June 22,
Tried to mess with my camera the other day, did mess with it...and ended up erasing all my pics...
¡Qué Fomé!...what a drag-bummer-that suck´s-boring-etc...
It´s Saturday afternoon, the weather is nice, and I have not worked at all this week due to the teachers strike. They are protesting the new education laws that are being passed by the government. The hospital staff was also on strike this week, here in Antofagasta.
Same Shit, Different Country!
The funniest situation came about three weeks ago. It RAINED!...This is an odd occurance here in Antofagasta because we are located in the Region of the Atacama Desert, which is the driest region in the whole world! The whole town shut down!...stores closed, the power went out in certain parts, there was car accidents, and the streets were completely empty! According to my brother here in Antofagasta, Dago, "The people here just cannot handle the rain, they don´t know what to do!"...Well, what made this situation so funny was the fact that it was a MIST!!...Imagine the the misters they have in the grocery store greens sections...or the mist on your garden hose as you´re standing to the side, barely squeezing the handle...that´s what the "rain" here in Antofagasta is like!...According to my brother Dago, "The last time it misted here was two years ago!" It was on the news, "Storm Watch in Antofagasta!"...nothing like it...
My family life is great...wonderful food..."cazuela"-which is a soup with potatos, chicken or beef, pumpkin, and corn...excellent-¡qué rico!... my mom, Norma, also loves to make "rocas"-basically small donuts...very good. Breakfast is tea or coffee, some bread, jelly, ham, or cheese. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and then "Once"-which is dinner, usually tea, coffee, bread, ham, cheese, maybe some leftover´s from lunch. Quite different than the giant portions of the U.S. and the constant face stuffing for all 4 meals of the day.
Tons of dogs in the streets. All the kids have "chupete´s" (lollipops) in their mouths. The nights are cold. The beach is close by. The mountains are closer by. The street fair is right around the corner and is open everyday. There´s more dogs. Four internet cafes close by, all of which get my money, about a .75 cents an hour. To take the bus into the center I use the 103, 129, 110, 102, 114, or the 111. All go to the same place, and I catch them on the corner near my house...it´s a twenty minute ride to the downtown center...or, a 45 minute walk along the beach...I do both. There´s lots of dogs too.
School is ......School.
Kids don´t want to be there. The teacher´s are tired and overworked and underpaid.
Same Shit, Different Country.
There´s even dogs in the school!...
The kids are full of energy. The come into my class screaming and yelling, I wait for them to all sit down, then I make them all stand up, walk outside, and come in with some type of order...this they love! I start every lesson with a "Question of the Day", which will consist of one of the "5 W´s", which I have now burned into their memories. I have labeled every part of the classroom, ie. "door", "window", "trash", "chalkboard", "calendar", etc. And, I have used the various magazines and books that have been sent to me to help decorate our room. The room is looking good, I painted it a few weeks ago to cover-up all the writing on the walls, it´s now a bright yellow.
My Laker Poster´s will be coming down.
Futból is King! 24 hours a day you can find a game on T.V. Chile´s national team has improved tremendously, some credit their new coach, who is from Argentina. Alexis Sanchez is their star player. And I now look forward to watching the games, due of course to the basketball season coming to a miserable end.
I am greatly looking forward to my two week winter vacation July 11-29. I am going skiing in Portillo, which is one of the premiere resorts in all of South America, this is during the first week. For the second week, I have been selected to participate in a "Teach English Winter Camp", for specially selected students in the South of Chile. Very much looking forward to both.
As for the rest...well, I´m reading alot, studying spanish (but not practicing it as much as I should be), walk a lot, read, study, read, write here and there, and then do some reading. My room is very comfortable, my bed is very comfortable, and this chair I´m sitting in is very uncomfortable...so, until next time...
