This is us having just arrived at our school, "Norteamericano". We bike to class. It is 30 minutes from our apartment on the beach up the hill in the back of town. It is actually a pretty nice ride and great exercise. We get quite a kick out of our "get-ups" - layers of clothes because it will be colder when biking home in the dark, backpacks, helmets, gloves, right pant legs tied back so they don't get caught in the chain, and bike lights and reflectors on the front and backs. Its good exercise, and a pretty nice way to get around. We bought the bikes used from a mom and pop shop near our house. He cobbled them together for us actually, but the price was good. Now the owner wants us to help him learn English so we might have some new work out of it, too!
Our students are excellent! They all had to apply, write essays, and take tests to get accepted into this program. It is a government sponsored program to develop the English skills of the business and tourism professionals of the country. Rich and I are teaching the business students. The are so eager to learn! It is a breath of fresh air compared to the students at the college in Santiago who really were only taking the class because they had to in order to graduate. These students work really hard and keep us on our toes!
Here are some more photos of the school, etc (It is in a house that is converted into a school). Instituto Chileno Norteamericano is the name of the school. There are multiple campuses around Chile. It was started in the 70's by the US State department and is still sponsored by them today.
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| Rich getting ready to start class. |
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| The entrance to the school. |
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| Lucy - She tries to keep us all in line. |
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| Towards the back of the house. This is where we have "break" and there are more classrooms out behind. |
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