to scream "I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS!!!!" we were a quarter of a mile below the earth's surface and rolling through dark caves at what I can only imagine are not safe speeds for a large bus to navigate through caves. At about the 1 mile mark, the bus stopped, we put on our helmets, gas masks, and glasses, and disembarked. No sooner was my foot on solid but dark ground, than the bus closed it's door and set on its way. Panic is not a strong enough word. I have never screamed so loud in my life, mind you, just screaming on the inside. Everyone else seemed to act like it was just another ordinary Saturday on a field trip. I only saw one other person out of the 24 of us shaking ever so slightly.

But I just had to tell myself "Suck it up and pretend you are somewhere else," because I realized at this point, the only thing worse than having a panic attack about being in a mine, is having a panic attack about being in a mine WHILE in a mine with no real urgent way out. As you will see in the pictures, fear is present but I was eventually able to overcome at some moments.

After 2 hours in these caves, meeting the people who have worked there for years, we trekked up to the village on the hill (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewell,_Chile) and saw where they used to call home. It was fascinating to see an entire city still in tact with absolutely no sign of life. You could feel the memories surround you. I assume most of that presence came from our knowledgeable tour guide who carried around a tattered photo album like a bible and occasionaly showed us photos of better days. We found out at the end of the trip, she was not only a docent, but was born in this town and spent most of her childhood there. She walked us through the place she called home and introduced us, unknowingly, to her childhood friends in the mines. Fascinating.

Even though I was able to face this fear, unwillingly of course, I am not sure I could do it again.
Enjoy the photos!

Honni was very sympathetic if not a little frightened herself...

This man is celebrating his 35th year in the mine in March.
Kelsea claimed she was also terrified but I couldn't really smell the fear on her at all.
(If this picture were bigger, you would really enjoy a peek at my eyes.)
Ryan and Jordan rocking the gear.

Laundry Day....

So I was doing pretty good with the clothes I brought and thought I could manage to make it at least another week before having to do some laundry......that is.....before Pasquela peed on me......twice. She just gets a little nervous sometimes. So two showers and one load of laundry later, I was back to normal.

Things are still good in my class. Intermedio is the place to be these days. We have had so many people transfer in from the basic and advanced classes, although we aren't sure if its because of their comprehension levels or the promise of laughing and ridiculous behavior in Intermedio.

Today, after class was over at 3, we trekked to the Bella Vista neighborhood to visit one of the houses of Pablo Neruda (for those of you not familiar, he was a famous poet and social giant in Chile who won a Nobel Prize) and to climb the hill to San Cristobal which overlooks the city. The Neruda house was an attack on the sense which was amazing considering it had been looted after the "coup". He had two other house as well and it is known that the one in Isla Negra is even more exquisite. I plan to go there if I can find some time. He was an amazing poet and great political figure in Chile and was apparently the life of every party. There were more bars in the house than bedrooms. He was a collector of all things odd, including many paintings of sandias (watermelon) and he preferred for his dwellings to resemble boats on the water. You could spend hours even days and not discover all the little things unique to this place. Then on to San Cristobal which sits atop Chile and has the most magnificent view of the city of 6 million. The pictures speak for themselves.

Mi familia is still a highlight of my day and I hope to get a picture of us all together soon so everyone can meet them. My hostdad is very anxious to talk to ALL my family members on skype. He loves it.

Hasta Luego!

This one is for sister Susie. He had Fornasetti ALL over the place.
These eyes were on every beam that was low to warn you to duck your head.

Sunday

Very nice weekend indeed. Went to a bbq for a classmate's birthday last night and had loads of fun with everyone. There was meat, there was wine, there was pisco sours and there was karaoke. Ouch. There were 3 of us from Maipu which is a suburb of Santiago and we realized at some point, it might not be safe to travel the hour back to our houses at 2 in the morning. So we decided to crash at a classmate's apartment. Seemed like a good idea until you wake up because it is 80 degrees in the room, you are wearing jeans, but most obvious, you are curled up in a large beanbag. It took me almost 2 hours to get back to my house because of the presidential elections so I decided, while going out is fun, hanging out with my family is much easier and just as much fun. I am so lucky to have such a nice family and cherish my time with them.

I did some studying today to prepare for another week of classes and hope that my conversational skills will improve.

Just liked the colors...
This one is for Julie. A cat at the vet where my hostmom works.

Today is the anniversary of my first week in Chile! I cannot complain at all. I slept late this morning as we were all up until after 2am. One of Marcelas best friends came over for a visit last night around 11.30 so we drank pina coladas and listened to loud music and laughed a lot. I tried to keep up but Ellie talks super fast. I am fairly certain I have agreed to a late night of pisco sours and karoake with Ellie and Marcela tonight. Tomorrow I will go with Marcela to vote. She is very excited to put in her support for Pinera.

First week of school was great. Although I feel a little over my head in the intermediate class, I like my teacher and she has convinced me to stick it out.


I am not sure how many avocados is TOO many but I am headed that way. I crave them and the fact that they are around 25cents doesn't help my overdosing.

So here are a few more pictures from this morning. Marcela is at work but I went to the feria (market) with the boys....

The great wall of cebollas (onions).
Helado anyone?

pictures...

Here are the pictures I was trying to add last night but couldnt....

Dogs, dogs, everywhere...
Pasquela up close.
Pasquela listening to my parents try out their spanish on skype...

Wednesday...

Well, not much to report right now other than things are still fantastic. I am loving my classes even though I feel like I am in the intermediate class by mistake... My teacher is very patient and my fellow students laugh a lot, either with me, or at me, of that I am not certain yet.

It was fantastically hot today and I am almost convinced they don't know what clouds are here. I haven't seen one since I arrived.

And even though I do love the school, I love, even more, coming home and hanging out with mi familia. They are amazing and welcoming and fun. This morning Marcela found me trying to blow dry my hair with not much success so she took over and straightened my hair for me. She loves to tell her friends that I am pretty like her and that I have pelo rubio (blonde hair) just like her. You will understand the humor once I post a picture of her (not blonde at all). Ahh, also, last night, after I had tea (tea includes plenty of food) with the two younger boys and was napping in my bed, Marcela came home and prepared a GIANT bowl of peaches and brought them to me in bed. There must have been 8 halves in the bowl. So I decided to wake up and go down and eat them with her and Jorge while they had their tea. While I was politely trying to figure out how to eat 4 whole peaches after a full meal 20 minutes prior, Jorge told me he had cooked a steak for me. I said that although I do enjoy carne asada, I could not possibly eat any more that night. Entonces, I can only assume you know what I had for breakfast this morning......

Oh, and regarding the feedback about Tatiana, while she is a good size, she is not a mutant turtle; only about the size of very large grapefruit.

I have a couple of new pictures to post but cannot seem to get them to load....will try again later.

p.s.
It is 11:30pm and all of the kids (10,14, 17) are out playing soccer in the street with their friends. Lots of shouting and laughing with the windows open. This is my kind of place.

Ciao!

First Day of School

Today was the first day of class and I have to say I am feeling very lucky so far. I was nervous about finding my way without a map or any knowledge of the city so Jorge (my host dad) took me on the metro and the bus and walked with me up to the actual classroom to drop me off. He wanted to make sure I was received by my teacher. There are about 30 other people taking the spanish course and it is a very good mix of people. All American except for the lone Australian. We had a great day and went for a beer after school and had many laughs getting to know each other. I was surprised to find out I am one of the only people with an entire Chilean host family. Most people are staying with a professional single person in their 20's or 30's who all want to practice their English. Having no English in my house, it is understood I have a leg up on progressing. When I returned home for tea, Jorge and Marcela and I had a wonderful time telling jokes and discussing current events. I forgot to mention that Marcela makes me say "refrigerator" to everyone she introduces me to. She thinks it is the most difficult word in ingles and LOVES to laugh when I say it and then she tries to repeat it. She makes me say my name and then almost immediately, "refrigerator." I am not kidding that I have told at least 20 people this word.

Looking forward to another day with new people and fantastic experiences.

Ciao!

The only picture I had time to take today. Just some artwork in the metro....

snapshots from day one

I have to say, my first day here was more than I could have expected. My host family is amazing! Jorge and Marcela have 3 boys, Jorge, Felipe y Diego. I spent most of yesterday with Jorge and Felipe and Diego. They know almost no English so I have jumped right in. Later in the afternoon, we picked up Marcela from her job and had afternoon tea (which seems to be a staple to Chilean culture). Marcela and I were talking on the front porch around 5pm when her neighbors, Eugenia y Alex invited us over for a glass of wine. She was so excited to practice what little English she had with me. The wine turned into pisco and many, many hours later (2.30am) Marcela and I walked next door to get some sleep. The boys had all waited up to say goodnight. I fell asleep almost immediately after almost 50 something hours awake. I could not have asked for a more generous family and hope that I can repay them somehow!

I start class at 9am tomorrow and will ask how to get a new SIM card for my phone so I can make some calls back home. I have heard it is free for me to receive calls from anywhere on my phone once I get a card, but will be charged for outgoing calls. Just have to figure out if I can get international minutes. I do have internet access at my home but it is located in the parents bedroom so not always available to me.

"Passengers, please place your coats below your seats and your saddles in the overhead bins."
View from my bedroom.
Lulu
Tatiana

I have landed!

I have finally landed in Santiago after many hours and many interesting people along the way. I was greeted at the airport with fellow students and taken straight to my host family. They are very gracious. Husband and wife, three boys, two dogs, and one tortuga! We have just had lunch and postres. They speak absolutely no English so this will be interesting from the start. I will write more later. But for now, I rest.....

More words soon.

I received my placement today! After the month in Santiago and 3 weeks of travel, I will be headed to Tocopilla for my teaching assignment. Yeehaw!