A typical day

Hola, todos--

I´m starting to get accustomed to life here in Santa Maria. Though the cold still gets to me, it´s a comfort that everyone here complains about it--it´s the Number 1 topic of conversation here. We´ve just been informed, too, that this has been an unseasonably cold start to the winter down here.

A typical day for me goes like this: I wake up at 6:30, leap out of bed and light a little gas heater so that my room is not quite so cold. I go to the bathroom and splash exceptionally cold water on my face because in order to have hot water you have to light the water heater and in the mornings that´s just impossible. I get dressed and do my makeup in front of the little heater in my room.

In the morning before school we drink a warm drink and eat bread. There´s bread at every meal, and there are different kinds of bread with different names. It´s all white bread, but here you know the difference between them and they all taste a little different (I´m not receptive yet to the subtle differences).

School starts at 8:15, but I don´t have class at the same time every day. Mondays are my fullest day, then all the other days I either start late or leave early. Thursdays I don´t have class at all, so I´ll spend it planning or studying for my Master´s exam.

Lunch is the big meal here. You have 2 or 3 dishes, and tons of food. During the week I eat at the school, but on the weekends Edith (mi madre) makes salad, a main dish, something warm to drink, and a fruit for dessert. They´re amazed that it isn´t the same in the U.S.--they think eating a big dinner after work disrupts sleep while your body is digesting.

School has 2 recesses for the students, no matter what grade you´re in. The director is convinced it would be better to follow the U.S. model of not having any breaks and getting done sooner, but in my opinion a little physical activity and a mental rest is probably a good thing for the students.

I leave the school with mi madre the secretary at around 6:00, and we have "Elevens". It´s a little like afternoon tea. You have tea or another warm drink, and bread, usually with something to put on the bread. I´m learning very quickly to like herbal tea--yes, I´ve become a tea person ! (I´ve never liked it before.) Later in the evening, when it gets colder, we light the big gas heater, and I get to take a warm shower. I´ve learned that, just like in the U.S., if you flush the toilet the water gets hot. So I don´t turn on the cold water at all, and flush the toilet once or twice while I´m in the tub. It´s divine, except it hurts my hands and feet because they´re so cold.

Lastly I fill up my "marido", a little hot water bottle covered in flannel that I sleep with like a stuffed animal, with really hot water. Here the nickname for the hot water bottle is "spouse without fingernails". It makes me laugh that Edith calls it "the husband" instead of its real name "guatero": "Oye, vamos a echar una aguita al marido." Then I bury myself underneath layers of blankets and comforters with mi marido and don´t move until morning.

I *am* accostumbrando. It´s a little like my mission, just with all the discomfort I didn´t have while serving in the States--now I have the whole experience!! Next weekend I think a friend and I are going to Viña, a large city on the coast. They say it´s not as cold there.

I really do like it here in Chile. It's just taking a little while to get used to the cold and how cold is dealt with here in this country. But so far I love the diverse geography of Chile and its people are very warm and welcoming. And that makes it all worth it.

First day of school

It was the first day of school for me and Gayle, and for her it was TERRIBLE. We started the day being introduced to all the students who have to sing the national anthem and the school song in the middle of the courtyard every Monday morning even when it's completely "helado" like it was this morning.

I teach high school, and Gayle is teaching in the elementary classrooms. There was nothing planned for us in the ESL classes today--they just dropped us in to observe and help wherever we were needed. For me this meant talking for 90 minutes straight and having the students talk to me as much as possible while the instructor did grades in the gradebook. Me not being the conversationalist, my head ached after the first two periods were through. However, the students were willing, contrary to what I heard about them, and they were respectful and curious. They're very excited to learn the lyrics of all their favorite songs in English, and loved that I brought my iPod and speakers to teach them. I made quick friends with many of the students.

Gayle, on the other hand, had a battle today. In Chile, it's the little ones who are rude and disgusting, and they had a lot of fun making obscene comments to her. They were loud and didn't follow directions, and didn't respect the regular teacher anymore than they respected her. It got so bad today that Gayle left the school in tears. Gayle's a tough girl, so that says how "groseros" they were. She did end up coming back, but I think she is going to try to work things out so that we can team teach instead of trying to do battle everyday with the younger kids. She liked being with me in the afternoon, so hopefully that will make it better for her.

School starts at 8:15 and ends at 5:00 on Mondays, 4:15 every other day. There are 5 classes per day, 90 minutes each. We have one or two "recreos" (recesses) and lunch is an hour. Here the teachers move to the different classrooms.

Here's my Chilean phone number again, but with different numbers at the beginning:
0056 97 866 3710--Please someone try and call me to see if it works. Also, here's my mailing address here in Chile:

Lindsay Wilde Unsworth
Villa Mirasol
Pasaje Los Pimientos
Comuna de Santa Maria
Ciudad San Felipe
Quinta Region
Chile

Greetings from Santa Maria!

It´s been a minute since I´ve written, but it´s been a minute since I´ve had internet access. But here I am finally with a new entry to my blog.

We arrived in Santa Maria only to discover that instead of temperatures in the 50´s and 60´s that were promised us, we are experiencing an unusually cold winter--global warming at it´s finest. In the day time we´re in the 30´s, maybe 40´s if the sun is out, so you can imagine the nights.

There is no central heating in any house in rural Chile. For that, you have to go to a restaurant or church (thank goodness I found the church building and attended today). In my house we have two portable gas heaters (called stoves here), and they don´t turn them on until later in the day. I wake up and spend my mornings seeing my breath, and it´s usually much colder inside than it is outside. Those of you who know me know how much I hate being cold. Apparently now I have to get over myself and "acostumbrarme". For a while we had only one "estufa", but my madre decided that because the winter was so terribly cold we should buy another one. To take a shower with hot water you have to light the gas in the kitchen (which almost never works in the morning). There will be no heat in the school either--teachers and students go around "abrigados".

Tomorrow is my first day of school. The director is preparing a big all-school welcome and has been practicing our names for days. I will have internet access there, so I will post again very soon and let you know what it´s like to teach in Chile.

I´ve complained alot in this post, but really I´m still amazed that I´m even here. My Spanish...no, my CHILEAN...is getting better by the day. I will write again soon.

¡Hasta pronto!