Eco-Tourism Exhibition Day

 

Eco-tourism students: Sebastian, Nicole, and Nadia

One of the majors on our campus is Eco-tourism. Chile is a very diverse land, having everything from the driest desert in the world to some of the biggest mountains in the world, to Patagonia, and hundreds of miles of beaches, ocean, and islands. I have one class of Eco-tourism students and they invited me to their native Chilean indian "exhibition" today. Basically, they had booths and you could visit each booth to learn about a different native indian tribe from Chile. They dressed up like some of the tribes, had native food and herbal drinks, etc. It was actually very interesting....I just wish I could have understood ALL of it, but my Spanish skills limited me a bit. Anyhow, the eco-tourism students learn all about their country so they can tell others about it, they learn English so they can guide English speaking tourists, they learn all kinds of outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, kayaking, horseback riding, etc so they can work for these types of tour companies. Today was their exhibition of their knowledge of their native culture. Have a look!

One of the tribe's dress....maybe this was just for special occasions.

Again - I think the outfit in the middle was just for special occasions.

This tree grows pine nuts - way bigger than the ones we eat in the US. And, they are really good! I tried one!

Sad

Advanced English I - Culinary Arts Students - actually, this has been my most difficult class, but I still like them.

Intermediate English I - Graphic Design Students - They are a quite group of introverted artists, but overall great students - and very creative!

I'm feeling sad tonight. Here's a couple photos of my classes - two of my six classes. Next week is our last week of classes, then finals is the week after. But, next week is my last week with my students. I really have loved working with them, although they have also frustrated me to degrees unimaginable. I'm going to miss them. And, I hope I gave them something new...if nothing else, this is probably the first time in their life most of them have ever spoken face to face with someone from the United States (or any English speaking person at all) - sorta' funny when they study English their whole lives, and all the movies they watch, and music they listen to,  are from the US, in English, with Spanish subtitles. But to actually talk to us in person, this is probably their first time. I think they have found us interesting/fascinating (as we have them), and hopefully learned a little English too. I hope. Teaching is NOT a science. Sometimes I bet you never know the impact you have. But, I'm going to miss them.

It Rained!!

Thank God, it finally rained (and snowed in the mountains)!!! It has rained two times recently - the first two times in the four months we have been here. It is sooooooo exciting because the smog has lifted! When it rains the smog goes away. I (Cherith) was basically sick for 5 weeks from a mixture of a Chilean flu and smog, so I am so happy. Here are some of our pictures of our glistening city, which by the way has stayed "cleaner" for 2 1/2 weeks now!

This picture is take from our campus which overlooks the city. We have been working here for 4 months and this is the first day we have seen the city below. Seriously. This is the first time we saw this view! Before there was too much smog covering it. We were amazed, and saddened.

The long layer of light brown stuff is smog - before the first rain.

A close up of the smog on a neighborhood before the rain. In the US a smog rating of, for example, 50 - 100 would be alarming. In Santiago a rating of 50 - 100 is considered excellent. 100 - 200 is "beware". 200 - 300 is "severe", and 300 plus is "emergency" (I'm approximating here...trying to remember the exact numbers...so don't quote me, but you get the idea). There is a smog meter that we can look at online every day to see what it is like for the day. And, it differs from one section of the city to another, so you can look up the rating for the neighborhood you are/will be in.

Ok, I think winter is starting....

So, what they say about winter in Chile is true. But, nothing is ever very "real" until you experience it. It's not THAT cold compared to the teens or lower in the states, but when you have no central heat in your house or classrooms, 40 degrees feels pretty cold after a while. So, I'm becoming the expert on layering.....3-4 shirts and long underwear has become a custom. Then, top that with my leather jacket and then my down vest over the leather jacket. I couldn't fit my winter coat in my two suitcases. Then, wear a scarf, hat and gloves and you're all set. All the time - indoors and out! Oh, and the oven works as a good heater I'm learning. Space heaters and hot water are VERY expensive. So, maybe use the space heater for 30 minutes a day, and take short showers. This is the first week it's been like this...so the reality is dawning on me.

Colleagues

This is a photo of several of our English teaching colleagues in the teachers lounge. This is probably about 1/2 of the teachers. Most are Chilean. Only 5 of us are from the US. They are such a wonderful group to work with. They get along great and are always chatting and cutting up together between classes. So much so that the teachers from the other careers find us annoying sometimes. We have way more fun than them!

These are a couple of the Chilean English teachers outside the teachers lounge. Paula, on the left, learned her English through classes here in Chile and when she came to Keystone, CO to work at the skii resort for a season. Rodrigo is the guy in the picture. He is such a great guy and has been so helpful to us and just a good friend. He helps us understand menus, make travel arrangements, helps us understand things for classes, etc. I baked him cookies to say thanks. He loved them! They don't have cookies here like they do in the states. He says I should open a cookie shop in Santiago instead of teaching English. I would get rich! Ha!

This is the other side of the teachers lounge, where we can use computers anytime. We use this all the time between classes. AND, this year the teachers lounge is HEATED for the first time in our school's history I guess. It is wonderful! As all the classrooms are not heated. Yesterday I wore gloves in class for the first time. Brrrrrr. 

These are the ladies that keep us in line and give us our paychecks. They are the "Docentes" office. We have to be nice to them (ha!). They are very nice. 

The English teachers had a BBQ last Friday night. It was great fun! They are just such great people! And, the meat was awesome. Look at that massive slab of steak! Before this was sausages that were to die for.

Part of the gang.

Karaoke is big even in Chile!

 

Not gonna' make it tonight!

So, part of the fun of living and traveling in other countries is learning about how they do things differently, or simply how things are different whether they want them to be or not. For example, I usually don't have to travel to my Spanish class during rush hour. And, even if I do, I get on the train at the end of the tracks where you see the circle to the right of the picture below. When you get on at the end of the tracks there is no one on the train yet and there aren't that many people waiting, so you always get a seat, no problem. Well, tonight I got on at the end of the tracks, but I had to get off for something at the second circle you see on the map below - the circle to the left. When I tried to get back on the train to continue my journey to Spanish class it was unbelievable! I waited and waited as I counted 10 trains that stopped and went on and I couldn't fit on a single one of them. It was packed like sardines. No one was getting off and only one or two brave souls could squeeze themselves on. I didn't have that many guts. I saw scarves and coat tails sticking out of the doors as the trains wisked away to their next destination. So, needless to say, I asked how long this would go on. Sounded like another hour or so.....I didn't make it to Spanish class tonight! No way! 

Click on the picture to see it bigger. This is one end of the Santiago train map.

Visiting Valparaiso, Chile

 One and a half hours by bus from Santiago is the port city of Valparaiso. Not only is it an important port city for the country, but it is rich with color, art, and hills! The city is actually built on 45 different hills. There is almost no flat land except right along the water. On a clear day you see hill after hill of houses into the distance. And, they are painted every color imaginable. And, there are murals everywhere. Here you will see photos of some of the murals we passed, as well as some of the homes - colorful or not. The city has been designated an UNESCO World Heritage site and the it receives money to fix up the hundreds of aging Victorian homes and public buildings. They have a long way to go, but a lot of progress has been made. This is an artist heaven - enjoy! PS - double click on the pictures to see them larger.

This home is for sale....an old Victorian with a beautiful frame. It just needs some love.

The houses and buildjust pile one upon the other.

This was the Yugoslavia house or something like that. It was in really good shape and it was currently being worked on too.

A Presbyterian church

Painted trash cans? Or are they grills on the other side but used at trash cans at least for today? One will never know.

It was cloudy so a little hard to catch the whole flavor of things. If you click on these pics you'll see them better.

I love my cat photos! This one is awesome! She hopped down to say hi after her photo shoot.

Rich made a new buddy. She has the prettiest green eyes.

Too cool to look at the camera.

So our friends took us to this famous local restaurant and museum. It was a trip! Hard to describe.

These are our friends Cata (Cherith exchanges Spanish/English with her every week - free Spanish lessons) and Alex. They live in our building and are a wonderful couple of new friends.

Overlooking the harbor....with is wasn't cloudy so you could see more.

Shipping crates - a livelihood here.

This back alley actually is leading us to one of the "ascensors". These are short cable cars that carry people up and down the 45 hills of the city. They are literally regulary used transportation so you don't have to hike up and down the hills to get around.

We're at the bottom and in minutes will be up there at the top.

This guy sang for us at the restaraunt/museum as they called it. All the stuff on the walls is the museum stuff.