¡Viva Chile, Viva USA!

I left the summer and 90 degree weather to come home to a serious winter storm, this is after a lot of the snow melted too

I am home now, and it is interesting looking back on the last 3 months. It is always easy to look back and wish that maybe you did something different, but that also goes along with my goal of always trying to improve myself and what I come in contact with. Still, I am happy with what I learned, experienced and accomplished in Santiago. I showed up expecting a pretty solid plan to follow, but it was pretty open both at work and the school. It can be difficult, but also an opportunity as it is fun to have a clean palate to work from. This is where I grew the most as it was up to me to decide what to do, and we were able to do some good things. I do think the blog and internet could be a big step for the school, not only is English useful for them, but as the internet is becoming a more and more important tool it is good for the teachers and students to learn it now. Otherwise, it was a good cultural exchange as I just had a good time telling kids about my life and being a good solid example for them. I could have been busier in the office, but it was still a very good experience to witness what this multinational company does and how it works. Well, that was fun, now I am pondering my next step, and in the meantime, les deseo un prospero Año Nuevo!

Schools out for Summer!

Oh yea, it is summer down here... well almost, the school year is almost over and the kids are very anxious to be done. The days are long, the weather is hot, and the kids get a little bit crazier with every piece of candy they eat, ah yes I remember that similar buzz in the air of being free for the summer. This is new for me though, as I am not used to the "Viejito Pascuero" or Santa, being all over the place in summer time. The kids are drawing sweet little cards wishing me a feliz navidad and saying they will miss me. We still have another week left though, so there is a lot more homework they need to do!

Historia Chilena

Okay, so maybe you have heard the news that Pinochet, former dictator of Chile has died. He is most famous for overthrowing a government that was moving towards Marxism, but also for questionable rule where thousands of members of the opposition "disappeared." He still has supporters and opponents, and the opponents celebrated in dramatic fashion yesterday. Even with a police force that is very trusted and respected here, there is still a mentality of people going crazy and destroying things for every big event or major soccer victory (stay tuned for what happens after their soccer team Colo-Colo plays for the South American championship on Wed.)
Anyways, I ran into the celebration zone last night on my way back from the weekend. I had not heard the news about Pinochet until I was on a very crowded bus that went through downtown and we noticed things were a bit "desordenado" and there was something in the air burning our throats more than the usual Santiago smog. I was surprised by the amount of damage that was able to occur as the police do not hesitate to use watercannons and tear gas to control crowds. Streets signs, trash, and confetti were all over the streets, and fires were still burning late into the night. So, people celebrated this historic moment in Chile by showing how happy they are, but by also making a mess in the streets. However, the guys who sweep the streets are very efficient and had already made impressive progress in cleaning it up by this morning.

I took this first photo in Plaza Italia around 11pm, my leg touched the sidewalk and it was still hot, I realized why when I saw some of the photos in the paper today

Chile Facts

So maybe it is a little late for an introduction to the country, but here are just a few things you may not know about Chile:

You can drink the water here, you can trust the police here, they have been ruled by dictators before, they currently have a female president, the average Chilean will receive the same amount of solar radiation by age 18 as an average European in their whole life, Chile is about as long as the US is wide, when you buy laundry detergent they often include a free bottle of wine, and other interesting things I will add later...

Con Todo el Corazon

Chile has an annual event called the "Teletón." This years theme was, "Con Todo el Corazon," and I was very impressed by the heart that the whole country showed. This telethon has been hyped for months, and it is to raise money for the disabled. Everyone came together to raise money on December 1 & 2 with many large events, and many small events too. I was taking a bus on Saturday, and there were people collecting money out on the highway where I didn´t think anybody lived, there was a performance in the small beach town I went to, and there was a huge celebration in Santiago that I saw on TV. They are very proud of their event, and it is nice to see something that really unites the country. They raised over 11 trillion pesos, or around 21 million dollars

Spanish lesson

I just wanted to share some of my favorite sounding words with you

Favorite Spanish words:
zanahoria - carrot
fogata - bonfire
burbuja - bubble

Chinchinero - (see above) guys who play drums in the street
pato - duck

Favorite Chileno words:
mina - chica
arriba de la pelota - "above the ball" to express when you have had a couple drinks - imagine yourself on top of a ball

fome - boring

Bloggy blog blog

Wahooo for blogs, or at least that´s what me and the other teachers here think. So me and Luis went ahead and made a blog for the special English workshop at school, you can see some of what we have been up to at http://inglesenerasmoescala.blogspot.com/. This has the opportunity to be very useful for the students, and the teachers as they are all learning more about the internet and the resources it offers.

Las Olimpiadas

The Alianza Azul "Dream Team"

The olympics we had for employees of ING were a lot of fun. Although I was pretty upset when we lost in basketball, especially because I missed two free throws that could have won it. But now it is time for the excuse... it was dark, and the other team was better. We hold these types of events to improve the ´calidad de vida´ here in the company, but I knew our team was in a little bit of trouble when after our first meeting everyone stopped to have a cigarrette. In the end I got over the loss as we all enjoyed the experience and did some good bonding.

Estilo Chileno

At first I did not know what to expect from Santiago. I knew it was a modern city, and sure enough I have seen a professional style in many parts. I have gone to the beach and sure enough there is a surfer style and culture there. I was even ready for lots of 80s music as Latin America seems to love it still, and sure enough it is popular. What surprised me in the city is the large punk rock style. There are kids, and adults, all over modifying their school uniforms and cutting great mullets and mohawks into their hair to be as punk as possible. Piercings and tattoos are popular too. Call me old fashioned, but I never thought I would be the one telling kids to pull their pants up or to quit piercing their faces in strange places. At least the younger kids at school have not gotten into this yet, but they are already asking me what I think of it...

Fotografías

I have been adding more photos to the photo page, so if you have not seen them go look now. There is also a second photo page because there is so much to share with you, find the links for these on the side

Stirring the soul

Here are some funerary wooden carvings from the local Mapuche natives, and me and my friend Josh at the Festival de la Cerveza. Visiting different things like the Precolumbino museum and other fun things in the modern city are just a couple simple examples of everyday life that are very soul stirring experiences...

There is nothing quite like a foreign city to stir the soul. I received this comment from a friend, and I fully agree. The day I arrived I got off a plane after a long night of not sleeping, and the weather matched my mind as everything was hazy. In the coming days and weeks I have quickly toured the city, in almost a similar haze of fighting off colds or tiredness, as I always want to "aprovechar," or take advantage of all that is out there so I keep busy all day and night. It takes a while for some things to become clear when abroad, but when they do it is very fun. I take in so many sights, and make contact with so many people. Talking and working in a foreign language is the biggest difference, but I am also a very visual learner, and even streets I know well appear very different at night and daytime. In much of Latin America I have found that every store front will be covered by a metal gate at nighttime, so again I almost recognize it as another place.
All of a sudden I found myself in Santiago, and I am still growing accustomed to the life here and the pace at which I experience new things everyday, but it is good exercise for the soul.