Week 3: Goodbye Quirihue, Hello Los Alamos!

30 Sec. Update: Whoops! I should have known better than to get too attached to a particular town. On my way to Quirihue I found out that I would actually be going to Los Alamos, a slightly bigger town of 18,000 several hours south of Quirihue. Despite the mix-up, I was greeted by my host family at the bus station with signs saying “Welcome Kevin!” and open arms. So much has happened since my last blog post. The last 72 hours have been a whirlwind of meeting my home stay family, getting a tour of Los Alamos, meeting our host teachers, and visiting our host schools all on top of trying to adjust to life in a Spanish speaking country. Life is wonderful in so many ways. Every day is a new adventure and full of laughter. Photos to come in the next couple of days.

http://www.losalamos.cl/

El Embajador de los Gringos: Upon my arrival to Los Alamos I also found out that I will be sharing my homestay with two other volunteer teachers Karyn (a 27 year old from Buffalo, NY) and Matt (a 22 year old from Minneapolis, Minnesota). I met them during orientation and am excited to share the experience with them. Matt and I share a room with a private bathroom. Karyn and Matt are working at "el liceo" (the local municipal high school) and I am working at the elementary school. Neither of them speak much Spanish so I have served as “el traductor” (the translator) and “el embajador de los gringos” (the gringo ambassador).


My Second Family: I LOVE my host family. They are very nice and excited to have us. Our host parents are amazing. Luis, our father, is in charge of discipline at the local school. Every morning he drives us in a truck to the local school. He is very helpful around the house and curious about English. He knows a few words of English and occasionally he will say a random word in English which is met with laughter. Luis took us on a walk throughout the town Sunday morning and we visited el centro, la plaza, el liceo, and la feria (the outdoor market).He seemed to know half the people in the town.


Our host mom, Iris, is the force that ties us all together. She is so warm and caring that we can't help but feel like part of the family. She is a great cook and has a very welcoming smile. Some of my favorite moments so far have been sitting at the table with her sharing a cup of coffee. Also living at the house are Luis and Iris' children Matias (a 17-year-old who attends “el liceo”) and Sandra (a 27-year-old who is a teacher at “el liceo”). In addition there are three other Chilean high school boarders who live in el campo and stay with us during the week. The high school students are in love with American music and they were amazed by our iPods quizzing us on the names of songs and bands (Michael Jackson, Green Day, Aerosmith, 50 Cent).


It is not a big house but we all seem to get along well. We have lots of long meals sharing stories, eating lots of home-made bread, and tecito & cafecito. My Spanish is just good enough to hold conversations and crack jokes which has been the most rewarding part. There are still plenty of moments where I just look at them confused and say “no entiendo” (I don't understand), but I feel very comfortable in Spanish and I can already tell that it is going to improve immensely.


La U v. Colo Colo: Last night after dinner the family had an animated argument over the best soccer team in Chile. Luis, Matias, and Iris supporting “la U” (the University of Chile) against Sandra and the boarders supporting “Colo Colo” (the big rival team). Both sides tried to convince us of the better team. Apparently the rivavlry is so fierce that when the two teams play against each other the stadium has to double the number of security and police officers to prevent riots. When I announced that I went to a soccer game last week between Argentina and “la U” back in Santiago, the kitchen exploded with excitement. Luis ran into the other room to grab his jersey for “la U,” made me put it on, and take pictures with him. All of the fans of “Colo Colo” were in disbelief and ostracized me for the rest of the night. I don't think the Yankees and the Red Sox rivalry even comes close.


The Host School: Yesterday we went to the host schools and all of the English teachers at the school. All of them have wonderful senses of humor and they speak perfect English except my teacher, America, who despite her name does not speak a word of English. I think I got paired with her for that reason. It's so funny to me that a woman who speaks hardly any English could be the school's English teacher but I definitely feel like I'm needed and will help the students A LOT. I will be working with 5th to 8th grade students. We are just doing lesson planning and and observations this first week but it is exciting to just see the schools where we will be working.

'Til Next Week: Life continues to be full of laughter, Chilenismos, and little surprises like no water in the whole town on our first day of school, the heated family rivalry over support for "la U" and "Colo Colo," and the blood sausage! I'm excited for the coming weeks and feel like I'm in the right place. I miss you all and look forward to sharing more stories.


P.S. Thanks for all of the comments! I love hearing your thoughts and knowing that people are actually reading this blog. :)