cusco!

chao to chile

well folks, it sure has been a while. chile had lots of ups and downs, including the access of internet which made blogging a bit difficult. but to sum up the last two months, we celebrated halloween which was super fun and i got to meet some other volunteers that i become pretty fond of, i took a visit to la serena a beautiful beach town in the middle of chile and a weekend trip to a morthern beach town named iquique. both trips were really nice and it was good to be in a different setting and with different people for a while.

my last trip was my favorite! i went to san pedro de atacama and saw the most beautiful natural sights in the desert. it is a magical, mysertious place that i would love to revisit. as for school, November was a rough month for me becuase all the public schools in all of Chile were on strike, so i had no classes, which was VERY boring. as the strike was indefinite and we could have returned at any time it was not advisable to travel much so i hung out in town, getting hot cocoa and simply hanging out.... man can THAT get old!!! left my city, antofagasta on nov 25 and was in santiago for a few days, i went to a GREAT concert of manu chao and had some closing ceremonies, basically just ran around the city trying to wrap up the whole experience. which brings me to cusco

beinvenida a peru!
so i arrived in cusco on the 28th at like 4pm and my host dad came to pick me up. the fam is really nice, they all work in tourism so they can give me a heads up on the good deals and what to watch out for. the house is really comfortable, it has 3 stories with 5 bedrooms and a bathroom on each floor. the fam speaks english and one of the sisters speaks italian, but they all talk to me in spanish which is good. they are very interesting and also interested in others. they give me info but also give me space which is something i SO needed after chile and living with like 17 people who are CONSTANTLY calling you for something.

the city is gorgeous! and i feel so lucky to be here for an entire month!!! i went yesterday to the centro and drank tea on a balcony that overlooked this plaza just watching the people walk along and enjoying a most delicious breakfast... mmmm it was tasty.

the colors are vibrant and the architecture is impressive, at times imposing on the cozy city below. either way, i love it. today i will have an orientation to cusco and the program and then a tour of the city and tomorrow i will begin attending my volunteer position which is a home for young girls about 25 minutes from where i am living. i will take a bus (that costs 5 cents) to get there and be with the girls from 8 until 12 everyday.

the program also offers us interesting outings weekly and salsa lessons, which should be really fun. additionally, an 18 years old from Belgium lives in the same house as me and he is pretty cool. i have to say i feel really at ease and welcomed here and i just know this month is going to FLY by, so i am trying to take in as much as possible as fast as possible!

pictures to come! no internet at the house so i have to rely on outside connections and carrying the camera everywhere is not always the safest option. but stay tuned and i will share some of the beauty that cusco has to offer with you all!!!!

CHAO for now!

escuela #90

well i finally have had time to get some great photos of my students, school, and different activities.  i can't say it's been easy - i bring my camera EVERY single day to school but somehow between teaching, trying to remember 250 kids' names, getting to know my colleagues, and getting my materials ready for the next class i forget, go figure... this is a pic of my students who participated in a "cueca" competition.  the national dance of chile

anyhow the point is i finally have things to show you about my teaching experience :) last week i taught all my students the song "hello, goodbye" by the beatles (i can't say it was my clever idea, but i can say i was clever enough to steal the idea and use it as a teaching tool!)  i taught a lesson on different ways of opening and closing a conversation and that segued into the song. we learned motions to go with the music and it ended up being really fun.  although a negative by product of teaching a song 6 classes everyday for an entire week is that my voice is shot :( i attached a video for your viewing pleasure of 8th grade singing in a competition we had.

as for school i am teaching 4 grade levels - 5th and 6th grade one time each week for 45 minutes a piece and then 7th and 8th grade for 2 45 minute classes a piece.  i can't say it's easy and of course, nothing worth doing ever is - but i really did not anticipate so many discipline problems with my students.  i kinda thought they would be so excited about english and having a special class they would behave.  of course they are not all poorly behaved but in the classes where there are 5 students that disrupt and interrupt it is impossible for anyone to learn.  some days i wonder why the government spends so much money trying to bring english to schools that are lacking such fundamental things like a loudspeaker.... i know, i know - it's not supposed to be the same and i don't like complaining, but i don't wanna be dishonest in my account either.

last week was a great week of classes, everyone behaved beyond belief and participated because they were motivated and enticed by the song.  but we can't do a song EVERY class, besides there aren't songs to teach every skill.  believe me i have tried.  i have to say though, they do love the days of the week and months of the year song as they are set to the adamm's family and

 macarena themes, respectively.  i try to sing at least one song with them a day and they are totally appreciative of it.  and it makes me glad to see they are learning through music. speaking of music, this is the band - all of them are my students.... if only i could get them to be so disciplined in my class - i KNOW it has to do with the music!!!

since i dont have official classes on wednesdays i started an "English Club" - the 5th and 6th graders met together for an hour and then 7th and 8th graders come for the next hour.  we have been able to do fun stuff that is impossible to do in class.  we have done some arts and crafts, singing more popular songs (they LOVE michael jackson, miley cyrus, and the jonas brothers) we play simon says and have done more lengthy conversations as there are less students and they are all highly motivated.  it is a nice midweek thing to get me through because the other days of the week are long and often times frustrating.  but in the end, when students greet me and see me off at the end of the day in english i have to say it makes a difference.

 LITTLE by LITTLE... i have to keep reminding myself every step is a step closer to them learning and becoming more interested in english.  

so this week is the anniversary of my school and it is customary for the entire week to be filled with competitions of soccer, dance, performances, and general activities between each course.  as if that wasn't enough excitement independence week starts on sunday.  yes, you heard right - independence week, it lasts ALL week. everyone has been preparing to dance the national dance, la cueca, buying outfits and practicing like mad.  this entire next week is going to be spent eating, dancing, listening to music and watching games and competitions.  this is bastian (my lil bro) and ignacio (my lil cousin) at school getting ready to dance cueca.  well there you are some photos and info about my school ENJOY!!!!  

colo colo!!!

so this week has been pretty cool.  i joined a gym really close to the house so i can walk there, which is cool.  i have lots of free time, which i am not accustomed to since i usually work 2 jobs in the states and in mexico we had hours in the afternoon that we had to work also.  here i work until 1pm each day and then i am free.  clearly, as a teacher, i spent loads of time creating lessons and materials from scratch - but still i have lots of free time in the afternoons.  the gym is a good diversion and is helping me work off all that bread and meat im eating!!!

wednesday there was a soccer game, between Colo-Colo and Universidad de Chile, rival teams of chile.  my brother cristian is for chile and everyone else is for colo colo.  well we went to the game, and i sat with the big crowd of colineros while cristian and marcelo (our dad) sat in the chile section.  as you may or may not be aware, the concept of time south of the border is flexible, to be kind.  when people say "now" they usually mean "anytime within these 24 hours"  and arriving to anything an hour or 2 after it was supposed to start is completely normal.  EXCEPT for a soccer game.  

the fam rocking colo colo flag!

we arrived at 6pm and the game started at 10pm.  we got there early because the stadium fills up and we wanted good seats, which we did get.  but for 2 hours we just sat in the stands.  i was definitely getting bored.  by 8pm a band "la noche" came out and sang, which was really entertaining.  and the game was originally supposed to start at 9pm.  well after the band left, they had a middle school soccer team play a mini game to keep the crowd semi interested. finally around 10pm the teams came to the field and proceeded to take millions of pictures before the game.  ugh the waiting!!!!  but once it started it was really really cool.  soccer fans are crazy! mexico doesn't compare at all in this department.  you have to enter the stadium according to your team and everyone knows and abides by this rule.  they actually block off the road so people can't go into the bleachers of the other team and there are barricades between bleachers so people can't cross once inside.  there are tons of police and tons of riot police standing by.  additionally, at the end of the game they only let out one side of fans at a time, the other side has to wait until the other side has pretty much cleared out.  sounds crazy, but seeing how passionate they are with all these restrictions makes one wonder what it would be like without them.  oh AND they dont sell alcohol at the games either, what a concept!

during the game some people from the chile bleachers hopped the fence and tore down flags from the colo colo fans.  the colo colo fans BROKE the barricades and ran to the other set of bleachers to start fighting.  it was crazy.  i was scared for a minute watching it, but we were sitting in the "neutral" section nearish the colo but far away and separated by cement walls that couldn't be broken down.  but you should see people respect the cops here without any question, another difference from mexico. 

yes that is two of the many cops on horseback monitoring the crowd.

the coolest part of the game - well actually there were 2 parts.  the beginning because when the teams come out onto the field the fans shoot fireworks and confetti like it is july 4th, you have never seen anything like it before.   this video is how the team is celebrated before they even start playing!  if celebrating your team is like our independence day, what is independence day like you ask?  well i will tell you - the entire country has off for 5 whole days to celebrate.  that will be coming in the end of september!!!

back to my story... the other cool part of the game was the very last 2 mins of the game, colo colo (my team) was losing 2-0 and they finally scored a goal in the last minute to regain some dignity.  it was the best!!!  although it sucked at first, it was totally worth the wait!

the rest of the week was normal, school and hanging with the family in the afternoon and evening.  today we went to a beach house owned by some relative.  it was gorgeous.  we stopped first at "la portada" which is this cool geological formation in the ocean that looks like a big door.  the mountains and ocean narrowed closer on the drive to the beach and it was such a magnificent view.  

my mom, pamela, bro cristian and i at the portada.

we arrived a bit later at the beach house and spent all day hanging on the deck eating and relaxing.  the house was built by my mom's uncle's father years ago.  it is 2 floors with a mini kitchen and 2 bathrooms and a few rooms with beds.  simple but all you need.  

the thing to do in towns with mountains is to write the name of the town on the side of the mtn with rocks and the name of this particular beach is "juan lopez".  my mom's uncle and his family were the first to write the town's name on the mtn way back when.  more recently my brothers, cousins, and sister rewrote it with bigger, brighter rocks.

moutain with juan lopez written on it

the kids took me for a walk around the beach and to the other side of this mini mountain.  the ocean was calm and the weather was perfect, windy but brisk.  we walked to the top of the mini mountain and saw up close and personal the "juan lopez" they wrote.  

aaron and i at the top of previously shown mini mountain.

all in all it was a very relaxing day with a more than impressive view of the ocean and desert.  

rep argentina se llama

well well well ~ so i am finally settled in with my host family. they are absolutely wonderful, i have a mom, dad, 16 year old sister, 14 year old brother, and 11 year old brother. also we live in a compound with my mom's three sisters, their families, and my mom's mother. needless to say there is always someone around. it has been super fun so far.  one of the cousin's that lives in our "compound" has been on vacation from university since i arrived so he has been showing me around and he is just a really nice guy - it's def cool to have people around the same age living in close proximity.  i got lucky with my family, they are really really great.  

they prepared a really nice room for me - i actually have internet, tv, d
vd player and a super comfy bed. it's almost nicer than home haha... i got here on tuesday evening and i confessed my dietary habit to my host parents. you see, here in chile red meat and bread are eaten ALL THE TIME. so i admitted to them, what i thought would be my worst secret first - that i don't eat much red meat... they were a lil shocked, but actually took it better than i expected.  they asked if i was a vegetarian and if i ate chicken or fish and when i said, no and yes respectively, they were fine with it.  so then i felt confident enough to say i wasn't much of a bread eater.  oh my word, you would have thought i just admitted to killing their puppy dog.  they just looked at me - and actually we weren't at the house yet, we were somewhere else, and i think the news was so difficult for my dad to understand he stopped the conversation right then and there.  his response was "ok let's not talk about this now, let's wait until we get home" hahaha they were hilarious about it.  not mad, just super super shocked, made me chuckle.

so the very next morning for breakfast was really humorous.  i was last to leave because i didn't have to be in school until 10am.  

my mom left breakfast on the table, and since i don't eat much bread - and thats the breakfast of choice in chile - she left me cereal, yogurt, an orange, a banana, juice, crackers, jelly, bu

tter, hot tea, and milk.  i took a foto of that because i'm not joking half of the table was full of food, for only ME.

of course, everything i do see

ms weird to them, and i laugh a

bout it to myself.  my sister's school is having their anniversary this week and it happens to be a art centered high school, so the entire week has been different dance performances and singing competitions and things like that.  well last night we went, the whole family, to the dance competition.  we left at 7pm and left the school around 11:45pm.  (video of my sister, jareth, to be found at bottom - she is the first girl solo in the dance show - about 3 minutes in)  anyway, my brother, cristian, goes to school in the afternoons and gets home at like 7pm so he did not go to the show with us.  when we called to say we were on our way home, he begged us to stop and get some food for him as he didnt eat anything since lunchtime.  so we stopped and bought "completos", which are huge hot dogs in a hoagie roll with tomato, onion, avocado, mayo all busting out.  so here we are at midnight buying 7 completos.  we got home and everyone was sitting around the table eating - and i thought, omg this is hilarious, this would never happen in my family at home... i had to take a picture, and the family's response "emily you are so weird" hahaha.  so all of a sudden my dad heard the tv from the bedroom

 and a famous person from our town was on the late show, so immediately everyone gets up and runs into my parents' bedroom with their ginormous hot dogs and proceeds to crowd around this tiny tv in their bedroom chomping on our completos.  at that point, i just told them i wanted a picture and had to forego the shot.  but it was a priceless moment.

as for my school, i start teaching on monday.  i will teach each class one time a week and i have 4 grade levels, so i will only have to prepare about 5 different lessons each week.  sounds easy, but it is super difficult because all of the activities are supposed to encourage speaking and as i observed in the past two days, my students either can't or are too shy to speak.  it is going to be a challenge, but i am definitely up for it.  

everyone at the school is sooooo nice and very very accommodating.  it is called "La Escuela Republica Argentina" and it is 2 minute walk from my house, really convenient.  also, my youngest brother, bastian, goes there so i have company walking to school and home everyday.  he's adorable by the way.  love that lil kid.  you all know how affectionate i am, and he starting giving me hugs and kisses the moment we met.   just adorable!!!

anyway, the school ~ when i first arrived they said there was no room for english - but the contract between the government and the school stipulates that there must be a fixed english room available.  well i asked if i could use the library as my place but there wasn't a chalkboard and it obviously is not meant to be a classroom.  they of course told me yes and were really apologetic about it.  well when i went in on thursday, my 2nd day, the director called me into his office to tell me about a possibility.  there is a new computer room for the kindergardeners, but they have class in the afternoons and i teach only in the mornings.  so he thought i could use that instead.  so in less than 24 hours i went form having no classroom and no chalkboard to having a computer room equipped with 2 humongous white boards AND a smart board!!!! im super excited to use that because i think i will be able to work with lots of different media and the kids will really enjoy that.

but you know - there is a very interesting dichotomy here.  you see, in many latin american countries toilet paper is not found in bathrooms.  you either pay for it outside or bring your own.  so imagine - my school bathrooms have no toilet paper, but they have a smart board.  i found that interesting... 

santiago to antofagasta

1. me in antofagasta (my city)

2. the andes mountains view from the bus

3. dancers that performed at a welcome lunch for us

4. group of volunteers at the "end of training party" the Ministry of Education had for us

5. my roomies and i in santiago in the capital building

yes, i made it safely to chile.  the first week was super intense, full of training and getting to know people, with a splash of seeing the capital as well.

we trained on how so many topics, ranging from teaching english to 100% beginners to what a bbq in chile really means (that you start partying at 1AM and hang until 6AM).... very interesting stuff.

as i said i met lots of cool people, of course the more interesting i found to be from england and new zealand.  we met the minister of education and had a foto with her, we also were permitted to go inside the equivalent of their "white house" in santiago.  it was pretty cool!!!!

we got in free to see an East Island exhibit in the museum and one evening i went with some girls to the top of a large hill, some might call it a mini mountain, and saw the whole city of santiago.  very impressive!  it was soooo cool because there at the top of the mountain are palm trees and you extend your view and see the andes mountains in the background - a super cool dichotomy i thought.

i packed on saturday morning to leave santiago and head for my placement city, which is called antofagastam and is the capital city in the antofagasta region.  it is a coastal city but also is the desert, look to the left and you see the ocean, look the right and you see mountains.  the geography is beautiful.  we have been staying in a hostel since sunday morning.

so the bus ride was supposed to be 18 hours, it was an overnight bus, but we had a minor problem with the bus and so it ended up being more like 21 hours.  before we left on saturday morning i actually whacked my head extremely hard on the corner of a metal closet door, which was not pleasant.  i ended up having a headache for a while and actually started getting really nauseous on the bus ride.  as it was an overnight bus the seats were very spacious and pretty comfortable, but we were seated on the top level of a double decker bus.  

i called the bus attendant over and told him i wasn't feeling well, and just started crying - thinking i was going to be sick for an 18 hour busride and with no one to comfort me.  well let me tell you - he was soooooo attentive!  he took me and my bags to the first floor, got me blankets and pillows, asked if he could give me aspirin, chatted with me.  i think i freaked him out cause i just totally started crying out of nowhere haha, but i felt really bad!!!!

anyway - i lucked out because the first floor was seats that TURN INTO BEDS!!!! oh my was i comfortable.  it was a rather nice night of sleep.  anyway since i hit my head it has been hurting me lots and i have just felt sick to my stomach and dizzy, but i can say that after a bit of a long process i did see a doctor and he says that i will be fine.  so that is good.  but it was a lil touch and go for a minute there... 

myself and a few others are still in a hostel, our families should pick us up tomorrow or wednesday and this week is just more introductions and information - but this time in our specific regions.  some of the people staying in my city are pretty cool and laid back, others are kinda partiers i think.  should be interesting to see what people think of the experience at the end.  

some people have been bothered by really simple differences between the states and chile, and im thinking - if THAT bothers you, you are in for a rude awakening!

the food isn't bad, just not many fruits or veggies, so i may have to supplement the food i am served a little.  they love their red meat and bread here, two of my least favorite foods.  well i should be at my final destination soon and then i can give more fun info :)

oh and by the way i have a cell number in case anyone is interested - texts i think work also the number is 00 56 9 8 183 8852

stay in touch :) 

feliz cumpleanos to me!!!

well if this doesnt make you smile (or get teary eyed) i dont know what will, the parentals and sister olivia video taped singing happy birthday to me with a cake and the 25 on top. you can see it on youtube, the link is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFvgJNvb7cA

its only 49 seconds, i want you to see it - i laughed and cried i was really touched. and olivia made me crack up at the end, not surprising bc she is a funny gal.

so this weekend was a fabulous fun time of celebrating my 25th birthday! friday i was invited to a student's birthday party at a pizza place, which was yummy and fun. after that a group of us went to the 'cerveceria' where they make corona and tons of other beer. it was semi interesting, but it was a free tour and a bunch of free corona (my favorite!!!) so i was happy. saturday we started out the day with going out to breakfast and then we had our volunteering at the orphanage. a few students moved from our group (5/6 year olds) so now the group we teach is smaller. it is nice because we can get to know each child better and they all get more individualized attention this way.

saturday afternoon was kind of a lazy day - i did some work and chilled, but in the evening we went ice skating! the mall that is near our house has an ice skating rink downstairs and so a group of us went because i have been wanting to go ice skating there since august. it was sooooo fun!!!! after that we had planned a theme party where you either dress "fresa" mexican for snooty and snobby or "naco" which is trailer trashy. clearly i dressed fresa, because i wanted to put on my party dress for my birthday. it was really fun and funny to see how everyone dressed. we partied into the wee hours of the night at one of the american houses. this picture is me, fresa and gen, naca (as you can tell by her big hair and loads of makeup...) it was a fun night for dress up and we had a great time :)

finally we had a nice cook out today. we went food shopping together and then all of us prepared tons of skewers and different salsas and dishes for a super tasty bbq. we made an assembly line for the skewers and just ate and ate and ate. jenna made homemade brownies for my birthday cake and we just ate outside in the beautiful weather and hung out.

it was a delightful birthday, definitely one of the best!!!

6 days til veinticinco

life just keeps going, i feel like i always talk about how hectic "it has been" ~ but in reality, it is kind of always that way....

a few of us have started walking in the evenings which is a really nice stress reliever. but gosh the past two weeks i have been in kind of a funk. just living and working with the same group of people is really difficult. its hard on all of us and its like the physical closeness of being a family, without the intimacy and unconditional love of a family... tough, but a learning experience in some way im sure...

wednesday there was a soccer game between mexico and the usa. my friend gen and i went to a bar with some friends from work, and her and i were the only girls in the one section of the bar - which was fine. no one paid us any mind (unusual bc people normally stare at the rare gringas) until AFTER the game when the usa won. we decided if we were asked we would say we were canadian that day. of course it was fine, just humorous.

so one of the other teachers here organized a volunteer mission for all of us, there is an orphanage with about 45 kids between 2 years old and 14 years old and bc there are so many of us different groups go every other weekend. my group started last weekend and we are working with the 5 and 6 year olds. obviously it's a totally different dynamic than working with my students at shcool, they have tons of different issues and circumstances and just are so emotionally deprived. there are 3 houses that hold all 45 of them so there is one "house mother" for 15 kids, which clearly is extemely understaffed. its so sad to know how some children are neglected, it reminded me a lot of my time in el salvador. even though it is sad, it is such a good feeling to be able to give them a little bit of kindness and love and time, they really responded well to us. we go back this coming weekend and im looking forward to it.

on friday we went to a really fun club called "stop" which was super fun. there was no cover charge for girls and the drinks were really cheap, at the end of the night we each paid $10 for like 5 rounds of bruskies and a bottle of tequila.... PLUS they had live music for about an hour or two and then dance music. here is the coolest part, it was an open air club so there were four walls but no roof and we were dancing under the stars it was really fun.

next week is my 25th bday!!!! the plan is to go to "stop" on friday and then one of our friends' cousins owns another really exclusive club, so he reserved us a table. im excited and i think its gonna be super fun :)

valentines day was fun - we had a little party during recess with all my 38 students, of course it was chaotic but it was really cute. they were sooooo excited we got to have a party, and i got so much candy treats from my students. it was really a nice day at school. on the actual day a bunch of us got together and just hung out playing games and having fun. i went to the doctor too yesterday morning because i have had this sinus thing for almost a month now, the air quality is just so icky, full of pollution and desert dirt so its hard to not have sinus issues. hopefully the meds start kicking in.